State rejects Sacred Falls settlement
By David Waite
Advertiser Courts Writer
The state has rejected an offer to settle for $10 million a lawsuit brought by lawyers representing survivors of four of the eight people killed in the Sacred Falls rock slide.
Advertiser library photo
Attorneys Arthur Park and Larry Remillard, who also represent more than 30 people who were injured in the May 9, 1999, accident, said Gov. Linda Lingle and her staff reviewed the case and declined their offer to settle.
Attorney general Mark Bennett said he thinks the state should pursue its appeal of the case.
In September, Circuit Judge Dexter Del Rosario ruled that the state did not adequately warn visitors that rocks above the popular hiking trail posed a dangerous and potentially fatal hazard.
Then-Attorney General Earl Anzai said Del Rosario's ruling set a dangerous precedent because it raised the issue of the adequacy of warning signs.
Anzai said he thought Del Rosario ruled incorrectly in the case and said the state would appeal.
Mark Bennett, the state's new attorney general, said yesterday that he has reviewed the case and agrees that the judge erred and that the state should pursue its appeal.
In their press release, Park and Remillard said they believe the state has no more than $10 million in insurance coverage to settle the lawsuit, but that amount has been reduced to $8.8 million because the state has paid $1.2 million in fees and costs to private attorneys who represented the state in the Sacred Falls lawsuit.
Park and Remillard said the $10 million offer to settle is a "substantial discount" from the amount originally sought.
If the state fails in its appeal, it could wind up having to pay substantially more, they said.
Bennett declined to comment on statements by Park and Remillard.
