Miss-Delectable

Settlement ends deaf school abuse trial | argusleader.com | Argus Leader

A long civil trial over allegations of sexual abuse at the South Dakota School for the Deaf ended with a settlement last week while jurors were deliberating.

Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Jurors were sent home Wednesday a few hours into their deliberations after hearing more than three weeks of testimony and arguments.

Three former students said a 17-year-old peer sexually assaulted them in the dormitory and on school buses during the 2002-03 school year. They were suing administrators Jon Green, Judy Bakkene, David Hanson and Nina Wright, as well as Jack Rabbit Bus Lines.

Although the jury didn't have a chance to rule, the trial still served a purpose, the bus company's lawyer said: It gave each party a venue to hear the others' cases, which made it easier to find a fair settlement.

"During a monthlong trial, you see what all sides have to say," Shawn Nichols said.

Greg Eiseland, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said he couldn't comment on the settlement because of a confidentiality agreement. Lawyers for the school could not be reached.

Unlike the defendants' cost, taxpayers will pay for the use of two American Sign Language interpreters from the West Coast. Judge Stuart Tiede employed them because he didn't want to use local interpreters with ties to the deaf school.

Court Administrator Karl Thoennes said he hadn't gotten the bill yet, but it should be near his $20,000 pre-trial estimate - more than one-fourth of the county's annual interpreter budget.

When asked about the settlement that effectively made the trial moot, Thoennes laughed.

"That's how the American judicial system works," he said. "This one happened to involve a very significant cost."

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