Freemon Schmidt News Today

Tillery BELLEVILLE – St. Clair County Associate Judge Kevin Hoerner entered nine straight orders in favor of paraquat plaintiffs in preparation for a trial he would have started Monday, May 10.  The parties asked for a delay over the weekend, and Hoerner granted it.  In rulings from May 3 to May 6, he limited testimony of 17 defense experts and entirely excluded two.  He denied all defense motions for limits on testimony.  Farmers Carroll Rowan, Jerry Mills, Fr...

Hoerner BELLEVILLE – Virus concerns caused St. Clair County Associate Judge Kevin Hoerner to delay trial on claims that weed killer paraquat caused Parkinson’s disease, for 28 days.  On March 23, he granted a motion of defendants Syngenta, Chevron, and Growmark to continue an April 12 trial date.  He has set it to start May 10.  No judge has held trial in St. Clair County for more than a year.  Defendants moved to stay the paraquat trial or continue it on Mar...

Hoerner BELLEVILLE – Associate Judge Kevin Hoerner plans to hold St. Clair County’s first civil jury trial in a year for six clients of Stephen Tillery, who contributed $11,100 to Hoerner’s campaign for appellate judge in 2018.  Hoerner has set proceedings to begin April 12, on Tillery’s claim that weed killer paraquat causes Parkinson’s disease.  Five of his six plaintiffs don’t live in St. Clair County.  Tillery sued Syngenta, Growmark, and Chevron f...