Bundy-St. Luke’s case expected to wrap up Friday. Here are questions jury will face
After two weeks in court, closing arguments in the lawsuit brought by St. Luke’s against far-right activist Ammon Bundy and others are expected to take place Friday.
After that, jurors will have to decide how much in damages the defendants should have to pay.
St. Luke’s filed the lawsuit in May 2022 after Bundy and an associate, Diego Rodriguez, led protests at the hospital in Meridian and in downtown Boise over a child welfare case involving Rodriguez’s 10-month-old grandchild. The lawsuit named as defendants Bundy, Rodriguez, Bundy’s People’s Rights Network and other business entities affiliated with both men.
In additional to St. Luke’s, the plaintiffs bringing the lawsuit include St. Luke’s CEO Chris Roth and two medical professionals who worked on the child, Dr. Natasha Erickson and nurse practitioner Tracy Jungman.
The suit claimed that the defendants posted multiple lies about the hospital system and its employees online. In opening statements, St. Luke’s attorney Erik Stidham said the defendants, through videos and blog posts, asserted that the hospital was working with the government to take children away from Christian families to be sexually abused and given to gay couples.
The jury will have to decide damage amounts in several areas, according to new court filings. Some damages will be compensatory, meaning they are intended to compensate for losses the plaintiffs experienced because of their actions. Others will be punitive, meaning they are intended to punish the defendants for their actions.
Unlike in a criminal case, the jurors do not need to come to a unanimous decision on the damage amounts in a civil case. By Idaho law, only three-fourths of the panel must agree, meaning nine of 12 jurors.
The jury’s verdict form asks how much the defendants should pay for the following actions:
Making defamatory statements about each plaintiff.
Publicly casting plaintiffs in a false light. You don’t have to directly state something false about a person in order to cast a false light on someone. For example, if someone published something about sex offenders that included a mug shot of someone who was a not a sex offender, that is casting them in a false light.
Intentionally inflicting emotional stress on the plaintiffs.
Trespassing on the St. Luke’s Boise property.
Trespassing on the St. Luke’s Meridian property.
Violating the Idaho Charitable Solicitation Act. This 1993 act prohibits anyone from acting in a false, deceptive, misleading, unfair or unconscionable way in order to raise money. Part of St. Luke’s lawsuit claimed that Bundy, who was running for governor, and the defendants sought political and monetary gain with their actions.
Prior to the damages hearing, Bundy and Rodriguez neither appeared in court nor complied with discovery requests. Because they did not even participate in the case, the judge, by law, found them in default. That judicial motion meant they had essentially forfeited the case and the plaintiffs’ allegations would be taken as true.
Another recent filing outlined for the jury what it must assume to be true.
▪ Because Bundy failed to produce documents, correspondence, texts and emails that the plaintiffs requested, the jury should accept that those kinds of evidence existed and would have supported the plaintiffs’ claims.
▪ The default result is to prevent defendants from trying to gain an advantage by withholding evidence.
▪ Jurors should accept assertions about Bundy’s finances, including that he owns real property, as well as limited liability companies, partnerships and corporations of which he is a beneficiary.
▪ Bundy “called, texted, and emailed others in order to disrupt and interfere with St. Luke’s operations,” and directed others to pressure the plaintiffs through similar means.
This story was originally published July 21, 2023 at 4:00 AM.
