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Sugarland singer must give deposition

A Marion County Superior Court judge Friday ordered country music group Sugarland’s lead singer to give a limited deposition by mid-April in the Indiana State Fair stage collapse lawsuits.  

Mid-America Sound Corporation, which built the roof that collapsed at the Fairgrounds last August, petitioned Judge Theodore Sosin to order Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles’ deposition for Monday, March 26.  Mid-America attorney Rob McGill said getting answers from Nettles about what she told state fair representatives about delaying the concert on the night of the incident is key before an April 17 mediation over possible settlements in the case. 

James Millstone, an attorney appearing on behalf of Lucky Star, Inc., Sugarland’s ownership company, said the request was unreasonable, partly because the band is preparing to go on tour.  But he couldn’t provide specific dates when the country music star might be available. 

Carl Brizzi, an attorney representing a stage collapse victim, says he was surprised Millstone didn’t come prepared to give any dates:

“We understand that they’re busy but as the judge said, the world doesn’t stop turning because Sugarland is going on tour.”

Kenneth Allen, another victim attorney, says the April 17 mediation isn’t as important as McGill made it seem.  Allen says there’s still too much information that hasn’t been gathered

“We need to do our homework before we go into the depositions so that the questions are clear and the answers are clear and we get the evidence we need to supply to the jury.”

Judge Sosin ordered Millstone to come up with a date between April 1 and 15 for Nettles to give a limited deposition, while keeping open the possibility of further depositions in the future.

Brandon Smith is excited to be working for public radio in Indiana. He has previously worked in public radio as a reporter and anchor in mid-Missouri for KBIA Radio out of Columbia. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, Illinois as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, Missouri, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.