North Country Gazette



The Chester Injustice Court

Posted on Sunday, 20 of April , 2008 at 10:54 am

COMMENTARY

CHESTERTOWN—In reporting legal and judicial news for The North Country Gazette, we have occasion to read and research the laws of our State and Nation frequently. We haven’t found any version yet where there’s a disclaimer or exemption that says “this law is not applicable to public officers or those who hold an elected or appointed position of public trust”. In particular, we have yet to find an exemption in any law that says this is not applicable to a judge or law enforcement officer—or in particular, to anyone named James McDermott.

We don’t subscribe to the mindset of many judges, prosecutors and law enforcements officers who believe in the do as I say, not as I do style of “justice”. There just are not two sets of laws in this country—one for them and one for you.

One day this past week, we saw a black pickup truck go zooming by on the main street of Chestertown, in fact—past the town municipal center where the sheriff’s substation and town justice court is located–the driver busily chatting away on a cell phone. The driver was James McDermott who claims the office of town justice for the Town of Chester in northern Warren County. Isn’t there a law in New York State that prohibits drivers from talking on a hand held cell phone while the vehicle is in motion? According to the state statutes that we found, violators can be fined up to $100 with a mandatory $50 surcharge.

But yet there he was, the man who wears the black dress in the Town of Chester. Justice for all—including himself and his family—or justice as he chooses to dispense? Do as he says, not as he does? The track record shows he’s not doing too well even in his own family.

McDermott was zipping right along, heading to Buckman Family Fuels on Route 9.

And that’s another story.

He seemed to have a little trouble with his directional signal, no doubt because with a hand on the steering wheel—or at least we hope he had a hand on the wheel—and one hand holding his cell phone to his ear—guess he couldn’t handle the directional signal too.

Back in December, after incurring hundreds of dollars of loss as a result of kerosene contaminated by water, a small claims action was filed by this plaintiff in the Chester Town Court, as jurisdictionally proper. But instead of the claim being served on Buckman within the proper time frame pursuant to the Uniform Civil Rules for Justice Courts, the Chester Town Court and McDermott sat on it for nearly a month and then he announced his recusal, asking the Warren County Court and John Hall to transfer the case, without having properly served the claim on the defendant as is legally required.

Thing is, McDermott doesn’t have the power to change the venue of a case. Only one of the parties can request to do so under the laws of the state and this party doesn’t want the venue changed. And, without McDermott having served the claim as is required, allowing the case to go forward, technically, there wasn’t even a case to transfer. But what the hey, town and county officials have demonstrated time and time again they don’t let a little thing like the law get in the way if they want to do something. They make it up as they go along, never mind what’s on the books.

Hall, who absolutely should not be on the bench in any capacity and who has demonstrated on many occasions his questionable of knowledge of the laws, issued a court order in total absence of jurisdiction to move the case to Lake George. The plaintiff opposed the transfer and filed an objection, citing the law, that both McDermott and Hall were acting without jurisdiction or authority. Ultimately, Hall conceded he had erred and rescinded his order. Quite a pair, McDermott and Hall—Dumb and Dumber—and you, the taxpayer, are paying them. http://www.northcountrygazette.org/2007/12/08/customer-service-and-buckman-family-fuels/

But that didn’t deter McDermott. Even though he had already recused himself in the matter, admitting that he had a conflict of interest with the plaintiff in addition to purchasing his fuel oil from Buckman’s, he took back the case and scheduled a hearing in violation of judicial code and court rules, a hearing strenuously opposed by the plaintiff. He’d already admitted his conflict. Did it suddenly evaporate?

In that McDermott had no jurisdiction and the plaintiff refused to allow him to play his illegal game, McDermott then, unbelievably, although he had been advised in writing that he lacked jurisdiction to change the venue of the case, filed yet another request to do so with Hall and the Warren County Court. Duhhhh, what didn’t you understand the first time around, McDermott? With credit to the Warren County Court, McDermott was quickly and succinctly told the Court had already ruled on the issue once, that it couldn’t be done as neither party had requested a change of venue.

McDermott has thus far refused to comply the provisions of the Uniform Justice Court Act which requires that when there is no justice in the town to hear the case that he must request the Chester Town Board to agree to pay for the services of another justice to be appointed by the district administrative judge to come into the town to hear the case.

So far, McDermott doesn’t want to comply with the law but hey, you know that apparently he thinks the laws aren’t applicable to him—like the law that says you shall not park within 15 feet of a fire hydrant or drive while impaired. His wife found out that parking in a designated handicapping parking space without a permit or special plate is illegal too. Then there’s that law about parking in a crosswalk—which McDermott habitually violates. He either thinks he’s above the law, obstinate as he is—or, he doesn’t know the law, or—worse, doesn’t care.

And so, he continues to deny the plaintiff due process, continues to allow the hearing to proceed according to law and refuses to make the mandated request to the Chester Town Board for a justice to be assigned to the court to hear the manner. Justice delayed is justice denied and McDermott has been juggling in favor of his buddy Buckman now for nearly five months. Equal justice? Not in the Chester Injustice Court.

