Part 7: CHP’s Absurd Motion to Vacate

Internal Affairs Investigates

I really didn’t expect my complaint with the CHP Internal Affairs Division to go anywhere, and it didn’t. As I said, it wasn’t organized or well thought out. I felt pushed  into making my initial complaint a Formal complaint. I  told Lieutenant Desmond that I didn’t need to make it formal,   I just wanted to collect on the Judgement.   He told me if I didn’t make  a Formal Complaint the investigation would be closed.  That would have put me back where I started, so I filled out the complaint form they sent me.
The complaint as written by Internal Affairs paraphrased my words saying that I had alleged Kelly Walker was evasive, and unprofessional during inquiries into my legal judgement. YA THINK? Just a tad more formal, than I had put it, but as they say “good enough for Government work“.
Kelly Walker was not important to me. She was merely a gate-keeper, who wasn’t quite up to the task.  It is quite possible to run interference for a boss and still come across as likeable and even helpful. See my post about the Deputy Chief at the Santa Cruz Police Department, if you want to see how its done.
Avoidance isn’t really a good tool for managing situations or people. When unable to avoid them, obvious lies are another bad choice. Yeah, I’d say she was unprofessional, allegedly!

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The Unspoken Message

One odd thing I noticed was that the people in Legal Affairs and Risk Management, were noticeably hostile towards me, during many of my phone inquires. I really have a hard time understanding that. They were absolutely acting like I didn’t deserve a second of their time and like I was screwing over the Highway Patrol in general, and them personally. This seemed to be inexplicably personal to them — they were angry at me, and it showed.  This started before I contacted Internal Affairs for help.  From my point of view the hostility was misplaced and undeserved.  It’s creepy, when you think about it.
This narrow-minded way of thinking, seems central to the culture of the California Highway Patrol: They are above the law, and they resent anybody who tries to infringe on their entitlement.  How else can you explain losing a lawsuit and refusing to comply with a court order? They didn’t think I deserved to challenge their authority in court; They were angry at me for putting them in this position;  I had threatened their power and their Right to always be RIGHT.  They had no intention of rewarding or reinforcing me for this. 
There was an unspoken message conveyed through all this hostility.  I’m  fairly intuitive and my perception of the message still feels right to me, almost 5 years later.  The message was one of indignation:

“WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?  HOW DARE YOU DO THIS TO THE CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL”

That so many employees seem to buy into and uphold this warped perception, which is so removed from the intended role of the Highway Patrol, seems strangely,  indoctrinated to me. Maybe this unquestioning loyalty (regardless of morality) is unique to law enforcement agencies (i.e. the blue line).  I thought it was very weird.

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Balance of Power

The California Highway Patrol behaves in a way that is both self-serving and arrogant.  As an Agency, they seem to be unable or unwilling to hide it. The scary thing is that when Government stops hiding illegal or immoral acts, it’s because they no longer have to. They’ve consolidated enough power to do as they wish and no one can stop them. The CHP is well insulated by California’s Justice System and the Legislature. They aren’t too concerned about acting outside the law. It is a rare occasion when they are held accountable for bad acts.
Our Federal Government is headed that way. They still act embarrassed when they get caught doing something illegal, but nothing changes.  It continues and we just get used to it. Our Government is turning into the monster the Constitution tried to protect us from.  The system that was meant to check and balance Government power, has been so diluted, its impotent.

The Federal Government is currently under-checked and dangerously out of balance. The Legislature has never been more ineffective. The Judicial system is neither blind nor impartial. The Security Agencies have run amok, using secrecy to shield illegal acts and no one seems able or willing to rein them in.  The violations that have been exposed are the tip of the iceberg.

The only thing that government seems to fear at all, is a free press.  Under the Obama administration there have been extraordinary measures to muzzle those that would report or expose immoral, illegal and self-serving government activity. The free internet, whistle blowers and reporters are in the cross-hairs. 

