MISSION VIEJO
Superior Court Judge Eileen C. Moore denied a motion filed by the city attorney asking the court to dismiss a lawsuit against three City Council members accused of violating the state’s open-meeting law.
The motion--filed earlier this month on behalf of Mayor Sherri M. Butterfield, Councilman William S. Craycraft and Councilwoman Susan Withrow--asked for the case to be dismissed on the grounds that any violation of the law that may have occurred during a closed session in April 1999 was absolved when Butterfield read a statement about it at the Aug. 16, 1999, council meeting.
Jim Lacy, the attorney representing the three Mission Viejo residents who filed the lawsuit, said the judge dismissed the motion to allow a number of the key issues to be argued in court.
The case is set to start Aug. 7 in Orange County Superior Court.
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