Troutman Sanders – C-VILLE Weekly

In brief: FA5 tightens up, free the nipple, another renaming and more

Fridays new format

Treasured Charlottesville tradition Fridays After Five kicks off April 13, with a not-so-special nod to the realities of crowds gathering in the 21st century. After-Fivers will find enhanced security at the Sprint Pavilion with bag checks and fewer entrances to the area.

“Anyone in the event industry holding mass gatherings understands the shift,” says general manager Kirby Hutto. “We want to provide a safe environment.”

That means professional security will be examining bags and entrance will be limited to the Downtown Mall, Seventh Street at Market and the Belmont Bridge ramp.

And for ticketed events, attendees will walk through metal detectors.

The season will kick off with more rather than less security, says Hutto. “We don’t want to create long lines. We know people come from work with their laptop bags or with strollers.”

Says Hutto, “It’s just a recognition of the changing world we live in.”

In brief

Mayor’s speeding ticket

Nikuyah Walker was in Charlottesville Circuit Court April 9 to appeal a November 14 conviction for driving 43mph in a 25mph zone, but her attorney, Jeff Fogel, didn’t show. The case was continued to June 1.

More Soering defenders

Another cop has cast doubt on the 1990 conviction of Jens Soering for the double slaying of then-girlfriend Elizabeth Haysom’s parents. Former FBI special agent Stan Lapekas says he’s found documents proving the FBI did a profile in 1985 that said the killer was likely a female with close ties to the Haysoms. Bedford investigator Ricky Gardner has steadfastly denied such a profile existed.

Slowpoke schadenfreude

Thousands of the annoying drivers who hog the left lane while going below the normal speed of traffic have been fined $100 since Virginia enacted fines July 1, 2017, WTOP reports.

Topless buskers

Jeff Fogel filed a lawsuit against Charlottesville police for the August 12 arrest of Morgan Hopkins, who, amid the violence and mayhem of that day, took off her shirt. Fogel, who represented activist Veronica Fitzhugh when she disrobed at Occupy in 2011, says under state law, “the mere fact of nudity does not constitute indecent exposure,” and that shirtless men with Hopkins were not arrested.

“During Aug 12 Nazi rally in #Charlottesville, police ignored assaults by Nazis, didn’t arrest them. Instead, they arrested harmless hippies on the downtown mall. Thanks, CPD, for protecting the public from women’s exposed nipples! Smh”—@Jalane_Schmidt in an April 6 tweet

Hand ‘em over

Judge Rick Moore has ruled that Virginia State Police must turn over a redacted copy of its August 12 operational plan to local freelance journalists Natalie Jacobsen and Jackson Landers, who were represented by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. They’ve also obtained Charlottesville police plans as a result of the same Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.

Unsuccessful lobby

The city hired Troutman Sanders Strategies to lobby the General Assembly against Delegate Steve Landers’ revenue-sharing bill, which requires Charlottesville to account for the millions Albemarle pays it each year and for the two localities to meet annually to discuss economic development. The bill passed unanimously in both houses and Governor Ralph Northam signed it into law.

Teen runaway

Margie Araceli Garcia Urbina, 17, was reported missing March 3. Albemarle police say her cellphone is off, she has not responded to attempts to contact her on social media, and she appears to have used an ATM March 3 in Opelika, Alabama.

Elder embezzlement

Renee Magruder Madel was convicted of felony embezzlement for using a power of attorney to bilk an elderly victim of thousands. She was sentenced April 3 to 10 years suspended, 30 days in jail and restitution of over $50,000.

Closure wanted

Robert Hourihan disappeared seven years ago on April 8. Last seen in Palmyra, his car was later found in a parking lot in Maryland. Police suspect foul play and are still seeking information to provide closure to his family.

Popular parks monikers

The city conducted a survey March 6-28 to rename the parks formerly known as Lee and Jackson and currently dubbed Emancipation and Justice. Led by longtime resident Mary Carey’s dislike of the name Emancipation, the survey received 7,535 submissions. Lee and Jackson were disqualified, but that did not keep Lee from receiving the most write-in votes, according to “The Schilling Show.”

