A Cass County jury will begin deliberating today on whether taxpayers deserve compensation for an activist's lawsuit or the government's claim for damages is an affront to the First Amendment.
Closing arguments are expected this morning in the trial of John Strand v. Cass County. Strand initiated the case with a 2003 lawsuit that accused county officials of flaunting the law to demolish the old sheriff's residence and jail.
The county seeks to recover from Strand the $39,000 in extra costs it paid a construction company after Strand's lawsuit caused a six-day delay in the demolition. Strand's attorneys say the counterclaim could chill future public activism.
Jurors have heard from 16 witnesses, including former North Dakota Gov. Ed Schafer and former North Dakota Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp.
Heitkamp testified Thursday as an expert witness for Strand, telling jurors how an attorney general opinion is formed and what weight it carries.
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Strand's attorneys contend the county ignored an opinion from Heitkamp's successor, Wayne Stenehjem.
In an April 11, 2003, opinion, Stenehjem told the county the demolition must earn approval by a public vote if it was part of a larger construction project because the total cost would exceed county funds.
But Stenehjem said the determination of whether the projects were separate was a factual question on which he couldn't comment.
Heitkamp said Thursday it was the responsibility of county officials to settle that factual question to ensure they weren't ignoring the opinion.
Under cross-examination, she said she hadn't analyzed the case to decide whether or not the county followed the opinion.
County commissioners Scott Wagner and Vern Bennett testified Thursday that the projects were separate. They said construction plans for a courthouse addition never passed preliminary planning phases.
"They were two separate plans, no question about it," Bennett said.
Architect Rick Hoganson of Foss Associates said his firm never received the county's approval to advance beyond schematic drawings. Those plans wouldn't have provided enough detail to create a dependable cost estimate of the addition, he said.
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Readers can reach Forum reporter Dave Forster at (701) 241-5538
