Multi-Million Dollar Judgment Against Influential Homebuilder

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) _ A Tarrant County jury has awarded a suburban Fort Worth couple a $51 million verdict against a politically influential Houston homebuilder.

Robert and Jane Cull of Mansfield won the verdict Monday in state district court in Fort Worth against Perry Homes.

The trial came after the Texas Supreme Court overturned an $800,000 arbitration award against the company headed by major political contributor Bob Perry.

A Perry spokesman didn’t respond to messages Monday from The Associated Press, but Robert Cull said that he expects Perry to appeal.

Perry, who has given millions of dollars to state and federal candidates, had won a 5-4 Supreme Court ruling in May 2008 to overturn the arbitration award. The nine judges on the all-Republican panel, whose decision overturned two lower-court rulings, had each received contributions totaling more than $260,000 from members of Perry’s family.

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