Supporting the Defense Trial Team:
A Class Action for Property Diminution at a Former DOE Nuclear Site
Law Firm Customer/Major Corporate Defendants
In a recent high profile case in Federal District Court in Colorado,
Destiny was called in shortly before trial to produce GIS-based trial
exhibits and large physical scale models for the well-known trial
lawyers at Kirkland and Ellis (K&E). Although the case was filed
years ago and was mired in pre-trial issues, it came quickly to trial,
leaving the parties limited time to prepare. Destiny Resources put
together a team of graphics, GIS and data experts to create exhibits
for the impending four-month trial.
The Defendants, Dow Chemical and Rockwell International, worked for
decades for the Department of Energy (DOE) supplying plutonium triggers
at a large nuclear weapons manufacturing site near Denver Colorado,
commonly known as Rocky Flats. In this class action case, hundreds
of millions in damages were claimed against the Defendants based on
alleged contamination and property diminution by land owners surrounding
the site. Nuisance and trespass were claimed as a result of widely-publicized
incidents at the site, including an FBI investigation and site clean-up
and closure.
Destiny was initially asked to create accurate physical terrain models
based on GIS-derived data. The models depicted the DOE site, class
boundaries, and growth of the surrounding communities over time. Due
to their large size (4 feet in width by 8 feet in length), tilting
wheeled display carts were needed for courtroom display. Destiny’s
role quickly expanded to include data management and GIS mapping of
many millions of pieces of information to produce factual and demonstrative
evidence for trial. Destiny was asked to maintain a full-time GIS
and graphics trial team in the legal “war room”, providing
extensive litigation support to create exhibits responsive to rapidly
changing strategy and testimony needs during trial.
Development of the underlying database used to create maps and visuals
was done in an extremely short period of time. Designated as a potential
testifying witness, Destiny’s Ken Spitze and his team helped
the trial team choose display options for GIS-based visuals and provided
GIS-based analysis. Maps and models were conformed to fit into automated
trial presentation software.
RAC Average Dose for Class Members
Throughout the trial, Destiny demonstrated their ability to bring
GIS-based evidence into the courtroom, free from technical challenges.
GIS technology, in the hands of experts, was shown as an ideal tool
for illuminating complicated technical data clearly and simply for
the judge and jury.
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