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County Lets De la Fuente Put Up Land Bond, Take $21.5-Million Deposit

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

Forgoing an unusual demand for a multimillion-dollar bond, the county agreed Wednesday to let developer Roque de la Fuente withdraw a $21.5-million deposit while an appeals court decides the complicated case over the land the county seized from De la Fuente to build the East Mesa Jail.

In lieu of the bond, the county said Wednesday that De la Fuente could put up 1,551 acres surrounding the jail site as security for the $21.5 million in cash, according to legal papers. He did, and later in the day he had the money, lawyers said.

Added to an original county deposit of $6.4 million in the case, the $21.5 million De la Fuente received Wednesday is believed to mark the highest total ever paid out in a California eminent domain case, lawyers said.

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De la Fuente’s case, however, is far from over. A San Diego Superior Court jury said last year that the 525 acres the county seized to build the jail was worth $55.6 million, and his lawyers confirmed Wednesday that they are still pursuing all of that amount on appeal.

The case is now before the 4th District Court of Appeal in San Diego, lawyer Mike Thorsnes said.

It began in 1987, when the county took the land from De la Fuente to build the East Mesa jail. The site is near the U.S.-Mexico border about 7 miles east of Interstate 805, and the first phase of the 784-bed jail is nearly complete.

Any governmental body may legally seize land under the eminent domain powers of the U.S. Constitution. But state law says the seizure may occur only after a court deposit of the probable value of the land, in anticipation of a legal fight over its worth.

The county originally put up $6.4 million.

Last September, the San Diego Superior Court jury fixed the land’s value at $55.6 million, saying it was ideally suited for a jail.

On Dec. 28, Judge Jeffrey Miller said that amount was “excessive” and offered a new trial or a $22.9 million settlement. He based that figure on a review of several commercial and industrial appraisers who testified at the trial.

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De la Fuente opted Jan. 7 to fight for all $55.6 million. Meanwhile, Miller ordered the county to increase its deposit to $22.9 million.

On Feb. 22, the county posted $16.5-million principal to add to the $6.4 million. It also deposited interest on the $16.5 million, for a total of $21.5 million.

Earlier this month, the county said De la Fuente could have the $21.5 million only if he posted a bond of equal value. According to legal papers filed by De la Fuente’s lawyers, a bonding firm would have required 100% collateral--that is, $21.5 million to receive $21.5 million--plus a 2% annual transaction fee, or about $400,000 a year.

The county, believing it is entitled to a new trial, asked for the bond to protect the deposit should a jury in the second case return a verdict less than $22.9 million, lawyer Ron Endemann said Wednesday.

The 1,551 acres put up Wednesday by De la Fuente solved the problem because trial testimony put its worth at $30 million to $70 million, Endemann said. The county took a lien on that property, he said.

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