City of San Diego Earns Brief Reprieve From Developer's Verdict
The US Supreme Court predictably refused to review a California Court of Appeals' ruling throwing out the bulk of a San Diego jury's verdict awarding developer Rocky de la Fuente $95 Million after the City of San Diego breached a development agreement and took steps to devalue the land upon which it was to built.
A Superior Court jury initially awarded De La Fuente $95 million in his dispute with the city over development of a 312-acre business park near the international border. With legal fees and interest, the potential payment by the city could have reached $150 million.The developer had sued, alleging the city breached a development agreement he had over the park, and took a series of steps that devalued his land. Soon after the verdict, a judge threw out a portion of the verdict awarding $29.2 million over violations of the development agreement, but let the bulk of the award stand.
The city quickly hired outside lawyers to pursue the appeal. In June 2006, the 4th District Court of Appeal in Riverside overturned the rest of the case, concluding there was insufficient evidence to support the jury verdict. The state Supreme Court upheld that ruling.
The city is not quite out of the woods, however. A retrial on the $29 million claim over the reach of the development agreement still looms.
Didn't hear about this last week? Not surprising. The media loves to trumpet big verdicts, but doesn't mention when those big verdicts are reduced (see the Ford roll-over verdict below).
