A Superior Court judge said this week he will issue a decision on a portion of San Diego's pension trial by noon Thursday.
Judge Jeffrey Barton laid out a schedule for the rest of the case at a brief hearing and discussed options to seat a jury, a potential challenge in the highly publicized trial.
The case is being heard in three stages. The first, focused on issues that could limit the scope of what evidence is presented in the later segments, concluded Nov. 29. The parties are awaiting the judge's ruling next week on that phase.
The trial will proceed Dec. 27, with Barton continuing to hear evidence on his own. Jury selection will begin in January.
The attorneys are battling over pension benefit increases granted in 1996 and 2002.
City Attorney Michael Aguirre wants the additional benefits declared illegal, but lawyers for employee groups argue that they were properly negotiated. They also say the city attorney has neglected important legal points while making his case.
Barton and the attorneys also addressed the difficulty in seating a jury because of the high-profile status of the issues being presented.
The pension system has a deficit of at least $1.43 billion, and the city has struggled through countless public discussions of ways to fill the gap.
City and pension system officials also have been targets of two criminal probes; eight are awaiting trial on conflict-of-interest and fraud charges.
Barton said he may ask for as many as four panels of potential jurors to give the attorneys a vast pool. After an initial round of elimination, smaller groups will be asked to fill out questionnaires to determine who will be seated.
The court will consider whether city employees should be barred from serving on the jury. An attorney for the employee groups, Ann Smith, asked if San Diego residents also should be left out of the pool, but Barton said no.
Jennifer Vigil: (619) 718-5069; jennifer.vigil@uniontrib.com