When  a voracious non native species, with no natural enemies, is introduced into an environment it either fundamentally changes or destroys that environment and is harmful to native inhabitants. Freedom of Speech and Freedom of the Press are natural enemies to Government Abuse of Power.  If the government is successful in its efforts to limit those freedoms, they’ve essentially vanquished their last natural enemy.  It will be harmful  to the inhabitants. We can’t let that happen.

If censorship is successful, the Feds will be just like the CHP: Arrogant, Above the Law and so insulated they don’t even have to act embarrassed when corruption, or any other bad act is exposed.
If these CHP employees think its wrong for a Judge to order their employer (large organization, with big budget)  to return money they seized from an individual, they really ought to see how it feels to be the individual whose money was seized,  bypassing the Judge altogether.  I can tell you right now… that feels like a violation and is a much better reason to be upset.
To see these employees upset when their employer is court ordered to give the money back…. ? Cry me a river.   Boo Hoo!  They had no right to be angry with me. I did everything legally and by the book. They likewise had no right to make collecting on the judgement such a nightmare.
And the delaying, the stalling, the rudeness … it’s not over yet!

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Internal Affairs Concludes the Investigation

Clearly Kelly Walker was only part (and not the most important part) of my Complaint to Internal Affairs. If you missed it, you can find it here.

The letter informing me of the outcome of the investigation said they didn’t find substantial evidence to support my allegations regarding Staff Services Manager, Kelly Walker……bla bla bla.  They never even addressed the part of the complaint that had to do with the Legal Affairs Department ducking a Court Order.  Unfortunately, I was getting used to that.

But in some respects the Internal Affairs Investigation was helpful. R. Jones, a Captain in the Office of Investigation assigned K. A. Hunter, Legal Affairs Commander and supervisor to Kelly Walker to look into the matter and resolve any issues. It was through Hunter that I was FINALLY given the name and number of Staff Attorney, John McDonough.

I left him a message near the end of June or early July (I think). When he called me back on a Friday afternoon, I really wasn’t expecting to like the man.  But he was funny and charming. He made me laugh.  (A talent he should share with Kelly Walker.)

If you are the Staff Attorney for the CHP and you have to explain why your client (who is duty bound to uphold the law) is breaking the law, a little charm sure can’t hurt.

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Finally, I Get Some Answers

The big question:

WHAT IS HOLDING UP PAYMENT OF MY COURT ORDERED JUDGEMENT OF $482.00?

We are looking to have the Judgement Vacated. We will be going back before the Judge on the matter.

OH REALLY…. AND ON WHAT GROUNDS?

On the Grounds we were never served.

Really? Because I paid the court $25.00 to serve you. And they gave me a receipt showing Proof of Service.

What address did you use?

Joe Farrell, Attorney General for State of California, at the AG’s Office in Sacramento.

See, you served the Attorney General. You didn’t serve the California Highway Patrol, so we didn’t ever receive it. You needed to serve us for it to be a valid service.

Well that’s funny because…. right on the State of California web site, in the section called “Small Claims Court Self Help” it says :

“IF YOU ARE SUING the California Highway Patrol,  serve them at the Office of the Attorney General. “

Then it gives the address. — The same address I had the court serve you at.

WHAT? Where is this Website…. ? Hold on let me get my legal assistant on that, and I’ll get back to you.

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Motion to Vacate

The CHP Legal Affairs Department, and John McDonough, specifically, filed a Motion to Vacate the Judgement six months, TO THE DAY,  that the original judgement was filed. We were due back in court near the end of September 2010, where the Judge would hear the Motion.

The reason they gave? It was absurd.  I had a very hard time believing that such a legal maneuver could really exist or be taken seriously in a court of law.
The grounds they used to ask for the Judgement to be vacated were:  Mishap, Inadvertence,  Malfeasance, and failure to realize the importance of showing up for the hearing.

WHAT? I had no idea what that even meant, so I had to look into it. 

First of all, It is absurd to even suggest that the legal arm of the CHP doesn’t realize the importance of showing up in court to defend against a claim.  These people are lawyers.  Most small claims participants have no legal training at all.  When we get served, even without legal training, we know enough to realize that if we don’t go, and mount a defense, you are going to lose. It isn’t possible that this high powered legal team did not realize the importance of being served.  It is not grounds for the Judge to Vacate the original Judgement.

