Earth Right Energy and Donald Poe reach agreement on levies and costs

FRONT ROYAL – Attorneys for defendants and the plaintiff in the “Warren EDA” civil suit seeking joint recovery of a total of $17.6 million in allegedly misdirected or embezzled Front Royal-Warren County Economic Development Authority assets faced off on motions arguments Wednesday.

At issue were a slew of defense motions, including but not limited to a request for a Bill of Particulars further specifying individual defendant liability; quashing of levies against defendant assets; suspension of plaintiff discovery; a stay or quashing of the civil case pending resolution of a special grand jury investigation into potential criminal behavior tied to the civil case.

The hearing is scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. Thursday morning, apparently as the Special Grand Jury empaneled to explore potential criminality connected the EDA civil litigation reconvenes across the hall to hear more testimony. Three days of grand jury testimony last week resulted in four felony charges against the pivotal figure in the EDA civil litigation, former EDA Executive Director Jennifer McDonald.

After four days in RSW Regional Jail, including one in the hospital for chest pains, following her Friday, May 24 arrest, McDonald was denied bond as a flight risk in a hearing Tuesday afternoon in the same, smaller Warren County Circuit courtroom in which Wednesday’s motions hearing was heard by Judge Clifford L. Athey Jr.

One result was achieved prior to the hearing’s conclusion. Following the lunch break attorneys for the plaintiff and defendants Earth Right Energy Solar Commercial LLC (ERE) and one of the company’s principals, Donald Poe, announced an agreement on one aspect of the defense filings.

That agreement is that the requested plaintiff levy or freeze on ERE and Poe assets will be dismissed and the company and Poe will carry the burden of their own legal costs and fees. Following the afternoon adjournment Sands-Anderson attorney Cullen Seltzer, representing the EDA, declined comment on how that agreement had been reached. Poe, who was accompanied by his wife, was the lone defendant present for the hearing. They left with their attorneys following court acceptance of the agreement.

The hearing began shortly after 9:30 a.m. and was adjourned at 4:17 p.m. with only one witness having testified. That witness was Warren County and EDA Attorney Dan Whitten. The bulk of the nearly two hours of afternoon testimony was comprised of Jennifer McDonald attorney Jay McDannell’s cross-examination of Whitten.

Through a recounting of the content of various plaintiff exhibits by Whitten, McDannell attempted to show that while Whitten as EDA attorney may not have been aware of certain contractual or real estate transactions undertaken by McDonald in her role as EDA executive director, certain members of the EDA board including its various chairs in recent years, past Treasurer William Biggs and Whitten’s predecessor Blair Mitchell may well have been.

Testimony from former EDA Board of Directors Chairman and Vice-Chairman Greg Drescher may kick off Thursday’s hearing. Drescher was present outside the courtroom waiting to testify most of Thursday afternoon and during part of the morning session.

Drescher is also Superintendent of Warren County Public Schools.  A contract alleged to be improper and unapproved by the EDA board or public school administration for installation of solar panels on county public schools by Earth Right Energy is part of the plaintiff complaint against the defendants. Drescher should have an interesting perspective on that contract from both sides of the equation.

As he was closing shop for the day, Athey asked McDannell if he needed his client transported from RSW Jail to testify Thursday. McDonald’s attorney said he would meet with his client following adjournment of Wednesday’s hearing, but added he did not anticipate that would be necessary.

See more on the motions hearing and the court ruling on those motions anticipated Thursday in an upcoming Royal Examiner story.