Arm Chair Critic?

by Ron West

Ken Sapp and the current majority of the council will stop at nothing to try to discredit Suzette Christopher won’t they. The sarcastic first paragraph of Mr. Sapp’s latest column is quite an example of this. They must truly fear her.

The subject of Mr. Sapp’s criticism related to Ms. Christopher stating her opinion that the Hughes Age Discrimination suit should be settled without further legal appeals. Her point is well taken. In just the last 36 months, George Staples Law Firm has billed the City of NRH (and thereby the citizens) $829,598.33 for legal fees and his bills are not all of our legal expenses. (His firm was not the lead defense council in the Hughes case.)

In the case of the Hughes suit, the Judge found that the city had destroyed the supporting tape to back up the “transcribed” records while knowing that litigation was under way. Without the tape, the “transcribed” records could be edited or altered to meet the city’s needs. While there is no way to know if this happened, based on the city’s actions under the guidance of Mr. Staples, there is certainly some suspicion that it could have happened. Note this is the fourth such documented case of the city destroying or tampering with evidence regarding suits against the city.

Consider too that this judgment against the city was awarded by a jury of our peers who thought the actions of the city were inexcusable. The award was increased over that sought by Mr. Hughes specifically because of actions by our city employees. The city may also be exposed to fines for the sanctions imposed by the Judge for these actions.

Even if “other” age discrimination suits yielded smaller settlements, in the case of NRH, the jury and the judge were attempting to get the attention of city leadership by saying that they are not above the law. Unfortunately the taxpayers in the city actually bear the brunt of illegal actions by city staff.

Citizens are probably not aware that the City (i.e., we taxpayers) are also footing the legal bills with other law firms for Allen Hill, Gregory Crane and Tom Shockley relating to the Troy Davis Wrongful Death lawsuit. In this case, Mr. Staples is not only our paid city attorney, he is the defense attorney for the city. Mr. Staples firm has billed the city $217,617.33 for our “defense” of the Davis case in just the last 36 months prior to 9/21/04. (These billing numbers are taken from the records of billing provided by the city under a freedom of information request.) In this case, the city killed one citizen with a “no knock” warrant that the courts have held was obtained with deliberately and knowingly false information. The city, under Mr. Staples withheld information from the plaintiff that was required to be released. The city attempted to illegally wiretap one of the plaintiff attorneys. The city police were taped being deliberately cruel to the mother of the boy they killed when they told her of his death. The city pursued trumped up drug charges against Barbara Davis that were designed to intimidate her and these same charges are expected to be fully dropped or reversed very soon.

The city leadership should take notes from the jury verdict in the Hughes case and attempt to settle the Davis case. If they don’t, all of us better be prepared for significant tax increases to pay for the sins of the city. If the Davis case goes before a jury and if they hear all of the errors and actions of the city, the jury award will be many times greater than the amount being sought at this time.

Suzette Christopher is right about settling the Hughes case without further legal expense or appeals. Her suggestion is not from a desire to move on, rather, a sense of responsibility for our city government being out of control. It is unfair for the citizens to have to pay the bills for these errors but it is also unfair to continue paying exorbitant legal fees in a lost cause. She is also right about the city needing to heed the message that neither the council, the police nor the city management are above the law.

Maybe the City Council needs to seek other legal advice from sources Mr. Sapp would consider competent since Mr. Staples currently wins even when the city loses. The problem is not with Ms. Christopher – it is where it has been for several years while the council found all of us asleep and we let them get by with unacceptable actions and behavior.