The long-awaited order following last month’s Prenda Law sanctions hearing is now out, and it’s a doozy. After a hearing that lasted 12 minutes and consisted of lawyers pleading the fifth, there was little doubt that Federal Judge Otis Wright was not best pleased, and it was evident in the order he released late yesterday.
When a federal judge’s contempt for a case is illustrated via a sanctions order littered with sci-fi references it doesn’t bode well for any attorney on the receiving end. Any judge that finds the time to do this is not doing it because he’s bored, but because he’s highly motivated to do so. The shenanigans of Prenda and its associates certainly rankled Judge Wright, and prompted him to make Steele and friends the subject of derision.
In the order, Judge Wright demolishes the claims of Brett Gibbs, by doing simple things like “looking them up on Google.” To demonstrate his point, the Judge includes a handy screen capture from Google Maps, pointing out that one of Gibbs’ statements was “a blatant lie.”
Towards the end, he starts laying down the damages, starting with attorney’s fees. Judge Wright assigned fees and costs totaling $40,659.86 to be paid to defense attorneys Morgan Pietz and Nicholas Ranallo. While that’s more than many expected, he then doubled the amount as a punitive measure, meaning a grand total of $81,319.72 will have to be paid by some combination of the plaintiffs (Steele, Duffy, Hansmeier, Gibbs, the shell companies and lawfirms) on or before May 20th.
And that’s not all. Judge Wright will also be referring the matter to the US Attorney for Central California requesting a RICO (racketeering) investigation, notifying all judges where plaintiffs have cases, and, as we noted a month ago, the IRS. Finally, there will also be disciplinary requests made to state and federal bars.
While some would have liked the order to have gone even further, its restraint will make it less likely to be overturned on appeal.
The next question is whether the Prenda ‘mob’ will pay up, or have another excuse to join the legion put forward so far. For that we’ll have to wait two weeks, if not more.
Source: Federal Judge Fires Phasers, Photons at Prenda for $80k Damages
Federal Judge Fires Phasers, Photons at Prenda for $80k Damages
Aerosmith, James Taylor to perform at Boston Marathon benefit concert
BOSTON (AP) — Aerosmith, James Taylor, and Jimmy Buffett are among the scheduled performers for a Boston Marathon benefit concert May 30. The show, at the TD Garden, will benefit One Fund — the collection of donations that will be distributed to the survivors of the April 15 bombings and the families of those killed in the attack.Other confirmed acts include Jason Aldean, Boston, Extreme, Godsmack, The J. Geils Band, Carole King, and New Kids on the Block. Donnie Wahlberg of New Kids on the Block said that like other native Bostonians he and his bandmates are honored to do their part. Comedians Dane Cook and Steven Wright also are in the lineup.Tickets range from $35 to $285. They go on sale Monday.Continue Reading… … Read More
Americans should expect acts of terror
“The stuff we have done overseas is now brought back into our own front yards. America’s chickens are coming home to roost.” — Reverend Jeremiah WrightIn 2008, the hysterical backlash to the above comment by Barack Obama’s minister became a high-profile example of one of the most insidious rules in American politics: You are not allowed to honestly discuss the Central Intelligence Agency’s concept of “blowback” without putting yourself at risk of being deemed a traitor to country.Now, five years later, with America having killed thousands of Muslim civilians in its drone strikes and wars, that rule is thankfully being challenged, and not by someone who is so easily smeared. Instead, the apostate is one of this epoch’s most revered journalists, and because of that, we will see whether this country is mature enough to face one of its biggest national security quandaries.This is the news from Tom Brokaw’s appearance on “Meet the Press” last Sunday. Discussing revelations that the bombing suspects may be connected to Muslim fundamentalism, he said:Continue Reading… … Read More
Maine’s ‘Zumba madam’ avoids trial with guilty plea
The details behind “Zumba Madam” Alexis Wright’s prostitution service will not be heard in court after the dance instructor pleaded guilty on Friday to 20 out of 106 counts against her. WCSH-TV reported that the deal struck by Wright’s attorney and prosecutors will have her…
They Should Have Used Only the Minesweepers
Susan Wright, principal of Michigan’s Schall Elementary School,
personally called the parents of one 9-year-old student to complain
about how they had decorated cupcakes they sent to school for the
boy to ;celebrate
his birthday. The boy’s mom had put little green army men on
them, and Wright said that was “insensitive” considering the
shooting last year at Sandy Hook Elementary School. … Read More
Brickbat: They Should Have Used Only the Minesweepers
Susan Wright, principal of Michigan’s
Schall Elementary School, personally called the parents of one
9-year-old student to complain about how they had decorated
cupcakes they sent to school for the boy to
celebrate his birthday. The boy’s mom had put little green army
men on them, and Wright said that was “insensitive” considering the
shooting last year at Sandy Hook Elementary School. … Read More
Copyright Trolls to Judge: Nope! We’re Not Coming to Scary Hearing
As reported yesterday the copyright trolls of Prenda Law been attempting to bully the owners and users of anti-troll sites FightCopyrightTrolls (FCT) and DieTrollDie (DTD).
