The defamation case against former Butler County Commissioner Jim Eckstein was discontinued after money changed hands.

According to the transcript of a Sept. 12 status conference involving all parties, Eckstein paid former county Commissioner Dale Pinkerton $3,000 and two other plaintiffs — county personnel director Lori Altman and her husband, retired state Trooper Scott Altman, the same amount.

However, Eckstein insists his payments to the three plaintiffs does not constitute liability on his part.

“The Altmans came to us with the offer,” Eckstein said.

The transcript indicates the Altmans’ attorney, Al Lindsay, offered the defense an amount Eckstein could pay for his clients to discontinue the case.

Lindsay subsequently accepted a counteroffer, which was later stated to be the same as the $3,000 Pinkerton received for his withdrawal.

Eckstein paid the $6,000 on the conditions there was no admission of liability and the two lawsuits be discontinued rather than being listed as settlements.

“I’m innocent,” Eckstein said about being accused of defaming others. “I didn’t do it.”

He explained that his stance of never giving the plaintiffs a penny changed when his attorneys said it was better than paying for the legal costs to defend himself in a second trial.

“It’s over $3,000 a day to go to trial,” Eckstein said.

Both lawsuits were tried simultaneously in April, ending in a mistrial after eight days in court.

Pinkerton referred all questions to his attorney, Doug Linn.

“It was $3,000 for each,” Linn said about the agreements. “It was never really about money.”

He said the payment to his client serves as the concession they were seeking.

“We consider that an apology,” Linn said.

He agreed making a payment was better for Eckstein than mounting another defense.

“It just didn’t make sense,” Linn said.

However, he said there was no hesitation to proceed with the retrial if needed.

“We were ready to go,” Linn said.

Jury selection was set to begin Sept. 12 before the lawsuits were discontinued.

Eckstein was accused of spreading a rumor that Lori Altman received an extra 20 percent pay hike in 2011, so Pinkerton would be let off the hook for a drunken driving pullover.

Investigations conducted by the state Attorney General’s Office and state police found no evidence of wrongdoing.

Linn said Eckstein’s stance of wanting the county to repay his legal costs is unjustified.

“He’s not entitled to any money,” Linn said.

Eckstein, who originally sought reimbursement after the lawsuits were filed in 2012, disagreed even though the county denied the request then.

He stressed state law allows him to seek reimbursement for his legal expenses.

“The law speaks for itself,” Eckstein said.

He maintains he was acting in the role of a commissioner by discussing the rumor with others.

Eckstein does not yet have a final tally for his legal expenses.

He said if the county would refuse a second request for repayment, he could take the matter to court.

Lori Altman and her attorney, Al Lindsay, declined to comment.

“I have no comment,” Lindsay said. “I can’t.”

In the transcript, Lindsay stated his clients accepted the payment, so they would be done.

“My clients want out and this was a way that they could get out,” he stated in the transcript.

After Eckstein and the Altmans came to an agreement, presiding Judge Kelley Streib encouraged Linn to reach a similar agreement with Eckstein.

Linn agreed if he could present the same amount to Pinkerton as was given to the Altmans.

One of Eckstein’s attorneys, Timothy Wojton, concurred, but carefully worded the offer as coming from Pinkerton instead of Eckstein.

Although both sides eventually reached the same agreement as the first, they debated Eckstein’s liability.

According to the transcript, Linn insisted Eckstein was liable.

“Mr. Eckstein, we say, is liable,” he said. “He knows he’s liable.”

Wojton disagreed.

“Seems to me there’s a difference between what Mr. Linn is calling a settlement and what this is,” he said. “It’s a voluntary decision on the part of Mr. and Mrs. Altman to discontinue their claim.”

Linn said the opposite was true.

“They’re dropping the case,” he said. “You’re paying them some amount of money.”

Larry Rodgers, who also represented Eckstein, stressed his client would not agree to any admission of liability.

“Mr. Eckstein will not admit to liability for anything,” Rodgers said.

Eckstein’s third attorney, Wojton’s son who also is named Timothy, emphasized the agreement was strictly to avoid the risk of trial.

Streib said nothing in the Altmans’ agreement could be used to infer liability on Eckstein’s part.

“There has been no admission of liability,” she said. “It was not even a discussion in the settlement negotiations.”

Streib stressed the mistrial was not a victory for the defendant or plaintiffs.

“And I don’t care how you want to reframe what happened at the last trial, the bottom line is, there was no winner,” she said. “That jury did not come to a consensus.”

Streib encouraged Eckstein’s attorneys to convince him negotiating an agreement with Linn was for the best.

“It would be a shame if someone potentially lost everything they’ve ever worked for over ego,” she said.

During a discussion involving Streib, Linn and Pinkerton, Linn explained the reason behind their lawsuit.

“This was taken on a principle more than anything else ... It wasn’t a frivolous case,” Linn said. “It wasn’t a retaliatory case.”

He said Pinkerton’s health issues and legal expenses were motivations to end the case.

Streib lauded Pinkerton for his decision, saying it exemplified his leadership and character.

She said there was no verdict at the April trial.

“I am fully convinced that (the) jury was hung and that it would have remained hung,” Streib said. “I don’t know why. I’ll probably never know exactly why they came out and said they had a verdict and then they clearly didn’t.”

According to the court order following the declaration of the mistrial, the jury filled out the verdict slip on April 29 finding Eckstein not liable for any of the three counts — defamation, being placed in a false light and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

However, when the jurors were polled in court, they voted 7 to 5 in favor of Eckstein. At least 10 jurors must be in agreement to reach a verdict.

After the mistrial was declared, there was debate over whether jurors were confused by consolidating multiple votes for a verdict into one when polled.

Streib said the law regarding defamation might need tweaked.

“I believe that there’s a whole layer of cases out there that the law doesn’t address properly,” she said. “And this, I think, would be one of those.”