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<br />More an one yeaz ater,
<br />Weiland and her Denver-based lawyer are still .sued. Two more are pending. Weiland said she RecoM phoro by Lydia Rey
<br />trying to have the case dismissed as a first isn't backing down. A gravel truck' from Red Canyon Quarry travels up Barrett Road. The quarry
<br />amendment issue. C Please see SLAPP, page B residents living near the quarry remain in a legal dispute.
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<br />SLAPP
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<br />trategic
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<br />Public Participation In the past several years,
<br />against Weiland. It claimed an indefinable ,
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<br />big businesses have increasingly sued individ- amount for an in unction, defamation, abuse of
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<br />uals based on civil claims like defamation Process, bt~ageous conduct and punitive ,
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<br />conspiracy, malicious prosecution, nuisance, ~'~~~
<br />Weiland says the lawsuit is an effort to t
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<br />interference with contract and economic
<br />advanha a
<br />g silence her protests, as it has with two of her i ~ .
<br />$20 000 d 1
<br />h neighbors who also filed complaints and were an
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<br />SL~I~I~ I~.v~l~tutts ~I~.t~z -~~~r~~~~~I~~.rt~ttz~ ~tt~~~~~~
<br />. ~.
<br />- - `+I feel like I have thi:'right to go to my gov- rv ~ •
<br />LydEa Reynatds ernment and file a complain[ without-fear of ,'~ ' D ~ p
<br />Record SMIf WrfMr being sued;' Wetland said. : ` r, ~ „~ '~ -~
<br />Weiland's house, located 14 miles north of p , ~, 7;_;e a r ~ `
<br />PENROSE -Anna Weiland was proud of Penrose oh Barrett Road: sits in a valley in ~J'+c ~ ~ , ;1T ' ~ ` + i ~. / •7 - ;
<br />herself front ofthe quarry. The access road to the quay- ,~ ~ + , y~, a ~ ; ,,, ~ ,
<br />For the fits[ time in .her 43 years, she ry follows a private easement through Weiland ~ ~'i. ~ +.~- a. ?
<br />and McBride's ro tty _ Batrett Road. a " ~
<br />became involved with local government, p ~ r '`' ~~
<br />s m out for her ri ts, filin a corn hint: Weiland claims the quarry's [tucks exceed i;t ~, ~ ~ --~-
<br />peak. g ~' g P ed the posted 15-mph speed limit, and the r ti ~~ ~ ~; t ` '~ _--~.~~„_ ., ,i c +s
<br />But Weiland says she learned a hard lesson ,~~" 4 ~ ~ r -=z------~ ~ , ,
<br />after Red Can on quatry continued operating after hoots She -+r a) z ~, a ~ ~--•-= .' ~~3 ,~~t n.A F ,'I
<br />y Quarry, against whom she akso claims excessive dust "sometimes would ~~`" ~ ~ -C'~--'`tom-- 1"+ ~",v m""aa~~w a l
<br />filed a complaint with Fremont County f} ~`"Jtc " ~ ~...,,~ "~+7` °x1
<br />fill the whole valley" and excessive sedanent , J ,, <~w t ~" '
<br />Commissioners, slapped her and her room- „~ exaberbated b the ~ '`+ i , tom" ~ f ~ ~` '~~;;=~ ` ' ,
<br />mate Kim McBride with a SLAPP lawsuit. Y 9~" ~, a ~R`~ `fit ,~µ ~ ., ,, ,,,~ ~r
<br /><, Red Can on Quarry then filed a lawsud , " ~ , ~ , -a ;,,.... ,_~, >„t ; ,,
<br />8-CANON CITY, COLORADO, DAILY RECORD
<br />Lz~'~ L L , confi
<br />Part of the issue for me is 1
<br />have three other neighbors sued
<br />forthe exact same thing," she said.
<br />Red Canyon Quarry and. their
<br />attorney, Joseph Ricci of Colorado
<br />Springs, declined to comment.
<br />However, according [o court docu-
<br />ments, [he quarry said she "pur-
<br />chased [he property and began
<br />occupying it" after [he quarry had
<br />beeh in continuous operation for
<br />several years.
<br />They complained [ha[ Weiland
<br />has "continued to file complaints
<br />with numerous governmental
<br />agencies claiming [he quarry is
<br />violating the licenses and permits
<br />The company's complain[ also
<br />said she "trespassed ... to harass
<br />the (truck) drivers and other
<br />employees, ... followed the trucks
<br />as they leave the quarry" and
<br />"backed their vehicles out of their
<br />driveway onto Barrett Road just as
<br />[he quarry's [rucks are approach-
<br />ing."
<br />McBride also "came out onto
<br />the road with a loaded shotgun ...
