Detroit International Bridge Company (DIBC) President Dan Stamper and Matty Moroun's son, Matthew, appeared before Judge Prentis Edwards in Wayne County Circuit Court today.
Both pledged that DIBC will comply with Edwards' order, and complete the Gateway Project according to specifications.
And both swore to cede power over the Gateway Project to a "special committee" as outlined in Michigan law--one that will include Stamper, but will otherwise be made up of outsiders.
DIBC lawyer Godfrey Dillard says his clients are doing what they can to "purge themselves of the contempt" charges that landed Stamper and Matty Moroun in jail briefly last month. But they still think the underlying court order is wrong--and will appeal that separately.
Dillard says the company has already started "de-construction" on their portion of the Gateway Project in order to comply.
But Tony Kratofil, Metro Region engineer for M-DOT, says it's "too soon to tell" whether all of this adds up to DIBC acting in good faith.
"It all sounds very good on the surface, but we’ll see what actions play out in the next month,” Kratofil said.
Another hearing to monitor progress is scheduled for March 8th before Judge Edwards.
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The company that owns the Ambassador Bridge says it will comply with a court order—and give up a years-long legal battle over a disputed construction project.
The announcement comes ahead of a scheduled hearing in Wayne County Circuit Court Thursday.
But the Detroit International Bridge Company won’t use it to keep fighting the February, 2010 court decision ordering them to finish the long-delayed Gateway Project.
That's a joint construction project with the Michigan Department of Transportation, meant to better connect the bridge with surrounding highways.
Instead, Bridge Company officials say they'll use the hearing to detail how they plan to comply.
The ongoing battle between the DIBC and MDOT landed DIBC President Dan Stamper and bridge owner Manuel "Matty" Moroun in jail overnight for civil contempt of court last month. Last week, the Michigan Court of Appeals upheld the lower court judge's right to incarcerate the two men, though not indefinitely.
Stamper admits the idea of returning there motivated them to cooperate. “It entered into all of our thoughts,” said Stamper.
Moroun's son, Matthew, added: "I don’t think any human being likes jail.”
Matthew Moroun says he and his father will also cede decision-making powers for the Gateway Project to a "special committee." They say that committee will include Stamper, but otherwise be made up of people from outside the DIBC.
Although they've now agreed to comply with, the DIBC continues to insist the court order is wrong. They've blamed MDOT all along for the construction delays, despite the court's decision and the findings of an independent monitor.
When I heard the first news flashes about the Michigan Court of appeals ruling yesterday, it appeared briefly that the Ambassador Bridge company had won. Indeed, the court said Wayne County Circuit Judge Prentis Edwards was wrong to rule that Matty Moroun, the bridge’s owner, and Dan Stamper, his top employee, had to stay in jail until they lived up to an agreement with the state.
A three judge panel from the Michigan Court of Appeals has ruled that Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Prentis Edwards used his power appropriately when he jailed billionaire Ambassador Bridge owner Manuel "Matty" Moroun and his top company official, Detroit International Bridge Company President Dan Stamper, on January 12, 2012.
However, the court did say Judge Edwards didn't make the conditions of their release clear enough.
Lawyers representing Moroun and Stamper argued that their imprisonment was an improper use of the civil contempt of court power and "was invalid as a matter of law."
From the opinion of the Michigan Court of Appeals:
We disagree with appellants to the extent that they argue that incarceration was an improper use of the trial court’s civil contempt power; however, we agree with appellants that the trial court erred in requiring their continued incarceration until DIBC “fully complied with” the February 1, 2010, order...
Confinement or imprisonment may be imposed whether the contempt is civil or criminal in nature. Borden v Borden, 67 Mich App 45, 48; 239 NW2d 757 (1976). In the civil context, the confinement must be conditional.
Moroun and Stamper were freed on appeal by the Michigan Court of Appeals on January 13 after spending the night in a county jail.
Now, after this Appeals Court ruling, the two top Ambassador Bridge officials will return to Wayne County Circuit Court this week.
And they’ll do so facing the possibility they could go back to jail if Judge Edwards crafts a new civil contempt of court order.
The whole issue stems from a dispute over the Gateway Project, a joint construction project between the DIBC and the Michigan Department of Transportation. The project was meant to build ramps that would better connect the Ambassador Bridge to surrounding highways, and keep truck traffic off residential streets.
The Appeals Court ruled that Edwards was within his rights when he ordered the two to jail. But they maintain Prentis's order that the two remain incarcerated until the Gateway Project is "complete"--something that will likely take months--was too vague.
The Appeals Court judges said Edwards would have to provide specifics on how Moroun and Stamper can remove the civil contempt of court ruling.
A Michigan Department of Transportation spokesman says the agency is pleased with the ruling, and is “eager” to see the more specific conditions the Judge lays out.
The Detroit International Bridge Company released a statement that was silent on most of the ruling, but noted the DIBC is "pleased with the recognition by the MI Court of Appeals today that the Ambassador Bridge Gateway Project must be finished." It went on to say:
"Given the events since the Court of Appeals accepted the appeal from Judge Edward’s order, MDOT announced its intent to begin completion of MDOT’s unfinished ramp. It is very clear that MDOT has held up construction, not DIBC...No one wants the Gateway completed more than us."
Gregg Ward took his 16-year-old daughter Emily to a crowded courtroom last Thursday morning, so they could both see what would happen to Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Moroun.
