MOORE’S MUSINGS
By John Moore
A semi-monthly feature, exclusive to NCRA News, from NCRA general counsel and board member John Moore, concerning recent legal decisions relating in some manner to wasting and Zero Waste.
RECOLOGY WILL GET NEW CRV TRIAL
On June 17, 2014, a San Francisco jury found that Recology made a false claim for CRV funds to the City and County of San Francisco and owed it $1,366,938.45. In a new twist to the case, on October 30, 2014, Judge James McBride of the Superior Court in San Francisco, who presided over the trial, vacated the jury verdict in granting Recology’s motion for new trial.
Judge McBride ruled that there was insufficient evidence to support the jury verdict and explained that “[t]he claim required proof that some City money was part of the Diversion Incentive Account from which the false claim was paid. No such evidence was presented at trial nor was there any evidence presented from which a reasonable inference that the account included City money could be drawn.”
NCRA News attempted without success to obtain the court filings on this motion from plaintiff Brian McVeigh’s counsel. They are not available online. This author, having not observed the trial or being familiar with the evidence can offer no opinion on the result. As one who has tried many civil cases, it is very unusual for a judge to vacate a jury verdict.