The City of Omaha is not giving up on its case against the owner of the Yale Park Apartment complex.
Tuesday morning they asked for the trial of landlord Kay Anderson to put on hold while they appeal the judge’s decision to keep key evidence out of the courtroom.
On Monday Douglas County Judge Matt Forsberg ruled the warrant used by the city to inspect the apartments in September 2018 was invalid.
That means none of the evidence of code violations gathered during the inspections can be used in the trial.
According to Nebraska law, the city must ask to enter the property and be denied before requesting an inspection warrant. According to the court documents, the city’s chief housing inspector claimed they had made the request in an affidavit submitted to the judge but later admitted that they had not.
The judge used that incorrect information and issued the warrant making it invalid.
Anderson’s attorney Jason Bruno told 6 news, “this leaves us in good shape, my client will not be spending any time in jail and has been vindicated.”
He calls the city’s decision to appeal “a last desperation attempt.”
In September 2018, the city evacuated about 500 refugees from the apartment complex after finding thousands of code violations.
Four months later the city filed 99 misdemeanor charges against Anderson in relation to those violations. Anderson pleaded not guilty to all charges in March.
The trial was set to get underway in Douglas County on Tuesday. There is no timetable on when the trial will resume.
(Photo: 6 News)