Court dismisses case involving 'milk truck' and city citation

From Staff Reports

   Sessions Court Judge John Walton dismissed a lawsuit filed by a local physician against the city of Elizabethton on Wednesday citing a lack of jurisdiction by Circuit Court as a venue to hear the case.
   Filed by Dr. Joe May, the suit named the city and code enforcement officer, Capt. Tom Bowers, as defendants. The lawsuit had sought damages against the city and the return of a refrigerator truck owned by May that had been held at the city's impound yard since Oct. 2001, according to court documents.
   The city's code enforcement officer, Capt. Tom Bowers had issued a citation for what was identified as a "milk truck" located at 1427 West G Street on Sept. 19, 2001. The license tag on the vehicle had allegedly expired in 1989. Bowers later returned on Oct. 9, 2001 to find the vehicle had not been moved.
   The truck was then towed to the city's impound lot and Bowers later issued May a citation for failure to abate a nuisance after notice. When May appeared in City Court on Oct. 15, 2001, the charge was dismissed by City Judge Lewis Merryman.
   The attorney representing the city, K. Erickson Herrin, filed a motion for summary judgment and dismissal of the case on Jan. 16, 2003.
   Herrin's motion alleged that May filed the complaint with the Circuit Court on Nov. 12, 2002, more than one year after the vehicle was towed and more than one year after the dismissal of the "nuisance" charge.