Hoerner
BELLEVILLE – Virus concerns caused St. Clair County Associate Judge Kevin Hoerner to delay trial on claims that weed killer paraquat caused Parkinson’s disease, for 28 days.
On March 23, he granted a motion of defendants Syngenta, Chevron, and Growmark to continue an April 12 trial date.
He has set it to start May 10.
No judge has held trial in St. Clair County for more than a year.
Defendants moved to stay the paraquat trial or continue it on March 17, warning that trials act as super spreaders of the virus.
Attorney Joseph Orlet of Clayton, Mo. wrote that criminal jury trials are on hold and even relatively minor civil jury trials are on hold.
Hoerner
BELLEVILLE – Associate Judge Kevin Hoerner plans to hold St. Clair County’s first civil jury trial in a year for six clients of Stephen Tillery, who contributed $11,100 to Hoerner’s campaign for appellate judge in 2018.
Hoerner has set proceedings to begin April 12, on Tillery’s claim that weed killer paraquat causes Parkinson’s disease.
Five of his six plaintiffs don’t live in St. Clair County.
Tillery sued Syngenta, Growmark, and Chevron for 11 plaintiffs in 2017.
Chief Judge Andrew Gleeson assigned the suit to former judge Vincent Lopinot.
Gleeson stood for retention in 2018, and Tillery gave his campaign $10,000.
In December 2018, Lopinot retired and Gleeson assigned himself to the suit.