Filed in District Court
State of Minnesota
7/12/2021
District Court
First Judicial District
Court File Number: 19HA-CV-18-905
Case Type: Civil Other/Misc.
State of Minnesota
Dakota County
Notice of Remote Zoom Hearing
FILE COPY
State Farm Fire and Casualty Company vs David V. Rucki, Samantha Rucki, Gianna Rucki, Sandra Sue Grazzini-Rucki, Deirdre Elise Evavold et. al
You are notified this matter is set for a remote hearing. This hearing will not be in person at the courthouse. Hearing Information August 02, 2021 Hearing 1:00 PM
The hearing will be held via Zoom and appearance shall be by video and audio unless otherwise directed with Judicial Officer Jeroe B. Abrams, Dakota County District Court. The Minnesota Judicial Branch uses strict security controls for all remote technology when conducting remote hearings.
You must: Notify the court if your address, email, or phone number changes.
Be fully prepared for the remote hearing. If you have exhibits you want the court to see, you must give them to the court before the hearing. Visit www.mncourts.gov/Remote-Hearings for more information and options for joining remote hearings, including how to submit exhibits.
Contact the court at 651-438-8100 if you do not have access to the internet, or are unable to connect by video and audio.
To join by internet:
1. Type https://zoomgov.com/join in your browser’s address bar.
2. Enter the Meeting ID and Meeting Passcode (if asked):
Meeting ID: 161 549 6681
Passcode: 046841
3. Update your name by clicking on your profile picture. lf you are representing a party,
add your role to your name, for example, John Smith, Attorney for Defendant.
4. Click the Join Audio icon in the lower left-hand corner of your screen.
MNCIS—PAN-104 STATE Notice of Remote Zoom Hearing 4/21
5. Click Share Video.
To join by telephone (if you are unable to join by internet):
Be sure you know how to mute your phone when you are not speaking and unmute it again to speak.
1. Call Toll-Free: 1-833-568-8864
2. Enter the Meeting ID and Meeting Passcode:
Meeting ID: 161 549 6681
Passcode: 046841
Para obtener ma’s informacién y conocer Ias opciones para participar en audiencias remotas, incluido cémo enviar pruebas, visite www.mncourts.gov/Remote-Hearings.
Booqo www.mncourts.gov/Remote-Hearings oo ka eego faahfaahin iyo siyaabaha aad uga
qeybgeli karto dacwad-dhageysi ah fogaan-arag, iyo sida aad u soo gudbineyso wixii caddeymo
ah.
Dated: July 12, 2021
Maria King
Dakota County Court Administrator
1560 Highway 55
Hastings MN 55033
651-438-8100
cc: Sandra Sue Grazzini-rucki
Deirdre Elise Evavold
Destiny Equine Intervention
Gina Schmit Dahlen
Douglas Dahlen
Destiny Church
Steven Quernemoen
Trish Quernemoen
C Todd Koebele
Dawn L Gagne
STATE OF MINNESOTA
DISTRICT COURT
COUNTY OF DAKOTA
FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT
Type of Case: Civil Other/Misc.
Court File No. 19-HA-CV-18-905
Judge Jerome B. Abrams
JOINT NOTICE OF MOTION AND MOTION FOR PROTECTIVE ORDER AND ORDER
State Farm Fire & Casualty Company, Plaintiff,
v.
David V. Rucki; Samantha Rucki; Gianna Rucki; Sandra Sue Grazzini-Rucki; Deirdre Elise Evavold; Destiny Equine Intervention d/b/a White Horse Ranch, a Minnesota Nonprofit Corporation; Gina Schmit Dahlen; Douglas Dahlen; Destiny Church; Steve Quernemoen and Trish Quernemoen, Defendants.
TO: DEFENDANT DEIRDRE ELISE EVAVOLD, pro se.
NOTICE OF MOTION
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that Plaintiff State Farm Fire & Casualty Company
(“State Farm”) will bring the following motion for hearing before the Honorable
Jerome B. Abrams, Dakota County District Court, on August 2, 2021 at 1:00 p.m. or as soon thereafter as counsel may be heard, via Zoom.
MOTION
Plaintiff State Farm Fire and Casualty Company and Defendants David V. Rucki,
Samantha Rucki, and Gianna Rucki jointly move the Court pursuant to Minnesota
General Rule of Practice 11.04 for leave to file the Partial Settlement Agreement and Meadowbrook Release between State Farm Fire and Casualty Company and
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Defendants David V. Rucki, Samantha Rucki, and Gianna Rucki under seal, consistent with the terms outlined below.
