Henderson v. Croom
Henderson v. Croom
Opinion of the Court
MEMORANDUM OPINION
The court has before it various motions requesting dissolution of the judgments entered in this ease. The court has been bombarded with motions, amendments, materials supporting the motions, and supplemental materials supporting amended motions. It has patiently listened to several hours of post-trial arguments by counsel representing various parties. There have been allegations of perjury and collusion. However, nothing presented to this court has demanded repudiation of any portion of the jury verdict.
Many issues raised by the motions require no comment. The court has considered each issue raised and has found nothing which it believes would
The movants charge that certain parties and witnesses lied at the trial of this cause. While movants characterize certain post-trial statements as admissions of perjury, this court cannot agree. Each charged party has responded, and the court is convinced no perjury occurred. Both Mr. Henderson and Mr. Croom appear to this court (as apparently they did to the jury) to be honest men. The court has studied the conversation between Mr. Croom and Mr. Rodano, recorded by means of hidden tape recorder, and finds no contradiction in Mr. Croom’s statements. The alleged contradictions refer to responses by Mr. Croom to multifarious questions, which he responded to in part. Mr. Croom impresses this court as completely honest. He has been very sick and shows it. It is Mr. Croom’s manner to ramble somewhat when responding to a question, but if his responses are .applied to the last part of each of Mr. Rodano’s questions or statements in each instance, no inconsistency appears. This court is bound to reconcile the evidence, and viewing the recorded conversation in the proper perspective does reconcile the evidence as showing no admission of perjury by Croom.
Other evidence was offered in an attempt to impeach Mr. Croom. The court does not view this evidence, nor the evidence directed at the Sentry verdict, as newly discovered evidence within the meaning of the rules. Opportunities for discovery of these matters existed prior to trial. At best this evidence is merely cumulative in nature.
The jury that decided this case, assisted by wise and able counsel for all parties, sorted through the issues and evidence presented. After thoughtful deliberation they arrived at their conclusions of the truth of this matter. This court finds no reason to violate the sanctity of the jury’s product. The court heard on post-trial motions many of the same witnesses the jury heard. The court credits the testimony of the same witnesses credited by the jury and discredits those the jury chose not to believe on the trial. The only new witness not heard at the trial was Mrs. Dempsey. Her account is not discredited but has been adequately explained by Henderson’s testimony, which the court credits.
For these reasons all pending motions will be denied.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Hoyt E. HENDERSON v. Allen V. CROOM
- Status
- Published