Worcester resident Dr. James Mollick was filming a school
board meeting, as he was frequently known to do and which is perfectly legal. According
to published reports at the time ("Van Horn to Face Charges", Times Herald 12-14-07, "Van Horn Pleads to Lesser Charge", Times Herald 3-14-08 and "Methacton School Board Meeting Incident", Times Herald 2007), when Van Horn noticed Mollick still filming
after the conclusion of the meeting, he left the dias and charged toward
Mollick, allegedly assaulting him in front of several witnesses; Mollick wound up being thrown over a couple
of rows of seats in the audience. Van Horn has claimed ever since that he was going after the
camera, not Mollick, and claimed at the time he was never charged with assault,
but Mollick wound up with what are apparently serious injuries.
Van Horn, second from right |
Sources who wish to remain anonymous tell me that the
parties are ‘miles apart’ from settling, and thus the trial is expected to be a
go. Van Horn is evidently sticking to his guns and confident that by rolling
the dice in court he will prevail against Mollick. I’m told Mollick’s career as
an OB-GYN has come to a standstill ever since the incident in which he alleges
he sustained serious and career-ending injuries.
UPDATE: As I was drafting this, I called the judge’s clerk to get an
estimate of how long the trial was expected to last. I was advised that the
case was believed to have reached settlement today (5/1) , although nothing formal had
been received by the Court as of 4 pm. I was able to confirm later that the case had
indeed settled for an undisclosed amount.
The extensive case docket reveals a flurry of activity in the last couple
of days on several dozen pending motions, and several orders were handed down
which appear to have been detrimental to Van Horn’s defense. Several others
were deferred to be dealt with at trial instead of being dismissed outright. Again, the pleadings are sealed, so I can’t
tell for sure, but perhaps Van Horn saw the handwriting on the wall and decided
not to take his chances with a jury.
Of course, we will likely never know how much the parties
agreed to settle for, and it’s typical in personal injury litigation to keep such
information confidential. But the bigger questions are: how much did Methacton
School District have to spend in legal fees to defend their former school board president
over those six years - I've heard upwards of $100,000, but don't quote me on that -, and how much of the settlement exceeds their insurance
coverage limits and must be paid out of pocket? How much of that will we taxpayers be paying for next year in the form of a tax increase?
In the meantime, if Van Horn hopes to remain active in local government and politics, perhaps he might want to invest in an anger management class.
In the meantime, if Van Horn hopes to remain active in local government and politics, perhaps he might want to invest in an anger management class.