All sides in sewage suit agree to try mediation
Posted on Monday, September 17, 2007
All sides in a lawsuit over raw sewage dumped on a Fayetteville woman’s property over several years plan to conduct a mediation session Friday.
Fourth Circuit Judge Mary Ann Gunn Friday directed parties involved in the suit, which includes the city of Fayetteville, to meet with a mediator in an attempt to resolve the suit’s issues.
Jeanny Romine is suing the city of Fayetteville, as well as her neighbors and the city’s water and sewer director, David Jurgens, over actions or inactions surrounding raw sewage that was dumped onto Romine’s property on Trenton Boulevard. She filed suit in 2005.
The mediation discussion took place during a pre-trial hearing in Gunn’s court on Friday. Lawyers for all parties were present for the hearing, which involved several pretrial motions over admissibility of evidence and testimony.
Gunn directed City Attorney Kit Williams to make sure there is a staff member from the city of Fayetteville present at the mediation session who is “ up to speed” on the issues in the case.
Barring a mediation settlement, the trial is set for Sept. 25, while Gunn has also set another hearing for Sept. 24 to conduct a hearing on what are termed Daubert motions for three of the plaintiff ’s expert witnesses.
Daubert motions are raised before or during trial, to exclude the presentation of unqualified evidence to the jury. They usually are used to exclude the testimony of an expert witness who has insufficient expertise or used questionable methods to obtain information.
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