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There's an epidemic spreading like wildfire across the country.
Challenge the judicial system and the system will retaliate.
"If you attack the integrity of judges or officers of the court, they come after you", Tampa attorney Mark A. Adams says.
And he should know.
He's in the middle of one of the most egregious cases of legal abuse seen in Florida's Pinellas County, if not the country.
He says that not only is he a victim of judicial corruption but that the good ole boy network is out to destroy him, his family and his career. He faces up to six months in jail on contempt charges and possible disbarment for being a judicial whistleblower.
Adams faced yet another hearing in Pinellas County Court on Friday, this time before Chief Judge David Demers of the Sixth Judicial Circuit Court.
Once again, Adams was denied due process with Demers refusing to grant him a hearing in matters although the proper court procedure had been followed.
Although Demers finally granted a request for the proceedings to be videotaped after his chief counsel told The North Country Gazette that the proper procedure hadn't been followed by a news reporter trying to memorialize the hearing, the judge failed to comply with Florida court rules and case law in allowing a hearing on several motions submitted by Adams including reconsideration of the order for his arrest for indirect criminal contempt, modification of bail and judicial reassignment.
Lisa Adams, a reporter for a local public access television station and of Tampa Bay Independent Media, was allowed to videotape the proceedings after having been denied previously by another judge in the case, Judge Robert Beach, who questioned legitimacy of the media outlets.
But although camera coverage was eventually allowed, Demer's assistant Dennis Briggs said no hearing would be conducted on Adams' motions.
Adams, 41, married with two young children, is obviously being penalized for having dared to utter the words "judicial corruption" and for having challenged one of the most political entrenched law firms in Florida, Battaglia, Ross, Discus and Wein of St. Petersburg.
When Adams began representing clients in a civil matter involving advertising commission and a non-compete clause, the defendant hired the Battaglia firm headed by Anthony Battaglia, former chief assistant U.S. attorney, former member of the Republican National Committee for Florida and former member of the Judicial Nominating Commission for the Sixth Judicial Circuit.
Shortly thereafter, Chris King, the defendant in the action and president of the sports marketing firm, Corporate Sports Marketing Group (CSM) of Clearwater, Fla., began boasting that his attorneys, the Battaglia firm, were connected and that "they were going to bury" Adams' client, according to Adams.
Timothy Weber of the Battaglia firm represents CSM.
Adams says that Weber and other members or employees of the Battaglia law firm had allegedly boasted that they could influence Sixth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Crockett Farnell in the case 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 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 Bruce 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 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 his 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 said that on Sept. 27, an assistant for his attorney, Gregory "Skip" Olney, former assistant state attorney, notified Briggs, court counsel for Demers, that Adams wanted to set his motion to reconsider the order for his arrest for hearing on Friday.
This motion addresses the terms of Adams' pre-trial release, specifically the $25,000.00 bond which prevents Adams from leaving the State of Florida. Adams' mother lives in Mississippi and suffered a mild stroke last fall but because the bond prevents Adams from leaving the state, he has been unable to visit her.
Adams says that Briggs noted that two hours were reserved for the hearing on Friday on his motion to vacate the improper assignment of the case to Judge Beach and reportedly said that Adams could put his motion to reconsider the order for his arrest on the calendar, but that the hearing could not go over two hours.
Later that afternoon, Briggs called Adams' attorney and said that Judge Demers would not hear Adams' motion to reconsider the order for arrest and modification of bail because the Court Counsel said that he could not hear that motion.
Olney's assistant reminded Briggs that Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure allows the Chief Judge to modify the terms of pre-trial release and that Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure provides that at least three hours notice of such a hearing must be given to the state. Mr. Briggs replied that Judge Demers would not allow the motion to be set for hearing on Friday and that Judge Demers said that this motion would need to be heard by Judge Beach.
After Demers refused to let Olney set Adams' reconsideration motion for hearing, Adams filed notice of appearance as co-counsel, an amended notice of hearing, and a motion for modification of bail that indicates that Judge Farnell had issued the order for his arrest in violation of the Second District Court's order staying proceedings in the trial court.
Adams says that Demers demonstrated Friday that he had decided the reassignment issue before the hearing and that conducting the hearing was just a formality to avoid giving Adams an opportunity to raise an issue based on a lack of due process if he ruled on the motion without hearing.
Adams says that due to Brigg's comments about having his motion to reconsider the order for his arrest heard by Judge Beach, it appears that Friday's hearing was just a formality because Demers had already decided that he wasn't going to send the contempt case to the chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court for assignment of a new trial judge as required. June Maxam 10-02-05
June Maxam is the publisher of The North Country Gazette, co-publisher and editor of The Empire Journal and co-managing editor, copy/layout editor of Diogenes, magazine of the National Judicial Conduct and Disability Law Project.
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