Witness admits to perjury in railroad crash trial

Thomas Grace, who was at the scene of the crash when the Dyer County Co-op fertilizer truck driven by Keith Jones was hit by an IC train at 7:30 a.m. on Nov. 2, 2003, told U.S. District Judge Bernice Donald that an unknown female from the IC defense team had approached him to not tell anyone the railroad company had paid for his overnight stay at the Sleep Inn, two blocks south of the courthouse.

During his cross-examination, Grace said he had stayed with friends in Oakland.

Grace also had altered his testimony regarding the accident. When he was deposed by a plaintiff's attorney, he explained he was driving an 18-wheeler west on Locust Grove and, after crossing the tracks, had passed Jones's fertilizer truck about 10 feet west of the railway and had to swerve to miss him. Grace said he had seen the accident happen through the rig's rear-view mirror.

He had testified on Wednesday he was much farther away from the accident.

Jones's legal counsel, Chattanooga attorneys Pamela O'Dwyer and John Chandler, accused the railroad attorneys of taking part in Grace's perjury on Friday outside the jury's presence.

Chandler asked Grace if the railroad had coached him in the testimony or paid him for testifying.

"No," said Grace.

"Did Illinois Central promise you a job?" asked Chandler.

"No."

"What did she tell you?" asked Chandler.

"I was told not to say anything," said Grace.

Judge Donald called Grace to the witness stand.

"You are aware you are under oath," said Donald.

"Yes."

"Then I advise you to tell the truth. Perjury is a federal crime that could mean a possible five years in prison," said Judge Donald. "I want you to make sure you are telling the truth and make you aware of the penalty for perjury. All you are obligated to do here is tell the truth.

"Now what was the conversation about the hotel room?"

"To the best of my knowledge I didn't have a place to stay," said Grace. "They paid for me a room and asked me not to say anything."

"When did this conversation happen?" asked Judge Donald. "During the jury selection or the trial."

Grace said it happened during a break in the trial in the hall outside the courtroom.

"Have you had a conversation with anyone about your testimony?"

"I got a lot of phone calls from both sides," said Grace.

Grace attributed his changed testimony to seeing photographic evidence of the accident scene during the trial that he hadn't seen before.

"I tried to forget everything about that day," said Grace.

Judge Donald said she would consider instructing the jury about the perjury when it reconvened, but about noon Friday informed the lawyers Grace could leave.

Judge Donald reserved Grace's testimony in jury instructions drafted Saturday:

"You may recall that on Tuesday, June 17, 2008, you heard live testimony from Thomas Grace, a witness to the collision at issue in this case.

"After the jury was excused from the courtroom, I asked Mr. Grace to stay and answer a few questions. I then asked Mr. Grace whether or not he had stayed the previous night in a hotel room paid for by the defendant. Mr. Grace denied under oath that he had stayed in a hotel room paid for by the defendant, but, instead, stated that he stayed at a friend's house.

"Information later came to the Court's attention that Mr. Grace's testimony regarding where he had stayed the previous night was not truthful. In fact, the Court has determined that Mr. Grace did stay in a hotel room paid for by the defendant the night before he testified in this case.

"Therefore, you may consider the fact that Mr. Grace lied under oath about this matter at the time you consider his credibility in deciding any of the matters that are relevant to your determination of any of the issues in this case."

The lawsuit, filed by Keith Jones' wife, Teresa, was amended three days into the trial to include Canadian National Railroad as a defendant. The requested amount for compensatory and punitive damages from the new complaint is $100 million.

The IC attorneys objected to the inclusion of CN after the trial had started.

Judge Donald had not ruled by press time on the amended complaint.

The trial resumes on Monday, when Judge Donald is scheduled to send the jury into deliberations for a verdict.