The above-entitled matter came before the Honorable Jerome B. Abrams, Judge
of District Court, on June 8, 2021 on Plaintiff State Farm Fire and Casualty Company’s Motion to Dismiss. The Court granted the motion and ordered entry of judgment of dismissal on June 21, 2021 consistent with the confidential settlement of any claims David Rucki, Gianna, Rucki, and Samantha Rucki asserted against Deirdre Evavold which are, or arguably are, covered under the Homeowner’s Policy and PLUP issued by State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, consistent with Meadowbrook, Inc. v. Tower Ins. Co., 559 N.W.2d 411, 417 (Minn. 1997).
The Court’s Findings and Order for Dismissal With Prejudice are incorporated herein by reference. Because the settlement agreement is confidential, State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, David Rucki, Samantha Rucki, and Gianna Rucki (“Stipulating Parties”) now stipulate and jointly move that the Court enter a Protective Order that the Partial Settlement Agreement and Meadowbrook Release be filed with the Court under seal, confidentially, and that it remain confidential and not disclosed to the public, parties or counsel in this matter except as set forth in the Court’s Order. David Rucki, Samantha Rucki, and Gianna Rucki further request that they be permitted to file Partial Satisfactions of Judgment under seal, confidentially, and that they remain confidential and not disclosed to the public, parties or counsel in this matter except as set forth in
the Court’s Order.
Settlement agreements are historically private and there is no first amendment
right of access to settlement documents sealed by the court. Minneapolis Star & Trib.
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Co. v. Schumacher, 392 N.W.2d 197, 204 (Minn. 1986). Public policy favors settlement of disputed claims without litigation; “[t]o allow public access to settlement documents filed with a court may circumvent this policy.” Id. at 205 (citations omitted). The privacy interests of litigants may justify restricting access to settlement documents. Id. at 206.
Courts have discretion to permit filing settlement documents under seal and to restrict access to them. See id.
Good cause exists to file the Partial Settlement Agreement and Meadowbrook Release under seal. The litigation involving David V. Rucki, Samantha Rucki, and Gianna Rucki has been the subject of media coverage as well as blog and other internet posts. As this Court found at pages 8-12 in its Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Order for Judgment in Court File 19-HA-CV-18-4286, Defendant Evavold has a history of using her blog to post about David Rucki. Terry Nemers, who identified himself as a member of the press, attended the hearing on the Motion to Dismiss this action. [Note: Nemmers never saw either Michael "The Hack" Volpe or Sandra "The Perjurer" Grazzini-Rucki at a single Zoom hearing he attended, did he?] David V. Rucki, Samantha Rucki, and Gianna Rucki as well as State Farm Fire and Casualty Company have strong interests in maintaining the terms of the settlement agreement as confidential, and there is a real risk that the terms would not be kept confidential if the agreement is not filed under seal. Ms. Evavold requested State Farm Fire and Casualty Company advise her of the amount of the settlement. Filing the agreement under seal would permit her to view the document, while also requiring it to be kept strictly confidential under the terms of the Court’s Order.
Balancing the interests of all potentially interested parties, this Court should permit David V. Rucki, Samantha Rucki, and Gianna Rucki and State Farm Fire and Casualty Company to file the Partial Settlement Agreement and Meadowbrook Release under seal.
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State Farm Fire and Casualty Company and Defendants David V. Rucki,
Samantha Rucki, and Gianna Rucki therefore request the Court enter a Protective
Order with the following terms:
1. That the motion of the Stipulating Parties is granted. State Farm Fire and
Casualty Company shall submit to the Court an executed copy of the Partial Settlement Agreement and Meadowbrook Release to remain confidential with the heading, “CONFIDENTIAL – NOT TO BE DISCLOSED TO THE PUBLIC, THE PARTIES, OR OPPOSING COUNSEL WITHOUT COURT ORDER.”
2. Any party or opposing counsel wishing to review the confidential documents, shall arrange to view the confidential documents at the Dakota County
Court House located in Hastings, Minnesota, conditioned on the following:
a. A party or opposing counsel may not make copies of confidential documents subject to this Order.
b. A party or opposing counsel may not have any electronics on his or her person when viewing any confidential documents subject to this Order.
c. A party or opposing counsel may take handwritten notes about the documents.
d. A sheriff’s deputy shall be present at the viewing.
e. The viewing shall be on a Monday or a Friday and at a date and time acceptable to court administration.
f. No third parties shall be allowed with a party or opposing counsel when reviewing the documents.
g. The terms of the document shall remain strictly confidential and shall not be shared or disclosed with any other person or entity, nor shall they be published in any fashion. Disclosure or publication of any details of the settlement, including the amount, shall subject the person violating this Order to penalties for contempt of court.
