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Plaintiffs in Moore Road lawsuit miss court date

LISBON — The trio behind the Moore Road controversy has lost another legal battle, this time after neither the plaintiffs or their attorney showed up for a pretrial hearing.

Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Judge Scott Washam dismissed the lawsuit Charles and Laura Bramel and Chester Channels filed against Michael and Karla Holden after the plaintiffs failed to attend a final pretrial hearing held June 8. The lawsuit had been scheduled for trial June 19, and failure of the plaintiff or their attorney to show up for a hearing usually results in the lawsuit’s automatic dismissal.

All of the parties live on Moore Road in St. Clair Township, and the lawsuit filed last year asked that Washam declare a public easement exists over the Holden property and that the Bramels and Channels be allowed to use that easement to get to Ware Road. This was just the latest chapter in a dispute that goes back to 2012, when the Bramels first moved to Moore Road and began seeking access to the bridle trails at adjoining Beaver Creek State Park via other properties.

Mr. Bramel was contacted for this story by email and stated in his response that the Youngstown law firm they hired was no longer representing them, and he was unaware of the hearing. Bramel indicated they were dissatisfied with their legal representation and have retained a new law firm to explore their options, but those options will not include filing another easement lawsuit against the Holdens.

The same law firm represented the Bramels and Channels in the lawsuit filed against them last year by county commissioners seeking to have them declared “vexatious litigators” because of the various petitions and other legal actions they filed against the county in pursuit of access to the bridle trails, all of which were rejected.

In February, Judge C. Ashley Pike ruled the Bramels/Channels were vexatious litigators, which is defined as someone who repeatedly files legal actions that have little or no basis in law and serve no purpose other than to harass or injure the other party. Pike issued his ruling after the attorney for Bramels/Channels failed to file any response to contest the county’s motion asking for a decision in its favor based on the evidence filed in the case.

While the Bramels/Channels were free to file an appeal, which they have done, Pike prohibited them from taking any more legal action in county courts without his approval. This played into the decision by Gregory Flax, the Springfield attorney representing the Holdens, not to attend the June 8 pretrial hearing.

Flax, whose office is over four hours away, wrote Judge Washam in advance of the hearing to say he did not plan on attending because Pike’s ruling means the Bramels/Channels would need Pike’s permission to proceed with the easement lawsuit against his clients. Flax asked the case be dismissed or put on hold until the issue was resolved.

Flax also told the court he had spoken with the attorney representing the Bramels/Channels, who told him he was no longer representing them and would not be attending the hearing. Flax offered to be available at the scheduled time if the judge wanted to speak with him by phone.

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