Things are going from bad to worse for Norm Coleman. With reports indicating that he will soon drop his fight to overturn Al Franken’s slim margin of victory in the recount, a court has now ordered Coleman to pay Franken’s legal fees, totalling some $95,000.
Coleman owes the cash because Minnesota law dictates that the loser pays the winner’s court cost in an election contest. Since Coleman sued to overturn Franken’s lead, he owes Franken’s costs.
The decision today from the three judge panel grants Franken well short of the $161,000 he said he was owed for costs, which include items like court filings fees and courier services. The costs do not include attorneys’ fees, which run many multiples of the $95,000.
The trial court decided today that Coleman should pay the costs immediately even though his attorneys argued the charge should be stayed pending the outcome of Coleman’s Minnesota Supreme Court appeal.