DIXON – Rita Crundwell is now a third-party defendant in the city’s lawsuit against its former auditors, according to court documents filed Monday.

A third-party defendant is one whose guilt is tied to that of an original defendant. The idea is that two cases may be decided in combination and justice may be done more efficiently than having two suits.

Janis Card Co., LLC, Samuel S. Card, CPA, P.C., and Samuel Card, which are being sued by the city for not detecting Crundwell’s theft of nearly $54 million from city funds, made a motion to bring the former Dixon comptroller into the suit. The Sterling-based offices served as the city’s contracted auditor after 2005.