John Chiv: Judge dismisses former court mediator lawsuit against Eddie Schrock

Jun 23, 2023

Judge dismisses former court mediator lawsuit against Eddie Schrock

If you have been reading my coverage on former court mediator Velda Gooden against local attorney Eddie Schrock, you will understand why I chose not to waste my time this morning. The result was exactly as I expected.

Eddie was kind enough to email me on the outcome. He represnts Ryan Weinert's ex. Court minutes and documents confirm Eddie's email.

"I wanted to update you on the status of Velda Gooden's civil harassment suit against me. On today's date, we had our trial. Ms. Gooden presented her evidence. She called her client, Ryan Weinert, to testify. She then testified. When she was done testifying, I made a motion for a Directed Verdict. A directed-verdict motion is basically an argument that even if everything that Ms. Gooden provided to the Court was true, she failed to articulate a claim of harassment against me. Judge McElfresh agreed that Ms. Gooden failed to make a case that I harassed her. He dismissed her civil-harassment case against me. As a result, I did not have to present my side of the story, which included calling Ms. Gooden's supervisor at the Courthouse, her supervisor at the Victim-Witness Office, Mr. Weinert's ex, and myself, all of whom were ready to testify at the trial."

According to Cornell Law, "A directed verdict is a ruling entered by a trial judge after determining that there is no legally sufficient evidentiary basis for a reasonable jury to reach a different conclusion. The trial court may grant a directed verdict either sua sponte or upon a motion by either party."