Legal News

Opening testimony in Duroville trial

By Richard Binder

The trial to determine Duroville's fate got underway yesterday in U.S. District Court in Riverside.

The U.S. government wants Duroville shut down, arguing that efforts have failed to fix its leaking sewer pipes and bad or no electrical and water service. 

"The park continues to be a serious threat to the health and safety of its residents," Assistant U.S. Attorney Leon W. Weidman said in his opening statement before U.S. District Judge Stephen G. Larson. "The costs to making the necessary repairs to bring it up to code and make it safe . . . will be prohibitive."

Arturo Rodriguez, of California Rural Legal Assistance Inc., asked where would its residents go if Duroville was shuttered for good. "Closure is going to force people to relocate to a mobile home park just as bad or worse," he said. "The only difference is they will be out of sight, until the next court case comes up."

James Fletcher, head of the regional office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Chester Hartman, research director of the Washington, D.C.-based Poverty & Race Research Action Council, rounded out the day's testimony.

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Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on April 08, 2009 (boomark / email).