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First, although the ultimate issue in this proceeding is whether coal mine subsidence has <br />continued to damage Solitario alter December 1, 1997, Basin's expert witness ask the Board to <br />resolve that issue by concluding that coal mine subsidence at the Golden Eagle mine could never <br />have damaged Solitario. By advancing that sort of challenge to the notice of violation in question, <br />Basin has, at least for the time being, converted the ultimate issue in this proceeding into the <br />identical issue that the District Court resolved against Basin in its 1997 judgment. <br />Second, Basin is the identical patty that opposed the Tatums in the 1997 action in the District <br />Court. Third, as Exhibit A to this motion demonstrates, the District Court's 1997 judgment was a <br />final judgment on the merits of the subsidence damage dispute between the Tatums and Basin. <br />Fourth and finally, the record shows that Basin had a full and fair opportunity to litigate the issue <br />of whether coal mine subsidence caused the pte-1997 damage to Solitario. The District Court's <br />__, judgment shows that Basin took advantage of that opportunity by producing its share of the 28 <br />witnesses who testified and the more than 100 exhibits the District Court received. <br />DMG and the Tatums wish to emphasize that they do not file this motion to prevent Basin <br />from challenging Notice of Violation No. CV-2000-009 altogether. Basin is perfectly free to offer <br />evidence in this proceeding which, although acknowledging that coal mine subsidence caused the <br />damages Solitario sustained prior to December 1, 1997, attempts to show that subsidence is not the <br />cause of the current damage. The doctrine of collateral estoppel, however, precludes Basin from <br />presenting opinion evidence that coal mine subsidence could not be the cause of the damage Solitario <br />has sustained after 1997 because subsidence at the Golden Eagle Mine could not possibly have ever <br />damaged that structure. Nonetheless, that is precisely what Basin's expert reports do. By excluding <br />such evidence in a pre-trial order, this Board may expedite proceedings once the hearing begins next <br />-a- <br />