THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 14, 1995 TAG: 9511140101
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
A lawsuit pitting a former fiddler against the Suffolk and state Republican parties ended Monday night with a settlement.
Thomas M. Williams Jr., a veteran fiddler, had sued the parties for damages after he was hit by falling scaffolding at a 1992 GOP rally in Suffolk.
Joseph Morrissey, an attorney for Williams, said the two sides had agreed to a $725,000 settlement. The agreement was reached after a two-hour meeting that followed the first day of court testimony.
Richard Cullen, an attorney for the state GOP, declined to comment on the settlement. Jesse Johnson, an attorney for the Suffolk GOP, could not be reached.
Country music's Jimmy Dean, Charley Pride and Billie Joe Spear all testified Monday that before the accident Williams, 57, was one of the best fiddlers around.
Few of the stars had seen Williams in recent years, let alone spoken to him.
All, however, said that he was much in demand in his day. Pride called him ``one of the finest.'' Dean said that if Williams ``wasn't the best, then he was one of the best.''
Williams' $20 million civil trial, pitting him against the Republican Party of Virginia and the Republican Party of Suffolk, opened Monday with jury selection and a halfday of testimony.
Dean, wearing a purple suit and cream cowboy hat as he entered the courtroom, had to be reminded by Suffolk Circuit Judge Rodham T. Delk Jr. to take off the hat. After Dean and Pride were sent to the witness room, a steady stream of laughter came from behind the closed door of the room. The two had gone to lunch together before testifying.
For the most part, the stars' testimony was quick and to the point. Not a note was sung from the stand.
As Dean left the stand, Morrissey called Donna Meade as a witness.
``Donna Meade Dean!'' corrected Dean. ``Everybody keeps forgetting she married me.''
In the lawsuit, Williams' attorneys alleged that their client could no longer play the fiddle and had been denied his livelihood since the accident. Several operations on his shoulder and back turned a once-great fiddler and 23-year veteran of ``Hee Haw'' into a feeble man who must use a cane and catheter, his attorneys said.
The attorneys for the Republican Party argued that while the accident was regrettable, it was not the defendants' fault.
The man who set up the scaffolding for the rally, David Sylvia, testified that he did not tie down the bottom of a 20-foot-by-30-foot flag draped behind the Williamsburg-based Old Dominion Opry band.
As the band began to play at the rally, Sylvia testified, he saw a member of the troupe tie a hammer to the bottom of the flag to keep it from flapping in a light wind. Shortly thereafter, the flag filled with wind, and the scaffolding it was secured to toppled onto Williams and several others.
``Mr. Williams,'' said Cullen, ``is pointing his finger at the wrong person.''
A source close to the case said the defendants' insurance would cover the full amount of the settlement.
ILLUSTRATION: Celebrities testify in Suffolk
VICKI CRONIS photos
The Virginian-Pilot
Jimmy Dean, left, and Charley Pride testified Monday that before an
accident at a 1992 GOP rally, Thomas M. Williams Jr., 57, was one of
the best fiddlers around.
Thomas M. Williams Jr., a veteran fiddler, was hit by falling
scaffolding at a 1992 Republican Party rally in Suffolk.
KEYWORDS: SETTLEMENT REPUBLICAN PARTY LAWSUIT INJURIES by CNB