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Bush won't have to testify in whistle-blower case
A Democratic judge rules Texas governor will not have to give a deposition in the so-called Formaldegate case.

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By Robert Bryce

Aug. 31, 1999 | AUSTIN, Texas -- Gov. George W. Bush scored a major victory in a Texas courtroom Monday, when a judge ruled the presidential front-runner will not have to testify in the so-called Formaldegate trial. Bush's testimony was sought by attorneys for Eliza May, the former executive director of the Texas Funeral Service Commission, in a whistle-blower lawsuit against the state of Texas.

After an all-day hearing, Travis County District Court Judge John Dietz ruled that May's attorneys, who filed suit against the state in March, did not present enough evidence to compel Bush to testify in the case.

Attorney General John Cornyn, who appeared in court on Bush's behalf, said he was there to "defend an important principle." He said the state of Texas is sued about 10 times a day and that if Bush were required to testify in the lawsuit brought by May, "then this governor and future governors will have little time to do anything else."

In his ruling to quash the subpoena, Dietz, a Democrat, said that May's attorneys had not proven that Bush has "unique and superior knowledge" of the facts in the case and therefore Bush would not be required to testify. Texas case law requires that before plaintiffs are allowed to depose heads of corporations and other entities, they must show that person has information that is not available from other, lower ranking, people in the company. Cornyn argued that the same, or higher, standard should apply to the governor.

Patton Lochridge, an attorney for SCI, was pleased with the ruling. "I think it was correct," said Lochridge, who added that Dietz "analyzed it well and followed the law."

The ruling is the latest development in the whistle-blower lawsuit filed six months ago by May, the former treasurer of the Texas Democratic Party. May sued the state, Houston-based SCI and SCI's CEO Robert Waltrip, alleging that she was fired after she and other agency employees found numerous violations of state law by the company's funeral homes. As a result of the investigations done by May, the agency recommended that SCI be fined $445,000. So far, the company has not been required to pay the fine.

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