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Roanoke jury awards $250,000 in damages over claims

In the lawsuit, the plaintiff said he had been defamed by false statements of crimes.

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Neil Harvey | 981-3376

Friday, September 13, 2013

Years of friction between two Roanoke neighbors escalated to claims by one side of murder-for-hire plots and sex crimes, statements that were ultimately answered with a defamation suit by the other side.

This week in Roanoke Circuit Court, that feud culminated with a jury awarding the plaintiff in the case, Grant Clatterbuck, a quarter of a million dollars in damages.

Clatterbuck, a former president of the homeowners association at Windward Condominiums in southwest Roanoke, first filed suit in 2011 against Robert Burkett, who lives in the housing complex but is not a homeowner. Burkett, who said he works as an unlicensed family therapist, previously had issues with the association over fees and the complex’s cosmetic specifications.

But the situation rose to a boil in January 2011, witnesses said, when Burkett approached Clatterbuck on the street, angry about a dispute over repair charges to his unit.

“He started cussing Grant,” said Gerald Patterson, Windward’s current association president, who saw the dust-up. “Two times while he was cussing and ranting at Grant, he swung his fist. Not to hit him, but to scare him.”

The police were called but no charges were placed.

In March of that year, according to Clatterbuck’s official complaint, Burkett told another member of Windward’s board he’d heard that Clatterbuck “has taken out a contract to have me and my wife … killed.”

That board member, Bill Bratton, testified he’d had frequent conversations with Burkett and had become “his contact person” about issues with the board, but Bratton said he was confused and taken aback by Burkett’s claims.

“I just remember saying to myself, ‘I don’t need this right now,’ ” he recalled. “My hands were shaking. All these things started getting scary.”

In the year after the suit was filed, an amendment to the complaint said Burkett had twice told others who lived in the complex that Clatterbuck had engaged in criminal sexual activity.

One of those neighbors was Bratton, who by then had been named a witness in Clatterbuck’s defamation suit.

Bratton testified Wednesday that in July 2012, he’d clashed with Burkett in their parking area. He told the court Burkett taunted him about his mother’s recent death and, cursing, had accused both him and Clatterbuck of pedophilia — statements Bratton recorded with his cellphone. Bratton said he went to the magistrate to file a report of witness intimidation but ultimately didn’t pursue the matter.

Patterson, too, recalled hearing similar claims from Burkett against Clatterbuck.

“It was such a horrific statement to make that just by repeating it, you may give it some credibility,” Patterson testified, adding that he also didn’t want to risk being connected to Burkett’s claims by retelling them.

“It was so unbelievable, I never said anything,” Patterson said in a 2011 deposition.

Burkett, who was not in court during the first half of the trial because of a medical issue, testified in the second half, butting heads frequently with Stan Barnhill, Clatterbuck’s attorney, and saying that too much time had passed for him to recall exactly what statements he’d made.

“I don’t know. It’s three, four years ago,” Burkett said, but Barnhill introduced earlier depositions and Bratton’s recording, which conflicted with his testimony.

One of Burkett’s witnesses, Doris Gray, appeared in court in a wheelchair, using oxygen.

“He was a bully,” Gray, a former Windward resident, said of Clatterbuck. “If you didn’t agree with him, he got very upset.”

Clatterbuck, too, took the stand and told Judge David Carson that the statements by Burkett had left him with insomnia and depression.

“This is my legacy. This is my life. And this person has stepped in it and they’re angry,” he testified. “I have no idea who he’s said it to, who doesn’t know it’s not the truth.”

But defense attorney Jeffrey Hubbard countered that few who heard Burkett’s claims believed them.

“Each person who heard it was not affected by the statements,” Hubbard argued. “Even if the statements were made, there was no damage.”

But the jury, four women and three men, disagreed and on Wednesday ordered Burkett to pay $250,000 — $150,000 in compensatory damages and $100,000 in punitive damages.

Thursday afternoon, Burkett said he planned to appeal the jury’s verdict.

“I don’t have any money. I don’t own anything. I just make a regular salary,” he said.

Saturday, September 14, 2013