Photo by File photo Bill Jones

A Lincoln County jury of seven men and five women rejected the claims of a North Platte man who claimed he was wrongfully evicted from his apartment.

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After a two-day trial, the jury deliberated about two hours before returning their unanimous verdict in favor of the Platteview Apartments.

Marlin E. “Bill” Jones filed the lawsuit against Platteview after the eviction. Jones said it was a defective and leaky toilet that caused the problems in his bathroom and seepage that caused the odor.

Jones sued the apartment after he was evicted in August 2004 and claims the owners of the apartments cost him his Section 8 government housing allowance and left him living in his car.

Midstates Development, the owner of the Platteview Apartments, believed differently. Officials there said Jones had a “housekeeping problem” that resulted from his urinating on the floor, the toilet, the walls and the bathtub of the apartment.

Midstates, located in Sioux City, Iowa, evicted Jones from the apartment after verbal then written warnings did no good and even probation failed.

An attorney for Midstates, Jonathan J. Blum of Omaha, told the jury that the case was really very simple and all came down to credibility – who they believed.

“The facts will show that Mr. Jones just couldn’t keep a clean bathroom,” Blum said. “He was given four written notices and put on probation but the problem kept coming back.”

Blum said the apartment’s on-site managers found urine on the floor and walls and bathtub of the apartment and that there a “terrible odor that hit you in the face.”

Jones said that their claims are false, slanderous and libelous. He said their statements and their eviction of him cost him his Section 8 government housing allowance and left him homeless.

Jones, 82 and who never studied the law, argued his case himself throughout the jury trial in Lincoln County District Court. He said he was on a fixed income and not able to hire an attorney.

Jones was unhappy with the verdict.

“It was an absolute travesty of justice,” Jones said. “It is unbelievable that a jury could declare my evidence totally unbelievable and believe that the testimony of defendants Terry Burns and Jeanne Hinrich was true.”

Jones said he believes that Lincoln County District Judge Donald Rowlands was prejudiced against him.

Rowlands had dismissed Jones’ case in an earlier hearing and Jones appealed. The Nebraska Court of Appeals overturned Rowlands dismissal and he reinstated the case.

Since then and because the case was reinstated, Jones believes Rowlands treated him unfairly. Jones even asked Rowlands to recuse himself but he refused.

“Even though it was a jury trial, Judge Rowlands still had absolute control over the case and what the jury was allowed to hear,” Jones said. “Obviously he didn’t want the jury to know about his prejudice.”

“But throughout the trial, the jury did not know that Judge Rowlands was in collusion with Blum,” Jones said. He said Rowlands would not allow private investigator Jon McNeel to testify or to present his video recordings in his apartment but the judge allowed other photographs from the defense into evidence.

Jones said he did the best he could but believes the jury was overwhelmed by Blum in his closing remarks.

Two of the jurors spoke to the Bulletin on the condition of anonymity. They both said they simply didn't believe the toilet was faulty.

"We just thought he was a bad shot," one juror said.

The lawsuit

Jones filed the lawsuit in 2004.

Jones was seeking $250,000 in damages from the apartment complex, the development company that owns it and a contractor that maintains it.

In the lawsuit, Jones said he suffered “extreme abuse” while living at Platteview Apartments since shortly after his arrival there Nov. 13, 2002.

The lawsuit said Jones suffered “humiliation, intimidation, retaliation, conspiratorial acts, defamation of his character, filing of false evidence, intentional damage and deprivation of his right to organize on behalf of tenants causing reprisal against him.”

Jones says, in the suit, that he was only trying to reside in peace and comfort as a qualified tenant under the low-income housing provided by the office of Housing and Urban Development.

Jones says, in the suit, that he notified the apartment manager that the toilet in his apartment was defective.

Burns testified Tuesday that the only repair they had to do to the toilet after Jones was evicted was “tighten the bolts.”

The lawsuit said Jones attempted to organize the tenants and had 23 signatures on a petition complaining about the management and maintenance.

At a meeting Feb. 8, 2004, the suit said Burns told the tenants he “would not fire manager Jeanne Hinrich” and told the group the company “had plenty of money.”

Burns characterized the meeting as “lots of commotion and verbal altercations.”

As a result of Burns’ threats and intimidation, the suit says, petitioners asked Jones to take their names off the list “for fear of further reprisals such as losing their homes.”

But Burns testified that Midstates welcomed tenant associations and that he downloaded HUD guidelines for tenant organizations for the group.

“We encouraged them,” Burns said.

The lawsuit says Hinrich conspired with Snell Services to then enter Jones’ apartment without his knowledge and “fabricated a report … used as ground for eviction.”

The lawsuit said the entry was a violation of the Landlord Tenant Act and state law since the apartment complex did not provide a 24-hour notice.

According to the suit, Jones sought the opinion of two qualified local plumbers who both recommended replacing the toilet and City Code Enforcement Officer Dave Hahn, who cited Platteview Apartments.

Hahn testified Tuesday.

Jones first tried to have Rowlands appoint another judge to hear the case in 2005 but Rowlands declined. He has repeatedly asked Judge Rowlands to recuse himself from the case but Rowlands has refused.

Fighting the good fight

Jones says he is fighting for the betterment of all people when he battles the system.

“At my age, why should I go to all this trouble?” Jones said. “It’s because there are moral issues involved. I’m a very serious person and I don’t like others accusing me of false and gross accusations.”

I’m fighting for everybody. Some people don’t have the guts to stand up and fight, but I do.”

In May 1986, Jones was awarded a $60,000 settlement from the City of North Platte’s insurance company and Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office for a strip-search they conducted on him after he was arrested for having a loose dog.

Jones said the Lincoln County Jail and other jails throughout the nation changed their policies of strip-searching non-violent offenders after that. He said that jails began only strip-searching prisoners who were violent, had weapons, drugs or other contraband.

Jones won a decision in 2005 after suing the City of North Platte in federal court. He sued after the North Platte Housing Authority’s Autumn Park Apartments denied him an apartment because he had lost his Section 8 housing status from Platteview.

Jones was denied admittance but won a $6,000 settlement for damages.

“It’s not the money, it’s the principal of the thing,” Jones said.

But Jones has lost lawsuits, too.

In 1989, he was evicted from Autumn Park for failing to pay a pet deposit and for having a dog that weighed more than 20 pounds. Jones appealed the decision saying no actual fact of the weight of the dog had been found in court. Judge Rowlands did not overturn the county court’s decision.

Jones has also sued the Lincoln County Commissioners, Police Chief Martin Gutschenritter, the City of Grand Island, and Ideal Linen Supply twice.

Jones may be down but he’s not done fighting.

The jury reached the verdict before 2 p.m. Wednesday but Jones had already filed a new motion before 5 p.m.

Jones filed a motion to set the verdict aside.

“The verdict reached by the jury was manifestly unjust and one not true to the evidence,” Jones said.

A hearing has been set for October 6 in Lincoln County District Court.