Back In Court

In final hearing, judge mulls Weekly arguments against anti-competitive Guardian verdict. By Andy Van De Voorde The final trial-court hearing in the Bay Guardian’s below-cost pricing lawsuit against the SF Weekly took place Tuesday at San Francisco Superior Court, capping the opening chapter of a bitter judicial battle that has already dragged on for more than three and a half years. Although Superior Court Judge Marla J. Miller has offered preliminary rulings at previous hearings, she remained mute Tuesday on the question of how she would decide the Weekly’s motion for a new trial and its request that she overturn a jury verdict that awarded the Guardian $6.4 million in damages. Tuesday’s hearing was punctuated with routines familiar to anyone who sat through the six-week trial: Guardian attorney Ralph C. Alldredge’s cell... [read full story]