The driver of a Wal-Mart Stores Inc. tractor-trailer that slammed into a van carrying comedian Tracy Morgan has lost a motion to intervene in a civil suit filed against the retailer by Morgan and three others.
Kevin Roper sought to join the civil case in order to stay discovery so that his testimony could not be used to incriminate him in the related criminal case. But allowing him to intervene would prejudice the parties by delaying the proceedings, U.S. Magistrate Judge Lois Goodman of the District of New Jersey said Feb. 3 when she denied the motion in Morgan v. Wal-Mart Stores. Roper has no right to intervene because he has no interest to protect, since the plaintiffs haven’t sought any discovery from him thus far, and no relief is sought from him, Goodman said.
