Posts Tagged ‘Georgetown Library fire’
OAG Calls. It Wants Its Emails Back.
Today, I wrote up a piece about how Office of Attorney General lawyers were/are furious with fire department brass. What's the reason for their anger? A shoddy investigation into the Georgetown Library fire that has become the subject of a massive lawsuit in D.C. Superior Court. The shoddy investigation means a lot of problems with basics like discovery and evidence requests by plaintiffs attorneys.
In my item (linked above, please read it!), I quote from two OAG lawyers' e-mails to the fire department. The two attorneys call out the department for their potentially damaging stonewalling on the discovery, and question whether fire investigators followed basic national standards when they worked the Georgetown library case.
In my calls to the OAG prior to publishing the piece (linked above, please read it!), I got nowhere. Nothing much beyond no comment, it's pending litigation, the usual.
A few hours after my item ran (linked above, please read it!), OAG's Kimberly Matthews called to say she really, really wanted to see those e-mails. Could I please send them to her?
OAG E-Mails Show Frustration With Fire Department; Did Investigators Botch The Georgetown Library Case?
First the Pershing Park case. The Office of the Attorney General may have had serious trouble with another high profile lawsuit---the Georgetown Library fire case. In April 2007, a three-alarm fire gutted Georgetown's public library. Two hundred firefighters along with roughly two dozen trucks battled the blaze. That huge effort may not have translated into a thorough investigation into the fire's cause. Chief Dennis Rubin and Co.'s sloppy detective work may cost the city big time.
In a lawsuit stemming from the fire, a contractor has challenged the department's conclusions that heat guns caused the blaze. The contractor saw enough holes in the fire department's investigation to sue the District. Whether heat guns caused the blaze or not, the lawsuit is making one thing clear: the OAG is having difficulties furnishing evidence and discovery materials.
And OAG lawyers are furious at fire department personnel.
If there ever was a fire that called out for a serious investigation, it would be the twin fires that gutted the library and Eastern Market. The Eastern Market fire continues to be a subject of debate. Apparently, according to e-mails obtained by City Desk, the Georgetown Library fire investigation was far from competent.
At one point, an OAG attorney calls into question whether fire investigators followed national standards, and whether those investigators should be punished.
