Friday, March 31, 2000
Evidence sought in worker's fall
Employer won't battle request
BY BEN L. KAUFMAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
In an unusual twist, the defendant in a wrongful death suit has agreed not to oppose Donna Highfill's request for government evidence about her husband's fatal fall.
Jeffrey Highfill died at a Mason, Ohio, construction site in 1996 where mandatory safety lines were not in place. He fell about 25 feet from the roof on which he was working.
His employer, LeMaster Steel Erectors Inc., of Elkhart, Ind., and three employees admitted their roles in a failed coverup. Their convictions were the first for obstructing justice in an a probe by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
To aid its defense during the prosecution, LeMaster received federal grand jury testimony and results of OSHA interrogations.
The company, however, refused to share them with Mrs. Highfill, citing grand jury secrecy and OSHA confidentiality rules.
Mrs. Highfill, of Middletown, is suing LeMaster in Warren County Common Pleas Court but her inability to see that evidence puts her at a “substantial disadvantage,” attorneys Brett Goodson and J. Scott Mullins, said.
So this week they asked U.S. District Judge Sandra S. Beckwith to order the Justice Department to provide that evidence to Mrs. Highfill.
The motion was filed at the urging of LeMaster “who are reluctant to produce it ... because of the general rule of grand jury secrecy,” her lawyers wrote.
In an interview, Mr. Mullins said Justice Department prosecutors also agreed to the petition.
Everyone has been sentenced, no appeals are pending and no more reason exists to protect the secrecy of the grand jury proceedings, the petition says. Also, some people interviewed by OSHA won't talk to Mrs. Highfill's attorneys.
As it stands, the petition says, LeMaster “has exclusive control over a large amount of evidence that can be used to prepare for depositions, cross examine and impeach witnesses, and refresh the recollection of witnesses ... Jeffrey Highfill's widow only asks to be put on an equal footing.”
Dale Stalf, an attorney for LeMaster, said his client also could benefit from an order opening the grand jury testimony and OSHA interrogations.
“There is stuff in there that we'd like everyone to know,” Mr. Stalf said.
However, Mr. Stalf said, co-counsel Patrick J. Hanley, a former federal prosecutor, said they probably couldn't use it and shouldn't share it without Judge Beckwith's approval.
Warren County Judge Neal Bronson set a Sept. 1 deadline for pretrial discovery, which would include obtaining the grand jury and OSHA transcripts Mr. Mullins and Mr. Goodson are seeking. No trial date has been set and Mr. Mullins said there are no settlement negotiations with LeMaster.
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