Posted on 09/13/2002 6:51:31 AM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
Bill Simon’s stumbling campaign for California governor is back on track thanks to a judge who reversed a jury verdict that had unjustly saddled him with an enormous financial penalty for something the judge said he hadn’t done. A California judge reversed a $79 million jury award against Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon, saying that it was Simon’s firm that was defrauded, and not the plaintiff who sued him.
The decision validated Simon’s prediction that the verdict, which he had described as "crazy" and "fundamentally flawed," would not withstand judicial scrutiny.
It also cut the legs out from under Gov. Gray Davis’ advertising blitzkrieg, which has been using the verdict to counter Simon’s claim to be the kind of efficient business executive the financially troubled state needs.
"We're very pleased with the court's decision today and now it's time to move on with this election and talk about the issues," Simon spokesman Mark Miner told the Associated Press. "Gray Davis has nothing more to hide behind."
Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant not only tossed out both the huge compensatory and punitive damages verdict against William E. Simon & Sons and a nearly $20 million verdict also levied by a jury against another investor group involved with Simon’s firm, but also awarded the investors $125,000 to cover their costs for fighting the charges.
In July, a Los Angeles jury awarded the verdicts to Edward Paul Hindelang of Santa Barbara, a convicted marijuana smuggler who founded Pacific Coin, a Van Nuys pay phone company in which Simon's firm had invested.
Judge Chalfant found, to the contrary, that it was "an immutable fact established by overwhelming evidence that Hindelang defrauded" Simon’s firm and the other investors by failing to disclose his criminal convictions, his negotiations with federal authorities to forfeit drug proceeds, and the fact that Pacific Coin may have been founded with drug money.
The investors "never would have invested $26 million in Pacific Coin had they known the truth," he wrote.
The jury verdict threw the Simon campaign in a tailspin, and California’s liberal press jumped on the story and all but wrote off Simon’s chances of beating the heartily despised Davis, whose attack ad exploiting the now-discredited issue remained on the air Thursday morning.
The media reaction to the original verdict was described by columnist Fernando Oaxaca, writing in his Oaxaca Journal on Aug. 12, 2002.
The Sacramento Bee led off, he wrote, with this obituary: "But word Wednesday that a Los Angeles jury found Simon's family business liable for fraud left Republican activists contemplating the possibility that California's race for governor could be essentially over more than three months before anyone casts a ballot."
Another Sacramento Bee reporter added, "News of the jury's decision dealt a major blow to the Simon campaign, which has been struggling to defend Simon's business record amid a barrage of attack television ads from Davis." This despite the fact that only days before, the Bee had published an article pointing out inaccuracies and untruths in Davis¹ ads!
The same day the Contra Costa Times wrote: "Davis' campaign spokesman, Roger Salazar, ... said the verdict showed Simon 'guilty of massive fraud.'
Davis' press hit man, Salazar, moving to another obviously expectant paper, said on the same day: "Bill Simon can't hide from the fact that 12 Californians have found him guilty of massive fraud. I think the picture is starting to become pretty clear ... his bottom line is how much money he can get into the bottom of his pocket."
State Democratic Chairman Art Torres called Simon "a fraud and cheat" and a "swindler."
On Friday, Aug. 2, Gov. Davis charged: "He says he's proud of his business ethics. Well, at least a jury of 12 takes a different view."
Salazar again: "12 Californians took the word of a convicted drug smuggler over the word of the Republican nominee for governor." An outraged Oaxaca wrote: "And so it has continued, for another week, so far. Repeatedly, one saw the same tone of phrases and words, the pointed and snide editorializing, the bald attempts to elicit, clearly as cover, relevant comments from 'Republican strategists,' 'prominent Republican official,' 'Republican spokesman,' etc., etc." NewsMax.com readers shouldn’t be surprised at the judge's decision to reverse the jury award. In an Aug. 12, 2002, story, "L.A. Times Ignored Evidence That Vindicated Simon in Fraud Case," we wrote that Judge Chalfant agreed with William E. Simon & Sons and the other cross-defendants before trial that there was no basis for this fraud allegation.
It should be noted that Davis' $16 mil ad blitz has not helped his numbers at all. Simon is still statistically tied in this race, and that was before yesterday's reversal. And, from my seat way out here in VA, the ruling does seem to be getting a lot of headlines.
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