Randolph, opponents of art sale back in court

By: Christa Desrets | Lynchburg News and Advance
Published: February 24, 2009

After 10 months of court silence, Randolph College and opponents of the school’s decision to sell artwork took up the case again Monday.

Lynchburg Circuit Court Judge Leyburn Mosby Jr. ruled that a trial will determine who should get the $500,000 bond that secured the barring of the sale of the art in late 2007.

After Randolph announced in October 2007 that it would sell four paintings from the Maier Museum of Art, opponents filed an injunction against the sale.

At that time, Mosby ordered that a $10 million bond be filed to protect the college against any damages caused by the delay of selling the art. That amount was lowered to $1 million, and opponents posted half of that before the temporary injunction expired.

The last time either side had argued the case before Mosby was in April 2008, when both sides contended that they should receive the $500,000.

Monday was a continuation of that argument.

Representing the defendants who filed the injunction, Richmond-based attorney Anthony F. Troy argued Monday that the case should be thrown out on a demurrer, which states that even if the allegations in a lawsuit are true, they have no legal basis.

Troy argued that the college had only taken “speculative damages” that had not been proven. He further requested that the bond be released to his clients.

Representing the college, Richmond-based attorney Gilbert E. Schill Jr. disagreed.

“Without any question, Randolph College has been harmed by this injunction,” he said, arguing that a ruling in favor of the demurrer would be “unbelievably unfair” to the college.

Instead, he argued in favor of a trial in which the college would present evidence and attempt to prove that it had incurred at least $500,000 in damage.

While Mosby declined to rule on the warrants of the damages that the college states in the suit, he did find in favor of the college with regard to the demurrer.

“I think the allegations are sufficient enough to survive the demurrer,” Mosby said, adding that a motion to release the bond was “technically premature.”

He ordered that a trial to determine who will receive the bond be held within six months.

“This thing needs to come to a conclusion,” he said.