08/12/2003
The Press-Enterprise
The scales of justice tilted in favor of the little guy over big
government recently in two cases worth celebrating.
A jury last month awarded $750,000 to Avila Construction, almost driven
out of business by San Bernardino City Hall in a dispute over putting in
a water main on the former Norton Air Force Base, saying the city
breached its contract.
Also, a judge last month dismissed assault charges against local
gadflies Jeff Wright and Shirley Goodwin after nearly three years of
court hearings, saying the government stalled too long taking them to trial.
Rick Avila, head of the construction company, may never collect the
three-quarter million-dollar verdict.
The city will ask the judge to set aside the verdict on the basis that
there was no evidence to support it, according to Joseph Arias, the San
Bernardino lawyer who defended the city in the matter.
Failing that, Arias said, he will ask for a new trial on grounds that
Avila's lawyer, Mark Blankenship, unfairly influenced the jury by
ridiculing the city's witnesses and defense lawyer by rolling his eyes,
pointing and other body language.
But Blankenship and Avila told me Monday they feel vindicated since a
jury of 12 randomly chosen citizens saw things their way.
''I will consider it one of high points of my legal career, not because
they came back in my favor but because the truth was found,'' Blankenship
said.
''We just proved in court that we didn't walk off the job,'' Avila said.
Jurors told him afterward that they would have awarded him $1.3 million
but they were afraid the judge would overturn the verdict as too high,
he said.
Avila's firm was hired to install a 2,500-foot water main on the former
air base for $692,000. But when workers began digging, they ran into
uncharted utility lines that would have pushed the cost of the project
up by $300,000.
The city argued that Avila should have gone ahead with the work. Avila
said contracting rules require a change order for work that increases
the cost of a public contract 25 percent or more.
The judge on Monday shaved $50,000 off the award, ruling that Avila
should cover the city's portion of a subcontractor's breach-of-contract
verdict against the city and Avila.
Blankenship and Avila said they think the judge made a mistake, since
Avila would not have breached the subcontractor's contract if the city
hadn't breached his.
Goodwin and Wright, meanwhile, won a 33-month cat fight -- or at least,
a fight over a cat.
They were charged with misdemeanor assault on a peace officer for
struggling with an animal control officer over one of Goodwin's cats
that had been trapped in October 2000.
Forty court appearances and 10 judges later, by Goodwin's count, a court
determined last month that the government violated their rights to a
speedy trial and dismissed the case.
If it had been a straightforward assault case, prosecutors might not
have fumbled it. But San Bernardino police gummed up the works by
getting a bogus search warrant -- alleging that the cat struggle
constituted grand theft -- to go into Goodwin's house later seeking
tapes of the incident.
A judge ruled the search warrant evidence was not admissible because the
warrant had been tampered with; an appeals panel ruled it should be allowed.
In the end, the government had to retreat with its tail between its legs.
Reach Cassie MacDuff at (909) 806-3068 or cmacduff@pe.com
The Press-Enterprise
The scales of justice tilted in favor of the little guy over big
government recently in two cases worth celebrating.
A jury last month awarded $750,000 to Avila Construction, almost driven
out of business by San Bernardino City Hall in a dispute over putting in
a water main on the former Norton Air Force Base, saying the city
breached its contract.
Also, a judge last month dismissed assault charges against local
gadflies Jeff Wright and Shirley Goodwin after nearly three years of
court hearings, saying the government stalled too long taking them to trial.
Rick Avila, head of the construction company, may never collect the
three-quarter million-dollar verdict.
The city will ask the judge to set aside the verdict on the basis that
there was no evidence to support it, according to Joseph Arias, the San
Bernardino lawyer who defended the city in the matter.
Failing that, Arias said, he will ask for a new trial on grounds that
Avila's lawyer, Mark Blankenship, unfairly influenced the jury by
ridiculing the city's witnesses and defense lawyer by rolling his eyes,
pointing and other body language.
But Blankenship and Avila told me Monday they feel vindicated since a
jury of 12 randomly chosen citizens saw things their way.
''I will consider it one of high points of my legal career, not because
they came back in my favor but because the truth was found,'' Blankenship
said.
''We just proved in court that we didn't walk off the job,'' Avila said.
Jurors told him afterward that they would have awarded him $1.3 million
but they were afraid the judge would overturn the verdict as too high,
he said.
Avila's firm was hired to install a 2,500-foot water main on the former
air base for $692,000. But when workers began digging, they ran into
uncharted utility lines that would have pushed the cost of the project
up by $300,000.
The city argued that Avila should have gone ahead with the work. Avila
said contracting rules require a change order for work that increases
the cost of a public contract 25 percent or more.
The judge on Monday shaved $50,000 off the award, ruling that Avila
should cover the city's portion of a subcontractor's breach-of-contract
verdict against the city and Avila.
Blankenship and Avila said they think the judge made a mistake, since
Avila would not have breached the subcontractor's contract if the city
hadn't breached his.
Goodwin and Wright, meanwhile, won a 33-month cat fight -- or at least,
a fight over a cat.
They were charged with misdemeanor assault on a peace officer for
struggling with an animal control officer over one of Goodwin's cats
that had been trapped in October 2000.
Forty court appearances and 10 judges later, by Goodwin's count, a court
determined last month that the government violated their rights to a
speedy trial and dismissed the case.
If it had been a straightforward assault case, prosecutors might not
have fumbled it. But San Bernardino police gummed up the works by
getting a bogus search warrant -- alleging that the cat struggle
constituted grand theft -- to go into Goodwin's house later seeking
tapes of the incident.
A judge ruled the search warrant evidence was not admissible because the
warrant had been tampered with; an appeals panel ruled it should be allowed.
In the end, the government had to retreat with its tail between its legs.
Reach Cassie MacDuff at (909) 806-3068 or cmacduff@pe.com
