THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 12, 1996 TAG: 9611120227
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 81 lines
A judge has ordered Pat Robertson to appear in court later this month to show why he should not be held in contempt of court - and perhaps fined or jailed - for not turning over his personal tax returns in a civil case.
In response, Robertson's attorney called the plaintiffs' motion ``uncalled for'' and ``absurd,'' an attempt by three Regent University professors to harass Robertson in a bitterly contested defamation case.
Robertson will answer the show-cause order Nov. 22 before Judge Edward W. Hanson Jr. in Circuit Court.
At the same hearing, Robertson will ask Hanson to reconsider the order that he must turn over his personal tax returns. The professors want the returns to show a jury and suggest appropriate punitive damages against Robertson.
In August, Hanson ordered Robertson to give up the tax returns to three Regent law professors who are suing him, alleging defamation. Robertson, who is Regent's founder and chancellor, has not complied.
As a result, the professors asked Hanson to cite Robertson for contempt of court. The professors' attorney, Jeremiah A. Denton III, asked that Robertson be slapped with ``appropriate sanctions,'' including a fine and jail sentence, if he does not comply.
In response, Hanson signed an order last month stating that ``it appear(s) to the court that there is cause to grant the prayer of the plaintiffs' petition'' to hold Robertson in contempt. He ordered Robertson to explain himself in court Nov. 22.
``This is uncalled for and it's absurd,'' Robertson's attorney, Glen A. Huff, said Monday. ``They're using the statute as a harassment technique.''
Denton has declined to comment on the case.
The issue of Robertson's tax returns arose as the two sides are exchanging information and documents in the defamation case.
That case is scheduled for trial in February. The law professors seek $10 million in damages from Regent University and Robertson personally.
The professors - Robert Bern, Paul Morken and Jeffrey Tuomala - are suing over a scathing 1994 letter that Robertson wrote about nine rebellious law professors, including the three plaintiffs. The letter compared them with Branch Davidians and cult leader Jim Jones, called them ``inept as lawyers'' and ``extremist fanatics.''
The professors claim in their lawsuit that the letter has irreparably hurt their reputations. It was widely circulated at Regent and later published in The Virginian-Pilot.
This spring, Robertson and Regent asked the judge to throw out the lawsuit. Hanson declined, saying that parts of the letter are ``pretty damaging'' to the professors' reputations, but he would let a jury decide if they are libelous.
As the trial draws nearer, each side is scrapping for documents and information from the other side.
At a hearing Aug. 23, Judge Hanson ordered Robertson to turn over the tax returns to the plaintiffs by Sept. 13. He said the returns would be kept confidential until the trial.
Robertson refused. Instead, his attorney asked Hanson to reconsider the ruling.
Huff argued that it is unnecessary for Robertson to divulge his personal finances because he cannot be held personally liable. Even if Robertson loses the case, Huff argued, any damages would be paid by Regent University because Robertson wrote the allegedly defamatory letter as an agent of Regent.
In any case, Huff argued, even if Robertson is personally liable, the professors have not offered enough evidence to justify punitive damages, to ``invade and intrude'' into Robertson's ``most sensitive and personal financial affairs.''
An interesting side issue is whether Robertson was properly served with the show-cause papers.
A private process server tried to serve Robertson Oct. 15, as Robertson was giving a deposition in the Norfolk-Portsmouth Bar Association office in downtown Norfolk. Robertson's lawyer objected that this was not proper. Robertson refused to accept the papers.
As a result, the process server laid the document at Robertson's feet and declared it had been delivered, according to court records. Eventually, the bar association's president and security guards had to be called to quell the argument.
Hanson will hear this dispute, too, on Nov. 22. ILLUSTRATION: Pat Robertson's attorney said the plaintiffs' motion
was ``uncalled for'' and ``absurd.''
KEYWORDS: LAWSUIT by CNB