Note to self: There’s never a final word on anything.
The case of Barton Chronicle Publisher Chris Braithwaite and his visit to the top of Lowell Mountain on Dec. 5, 2011, continues.
As we told you earlier, Braithwaite’s criminal case is over, with the judge dismissing the charge of trespass, which Braithwaite collected along with six protesters opposed to Green Mountain Power’s wind project.
That was not, however, the last word. Braithwaite and the Barton Chronicle filed a lawsuit Wednesday against Green Mountain Power and David Coriell, who was the utility’s employee monitoring things on the mountain that day.
Braithwaite’s lawyer, Phil White, alleges that Coriell “acted wilfully, maliciously, and fraudulently in telling (sheriff’s Deputy) Phil Brooks that there were no exceptions, including the press, to those who were to be arrested if they refused to leave the property,” according to a motion filed in court that seeks to put a hold on documents in the criminal case while the civil lawsuit plays out.
The actual lawsuit is not public until its been served, White said.
White blames Green Mountain Power for failing to point out to the deputy that company officials hadn’t wanted reporters to be arrested. That was revealed by inter-office emails that White subpoenaed from Green Mountain Power.
Coriell no longer works for Green Mountain Power, having left to attend law school at Cornell, a fact that was cited by the prosecutor in her motion to dismiss the case. He was unavailable to come to Newport for the trial, she said. Coriell had better study up because he might need that law degree.
