After years of arguments and delays, the attorneys for the William S. Hart Union High School District and the parents of two Saugus High students killed in the school shooting at the campus in 2019 agreed to a witness list for the trial date in January.   Another court date in December is expected to follow up on some of the issues argued during an Oct. 25 hearing.   The civil lawsuit filed by the families of Gracie Muehlberger and Dominic Blackwell is being handled in a Beverly Hills courthouse, chosen because it’s one of a handful throughout Los Angeles County set up to handle a trial with the complexity and duration of this one.  On Nov. 14, 2019, Gracie Anne Muehlberger, 15, and Dominic Michael Blackwell, 14, were shot and killed by Nathaniel Berhow, with no clear motive for the tragedy uncovered by local detectives, federal investigators and school officials in the years since.  However, hundreds of pages of reports from child services, testimony from witness accounts and more than 96 hours of scheduled testimony based on what’s been uncovered are intended to help the jury decide whether the school district had liability in the deaths, and if so, how much.  Plaintiffs’ witnesses  At a hearing in September, presiding Judge David Cowan asked both sides to pare down their list of witnesses in the interest of time and economy for jurors and in the interest of justice, with experts estimating such a trial could go as long as two months.  The list agreed to by both sides had 41 names on it, according to court filings.  Sitting atop the list are three “percipient witnesses” who were the three surviving victims of the shooting: Andrew Gardetto, Addison Koegle and Mia Page-Tretta.  About 17 hours of the testimony is expected to focus on hearing from the parents of the decedents, the Blackwells and the Muehlbergers, including the time allotted for cross-examination.  The plaintiffs also plan to call on school-security experts to talk about the efficacy of school resource officers, the standard of care and the post-shooting risk assessment.  There are four Sheriff’s Department experts expected to be called upon to testify, including longtime local Detective Dan Finn, who was off-duty at the time of the shooting but later received the Medal of Valor from Sheriff Robert Luna for his bravery. Detective James Callahan, Deputy Gil Morales and Homicide Detective Gene Morse are expected to testify about SROs, the initial incident response and the witness interviews afterward.  Defense witnesses  In its defense, the Hart district counsel is expected to call three campus supervisors, including a staff member who was on duty at the time of the shooting, as well as the district’s director of technology.  The district is also expected to call Assistant Principals Richard Bahr and Marcus Garatt. Bahr has been with the school 15 years, and both are expected to speak to campus security protocols and procedures.  Then-Principal Vince Ferry and the campus secretary who was on shift the morning of the tragedy also are on the list.   There are also several officials from the district office who are expected to speak toward support services for students and additional safety protocols.   There are two social workers on the list, who are expected to discuss questions about the transfer of the shooter’s student records.   The district also plans to call the shooter’s sister, who was not living at home at the time of the incident, according to court records, and a handful of Berhow’s friends, including his girlfriend at the time of the shooting.   One of the main points of contention between the two sides is whether Berhow displayed warning signs that school officials should have recognized in the days leading up to the shooting.  The shooter’s mother, Mami Matsuura-Berhow, who was cleared of a criminal investigation, is the last person on the witness list.  Because Nathaniel Berhow was a minor, she’s also expected to be listed as a potentially liable party, if fault is determined.    The post Witness list set in Saugus High shooting trial  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.