The Guardian’s case against the SF Weekly finally went to the jury yesterday.
A little after 1 pm, Judge Marla Miller called in a bailiff, explained the verdict form to the jurors, and dismissed the panel to begin deliberations.
The move came after both sides presented detailed closing arguments, seeking to tie together weeks of testimony, reams of exhibits and contradictory opinions from a total of five expert witnesses.
Judge Miller started the day by describing the applicable law to the jurors and explaining how they should interpret the facts. Then Ralph Alldredge, representing the Guardian, opened by explaining that the Weekly, its corporate parent (Village Voice Media, the chain formerly known as New Times) and the East Bay Express (until recently owned by VVM/New Times) were all jointly liable for any damages. “If the SF Weekly didn’t have the ability to get money from the corporate parent to cover its losses, it would have gone out of buinsess,” Alldredge said.
Then he ran through the basic facts of the case.