Trial winding down

A civil engineer from Columbia is testifying as the last witness in the two week old lawsuit trial in the Oconee Common Pleas Court. Once John Johnson’s testimony is complete, Judge Lawton McIntosh is expected to instruct the jury to report tomorrow morning for the start of closing arguments. Johnson told defense lawyer Stephanie Burton that in his review of the plans to extend the airport runway, he saw nothing that would lead Talbert and Bright’s Alan Smith to question the drawings prepared by Smith’s subordinate Marty Wynn. Testifying on behalf of Talbert and Bright, Johnson also said there “some indications” that Plateau Excavation fell out of sequence with the requirements of DHEC as to the plans to extend the runway 600 feet. Whether Talbert and Bright’s Smith should share in blame for the fraud committed by Wynn, his former subordinate, was a point that plaintiff’s lawyer Josh Spencer pursued in his line of cross-examination with the final defense witness. When Spencer asked Johnson if that fact that Smith had signed off on Wynn’s work was a sign of gross negligence, Johnson said, “It was a mistake.”