Holdout Oxnard Dunes Plaintiffs Lose Lawyer

All but 13 Oxnard Dunes residents and property owners have agreed to settle their lawsuit against the developer of the subdivision, but those remaining holdouts lost their attorney Thursday in a court action that will further delay the 6-year-old case.

With jury selection set to begin next week, Superior Court Judge Melinda Johnson allowed lawyer Conrad Tuohey to withdraw from representing the remaining plaintiffs who have refused to settle the case involving the neighborhood built atop a former oil waste dump.

The judge gave the remaining plaintiffs 60 days to find another attorney and resume their case against the developer, Oxnard Shores Co. A new trial date has not been set yet.

Initially, 175 Oxnard Dunes residents and property owners filed the lawsuit against the developer, the city of Oxnard, a former landowner and numerous other defendants after they learned in 1985 that their homes were located on top of the abandoned dump.

Last month the plaintiffs reached an undisclosed settlement with the city and John McGrath, who owned the property before it was developed. Then, on Feb. 1, a group of 42 plaintiffs reached an undisclosed settlement with the developer, considered the key defendant in the case, said their attorney, Fred Rucker.

Tuohey’s other 120 clients also have agreed to settle. The 13 holdouts, members of three families, have steadfastly resisted pressure to settle the case, straining relations between them and their attorney.

Tuohey’s request to withdraw was made during a closed hearing. The judge made her ruling in open court, saying that there was a conflict between the 13 remaining plaintiffs and the others represented by Tuohey.

“It’s impossible for him to represent both,” Johnson said.

The attorney declined to comment on his withdrawal, except to say: “We have over 90% of the plaintiffs all satisfied with the settlement. May they live happily ever after.”

In his motion to withdraw, Tuohey said that those plaintiffs who declined the settlement have been uncooperative and vindictive, and that they’ve sought representation from other attorneys. He alleged that their actions were detrimental to the rest of the plaintiffs and that they were obstructing a final resolution of the case.

Plaintiffs holding out include Steve Blanchard and his daughter, Mary and Paul Null, and Lynda Paxton and eight of her relatives. They said they resisted Tuohey’s efforts to abandon them, fearing that they would have to go to trial this month without adequate time to hire and prepare a new attorney.

But Blanchard and others said they were pleased with Johnson’s decision to delay the case, giving them additional time. Technically, the remaining plaintiffs have another three years to prepare for trial.

“This is great news,” Blanchard said. “We thought we had an attorney who would lead the charge. . . . It’s a relief to get rid of him.”

He said the remaining plaintiffs have done nothing but stick up for their rights. “We’re being victimized by the court system,” said Blanchard, who abandoned his Oxnard Dunes home in 1988, leaving behind a billboard bearing a skull and crossbones and the word Toxic.

Paxton said the group isn’t opposed to a settlement. “It’s not the idea of going to trial at any costs. But without it, no one can know what went on.”