European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 19, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday february 19, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 3 car Deal Between gis Heads to court German system is Only Way americans can Settle some disputes by Allen Cowan staff writer it seemed routine enough last september when Sec. Gordon Gogan sold spec. 4 Melissa tristan a 1969 Volkswagen. The Blue Van with hand painted eagles on the Side looked the Way a 16-year-old Van should. It sold for$700. The Deal was made without lawyers salesmen a con tract written agreement or fanfare. Just people in a parking lot horse trading. Now Gogan of Nellinger and tristan a widow Liv ing with her 21-month-old son at Robinson Barracks in Stuttgart appear headed for court. The Deal has soured and they can i re solar it. Their Case might affect the casual Way americans in Europe sell cars to one another which us a r eur said happens More than 100 times a Day. Most of those sales occur without a written agreement the same Way Gogan and tristan did business. Should a dispute arise there is Only one Legal Way to Settle it if the parties can t resolve it themselves. Although both Gogan and tristan Are . Service members they can t use the . Military judicial sys tem because their dispute is Over a private transaction. They must go to a German court which has jurisdiction. And they must hire an attorney licensed to practice in German court since a military attorney cannot rep resent them in a private matter. While Many americans believe they cannot use the German court system Legal experts say they can. Absolutely without any reservation said Wolfgang Motz the German Legal adviser to the 377th combat support Wing of the judge advocate s office at Ramstein Usa eur agrees. Everybody has the procedural right to go into the German court and sue said Gebhard Volk the German Legal adviser Legal assistance division office of the judge advocate Usa eur. Gogan and tristan s dispute is muddled. Essentially it boils Down to who promised what to whom at the time of the Sale. The hogans said they guaranteed that the Van would pass Usa eur s inspection that it was in Good run Ning condition and that any subsequent problems were tristan s responsibility. The Van passed inspection. I m acting on the Assumption we re doing right Janet Gogan said. I Don t think we re responsible for  tristan said she bought the Van because the hogans told her it was basically defect free it would be reliable and they would fix existing defects. Within Days tristan said the lights flickered and died. Later she discovered the steering was gone the gears weren t right the front end was bad the brakes were bad the engine was t installed properly and the Heater was t  she parked the Van refused to pay the remaining $200 she owed and demanded her $500. The hogans refused. They re willing to forgive the $200 and let tristan keep the Van Janet Gogan said. Or they la return s300 and take the Van. Tristan refused. I was sold a bad Van definitely tristan said. We plan to sue in German court. My attorney thinks i have a Good Case. I Don t know if i d Compromise. I be been through a lot of  if the dispute goes to court it would be a rarity since most americans avoid the German Legal system Motz and Volk said. Because of the time and expense involved in filing a lawsuit Volk said he doubts americans will flood the German court system with their disputes when More learn of their Access to the courts. There s a risk of added expense in filing a lawsuit in Germany because in German courts the loser generally pays court costs and Legal expenses of the Winner. In addition if the losing party were transferred outside Germany it would be difficult to enforce the judgment further opposing parties cannot testify in German courts. If there arc no witnesses and a written agreement the court decides on circumstantial evidence. Without a written agreement either parly can sue within six months Motz said. First the court decides if the vehicle was sold As is or fit was sold with an implied  if it was sold As is meaning the seller is not responsible for existing defects the implied warranty might be waived Motz said. If it has t been waived the court must determine the vehicle s condition at the time of the Sale. To do that the judge appoints an expert Neutral witness. The deciding Issue will be proficiency at the time ownership changed hands Motz said. The court will want to know if misrepresentation occurred Motz said. Was the vehicle advertised As having a new engine when it did to was the vehicle involved in an Accident the seller did t disclose can the buyer prove the misrepresentation the age of the vehicle is important Motz said. The court will Tell the buyer your expectations of durability have to be reduced Down to nothing he said. You can t ignore the fact you re buying a 16-year-old vehicle. This just further increases the buyer s difficult  Motz said there is a lesson to be Learned from the Gogan tristan dispute and that is to put agreements in writing. I d suggest to people you might have some remedy against the seller if it Breaks Down three hours after Transfer Motz said. It might cause some increase in litigation. But it would be fair advice to do it in writing and agree on the manner of Transfer especially the War Ranty  cardboard figures helping guard East German Border Bonn a communist East Ger Many has set up cardboard figures of sol Diers As mock Border police in a new tactic aimed at preventing escapes across its heavily armed Border with West Germany the Interior ministry said tuesday. The annual ministry report said the card Board figures were posted in watchtowers close to the actual Border and Well within the sealed off area on the Eastern Side. Cardboard figures have been set up in the turrets of watchtowers to fool would be escapees the report said. The report gave no estimate of How Many cardboard soldiers were in use but said East German Border authorities Are deploying fewer patrols along the 836-mile Border. The report also said women have been deployed for the first time As part of East Germany s Border police. The move appeared to be a response to the previously reported Lack of personnel in the Border police according to the study. In presenting the report. Interior minister Friedrich Zimmermann said the Border be tween East Germany and West Germany re Mains heavily guarded despite reduced patrols and the dismantling of some weapons by the Eastern Side in recent years. The unnatural German German Border has not become penetrable he told reporters. Zimmermann said that while 54 people managed to escape across the Border to West Germany during 1984, Only 30 people did so last year. Communist authorities have taken sever Al measures to strengthen the Border Over the Post year the minister added. Among those was the widening to several Miles of the sealed off area that runs along the Eastern Side of the Border he said. Prison telephone1 an Lola in Sharansky the soviet dissident who was d soviet prisoner Hind Batman by pressing a can against a la immigrate to the West last week shorn report Radiator. Butman. Who now lives in Israel was accused by is to Jer satan Bow be used to communicate with fellow the soviets of trying to steal a plane. 62 die 464 Hurt As 2 trains collide head on in Chile Lima he Chile up a passenger train carrying vacationers to the Central chilean coast slammed head on into an express train travelling the same track monday night killing at least 62 people and injuring 464 others police and news reports said. The trains collided on a Fiat stretch of track 80 Miles West of Santiago the capital after both locomotives had rounded curves and were travelling about 40 Mph Railroad officials said. Chilean president Gen. Augusto Pinochet and his health minister visited hospitals treating the hundreds of victims while the minister of transportation ordered a full investigation of the causes of the tragedy. The part of the line where the collision occurred had Only one stretch of working track because a bombing at tack ruined the other track More than a year ago state rail spokesman Alberto Araneda said. Araneda said the Accident was lamentably a human error by whoever was in charge of routing the trains. The rugged area where the crash occurred was impeding Rescue efforts Araneda said. Police said that 62 people died in the crash and the death toll was expected to Rise. The mayor of Lima he about is Miles from the port of Valparaiso said 464 passengers were injured. There was a combined total of 600 people on both trains. The eastbound passenger express train had left the port of Valparaiso and the westbound train was full of people heading to the Beach at the height of Chile s summer Holiday season officials said