Most votes

For Emancipation Park: Market Street Park

For Justice Park: Court Square Park

Weighted votes

Emancipation Park

Vinegar Hill Park
Market Street Park
Central Park

Justice Park

Court Square Park
Justice Park
Courthouse Park

Top write-in (aside from Lee and Jackson)

Swanson Legacy Park, in honor of Gregory Swanson, the first African American to attend UVA law school—after he sued the university, a case that was heard in federal court, which was located in what is now the Central Library bordering Emancipation Park.

Updated April 12 with the Swanson Legacy Park write-ins.

Foxfield lawsuit: Plaintiffs say there’s no finish line in sight

Garth Road neighbors and horse racing aficionados have filed a lawsuit against the Foxfield Racing Association to affirm that selling any of its acreage would be illegal. The catch? It wasn’t listed for sale.

“There has been a lot of discussion in the community about the future of the land and a lot of speculation, as one might expect, when there is a prominent property like this,” says Ashley Taylor, the Richmond-based Troutman Sanders attorney representing the eight plaintiffs.

The suit reads, “This case arises from defendants’ decision to sell the approximately 137 acres of land on which the Foxfield Races have been run for decades.” Such a sale would mean an end to the Foxfield Races, which is unlawful because the will of the late Mariann S. de Tejeda mandates the continued operation of the races and use of the land for that purpose, contends the suit.

Plaintiffs John Birdsall, Harry Burn, Reynolds Cowles, Landon and Kiwi Hilliard, John G. and Dudley Macfarlane III and Jack Sanford Jr. either declined to comment or could not be reached. But in the suit, they noted they are beneficiaries of the land and are seeking a declaratory judgment that the defendants—the Foxfield Racing Association and its owner, Winchester resident Thomas J. Dick, both trustees—must hold the property in trust for the purposes de Tejeda intended.

Their attorney says there has been overwhelming community interest in helping to keep the property the home of the Foxfield Races. “This is not a situation where these folks aren’t ready to roll up their sleeves,” says Taylor. “They want to participate in maintaining the property.”

Defense attorney James Summers declined to comment on the pending litigation, but C-VILLE’s legal expert Dave Heilberg discusses challenges the defendants and plaintiffs could face.

For the defense, a declaratory judgment is harder to defend, he says. But Virginia’s Uniform Trust Code that went into effect in 2006 was created to provide a greater certainty to trustees as to when claims could be brought against them, often making it more difficult for a plaintiff’s claims to be validated.

“It’ll be interesting to see if there’s a statute of limitations that applies,” he says. “Especially because the beneficiaries weren’t exactly known at the time the trust was created in the ’70s.”

The court will decide if the claims are from valid beneficiaries. “[Foxfield] was kind of broadly intended for everyone in Albemarle County. The neighbors don’t have to be beneficiaries,” he says. Heilberg could see the neighbors taking a position on the other side of the fence just as easily.

“It’s actually a little surprising,” he says. “The neighbors would rather have to worry about the horse races twice a year than whatever would go in there if they sell the property.”

The biannual Foxfield races are known to draw massive crowds, often filled with heavily intoxicated college students in big, floppy hats and pastel khakis. Spring race arrests were up in 2016. Of the 20 arrests, 15 were alcohol related, and 17 people were taken to jail. In spring 2015, there were seven arrests.

Additionally, Heilberg says a judge would be more likely to rule that a cemetery is in perpetuity versus a horse racing track. “I don’t know if using that particular property for horse races is going to be considered enough of a purpose to survive,” he says.

Jim Bonner, an associate broker with Roy Wheeler Realty and owner of Luxury Charlottesville International & The Land Office, says plenty of people would be vying for the deed to that desirable chunk of land on Garth Road, but it would come with a hefty price tag. “Let’s call it several million dollars, for sure, he says.

A court date has not been set yet.