Attorneys gathered in the courtroom Friday to debate motions in the case involving Union Pacific and Smith Industries related to the Nov. 15, 2012, deadly train wreck in Midland.

The main issue was related to psychological tests to be administered to families of the victims in the train wreck, as some of the allegations in the lawsuit include claims of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The accident at Midland’s South Garfield Street and West Industrial Avenue killed four men and injured 19 others. The Hunt for Heroes parade float was crossing over the train intersection when a Union Pacific train collided with it.

Hunt for Heroes is a charity event hosted by Show of Support in honor of wounded warriors. The people on the float were the wounded warriors with their wives, who were finishing a parade route before going on the annual hunting trip.

Attorney Charla Aldous, who represents the family of Marine Chief Warrant Officer Gary Stouffer, said they oppose doing redundant tests and doing the Rorschach test because of conflicting opinions in the psychiatric community as to its accuracy and efficacy.

Union Pacific, as part of its case, has contracted a psychiatrist to perform a series of psychological tests on certain plaintiffs in the case, including the Minnesota Multiphasic Peronality Inventory (MMPI-2), the Personal Assessment Inventory (PAI), and the Rorschach test.

Marine Chief Warrant Officer Gary Stouffer was one of the four veterans who died in the accident, reportedly helping others get off the trailer as the train collided with it.

Aldous gave a long list of reasons why the Rorschach test was unsuitable for a courtroom, even noting that in some literature in the psychology community specifically states the test shouldn’t be used in legal proceedings.

In addition to opposing the Rorschach test, Aldous said performing the MMPI and the PAI gives the same results and Catherine Stouffer has already taken the PAI test.

Steve Malouf, attorney for Angela Boivin, raised the same concern about the MMPI and PAI tests, and also was requesting that the tests be videotaped.

Boivin is the wife of Army Sgt. Maj. Lawrence Boivin, who was also one of the veterans who died in the crash.

“It’s fair to Union Pacific to get an (independent medical examination),” Malouf said. “On the other side of the coin, however, is the Supreme Court’s vigilance to protect the plaintiff’s privacy.”

Malouf said it was a burden on the Union Pacific attorneys to show why the extra tests were necessary to prove what they were trying to prove.

Kathleen McCulloch, one of the attorneys for Union Pacific, said because one of the claims is that some defendants are suffering from PTSD, the tests are needed to show the mental states of those people.

“When they bring a lawsuit in America, they leave a lot of privacy at the door,” McCulloch said.

Malouf said he’d like to host a deposition of the psychiatrist Union Pacific plans to use, which McCulloch said was “delay tactics.”

Earnest Wotring, another of Union Pacific’s attorneys, said there was no way to be less intrusive in the tests, but regardless Judge James Rush told Wotring to check with the psychiatrist if fewer tests could be used and if a test besides the Rorschach test could be used. Rush also granted a request that the matters be taken up again in a separate hearing.

Lawsuits were originally filed in both Midland and Dallas, accusing Union Pacific of negligence and gross negligence in 124 violations, including violations of its own policies, violations of its operating rules, signal equipment problems, improper training and failures of the train crew.

The families who filed the lawsuits in Midland eventually joined the Dallas lawsuit, only to have the entire case moved back to Midland.

The trial is set for Jan. 26, and could last for six weeks.