Kanawha County Circuit Court Judge Joanna Tabit on Wednesday called off proceedings in a civil trial involving a maintenance worker at the Beni Kedem Temple and current and former Shriners after she said attorneys in the case didn't properly prepare jury instructions ahead of upcoming deliberation.
Saying the lack of agreed-upon instructions was "unacceptable for a lot of reasons," Tabit ended proceedings at the Kanawha County Courthouse at about 11:30 a.m., sent jurors home and instructed attorneys John Alderman and Tony Shepherd to spend the rest of the day working out the details of the instructions, which she said would need to be available when her court proceedings reconvened at 9 a.m. Thursday. Wednesday was the second day of the trial that was expected to take only two or three days, and the case otherwise had proceeded at a pace at which it was expected.
Plaintiff Mark Mullins is a maintenance worker at the Beni Kedem Temple at 100 Quarrier Street, and he said he suffered damage to his reputation and well being through the efforts of the defendants, Beni Kedem member Martin Castleberry and former member Denver "Skip" King, when the men involved him in an ongoing conflict between King and Thomas Black, recorder for Beni Kedem in Charleston, in 2012 and 2013.
During the first day of the trial, Tabit had expressed some concerns about the unclear jury instructions, and she planned with attorneys to clear up the instructions Wednesday morning.
As Tabit heard arguments from Alderman and Shepherd Wednesday, she increasingly expressed concern about what she said was the lack of research on case law to support the attorneys' claims.
Tabit declared recess while she left the courtroom to do her own case law research and told the attorneys they weren't giving her the information she needed to do her job on a day when she didn't have a law clerk to assist her.
"I've been doing what you guys should have been doing," Tabit said. "I would suggest to you the next time you come in here and try a case -- in my scheduling order it says I want my jury instructions ahead of time. I want you all to exchange them, and I--just don't do that again. Don't come in here like that again. It wastes this jury's time."
After completing her own research and hearing more arguments from Alderman and Shepherd, Tabit ruled jury members would consider whether the defendants committed libel, slander, assault, false light, false imprisonment and civil conspiracy against Mullins.
After making that determination, Tabit brought jurors into the courtroom to let them know they would be dismissed. Prior to their dismissal, jurors also heard about 13 minutes of testimony and were presented with evidence about phone calls between Mullins and King on Friday, October 25, 2013, and Saturday, October 26, 2013.
Tabit told attorneys she expected to wrap up the case Thursday.
Members of the jury will have to determine whether King and Castleberry committed a civil conspiracy by attempting to mislead or otherwise commit illegal acts using Mullins in order to achieve a particular outcome, in this case in bringing a claim against Black with what Mullins's attorney, John Alderman, said was an attempt to retaliate against Black after King was expelled from the organization in October 2013. King and Black had a verbal altercation in 2012, which led to ongoing conflict between the two men for at least a year leading up to the incidents at issue in Mullins's case.
Part of the case includes an incident on Oct. 25, 2013, in which Mullins said he was contacted by King at about 6:30 p.m. to unlock an office at the Beni Kedem Temple at 100 Quarrier Street in Charleston.
King and Mullins testified King was trying to get into an office occupied by Black and other temple officials, and King asked Mullins for a key. When Mullins said he didn't have the key, he said King began shouting at him, getting close to his face and aggressively pointing at him to the point that he had to dodge King's hand to avoid being poked in the eye.
In considering the points of defamation, jury members will have to consider whether King and Castleberry committed libel and slander against Mullins in regard to a statement Mullins gave to them during a meeting among the men on Oct. 26, 2013. They will also have to determine whether Castleberry and King falsely imprisoned Mullins while the statement was taken and whether they represented Mullins in a false light by forcing him to give the statement, which Mullins said was coerced, and sharing that statement with other members of the temple.
During his testimony Tuesday, Mullins said King contacted him that day and asked to meet with him to discuss the fact that Mullins had posted in the temple notices indicating King had been expelled from the organization.
Mullins said King threatened his job if he didn't meet with him. Mullins and King met at McDonald's in Kanawha City, where King allegedly took Mullins' mobile phone and put it in his center console before taking Mullins to Larry Kopelman's law office in Charleston, Mullins said during testimony Tuesday.
King and Castleberry testified Mullins called King and said he needed to get some things off of his chest regarding Black. King said he and Mullins met at a Go Mart before traveling to Kopelman's office, and he said he said never took Mullins's phone.
Two West Virginia State Troopers were stationed on either side of the entrance the men took into the law office, Mullins said in his testimony. During their testimonies Tuesday, King and Castleberry said no state troopers were present at the law office. Mullins previously was unable to identify the troopers when presented with a directory of state troopers during the discovery portion of the case, according to Shepherd, the defendants' attorney.
In testimony Tuesday, Kopelman said Castleberry contacted him a couple of days prior to the meeting and asked to use his law office. All parties testified Kopelman was not present while the statement was recorded using dictation equipment at his office.
Sonya Springsteen, Kopelman's administrative assistant in 2013, on Tuesday said she transcribed the statement, which Mullins signed the following Monday, Oct. 28. King said he shared the statement with the Beni Kedem Illustrious Potentate Larry Bolling, but Mullins said the statement, which he said contained false and coerced statements, was shared with other Beni Kedem members.
Mullins said the sharing of the statement has led to Beni Kedem Shriners no longer trusting him, making it difficult for him to do his job.
Tabit ruled Wednesday the jury at least could consider punitive damages and damages for emotional distress and Mullins's reputation, and other details of the potential award would be determined Thursday.
Reach Lacie Pierson at lacie.pierson@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @LaciePierson on Twitter.