Lambert found liable to EDA for $183,562 in compensatory and punitive damages

After hearing an hour-and-45 minutes of direct and cross-examination of defendant William Lambert, as well as two hours of combined closing arguments by plaintiff and defense counsel Wednesday, July 20, a seven-person Warren County Circuit Court civil case jury took less than an hour, 45 minutes to be precise, to reach a verdict in Lambert’s civil liability case related to the “Warren Economic Development Authority” (EDA, WC EDA, FR-WC EDA) financial scandal.

That verdict was for the plaintiff EDA on all five claims of Fraud, Conversion, Conspiracy, Unjust Enrichment, and Ultra Vires; the latter, as regular readers now know after three EDA civil liability trials this month, a legal term for a public or business official overstepping their legal authority. The EDA was seeking $345,000 in compensatory damages, the total amount moved out of an EDA credit line account by former EDA Executive Director Jennifer McDonald in a 2014-15 home purchase and sale in which Lambert acted as a straw man in the purchase and sale of the 400 Craig Drive, Stephens City parcel. Two past EDA officials, former Administrative Assistant Gretchen Henderson and past board member Ron Llewellyn, both testified that there was no record of and no vote by the EDA Board of Directors to approve EDA involvement in the Stephens City home sale.

It continues to be a busy week at the WC Courthouse as the EDA civil liability cases roll toward a conclusion with a scheduled 6-day trial following Thursday’s jury selection in the EDA vs. ‘Curt’ Tran and ITFederal $9-million compensatory damages case.

However, the jury awarded the EDA only $11,062.49 in compensatory damages. That was the total amount of three payments made directly to Lambert during the August 2014 to February 2015 purchase and resale of the Stephens City property done in his name as the initial purchaser and then owner-seller. Plaintiff attorney Cullen Seltzer pointed out that that purchase was made in Lambert’s name in 2014 for $320,000 and sold six months later for $270,000, a $50,000 loss.

“Who doesn’t care about a $50,000 loss in six months,” Seltzer asked rhetorically in closing arguments, suggesting an answer to the jury – someone consciously involved in a fraudulent transaction. During his testimony beginning shortly after 9:00 a.m. Wednesday morning, Lambert said his then-girlfriend, Kathy Butler, Jennifer McDonald’s sister, brought the proposition on the use of his name in her sister’s home sale transaction to him as an effort by McDonald to help an old college friend, Michele Bower, and her husband, sell a home she and her husband were “saddled with” after purchasing a home in Rockland in Warren County.

Lambert denied any knowledge that something untoward might be transpiring with McDonald illegally accessing EDA assets. However, as juries have been in the two earlier cases this month against defendants April Petty and Donald Poe, this jury appears to have found the paper trail presented by the plaintiff counsel convincing enough for a finding of liability. And with that finding, the jury imposed punitive damages of $172,500, particular to the claim of statutory conspiracy.

Following Judge Bruce D. Albertsons’ polling of the jury to determine a unanimous consensus and their dismissal by the court with thanks for their two days of attention and work, defense counsel Philip Griffin II told the court he would file a motion to set aside the verdict, particularly as to the punitive claim of statutory conspiracy and fraud. Griffin said he felt there had been no hard evidence presented indicating defendant’s actions related to “ill will, hatred, or spite,” as stated in the statute.

In fact, speaking to the media outside the courtroom, Griffin pointed to his client, noting he had previously had virtually no relationship with the EDA other than cutting some trees down on properties for them. During his time on the stand, Lambert noted one of his jobs was as a “logger.”

William Lambert photo from Facebook page

As he has in the earlier EDA civil liability trials, Judge Albertson set a time frame for motions related to setting the verdict aside. This one was for a 30/30/10-day turnaround, with 30 days for the defense motion filing, 30 days for a plaintiff response, and 10 days for filing of any additional material.

And next comes jury selection Thursday in the EDA versus Truc “Curt” Tran and ITFederal case, with that civil liability trial involving a compensatory claim of around $9 million slated to begin Friday morning, July 22, and continue through the following week.