Terminella Requests New Trial; MNB Fires Back
by March 23, 2009 12:00 am 78 views
A case that appeared settled when Washington County Circuit Court Judge Kim Smith ruled on Feb. 3 has blown wide open again.
Lawyers for Fayetteville developer Tom Terminella accused Metropolitan National Bank CEO Lunsford Bridges of making a settlement offer that kept Terminella partner Tom Morter from testifying at an October 2008 trial.
March 13 was the deadline to file a request for a new trial, and Terminella, his wife Monica Terminella, partner Mark Foster and his attorney Robert Ginnaven all filed affidavits that claimed Bridges offered Morter and his family a settlement in exchange for Morter not testifying.
Attached in support of the motion is a settlement agreement between Morter and MNB dated Oct. 24, the day after the parties rested in the case.
Morter agreed to settle with MNB for $103,906, well below his $3 million guarantee on the loan and his potential exposure of as much as $7 million, according to Terminella’s motion.
Terminella is requesting a new trial and the vacating of the $7 million foreclosure judgment against him. The brief in support also states that the motion, brief and affidavits have been forwarded to the Washington County Prosecuting Attorney.
In a three-page statement issued March 16, MNB dismissed the allegations “hearsay and circuitous reasoning.”
“What is even more troubling is that there is absolutely no reason to believe that this testimony would have made any difference in the outcome.”
The statement contained a point-by-point rebuttal of Terminella’s charges, namely that Terminella’s attorneys should have notified the judge if they thought there was an impropriety, that they were never prevented from putting Morter on the stand and that the allegations of a quid pro quo were based on inadmissible hearsay.
The dispute dates back more than two years to October 2006 and the parties have been involved in direct litigation against each other since May 30, 2007, when MNB filed for foreclosure against Terminella for two loans totaling $14.5 million.
Terminella countersued MNB on July 2, 2007.
The Ocotber trial centered on a $9.63 million loan from MNB to Terminella to prepare lots for sale at a Springdale subdivision called Grand Valley Ridge that was a 40-acre parcel of a larger 160-acre development.
MNB alleged Terminella defaulted on the loan.
Terminella alleged MNB breached the loan contract first by refusing to continue to fund the interest carry payments out of the loan proceeds.