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GULFPORT — Few spectators occupy the benches in U.S. District Court where the policyholder lawsuit Bossier vs. State Farm is being tried this week, a far cry from the months after Hurricane Katrina when policyholders, attorneys and the media crowded into the courtroom for wind vs. water debates.
State Farm has sent a public relations employee to sit through the trial. An attorney from the insurance company’s corporate office has taken notes from the spectator seats throughout the case.
Attorney Judy Guice is representing policyholder Reginald “Ed” Bossier, a retired Biloxi businessman who once owned Hook, Line & Sinker Restaurant and the Cajun RV Park on U.S. 90. He contends Katrina’s wind devastated his Back Bay home in North Biloxi from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. on Aug. 29, before water rose to 3.5 feet in his house. Forensic engineer Ted Biddy testified to the wind’s destruction Wednesday morning.
Attorneys Ben Mullen and John Banahan are representing State Farm. The insurance company claims water destroyed Bossier’s house and that the water line was closer to 8 feet. In cross-examining Biddy, Mullen attempted to show the jury contradictions between Biddy’s opinions and earlier testimony from an eyewitness who described the roar of a tornado in the area at 7:30 a.m., followed by rapidly rising water. Biddy said the water rose gradually.
Read about the trial in Thursday’s Sun Herald.
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