Ivanpah suit jury said to be tainted

Stephen Curran

Tuesday, July 12, 2005 | 10:55 a.m.

The businessman who last month lost a lawsuit alleging the Clark County Aviation Department stole his ideas for an airport in the Ivanpah Valley is claiming his case should be reconsidered because the jury was tainted.

Lawyers for Raymond Young, who claimed the county stole ideas from within a feasibility study on the proposed airport, last week filed a motion alleging juror Georgia Smedley did not tell court officials of her background in airport accounting and operations and tried to improperly influence other jurors.

The jury last month ruled 7-1 in favor of the county, saying Young was not entitled to any reimbursement for the study.

Smedley, a UNLV assistant accounting professor, presented a seminar to the Association of Airport Internal Auditors hosted by McCarran International Airport in 2003, but she indicated on a standard jury questionnaire that she had no experience in air transportation, airports or air cargo, according to the motion filed by attorney J. Randall Jones.

"Unfortunately, Juror Smedley failed to indicate on her questionnaire that, in fact, she previous had interaction with not just any Clark County agency, but the very agency that was the subject of this litigation," Jones wrote in the motion.

A receptionist at UNLV's accounting department said Smedley was not answering calls from reporters, and messages left on her voice-mail were not returned this morning. A direct phone line listed on Smedley's resume and Web site was disconnected.

Jones and co-counsel William Coulthard were unavailable for comment this morning.

An affidavit filed by Jones states Smedley, 50, tried to lobby juror Nina Starcovic and alternates Thomas Lilley and Kirsten Bourque during the trial, violating explicit instructions not to discuss the case with other jurors until both sides rested. Smedley then persuaded jurors, who initially voted 6-2 in Young's favor, to rule for the county, according to the court filing.

Attorney Peter Bernhard, who successfully defended the county in the suit, declined to comment on the pending litigation other than to say the county plans to fight the motion. McCarran spokeswoman Elaine Sanchez said she had not read the motion and was unable to comment.

A June 17 e-mail Smedley allegedly sent Bourque states Starcovic was ultimately the lone vote in Young's favor. Lilley and Bourque contacted Jones on June 17, the day after the ruling in favor of the county was rendered.

"It came out 2-6 in favor of Ray Young," Smedley wrote in the e-mail. "I guess had we not stipulated that the vote was not to be taken as official -- just an initial assessment of where everyone sort of stood -- we would not have even gotten that nice lunch the county bought us.

" ... The final vote was 7-1 with Nina (Starcovic) believing Bill (Coulthard) was too cute and and Ray (Young) to(o) little and hurt to not find in their favor."

In a separate affadavit, Starcovic stated Smedley told her during the trial that she did not believe Young should be awarded any more money from the county.

Starcovic later stated she was "concerned about these (Smedley's) comments, but did not respond," according to the document.

Young's firm, Hamilton Nevada LLC, sued the county in June 2002 for unjust enrichment, breach of contract, intentional and negligent representation. Young, a Princeton-educated engineer and businessman, claimed a disastrous meeting with Aviation Director Randy Walker four years ago cost him the potentially lucrative consulting deal and his reputation among would-be investors in the public-private partnership.

District Judge Mark Denton dismissed all but one claim -- that of unjust enrichment -- in October. He is expected to weigh the new claims on Aug. 8.