Imperial Valley press., 1921-01-05
LIGHTS
GALORE IN
T|LTS IN
COURT
First Technical Point Is De-
cided in Favor of tho
Plaintiff; Three AttOr-
neys to Act for County,
Two for Contractors.

The first point arising in the case
Of A. F. WOOdman versus the men,
hers of the board of supervisors, the
Patterson, Dillon & Peterson ccm-
pany, the highway commission and
a number of county officials, involv-
ing the validity of the contract
awarded for the construction of the
Imperial county highways, being
heard in department two of the Su-
peri0r court, Judge Curtis of San
Bcrnardino presiding, was granted
in favor of the plaintiffs by Judge
Curtis, following a legal battle be-
tween Joseph f. Seymour and E. X. /,
Young, attorneys for the plaintiffs
and kOss T. HickcOx and District
Attorney E. X. Simon, representing
the defendants i'm the action.
The question was concerning the
motion to show cause granted by
Judge Swing, which according to At
torney Hickcox should have been
heard before the opening of the trial
on its merits. Judge Curtis held, on
the other hand, that owing to the fact
that an early date had been secured
for trial it was not necessary tina:
the motion to show cause be heard
1t was whispered in court house cir
cles this morning that it was the in
tentiOn of the defendants to make an
issue of the injunction proceedings
and when Judge Curtis threw the mo-
tlon to show cause in the background
the attorneys for the defendants were
nonplussed for the moment.
. Several of the leading attorneys in
the county are employed in the action.
Assisting Joseph Seymour is Attorney
=. X. Young of Los Angeles. Appear
ing for the county are District Attor-
ney E. r. Simon, Dorsey Whitelaw
AMI Charles E. Scott. Ross T. Hick-
cox and j. Stewart Ross are represent
ing the firm of Peterson, Patterson
and Dillon, contractors who were
awarded the contract for the con-
struction of the Imperial county roads.
A barrage of legal authority was
laid before the court. District Attor-
ney Simon entered the court room at
10 o'clock sharp carrying more than
dozen law books which are to be
used in citing authority in previous
cases relative to the present one. Sta
tistics which have been on file in the
county clerks office for nearly
year was brought to the court room
and will be used before the case is
brought to close.
At the request Of Judge Curtis the
original complaint filed by the attor-
ney for the plaintiff was read by Mr..
Seymour. More than an hour and a
half was spent in this procedure. The
complaint details the alleged discrep-
ancy in the routing of the proposed
highways, the alleged illegal proceed
ure followed by the members of the
board of supervisors in awarding the
contract.
The plaintiff, A. F. Woodman, was
the first witness called to the stand.
The attorneys for the defendants
wondered if he had been a resident of
The valley for one year. Mr.. Wood
man stated that he came here January
T. 1871, or one year ago yesterday and
the attorneys for the defendants
passed the challenge. Mr.. Woodman
qualified his right to bring the suit in
every other respect.
-N"Jo' ~ COoh. SOuutH CltTk, WAS
the next witness called and he spent
the entire morning on the stand. He
was asked to point out to the court
from the evidence piled on the table
the proposed plans and blueprints as
they were accepted by the highway
commission and approved by the
board of supervisors. Attorney Sey-
mour in introducing these features
was laying a foundation for proof
that four sets Of plans had been ap
proved and accepted for the con
struetion of the proposed highway,
and none of them withdrawn or oh
Iected previous to the awarding of tn,
contract. IL this point is true, ae
cording to Attorney Seymour, suffi
Gent proof can be introduced to dc
clare the contract void