To her father’s astonishment, Moroun became the only billionaire ever to spend a night in the crowded Wayne County jail, after a judge found him in contempt for refusing to follow court orders to demolish some illegal construction and live up to a contract with the state. Emily was fascinated. “I was definitely glad I went!” she said. “It was really interesting to see how justice would prevail.”
The Michigan Court of Appeals has freed Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Moroun and his top aide, Dan Stamper from the Wayne County jail.
Thursday morning, Wayne County Judge Prentis Edwards sent Moroun and Stamper to jail for civil contempt of court.
That night, the Court of Appeals denied Moroun and Stamper’s emergency motions to get out of jail.
But their lawyers tweaked their argument today, and again asked that the two be freed while their clients’ appeal is pending. The court has now agreed to that.
The "Gateway Project" is supposed ease traffic congestion and improve connectivity to area highways. As you can see here, there are several partners involved in completing the project. Judge Edwards says Moroun's company has not done the work properly.
On Thursday morning, January 12, Wayne County Judge Prentis Edwards sent billionaire Ambassador Bridge owner, Manuel "Matty" Moroun to jail for failing to comply with the judge's order to finish a project that will connect the bridge to nearby expressways.
Dan Stamper, the president of the Detroit International Bridge Company (DIBC), has been ordered to jail as well. The Detroit International Bridge Company owns the Ambassador Bridge.
This post was updated as the story developed.
Update 6:00 p.m.
The Michigan Court of Appeals has freed Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Moroun and his top aide, Dan Stamper from the Wayne County jail, as Michigan Radio's Sarah Cwiek reports. The court will hear an appeal on Judge Edwards' decision on February 2.
3:08 p.m.
The son of 84 year-old Manuel "Matty" Moroun, Matthew T. Moroun, released a statement to the Detroit Free Press about his father's jailing:
"Without a trial, without a jury, with no notice stating the reasons for them to appear, a judge viciously lashed out at Matty Moroun and Dan Stamper today and ordered a penalty outside the bounds of a civil case that was excessive, unwarranted and outrageous.
“This is the same judge that refused repeated requests for site visits to actually see construction on the Gateway Project. This entire legal process has clearly become a personal vendetta by the judge against these individuals.”
On FOX 2 Detroit last night, Matthew T. Moroun indicated that he thinks Judge Edwards has a personal vendetta against his father.
"As you know, the Judge's son was recently appointed by the Governor the day before Thanksgiving to a $150,000 a year judgeship job at 36th District Court," said Moroun.
Governor Snyder strongly supports the construction of a second international bridge crossing over the Detroit River - something the Moroun family has been actively fighting with a multi-million dollar ad blitz.
The plan for a second bridge was defeated in the Michigan legislature late last year.
"When we defeated the governor's plan in the legislature, the judges's son was appointed less than one month later. And my Dad was thrown in jail less than two months after that," said Moroun.
Very little was discussed about the details of the Judge's orders to the Moroun family on the program.
To get a better idea of what the issue is, the Detroit Free Press offers this graphic showing how the Moroun family did not build the Gateway Project according to agreed upon plans.
1:42 p.m.
Moroun and Stamper spent the night in the Wayne County jail. The Detroit Free Press reports that the billionaire and his executive wore green prison garb and were held in a cell which offered little privacy:
Just like other inmates, the two were offered chicken-fried steak for dinner. Their mug shots were taken, and the two shared a 10-by-15-foot cell in an isolated wing.
Lawyers for the two jailed Ambassador Bridge executives have been trying to win their release at the Michigan Appeals Court.
"The incarceration of Mr. Moroun and Mr. Stamper violates federal and state constitutional rights to due process, and conflicts with the well-established procedures set-out by statute (MCL 600.1711(2) and MCL 600.1715) court rule (MCR 3.606) for finding and punishing contempt."
In his piece today, Jeff Watrick of MLive writes that Moroun's legacy may now be an eroding of trust in public-private partnerships:
Right now, private ownership apparently means a multi-year legal battle is required to ensure bridge-to-freeway connections are built.
It’s increasingly hard to argue this “private-sector solution” for North America’s busiest commercial border crossing remains viable. And that, more than anything else, may be Matty Moroun’s ulitimate legacy.
Thursday, January 12, 7:00 pm:
The Michigan Court of Appeals has denied Ambassador Bridge owner Matty Maroun and president Dan Stamper's appeal requesting their release from jail.
The Nobel-prize-winning writer Anatole France once observed sarcastically that “the law, in its infinite wisdom, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges, or steal bread.”
That popped into my mind yesterday, when a billionaire who owns a bridge learned to his shock that laws apply to him too, and that there are some people who cannot be bullied or bought.
Governor Rick Snyder had an amazing year last year, getting far more of his program through the legislature than anyone could have predicted. His one major defeat was, in a way, shocking.
That was, of course, his attempt to get a new bridge built over the Detroit River, a bridge that wouldn’t cost Michigan taxpayers anything, and which business leaders say is vitally necessary.
One legal expert says only Congress—not the state—can authorize a new bridge connecting Detroit and Windsor.
Constitutional law professor Robert Sedler was one speaker at a Wayne State University law school panel discussion about the bridge’s future Tuesday.
Sedler says Congress, exercising its authority over international commerce, granted the company that owns the Ambassador Bridge a franchise—and would have to do so again in the case of a new crossing.
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