Thursday, February 18, 2010
Education / Woods School Rezoning Case: Will Judge Nixon Toss the Pedro Memos?
Posted by Jeff Woods on Thu, Feb 18, 2010 at 8:53 AM
In the memos, Garcia painted the rezoning plan as some kind of white racist plot to resegregate schools. Metro dismisses his complaints as sour grapes. "... Dr. Garcia's memoranda are classic 'parting shots' designed to (1) paint him in a good light, and (2) smear the Metropolitan Government," Metro says in its motion to strike the memos.
The memos contain hearsay and even layers of hearsay with a healthy dose of naked speculation tossed in for good measure. Still, Nixon might use a loophole in the rules of evidence to allow it all. For instance, as Pith's favorite education blogger, the esteemed Nashville Jefferson, explains, hearsay is allowed if it's an admission by an opponent in your lawsuit. To qualify, Garcia needs to have been the superintendent when he wrote the memos. The plaintiffs contend he prepared one of them three days before the school board severed his contract in 2008. But Metro claims that's not proven. Nashville Jeff sums up the situation nicely:
Ultimately, it's going to be a tough call -- if judges want to let in a key piece of evidence, then they can often find a way to make it fit. If they don't, then things like this are pretty easy to exclude.
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