BELLEVILLE – Virus concerns caused St. Clair County Associate Judge Kevin Hoerner to delay trial on claims that weed killer paraquat caused Parkinson’s disease, for 28 days.
On March 23, he granted a motion of defendants Syngenta, Chevron, and Growmark to continue an April 12 trial date.
He has set it to start May 10.
No judge has held trial in St. Clair County for more than a year.
Defendants moved to stay the paraquat trial or continue it on March 17, warning that trials act as super spreaders of the virus.
Attorney Joseph Orlet of Clayton, Mo. wrote that criminal jury trials are on hold and even relatively minor civil jury trials are on hold.
“Yet this case, with its large number of participants, dozens of witnesses, hundreds of prospective jurors, and logistical and substantive complexity, speeds toward a lengthy trial anyway,” Orlet wrote.
According to the brief, for more than a year, trial participants made personal sacrifices to quarantine and avoid travel for protection of families and communities.
With a possible exception, the closest Syngenta or Chevron witness was 700 miles away, Orlet wrote.
As a super spreader example, he pointed to a civil trial in February in the Eastern District of Texas ended in mistrial when 15 participants tested positive despite masks and distancing.
Orlet wrote that questions remained as to the protocol Hoerner would use.
He wrote that defendants have asked more than a dozen unanswered questions about a protocol, including whether the court will issue one at all.
He wrote that Chevron corporate representative Timothy Patterson, whose testimony is irreplaceable, and in-house counsel Holly Harris, who must direct litigation decisions, both reside in California. They are concerned with risks to themselves and their families.
He wrote that Syngenta has representatives in the United Kingdom including Philip Botham, its representative on more than 20 topics, and a current lockdown bars their travel to the United States.
He wrote that Syngenta would be severely and unfairly compromised if it couldn’t present witnesses like Botham live in court.
“Remote trial attendance by key individuals will handicap and prejudice defendants, violating their due process rights,” he wrote.
“Defendants have a fundamental right to be present at their trial.
“Defendants should not be forced to choose between their constitutional rights and the safety of their key representatives.”
He asked for a conference in May, to set a trial date.
Instead, he got a May trial date.
Hoerner planned to hear all pending motions Wednesday, April 14.
Stephen Tillery of St. Louis represents plaintiffs Carroll Rowan, Jerry Mills, Freemon Schmidt, Betty Schmidt, Ronald Niebrugge, and Mary Niebrugge.
Five of the six don’t live in St. Clair County.
Tillery contributed $11,100 to Hoerner’s unsuccessful campaign for appellate judge in 2018.