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h. David Rucki, Samantha Rucki, and Gianna Rucki acknowledge receipt of the amounts identified in the Confidential Partial Settlement Agreement and Meadowbrook Release and agree that the judgments against Deirdre Evavold are partially satisfied in the amounts identified in the Confidential Partial Settlement Agreement and Meadowbrook Release. They shall file Partial Satisfactions of
Judgment in the underlying matter, confidentially, consistent with the Order Regarding Confidential Documents in effect in Court File 19-HA-CV-18-4286.
3.That Dakota County Court Administration shall file the documents according to the policies allowing for CONFIDENTAL materials accessible only to specific court employees.
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Dated: July 12, 2021 HKM, P.A.
/s/ Kathleen Curtis
C. Todd Koebele, #1728X
William L. Moran, #177167
Kathleen K. Curtis, #388279
30 East Seventh Street, Suite 3200
St. Paul, MN 55101-4919
Telephone: (651) 227-9411
Fax: (651) 223-5199
tkoebele@hkmlawgroup.com
wmoran@hkmlawgroup.com
kcurtis@hkmlawgroup.com
Attorneys for Plaintiff State Farm Fire and Casualty Company
Dated: July 12, 2021
ELLIOTT LAW OFFICES, P.A.
/s/ Lisa M. Elliott
Lisa M. Elliott, #201923
Dawn L. Gagne, #158550
2409 West 66th Street
Minneapolis, MN 55423
Telephone: (612) 861-3000
lisa@elliottlaw.net
dawn@elliottlaw.net
Attorneys for Defendants David V. Rucki, Samantha Rucki and Gianna Rucki
4811-9739-8513, v. 1
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Bonus Material - Did you know that the judicial officer just delete email from Michael "The Hack" Volpe?
THE COURT: Now, I also want the record to reflect that I keep getting contacted by an individual who just – I think his first name is Michael. I don't know -- I am constantly -- I'm constantly deleting emails from some fellow. I don't know if you're getting those contacts as well, Miss Elliot. I think he's a person that's left over from that kind of prior unhappy litany of passel of cases involving Miss Grazzini-Rucki, Miss Evavold, and others in their community. And I've had that fellow send me a note. Somebody told me that his position was that this case was canceled for today and obviously, I had never done that. So have you any communications with anyone whether it's Miss Evavold or anyone else about this trial going forward today?
MS. ELLIOT: The only issue or communication I got is I received that same email from -- his name is Mr. Michael Volpe, V-O-L-P-E, and yes, he lives in Chicago and he seems to have taken -- this case has taken on a life of its own in his world. And I think are now on his service list along with 50 other people, and I am included on that. Any time anything happens to anybody in this world, including Deirdre Evavold or Sandra Grazzini-Rucki or any of the other players, he gets wind of it and posts and sent -- he does interviews and then sends that information all out to everybody. My impression is that Miss Evavold is still in close contact with Mr. Volpe and any time something is filed in this case, she immediately forwards it to him. He received within minutes copies or our Plaintiff's exhibit lists, and I know he sent out one of his mass emails about those. And -- but no, I have no knowledge of this hearing being canceled.
THE COURT: Yeah. I'm am only raising that because as far as I know, that the normal process has been followed -- and in a minute, I'm going to have court staff confirm this -- that the normal process has been followed in connection with providing notice of today's events. That is, today's hearing, today's court trial via Zoom to those persons who have previously been served with process and remain parties to this case and that there's no irregularity to any process in place. Miss Klein, is that in fact the case?
THE CLERK: Yep. I'm just verifying. But yes, that appears to be the case.
THE COURT: Notice has been served to Miss Evavold of today's proceeding?
THE CLERK: Yes. It's just shows Grazzini was not able to be, yes.
THE COURT: Okay. So that's fine. All right. So I think -- thank you very much. I'm sorry to put you on the spot with all of that. In any event, so Miss Elliot, I guess my point is that again, in connection with certain cases, it's taken me, you know, a long time in this job to recognize that sometimes more thorough records of procedural matters need to be made in certain cases than in others. And this case
given its history, seems to be one of those. So there you have it. That's why I went through that elaborate kind of process of sort of setting the table as it were over the last ten minutes or so. So why don't you explain to the Court for the benefit of the record, how it is you wish to proceed. The above-entitled matter came duly on for hearing before the Honorable Jerome B. Abrams, one of the judges of the above-named Court, on the 7th day of December, 2020 Court File No. 19HA-CV-18-4286 David Rucki, et al., Plaintiffs, vs. Sandra Grazzini-Rucki, et al., Defendants.
More to come ...
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