Attorney accused of lying in $10 mil wrongful death case

A prominent Charlottesville attorney has been accused of lying to the court and intentionally withholding evidence in relation to a wrongful death case.

Attorneys representing Allied Concrete Co. and William Donald Sprouse filed documents on July 5 in the Charlottesville Circuit Court Clerk’s Office that question whether the roughly $10.6 million verdict can stand from December’s trial in the case of Isaiah Lester against Allied and Sprouse in light of the alleged actions of Lester and former Allen, Allen, Allen & Allen attorney Matthew B. Murray.

Murray, Murray’s attorney and Lester’s attorney didn’t return calls for comment on this story. Douglas A. Barry, president of Allen & Allen, confirmed Thursday that Murray resigned on July 6. Barry said Murray, who is the immediate past president of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association, had retired and had stated that he was no longer going to practice law.

According to the Virginia State Bar, Murray was an active member in good standing as of Thursday. Although complaints filed with the bar are private, public discipline as a result of an investigation into a complaint is public. Murray was not listed as being publicly disciplined as of Thursday.

The lawsuit between Lester and Allied was filed after an accident on Route 53 in June 2007 that killed 25-year-old Jessica Lester. Sprouse, an Allied employee, was driving a cement truck that collided with the couple’s Honda Accord. Jessica Lester died from her injuries later that month. In December, a Charlottesville jury awarded about $10.6 million plus interest to the Lesters.

According to the court filings, defense attorneys saw a picture of Isaiah Lester on his Facebook page in 2009 in which he was holding a can of beer and wearing a garter belt on his head and a “I [love] hot moms” T-shirt. The documents said the attorneys later requested other pictures and screen shots from Lester’s Facebook account.

The day after that request, the court documents said, Murray directed paralegal Marlina Smith to tell Lester that some of the pictures on his Facebook page should be deleted. In April 2009, the filings said, Lester told Smith that he deleted his Facebook page. Murray is accused of writing a letter that month that said Lester didn’t have a Facebook account on two separate dates when he did have an account, court records said.

Barry confirmed Thursday that Smith still is a paralegal with Allen & Allen.

The court filings accused Murray of deliberately withholding an email that he called the “Stink Bomb” from the court, an email which he said during a deposition that would have caused a continuance days before trial.

“The Stink Bomb showed that the Allen Firm had instructed Lester to delete photographs, completely contrary to every position the Allen Firm had taken in denial of such actions up to the trial,” the court filing said.

According to the court filing, the “Stink Bomb” email was provided to the court days after the trial.

Murray also was accused in the court documents of not disclosing a prior business relationship with jury foreperson Amanda Hoy, who is the former executive director of Meals on Wheels of Charlottesville. According to the court documents, Murray and Allen & Allen made personal financial contributions to the organization, his family had volunteered there and the two organizations had been in a “partnership” together.

The court documents accuse Lester of lying about the deletion of pictures from his Facebook account, his mental health history and organizations with which he had volunteered.

Attorneys for Allied and Sprouse made several suggestions of how to handle the matter:

l Dismiss Lester’s claim and enter judgment for Allied and Sprouse as a sanction against Murray and Lester.

l Dismiss Lester’s claim, set aside the verdict, set a new trial with limits on Lester’s recoverable damages and prevent Murray or Allen & Allen from representing Lester.

l Or lower the amount of damages to $2.2 million or $1.1 million while prohibiting Murray or Allen & Allen from recovering a contingent fee from the reduced award.

A hearing has been set in the case for Sept. 23.