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NEW TRIAL ON ARMENIAN GENOCIDE MUSEUM NIXED
Courthouse News
Feb 22 2013
By MATT REYNOLDS
(CN) - The protracted dispute over an Armenian Genocide museum and
memorial project that never got off the ground should not face a new
trial, a federal judge ruled.
The consolidated complaint had pitted the Armenian Assembly of America
and the Armenian Genocide Museum & Memorial against two former board
members, Gerard Cafesjian and John Waters, and the Cafesjian Family
Foundation.
Their struggle for control of the museum, and allegations over its
demise, stemmed from rising tensions between Cafesjian and Hirair
Hovnanian, both of whom collaborated on the project in the late 1990s.
"The parties, through the three consolidated actions pending before the
court, have spent as much if not more time litigating who is to blame
for the museum's failure as they spent attempting to make the museum
a reality," U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly wrote Wednesday.
Cafesjian, a founding member of the museum's board of trustees, helped
purchase the museum site, a vacant National Bank building at 14th and G
Street in downtown Washington, D.C. He stepped back, however, after the
board later failed to reach consensus on how to complete the museum.
The Brooklyn-born philanthropist handpicked Waters, his right-hand
man, to succeed him, but the board excluded Waters from further
participation in the project after Cafesjian sued the assembly for
payment of an unpaid promissory note.
Kollar-Kotelly largely dismissed the series of claims and counterclaims
after a 12-day bench trial in November 2010.
In that January 2011 final judgment, Kollar-Kotelly found that
neither Cafesijan nor Waters had breached their fiduciary duties to
the assembly. She also cleared Cafesijian of bad faith claims and
said neither he nor Waters had misappropriated the trade secrets of
the assembly.
Nearly a year later, the assembly and the museum moved for a new trial
based on the alleged perjury of Waters. They said Waters had never
mentioned that Cafesjian agreed to award him a bonus and reimburse
his expenses if Cafesjian prevailed in the litigation.
The motion relied on claims and counterclaims pending before a federal
judge in Minnesota where Waters sued Cafesjian for more than $4.3
million in deferred compensation, $1.2 million in bonuses and more
than $500,000 in legal costs.
Cafesjian countered that Waters had embezzled several million dollars
from him over a period spanning more than a decade.
Refusing to order a new trial in Washington this week, Judge
Kollar-Kotelly said the assembly had a "full and fair opportunity to
present their case during the bench trial."
"The plaintiffs fail to show by clear and convincing evidence that
Waters committed perjury or otherwise committed fraud or misconduct
by not disclosing the compensation purportedly owed and/or promised
by Cafesjian," the 33-page opinion states. "The court did not rely
on Waters' credibility in rejecting the plaintiffs' claims at trial,
meaning the plaintiffs cannot show actual prejudice from any alleged
perjury or other misconduct by Waters," wrote Kollar-Kotelly.
"The plaintiffs fail to show by clear and convincing evidence that
Cafesjian actually promised Waters the litigation bonus, and in
any case the existence of the agreement would not alter the legal
conclusion that the defendants did not breach any duty by filing the
initial suit in this litigation."
In Minnesota, Waters alleged that Cafesijan had destroyed documents
from Waters' former office at Cafesijan's GLC Enterprises.
Though the assembly claimed "without elaboration" that the allegations
directly impacted the trial, it failed "to show by clear and convincing
evidence that the defendants destroyed documents relevant to this
litigation or otherwise engaged in discovery misconduct sufficient
to set aside the final judgment," Kollar-Kotelly wrote.
By some estimates 1.5 million minority Armenians were killed by the
Ottoman government during and after World War I. Regarded by some as
the first genocide of modern times, male Armenians were slaughtered
in what is now the Republic of Turkey, while women, children, the
elderly and sick were deported or forced on "death marches" through
the Syrian Desert.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/02/22/55103.htm
Courthouse News
Feb 22 2013
By MATT REYNOLDS
(CN) - The protracted dispute over an Armenian Genocide museum and
memorial project that never got off the ground should not face a new
trial, a federal judge ruled.
The consolidated complaint had pitted the Armenian Assembly of America
and the Armenian Genocide Museum & Memorial against two former board
members, Gerard Cafesjian and John Waters, and the Cafesjian Family
Foundation.
Their struggle for control of the museum, and allegations over its
demise, stemmed from rising tensions between Cafesjian and Hirair
Hovnanian, both of whom collaborated on the project in the late 1990s.
"The parties, through the three consolidated actions pending before the
court, have spent as much if not more time litigating who is to blame
for the museum's failure as they spent attempting to make the museum
a reality," U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly wrote Wednesday.
Cafesjian, a founding member of the museum's board of trustees, helped
purchase the museum site, a vacant National Bank building at 14th and G
Street in downtown Washington, D.C. He stepped back, however, after the
board later failed to reach consensus on how to complete the museum.
The Brooklyn-born philanthropist handpicked Waters, his right-hand
man, to succeed him, but the board excluded Waters from further
participation in the project after Cafesjian sued the assembly for
payment of an unpaid promissory note.
Kollar-Kotelly largely dismissed the series of claims and counterclaims
after a 12-day bench trial in November 2010.
In that January 2011 final judgment, Kollar-Kotelly found that
neither Cafesijan nor Waters had breached their fiduciary duties to
the assembly. She also cleared Cafesijian of bad faith claims and
said neither he nor Waters had misappropriated the trade secrets of
the assembly.
Nearly a year later, the assembly and the museum moved for a new trial
based on the alleged perjury of Waters. They said Waters had never
mentioned that Cafesjian agreed to award him a bonus and reimburse
his expenses if Cafesjian prevailed in the litigation.
The motion relied on claims and counterclaims pending before a federal
judge in Minnesota where Waters sued Cafesjian for more than $4.3
million in deferred compensation, $1.2 million in bonuses and more
than $500,000 in legal costs.
Cafesjian countered that Waters had embezzled several million dollars
from him over a period spanning more than a decade.
Refusing to order a new trial in Washington this week, Judge
Kollar-Kotelly said the assembly had a "full and fair opportunity to
present their case during the bench trial."
"The plaintiffs fail to show by clear and convincing evidence that
Waters committed perjury or otherwise committed fraud or misconduct
by not disclosing the compensation purportedly owed and/or promised
by Cafesjian," the 33-page opinion states. "The court did not rely
on Waters' credibility in rejecting the plaintiffs' claims at trial,
meaning the plaintiffs cannot show actual prejudice from any alleged
perjury or other misconduct by Waters," wrote Kollar-Kotelly.
"The plaintiffs fail to show by clear and convincing evidence that
Cafesjian actually promised Waters the litigation bonus, and in
any case the existence of the agreement would not alter the legal
conclusion that the defendants did not breach any duty by filing the
initial suit in this litigation."
In Minnesota, Waters alleged that Cafesijan had destroyed documents
from Waters' former office at Cafesijan's GLC Enterprises.
Though the assembly claimed "without elaboration" that the allegations
directly impacted the trial, it failed "to show by clear and convincing
evidence that the defendants destroyed documents relevant to this
litigation or otherwise engaged in discovery misconduct sufficient
to set aside the final judgment," Kollar-Kotelly wrote.
By some estimates 1.5 million minority Armenians were killed by the
Ottoman government during and after World War I. Regarded by some as
the first genocide of modern times, male Armenians were slaughtered
in what is now the Republic of Turkey, while women, children, the
elderly and sick were deported or forced on "death marches" through
the Syrian Desert.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/02/22/55103.htm