<br />threatening to shoot the quarry's
<br />employees" court documents stat-
<br />ed.
<br />=Weiland and McBride deny all
<br />nued from p.1
<br />charges.
<br />The quarry claims ifwill "suffer
<br />irreparable harm" if Weiland and
<br />McBride continue in their alleged
<br />actions, and that the quarry's busi-
<br />ness will "suffer as a result of the
<br />delays and interference ... and will
<br />suffer injury [o [heir reputation
<br />The vas[ majority of SLAPPs
<br />are eventually dismissed, said
<br />George W. Pring of the University
<br />of Denver, who coined the term
<br />"SLAPP." However, "they can
<br />take a long time - 40 months on
<br />average - to die."
<br />In the process, he adds, [hey
<br />siphon time, money and resources
<br />away from the underlying public
<br />issues and pose "a fundamental
<br />threat to our entire concept of par-
<br />ticipatory democracy."
<br />In Fremont County, the courts
<br />already have ruled on at least one
<br />SLAPP suit.
<br />District Judge Julie Marshall
<br />dismissed a case as a SLAPP suit
<br />in 1996 when an aggregate compa-
<br />ny sued residents after [heir com-
<br />plaint to commissioners resulted in
<br />imposed conditions and non-
<br />renewed contracts with the compa-
<br />ny.
<br />Marshall ruled that their com-
<br />plaints were protected under the
<br />first amendment, but also ruled
<br />that the residents must pay their
<br />own attorney's fees - an $8,300
<br />expense for avoiding the larger
<br />suit.
<br />In California, a 1993 law stands
<br />to protect people from SLAPPs.
<br />The law, called [he Code of Civil
<br />Procedure section 425.16, allows a
<br />judge to decide at the outset of the
<br />suit whether the SLAPP has a
<br />"probability" of winning. If the
<br />judge finds that it does not, the
<br />SLAPP must be dismissed, and the
<br />SLAPP target wins his or her legal
<br />defense costs and attorneys' fees.
<br />Currently, Colorado is not one
<br />of the 23 states with a law against
<br />SLAPP suits.
<br />"These things work," said Mark
<br />A. Chertok, New York City attor-
<br />ney said in a published American
<br />Bar Association article. Chertok,
<br />of Sive, Piaget & Riesel, defended
<br />The Nature Conservancy against a
<br />developer's lawsuit. "They scare
<br />the hell out of a lot of people ...
<br />Citizens see amillion-dollar law-
<br />suit and they just want to go run
<br />and hide."
<br />A Colorado Springs man, Eric
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<br />WEEKEND, AUGUST 5 & 6, 2000
<br />Krystkowiak, was SLAPPed with
<br />a suit recently by a Cincinnati-
<br />based land developer W.O.
<br />Brisben Co. They sued him for $16
<br />million for opposing a proposed
<br />apartment complex during a meet-
<br />ing of the Colorado Sptings City
<br />Council.
<br />That case is pending.
<br />Krystkowiak said he plans to see it
<br />through.
<br />According to University of
<br />.C e~ L'~L'~i.L¢ ~, continued from p.8
<br />Two researchers, who have
<br />[tracked SLAPP suits across the
<br />.:country since the U??80s through
<br />the University of Denver's
<br />~Poli[ical Litigation Project,
<br />stave found that the largest..cate-
<br />@gory of SLAPPS''-are -those
<br />'Snvolving real estate develop-
<br />`•ment, zoning and land-use ques-
<br />tions, according to an American
<br />~ar Association journal article.
<br />Running a close second are
<br />SLAPPs based on criticism of
<br />public officials or employees:`
<br />"The ripple effect of such
<br />suits in our society is enor-
<br />mous," Justice Nicholas
<br />Colabella of the trial-level New
<br />York Supreme Court cautioned.
<br />"Persons who have been outspo-
<br />ken on issues of public impor-
<br />tance targeted in such suits or
<br />who have witnessed such suits
<br />will often choose in the future
<br />to'stay sileht. Short of a gun to
<br />the head, a greater threat to the
<br />First Amendment expression
<br />can scarcely be imagined."
<br />`Until that changes, Weiland,
<br />a self-employed luthier (repairs
<br />violins), says she and McBride,
<br />a technical advisor/engineer,
<br />will continue fighting.
<br />...__...._. _ _. ..,...».-a
<br />-alhllllNl~II~gI~I~,'fi~llllligilllu
<br />0 0 0 1 2 5 2 3
<br />Denver College of Law professor
<br />Penelope Canan, Colorado is a
<br />hotbed for such suits because of all
<br />the new development under way.
<br />C Please see SLAPP, page 10
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