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Tampa
attorney Mark A. Adams, the subject of criminal contempt charges
brought against him by Sixth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Crockett
Farnell and the politically connected Battaglia law firm, will appear
for a hearing Sept. 30 in St. Petersburg before Judge David Demers,
chief judge of the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida.
It
also appears that the judges in the case may be camera shy as although
Florida court rules provide that at least one portable television
camera, operated by not more than one camera person, shall be permitted
in any trial or appellate court proceeding, cameras have not been
allowed in at least one proceeding in the case.
Adams’
wife, a member of the Tampa Bay Independent Media Center, while allowed
to videotape one hearing, was told by Judge Robert Beach on July 19
that she couldn’t tape a hearing in Adams’ case.
Beach said that he had never heard of the Independent Media Center and
that he didn’t believe it was a legitimate media outlet. http://indymedia.us/en/index.shtml and http://www.tampaindymedia.org/bin/site/templates/splash.asp
It
all started in 2001 when Adams was retained by Jeffrey Smith, a
salesman with a sports marketing firm, Corporate Sports Marketing Group
(CSM) of Clearwater, Fla. Smith had refused to sign a non-competition
agreement demanded by CSM which would prohibit him from selling
advertising for another company if he left CSM. Smith left the company
in October, 2001 along with fellow salesman John Kerin and they formed
their own advertising sales company, Lafayette.
At the time Smith left, he claimed he was owed over $20,000 in commissions, and Chris King, CSM's president, refused to pay him.
In
December, 2001, Adams filed suit against CSM and several individuals
including owner King on behalf of Smith in the Sixth Judicial Circuit
Court of Pinellas County and the case was assigned to Judge Crockett
Farnell.
King
hired the prestigious law firm of Battaglia, Ross, Dicus and Wein firm
of St. Petersburg to represent him and according to Adams, shortly
thereafter, Chris King began boasting to Jeff Smith and others that his
attorneys, the Battaglia firm, were connected and that” they were
going to bury Jeff Smith”.
Timothy Weber of the Battaglia firm represented King and CSM in the suit.
Adams
says that Weber and other members or employees of the Battaglia law
firm had allegedly boasted that they could influence Judge Farnell and
the ensuing decisions rendered by Farnell would seem to lend credence
to that assertion.
After
Farnell awarded $20,000 in sanctions against Adams in 2003, the
Battaglia firm attempted to collect the $20,000 judgment and sought to
depose Adams but Adams says he wasn’t properly served. Weber says
otherwise and says that Adams failed to appear for three scheduled
hearings during the fall of 2003 and ultimately asked Farnell to cite
Adams for contempt. Farnell issued a warrant for Adams’ arrest in
January, 2004.
On
Dec. 20, 2004, Judge Crockett Farnell entered an order disqualifying
himself as judge in the case although he had repeatedly refused to do
so previously. However, Adams says it appears that Judge Farnell chose
to disqualify himself this time because he had learned that Bay News 9
had shown an interest in covering the contempt trial.
After Judge Crockett Farnell entered orders disqualifying himself in
both
of the cases, they were randomly reassigned by the clerk. On Jan. 25,
2005, Judge Demers issued an order reassigning the Adams’ cases
to Judge Robert Beach. Judge Beach is a former Chief Judge of the 6th
Circuit.
Adams
notes that Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.050(b)(2) states,
"The chief judge may enter and sign administrative orders, except as
otherwise provided by this rule." Florida Rule of Judicial
Administration 2.050(b)(4) states,
"If a judge is temporarily absent, is disqualified in an action, or is
unable
to perform the duties of the office, the chief judge or the chief
judge's designee may assign a proceeding pending before the judge to
any other
judge or any additional assigned judge of the same court."
Adams
says that Judge Demers exceeded his grant of power when he took these
cases away from the assigned judges as Judge Boyer had not disqualified
himself nor had Judge Case nor were they temporarily absent or unable
to perform their duties.
Also, Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.840(e) which governs
procedure
for charges of indirect criminal contempt provides that when a judge is
disqualified, a new judge should be selected by the Chief Justice of
the Florida Supreme Court. Therefore, Adams says, Judge Demers should
have asked the Chief Justice to assign a new judge to hear the baseless
indirect criminal contempt charge brought against him by Judge Crockett
Farnell after Adams moved to vacate the orders that he entered
sanctioning him without jurisdiction and without any basis in fact or
law.
Adams
says that Judge Demers did not comply with Florida Rule of Criminal
Procedure 3.840(e), and the Pinellas County State Attorney's office has
filed a response indicating that it believes that this rule does not
apply in my case.
“Unfortunately,
Judge Beach has shown that he is willing to ignore the law
to rule in favor of the Battaglia firm”, Adams says. “For
example, Judge Beach dismissed my case against the Battaglia firm and
its client, Chris King, even though I had shown that Chris King
repeated slanderous statements about me which he attributed to the
Battaglia firm to a person at a party in Miami who knew
my former client, Jeff Smith. Judge Beach ruled that these and other
slanderous statements which were made out of court and were not
relevant to Smith's case against Chris King were protected by the
absolute litigation
privilege”.
“However, the absolute litigation privilege does not extend to statements
that are made out of court or to ones which are not relevant to the case”, Adams says.
“After I moved to vacate the orders that Judge Demers entered
assigning my
cases to Judge Beach, Judge Demers denied my motions without a hearing
although due process requires an opportunity to be heard. I have been
trying to have hearings videotaped whenever possible, and I think that
Judge Demers did not want to be on camera when being faced with my
motions to
vacate his improper orders reassigning my cases to Judge Beach”.
“Adams
says that the attorney who is representing him on the contempt charge
has also move to vacate the improper assignment to Judge Beach due to
Judge Demers' failure to comply with Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure
3.840(e). This motion
is set for hearing before Judge Demers in Courtroom B at the St.
Petersburg Courthouse at 545 1st Avenue North on Friday, Sept. 30 at 1
p.m. 9-23-05
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