Apparently, his son, Ryan McDermott must think the law isn’t applicable to him either or else he believes he’ll be protected and insulated by Daddy’s position. According to reliable sources, Sonny is a suspect in an investigation being conducted by the Warren County Sheriff’s Department involving the alleged theft of a purse containing credit cards and cash from a Lake George pub last month. Eventually the owner recovered the purse but without cell phone, car keys, cash and credit cards.

Being the judge’s son has its perks.

Back in 2006, Sonny was fined $500 for driving while intoxicated and had two other traffic charges dismissed. He was assessed a $190 surcharge and required to attend a victims impact panel as well as subject to an alcohol evaluation. Thing was, though, it was his second drunk driving offense in two years—it should have been a felony charge.

McDermott, then 23, of Cooper St., Lake George, was arrested by Tpr. R.G. Butler on March 25, 2006, and charged with two counts of driving while intoxicated and no turn signal.

McDermott’s blood alcohol count was 0.21, nearly three times the state limit of .08 according to court records but although he had a prior arrest for DWI, according to court records, McDermott’s arrest was treated as a first offense.

After the Warren County district attorney’s office disqualified itself from prosecuting the judge’s son, Essex County district attorney Julie Garcia was assigned. While a defense attorney, Garcia had appeared before Judge McDermott regularly. Was this a “judicial courtesy”?

Why should the law work differently for Ryan McDermott than it works for other repeat drunk drivers? Why are there double standards continually exercised in Warren County? Perhaps the larger question is why are you sitting back and allowing these double standards to exist?

http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/100706SonnysDWI.html

http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/042406JudgesSon.html

http://www.northcountrygazette.org/articles/021606BlackDress.html

People like James McDermott are why people lose trust in the system, why people become cynical, why they have no respect for the court system, especially the town court system where people who have no legal training, who have no law degree suddenly think they’re King of the Throne. All judges, even at the village and town court level, should be required to have either a degree in law or related service in law enforcement or the legal system. People wearing the black dress must have earned the respect that they demand. James McDermott hasn’t done so.

McDermott has his black dress on inside out—he just doesn’t get it—and actually should be on the other side of the bench. He makes a mockery out of the whole system.

McDermott has placed himself on some kind of pedestal and like Humpty Dumpty, is due for a fall.

Justices in the Chester town court seem to feel that they are above the law and in the past, the state Commission of Judicial Conduct has disagreed. Intemperate Wendell Ross was first censured in 1989 for numerous counts of misconduct, for violating clear prohibitions and precedents, for handling cases for his relatives, his friends, his business clients. He later “retired” after the judicial commission initiated yet another investigation into further alleged misconduct from the bench and the matter was closed with his voluntary removal from the bench. http://www.scjc.state.ny.us/Determinations/R/ross.htm

He was replaced with Ronald Robert who was removed from the bench by determination of the judicial commission for presiding over numerous cases involving close friends, including his buddy Charles Redmond while Redmond masqueraded as a state trooper. Robert even went to the place of employment of one defendant to criticize her because she had made remarks critical of him in a letter to the editor published in The North Country Gazette. http://www.scjc.state.ny.us/Determinations/R/robert.htm

After the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals unanimously upheld the CJC’s removal determination in 1997, writing that Robert was “unfit for judicial office”, it became open season on The North Country Gazette and its publisher with Robert, Ross, State Police Sgt. H. Peter Bentley and former Warren County Sheriffs Fred Lamy and Larry Cleveland setting sights on getting even with the publisher, harassing with the legal system, causing false arrests and malicious prosecutions. In legal circles, its called retaliation for the exercise of First Amendment rights

Let’s not forget that Wendell Ross owned the state police station at the same time he was playing town justice and Ronald Robert sat in the police station for hours, chatting fish tales or some such with the investigator assigned to the station, Mike Huskie. Not only were the taxpayers getting ripped off by Huskie who obviously wasn’t doing much work while chatting with Robert, there was virtually no semblance of impartiality in the town court concerning cases brought by the State Police and Huskie before Robert.

In the past, McDermott has blocked two prior small claims actions brought by the publisher in Chester court, one against former sheriff Larry Cleveland in regard to fees pursuant to the Freedom of Information Law and one against Mountain Abstract Company for the conduct of an improper title search.

In fact, McDermott provably acted in concert with one notorious attorney with a known malice for The North Country Gazette and whom NCG has thrice defeated on issues, to file a false complaint with the Warren County district attorney’s office that the publisher was engaging in the unauthorized practice of law for filing the claim on behalf of her parents. State law says that anyone may file a small claims action for another party. http://www.courts.state.ny.us/Ithaca/city/webpageGuidetoSmallClaims.html

It’s overdue for McDermott to go the route of Ross and Robert and hang up his black dress. McDermott’s term expires on Dec. 31, 2009 but in our view, he should go long before that, the sooner the better.

If the judicial commission won’t take care of his removal, then it’s time for the voters in the Town of Chester to ensure that McDermott no longer imposes his biased and uneducated acts in what has become popularly known, even among lawyers, as the local injustice court. 4-20-08

Category: Adirondacks, Business, Constitution, Consumers, Courts, First Amendment, Government, Media, New York State, Opinion, Warren County

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