US judge sanctions second lawyer in Monsanto trial

2nd plaintiffs' lawyer sanctioned in Monsanto trial

A San Francisco federal judge has sanctioned another plaintiffs' attorney for her part in sneaking inadmissible evidence into opening remarks in a trial against Bayer AG-owned Monsanto over allegations its Roundup weed killer causes cancer.

Kentucky-based attorney Jennifer Moore "intentionally joined in the bad faith misconduct" of her co-lead counsel, Aimee H. Wagstaff, according to U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria's order.

Chhabria sanctioned Wagstaff $500 in February for what he called an "incredibly dumb" violation of his ruling. He ordered the Colorado-based attorney to name other attorneys and their contributions to her opening statements.

Moore was similarly sanctioned $500. Chhabria declined to sanction five other plaintiffs' attorneys. In re: Roundup Products Liability Litigation, 16-MD02741 (N.D. Cal., filed Oct. 4, 2016).

"The issue of violating the court's pretrial rulings was very much on the team's radar as of at least February 23rd, but that did not prevent Moore and Wagstaff from going forward with an opening statement that so obviously violated those pretrial rulings," the judge wrote in his May 21 order.

-- Winston Cho