Irvine, California – A Los Angeles Superior Court Judge granted Plaintiff Jane DN Doe’s Motion to Compel Antelope Valley Union High School District Superintendent David Vierra to testify at deposition. The Motion also successfully compelled thirteen additional AVUHSD District Representatives to appear and testify in depositions to go forward within 90 days.
This Civil Case arises out of the alleged sexual abuse of Plaintiff Jane DN Doe by former Palmdale High School basketball coach Marcus Williams. Williams was convicted of seven felony counts after pleading guilty to sexually abusing Plaintiff Jane DN Doe. The victim was allegedly abused by Williams at age 14 and became pregnant by him at age 15. He was age 38. She dropped out of school and attempted suicide several times.
The Motion which was granted by Judge Randolph Rogers asserts that AVUHSD and its attorneys had purposefully delayed proceedings and refused to produce several key AVUHSD witnesses for deposition including Superintendent David Vierra. According to the Motion, AVUHSD and its counsel McCune & Harber refused to produce certain witnesses despite those witnesses having direct interaction with Williams at Palmdale High School and other campuses within AVUHSD.
The Motion also alleges that AVUHSD and its counsel refused to allow Superintendent Vierra to appear for deposition despite Vierra’s direct communications with the administration at Palmdale High School surrounding Williams’ conduct and alleged abuse of the victim.
In commenting on the recent filing and ruling from the Superior Court, victim’s attorney Saul Wolf said, “We are pleased that the Court recognized our client’s right to speak with all relevant witnesses from the District, including those who were supposedly supervising Williams, especially in light of the glaring failures that allowed for our client’s sexual abuse and emotional damage. To me, the hurdles that the District and its counsel created to try and prevent these witnesses from testifying are telling – they are trying to hide even more evidence that the District should have removed Williams from his position well prior to his abuse of our client.”
Manly, Stewart & Finaldi is the nation’s leading firm representing athletes in child sexual abuse cases against school districts, Universities and Olympic Governing Bodies. They recently represented 180 alleged victims of former Olympic Team doctor Larry Nassar resulting in a $500 million-dollar settlement against Michigan State University. In 2018 the firm settled cases against the Torrance Unified School District for $31 million on behalf of alleged victims of former wrestling coach and convicted child molester Thomas Snider, against Los Angeles Unified School district for $8 million in cases involving former football coach and convicted child molester Jamie Jimenez and for $14 million in cases involving former Los Angeles Unified District employee Ronnie Lee Roman. The firm has also settled $30 million in claims against Redlands Unified
School District.
