The
next available court term is in December, Russell Johnson,
9th Judicial District attorney general, said.
“We were wanting our case set for trial, even though the two
sides have not yet engaged in ‘discovery’ and Hurley has not
yet answered our original petition,” Johnson said in an
email correspondence. “We wanted it set to have a date to
work toward trial in order that we could push to have our
petition answered, discovery started and concluded, before
the trial date and to get this issue resolved by a trial in
front of the chancellor in December.”
The sides were not
able to decide on a trial, he said.
“We are trying to
get Hurley and her attorney to agree to have a hearing
on putting down an order from our last hearing on Sept.
17 and for the chancellor to give us a scheduling order
— an order stating here is the date you are to have
discovery completed, here is a date you are to have all
pre-trial motions filed by, here is a date when we will
hear those motions argued, here is a date by which you
will provide your witness list for trial, etc.,” Johnson
said.
The chancellor has
asked both sides to come back before him Thursday
concerning motions by T. Scott Jones, Hurley’s attorney,
for dismissal and to disqualify Johnson as a legal
representative. Jones filed the motions in April that
Williams first reviewed in July.
Jones argued in
July the case was “improperly filed” because Loudon
County Commission Chairman Henry Cullen cannot act as
principal and surety. Williams ordered another person
sign the bond. He also rejected Jones’ motion to
disqualify Johnson.
Jones’ assistant
was at the docket sounding.
“I’m not adverse
to a trial date, I just simply will not be pushed into a
trial date that is expedient but favorable for the
opposing side when I’ve not done due diligence in what I
need to do to prepare,” Jones said. “I thought I made
that clear when I filed that discovery.
“I think you’ll
note that my discovery has still not been responded to,
albeit they were given and we agreed filing that not
this hearing ... but the one before that where the
chancellor made the ruling that they would respond to
that in time,” he added. “Obviously, we will expound
upon that, we will do that, we’ll take depositions of
everyone, we will obtain their text messages, we will
explore their version of the Sunshine Law, particularly
the fact that the communication between one or more
commissioners relative to Ms. Hurley. I suspect that
we’re getting ready to open Pandora’s box.”
Jones
confirmed Hurley has put the property in Loudon
County’s fifth district back on the market and
that the renter has moved out of the property on
West 5th Avenue in the second district. He has
emphasized the move was only temporary and that
Hurley would return after “turning a piece of
real estate.”
“I guess
to a certain extent that opinion’s always up to
the chancellor, but it moots the arguments that
have been propagated of other members of
commission — particularly Van Shaver and the
general relative to it,” Jones said. “I mean it
is indicative of the fact that that was what she
intended to do all along. So I don’t know that
it renders the entire litigation null, but it
certainly doesn’t help the state’s case.”