COURT THROWS OUT MAIN STREET MALL FRAUD CASE

PARK CITY, UTAH
A Third District Court judge has thrown out all claims asserted by the current owners of the Park City Main Street Mall against the former owners of the Mall. The Mall was purchased in 2007 by a group that included local residents Orie Santillo, Judy Jackson, and eventually local real estate developer Stan Castleton, and the new owners filed a lawsuit accusing the former owners of conspiring with The Sidecar Bar to falsify a commercial lease. The case was scheduled to go to trial last Wednesday, but the new owners filed a last minute motion to dismiss all of their own claims and cancel the trial. During a hearing on that motion, Park City attorney Joe Wrona, who represented The Sidecar and the former owners, pointed out that the new owners were "surrendering" before trial so that the frivolous nature of their case would not be exposed at trial. Mr. Wrona asked the court to dismiss the new owners' claims with prejudice and allow Mr. Wrona to seek an award of attorney fees for The Sidecar and the former owners. The court agreed and threw out all claims with prejudice while leaving open the defendants' right to seek attorney fees. According to Mr. Wrona, "I was prepared to take this case to trial and demonstrate that the lawsuit filed by the current owners of The Main Street Mall against my clients was frivolous. The new owners obviously were afraid to come to court, and the court quite properly threw their case out." As for what comes next, Mr. Wrona said, "The only remaining question is whether it is OK for someone in Summit County to file a fraud lawsuit and then on the eve of trial say 'just kidding'. I am confident that the court will recognize that it was outrageous for the current Mall owners to drag the defendants through the legal system for two years in this case."