Luzerne County went to court Wednesday hoping for a quick and decisive victory in its lawsuit against Lackawanna County over the sale of Northeast Pennsylvania's Triple-A baseball franchise.
It probably won't get one.
After a brief hearing in Lackawanna County Court, visiting Senior Judge Richard N. Saxton Jr. indicated he likely will deny Luzerne's motion for a partial summary judgment and allow the dispute over who gets what from last year's $14.6 million sale of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders to continue toward trial.
Luzerne County sued Lackawanna County and its Multi-Purpose Stadium Authority in 2010, arguing it should receive half of the proceeds from the then-pending sale under the 1986 agreement that brought professional baseball to the region. At the time, each county chipped in $1 million to help buy the team.
In seeking the summary judgment, Luzerne County asked the court to declare it is entitled to 50 percent of the $14.6 million - minus a $345,000 deduction - based on what attorney Timothy Murray argued was the clear and unambiguous language of the 1986 agreement.
The three-page document states that should the franchise be sold, the two counties "shall share equally" in the distribution of any proceeds, he said.
"It is our position that any which way you look at the language ... there is only one way to interpret that," Mr. Murray told the court.
Not so, said attorney James Doherty, who represents Lackawanna County.
He argued the 1986 agreement is rife with ambiguities in part because none of the terms are defined within the document, creating genuine issues of fact. For example, Mr. Doherty said Lackawanna County believes the word "proceeds" refers to net proceeds, not gross proceeds as Luzerne contends.
Both he and the stadium authority's attorney, Frank Tunis, told the judge granting the summary judgment would be premature.
A countersuit filed by Lackawanna County contends Luzerne County owes it half of the $20 million-plus Lackawanna County taxpayers have spent on stadium maintenance since 1989.
As part of its motion, Luzerne County also a sought summary judgment in its favor on Lackawanna County's claim of unjust enrichment.
Mr. Murray argued Luzerne County had no obligation under the 1986 agreement to help with the stadium upkeep. The unjust enrichment argument is an attempt to "rewrite the contract through the back door," he told the court.
Mr. Doherty said Lackawanna County officials repeatedly asked their Luzerne County counterparts for assistance at the stadium. Their response was "hands over ears, hands over eyes" until Lackawanna County started talking about selling the franchise.
"Then the hand went out," Mr. Doherty said.
Judge Saxton did not rule immediately, citing the need to review a last-minute supplemental brief filed by Mr. Murray. However, he left little doubt he was leaning toward rejecting the summary judgment motion, telling the attorneys the case needs to go before a jury or another "trier of facts."
Contact the writer: dsingleton@timesshamrock.com