Jurors see footage of sewage flowing through Romine’s yard
Posted on Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Jurors watched video recordings of raw sewage flowing through the yard and down the driveway of Jeanny Romine’s Fayetteville home during the first day of a four-day trial.
The sewage then flowed into the city’s storm drain system and eventually into nearby Skull Creek, located across the street in front of Romine’s home at 11 W. Trenton Blvd., witnesses said.
The sewage seeped underneath a retaining wall behind Romine’s house and prompted mold growth in the house. The odor problems were so bad that Romine closed the windows in her house, which does not have air conditioning, witnesses said.
Romine’s lawsuit against the city of Fayetteville seeks damages for inverse condemnation, claiming her prop- erty has been irreparably harmed because of these sewage spills.
She first reported the problem to the city in 1998, when the city offered to repair the leaky line if she would sell part of her property as an easement. She refused. The problem was fixed in 2005 after Romine filed her lawsuit and the city forced the two uphill property owners to connect the sewer main in front of their houses.
Romine testified that her home is worth $ 5 million to her. She said it’s worth that much to her because she is blind and from her house she knows how to get to the grocery store, church, Dickson Street and other places.
“ What are your legs worth to you ? ” she asked.
She is also suing the owners of two uphill residences — Mark Risk and David and Andrea Fourtnet — seeking damages on claims of trespass, nuisance and negligence, alleging the sewage from their homes spilled onto her property.
Attorneys for both property owners denied that their clients were at fault because they were told by Romine not to do anything to fix the problem because Romine was dealing with the city.
The jury first watched a video recording of a news broadcast in late 2004, but did not hear the audio recording because defense witnesses objected that it was prejudicial.
James Mike Duncan, a television reporter for KNWA in 2004, testified that Mayor Dan Coody tried to talk him out of airing the story about sewer spills on Romine’s property. Coody painted Romine as “ an eccentric ” and said he did not think the story had much merit, Duncan testified.
The second video the jury watched was recorded in June 2005 by Romine’s daughter, Chelsea Lacey, who lived in the house until 2004. She testified that black and green mold has infested a back bedroom in the house. Judge denies mistrial Clearly frustrated after making several objections during Romine’s testimony, Don Taylor, an attorney for the city, made a motion for a mistrial, which was denied by 4 th Judicial Circuit Judge Mary Ann Gunn. Taylor argued that several open-ended questions by defense attorney Westbrook Doss and nonresponsive answers by Romine had prejudiced the jury and would make it impossible to get a fair trial. After an objection by Taylor, Romine continued testifying and accused city workers of “ destroying evidence, ” he said. Taylor also noted that Romine had valued her property at $ 5 million, even though an appraiser she hired claims it was worth $ 150, 000 before it was damaged by sewer spills. The law requires compensation based on fair market value, he said. “ These are all bells that can’t be unrung, ” Taylor said.
City offered to help The city tried to fix the problem in 1998, but Romine refused to sell the city an easement so workers could repair the leaky sewer line that crossed Romine’s backyard, City Attorney Kit Williams said. The city planned to spend about $ 10, 000 putting a plastic sleeve inside the existing sewer line and install a shallow manhole on Romine’s property to stop the leaks that were caused by tree roots growing into the gaps of the clay sewer pipes, he said. Romine said she refused to sign the easement because the city’s offer for the easement was “ literally plucked from the air” and not based on the fair market value of the property. She had asked the city to get an appraisal. She also asked the neighbors she later sued to help pay for an appraisal because she could not afford one, she testified. Romine testified that the city’s offer was a “ take it or leave it” deal that she thought was unfair. Williams told jurors during opening remarks that Romine never once proposed a counteroffer or said what price she would agree to accept for the easement. “ The city’s hands were tied by Mrs. Romine’s stubborn refusal, ” Williams said. The city and Romine disagree over whether the sewer line in her backyard was public or private. Williams claims city officials believed the line to be private because they could not find any city records showing the line was public or that the city had an easement. Williams said the city offered to fix it, even though they thought it was a private line. He told jurors that Romine must show that the city received a public benefit from the alleged inverse condemnation. “ There was no benefit in allowing sewage to overflow, ” he said.
Not taken seriously Doss told jurors during opening remarks that the city never took his client seriously and did not respect her, that she was easy to ignore, and that city employees were not afraid of her. “ If it had been somebody else, they might have taken care of it. They might have done their job, ” Doss said. “ This is a big mess. It should have never happened. ” The neighbors said this is the city’s problem, while the city said it’s not its problem — it’s between you and the neighbors, Doss said.
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