Diamond dispute ends with verdict for jeweler

BAY CITY, Mich. (AP) -- A Saginaw woman who accused a jeweler of replacing a valuable pink diamond with a cheaper stone has lost her case at trial. Acting as her own lawyer, Victoria Harris failed to persuade a federal jury in Bay City that J.B. Robinson Jewelers had cheated her back in 2002. The three-day trial ended last Friday. The substitute teacher claims she took her wedding ring to be cleaned and enlarged and got something else in return. The company has steadfastly denied the allegation, although it recently offered to settle the case for $3,000. Harris declined. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2009, but Harris persuaded a federal appeals court to reinstate it. She says she couldn't get a lawyer to help her so she represented herself. Published: Tue, Mar 22, 2011