Judge to weigh ship owners' request.Byline: REBECCA NOLAN NOLAN Nascom Operational LAN The Register-Guard COOS BAY Coos Bay (k  s), city (1990 pop. 15,076), Coos co., SW Oreg., a port of entry on Coos Bay; founded 1854 as Marshfield, inc. 1874, renamed 1944. - A Coos County judge will consider a request from the
owners of the shipwrecked New Carissa to overturn a $25 million jury
verdict against them.
Judge Richard Barron on Monday denied the state's claim that a motion by the ship's owners had been filed one day too late for consideration. On Nov. 13, a Coos County jury found that the ship's owners - two Japanese corporations, Taiheiyo Kaiun Co. Ltd. and TMM TMM The ISO 4217 currency code for the Turkmenistan Manet. Co. Ltd., and Green Atlas Shipping S.A. of Panama - should pay the state for removal of the wreckage that remains on the Coos Bay North Spit. Citing lack of evidence and court errors, the owners have asked the judge to overturn the verdict or grant a new trial. Attorneys for the owners had 10 days from the judgment date to file the motion. The motion was faxed on the 10th day and the actual motion was delivered to the court clerk on the 11th day. The state's attorneys argued that a faxed motion didn't meet statutory requirements. The judge's ruling cites a recent amendment to state law allowing attorneys an extra day to file motions in counties where court administrators have limited business hours BUSINESS HOURS. The time of the day during which business is transacted. In respect to the time of presentment and demand of bills and notes, business hours generally range through the whole day down to the hours of rest in the evening, except when the paper is payable it a bank or by a . In Coos County, the administrator's office closes early Tuesday through Friday. Barron has until Jan. 21 to make a decision on the motion to overturn the verdict. If he takes no action before that date, the motion is considered denied. The ship's owners have 30 days to file with the Oregon Court of Appeals The Oregon Court of Appeals is the state intermediate appellate court in the U.S. state of Oregon. Except for death penalty cases, which are reserved to the Oregon Supreme Court, and tax court cases, it has jurisdiction to hear all civil and criminal appeals from circuit courts, from the time Barron either turns down the motion or fails to act. The New Carissa ran aground a·ground adv. & adj. 1. Onto or on a shore, reef, or the bottom of a body of water: a ship that ran aground; a ship aground offshore. 2. Feb. 4, 1999. The ship broke in half and leaked about 70,000 gallons of fuel oil along the coast. Then the front section broke loose from a tow and came ashore near Waldport before it was sunk. The 1,500-ton stern section remains on the North Spit. |
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