They ordered WordPress to hand over the IP addresses of everyone who has used both sites for the last two years. But, after a little panic, WordPress stepped in to calm the nerves.
“No cause for concern. As a matter of policy, we closely review all subpoenas, don’t respond to overly broad requests, and push back on fishing expeditions,” WordPress’s Paul Sieminski told DTD.
“Here – dietrolldie has already let us know that the subpoena will be challenged. In cases like this, we don’t turn over any information until the user’s legal challenge has played out.”
What is becoming apparent is that for every heavy-handed and/or suspect action taken by Prenda, even more adversaries come on board. Lawyer John Whitaker from the Whitaker Law Group deliberately ‘outed‘ himself as a DTD and FCT user yesterday, and BitTorrent defense lawyer Robert Cashman is more critical than ever before.
As yesterday’s article outlined, Monday will see Prenda hauled before a Los Angeles court on the orders of Judge Wright after he appeared to become somewhat tired of the firm’s apparent shenanigans.
Well, that was the plan. Unsurprisingly, Prenda have other ideas.
In an ex parte application for relief filed by John Steele, Paul Hansmeier, Paul Duffy and Angela Van Den Hemel, Prenda argue that they shouldn’t have to come to court on Monday. In their application, Prenda roll out a variety of excuses for not attending.
First, in a move that’s likely to further inflame an already irritated Judge Wright, Prenda claim that the Judge has no jurisdiction.
“Even where the court seeks to adjudicate issues between parties, it must have personal jurisdiction over them. Here, Steele, Hansmeier, Duffy, and Van Den Hemel are not parties and have not otherwise participated in this litigation. As such, the public policy behind the need to determine personal jurisdiction is arguably at an elevated level because, as individuals, they effectively have ‘no dog in this fight’,” the application reads.
Prenda go on to argue that since they’re not parties in the action they can only be witnesses. And since witnesses can only be required to appear if they are “resident within the state at the time of service” (and Prenda aren’t, apparently), then “the court lacks jurisdiction to order them to appear.”
Second, Prenda say that attending would be particularly inconvenient. They write that the court is being “fundamentally unreasonable” in giving short notice and that attending court could upset their clients.
Prenda go on to argue that they haven’t been told why they have to attend so cannot adequately prepare, a situation which deprives them of due process. They also complain that they are entitled to get paid for attending but the court order makes no mention of who will foot the bill.
“For these reasons, even if the court had jurisdiction over the parties, the notice would be unreasonable to them and the court would, at a minimum, have to withdraw the order and issue a new one for a future date that would afford Steele, Hansmeier, Duffy, and Van Den Hemel reasonable notice of the hearing, their rights, and the purpose for their appearance,” Prenda conclude.
Ken, a writer over at the respected legal blog Popehat, is not impressed.
“Considering they have had several days to put a brief together, I find this motion rather half-hearted and meager, particularly given the gravity of the situation and what they are trying to accomplish. If this is all they could pull together, I am surprised they didn’t file it sooner, like Wednesday,” he writes.
Ken adds that the record shows that jurisdiction is not an issue and Prenda are only making matters worse.
“The evidence clearly shows that Steele, Hansmeier, and Duffy have directed Prenda Law litigation activities in California. A federal judge has ordered them to appear here and explain those activities.
“By responding with a jurisdictional argument now, they have utterly eviscerated their credibility and the credibility of their enterprise permanently in every court in the United States of America,” he concludes.
Source: Copyright Trolls to Judge: Nope! We’re Not Coming to Scary Hearing
