Pacific Lumber landslide trial date set
January 04, 2001
By John Driscoll
The Times-Standard
A retired Del Norte County judge has set a date for the start of the Stafford slide case, almost exactly four years after the slide occurred, damaging several homes in the town of Stafford.
More importantly, the attorneys for the 33 plaintiffs have challenged two rulings key to defendants made by a Humboldt County Judge who was disqualified from the case after more than a year of proceedings.
The trial has been scheduled to last eight weeks, beginning March 5. Judge Frank Petersen will preside over the complex case that stems from a New Year's Eve 1996 and New Year's Day 1997 landslide that plaintiffs allege was caused by logging and roads built by the Pacific Lumber Co. on the slope behind Stafford.
Plaintiffs are seeking punitive damages and an unspecified award for emotional distress.
Before his disqualification in September, Humboldt County Judge John Feeney made several rulings that were damaging to the plaintiffs' case. He ruled that plaintiffs could not collect for punitive damages and also that evidence could not be presented to show that PL and PL's parent company, Maxxam Inc. of Texas, are a single legal entity.
Feeney also ruled that PL is immune to suit over operations approved by the state, upsetting plaintiffs' contention that PL logging operations caused the slide.
Plaintiffs' attorneys Steven Schectman and William Bertain will challenge the first two rulings which they claim Feeney made from a biased perspective, having worked for a firm that represented PL and co-defendant Barnum Timber Co. years ago.
Bertain said that the immunity ruling -- technically called collateral estoppel -- will probably be challenged at a later date.
PL attorney Edgar B. Washburn said that his firm had received Schectman and Bertain's briefs and is required to file its own by Jan. 12. Petersen will hear oral arguments on Jan. 22 and on Jan 23 if necessary.
Washburn said he feels confident that Feeney's rulings would stick.
"I see no reason to upset them," Washburn said. "But stranger things have happened."
Long-time PL employee and plaintiff James Colgrove, whose home was destroyed by the slide, said he was pleased that a trial date has been set.
"It has been a long time coming," Colgrove said.
State supreme court: Feeney's disqualification stands
January 17, 2001
The Times-Standard
The California Supreme Court has denied a Pacific Lumber Co. bid to keep a Humboldt County judge on a case involving a landslide.
PL had appealed a Mendocino County judge's ruling that Humboldt County Judge John Feeney is biased because his former law firm represented PL years ago, and by his representation of two plaintiffs, also years ago. The appellate court denied PL's request and PL went to the supreme court.
The case is now certain to be heard by retired Del Norte County Judge Frank Petersen, and is scheduled to begin on March 5, eight months after its previously planned date. A pre-trial hearing in which plaintiffs intend to challenge some of Feeney's prior rulings will be held Monday.
The case arises from a New Year's Eve 1996 and New Year's Day 1997 landslide that plaintiffs claim was caused by logging and roads built by the Pacific Lumber Co. on the slope behind the town of Stafford.
The 33 plaintiffs are seeking punitive damages and an unspecified award for emotional distress.
"We're very pleased that the supreme court has cleared the way for the trial to start on March 5," said plaintiffs' attorney William Bertain. "Every level of the state court has upheld (the disqualification) ruling."