The combination of Mishap, Inadvertence, and Malfeasance is seldom used by an Attorney. It is the equivalent to an admission of incompetence and alludes to  deliberate wrongful action on the part of an Attorney in carrying out their duties.

This is like an Attorney, who is throwing himself on the mercy of court and pleading with the Judge: (Picture the back of a hand, pressed open to forehead with palm facing outward, blinking back big crocodile tears) Oh woe is me, Your Honor, I have made a mess of this. Please don’t allow my client to suffer for my mistakes.

As you can imagine , lawyer jokes aside… Attorneys aren’t scrambling all over themselves to fall on their own swords, calling attention to their incompetence in open court. Not that Lawyers aren’t known for altruistic behavior and self sacrifice for the benefit of their clients. John McDonough, must have been a rare lawyer indeed to make that kind of sacrifice for his poor misrepresented client, the little ‘ol CHP. In reality it was just a BS excuse to get back in front of the Judge.

Unlike most Lawyers who would never risk using this as grounds to vacate, Mr McDonough wasn’t running the risk of  being disciplined, sanctioned or disbarred by making this type of astounding admission for the record and open court.  He wasn’t even going to keep future business at bay, by telling the world he was a bad lawyer.  This was all just an excuse to put us back in front of the Judge.
Furthermore isn’t some incompetent Lawyer, poorly representing the CHP. He is on their Payroll. If he screwed up, they screwed up. He is part of the organization that is the CHP. He does not have a client who was poorly represented. He is the client. He works strictly for the CHP, representing only their interests in all legal matters. He is the Legal Face of the CHP.
The CHP has enough tax dollars to pick and choose among lawyers. They are embroiled in law suits all the time.  If our case fell through the cracks, it was because a Small Claims case meant NOTHING to them. It was insignificant. It only became significant when we won. The CHP doesn’t have to show up in court, because of the substantial hurdles a plaintiff has to get over before the court will hear their case.   It is as the Judge told my husband, when he found our paperwork in order:

“This Never Happens.”

And because nobody ever has the paperwork to prove they can legally sue, the Judge automatically dismisses the case, without any need for the CHP to be present. They don’t show up, because they don’t have to. The Judgement in our favor, was a huge surprise to them.  Apparently, with all their legal resources, they were ill-equipped to deal with Small Claims Court or a Judgement NOT in their favor.  And they were… FURIOUS.
I hope my readers are starting to get the picture of what we were up against here. If you think they have acted like bad losers and have been petty and childish so far…. I am NOT DONE.
The conclusion of this story will appear in the next post.  Things are not as they seem in California.   After I tell you what the CHP did next,  if you live in California, you’ll think they owe you some money now, too . Nobody should be spending our tax dollars this way…. If wasting our money isn’t a crime, it should be. It’s also amusing if you like your humor along the lines of WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? or Americas Dumbest Criminals, you’ll get a kick out of it.
The last post also exposes one more bad act, this one not done by the CHP.  It is , however so blatant and chilling, I think, that everything the CHP did to us, pales by comparison. The CHP, definitely doesn’t have an exclusive on behaving badly.

NOTE To Readers:
Throughout the eight posts that tell this story, I put the real names of the people who handled our case at the CHP. One of those people is almost certainly the person who submitted our name to a government watch list, knowing that it would lead to ongoing stalking, monitoring and constant harassment.  It started four years ago, and continues today.

We aren’t on this list because we are terrorists or a threat to anybody. Our crime was embarrassing the CHP and exercising our legal rights effectively. We threatened the ABOVE THE LAW status that the CHP takes for granted, and we are being punished for it, with no legal recourse.

That is the reason I write this blog,

SceneNSantaCruz

One more thing:

I have never posted any videos of any kind. If you see a video that indicates it came from me or has anything to do with my blog Justifiably Disturbed, you can be certain that it I had nothing to do with it.  If the day comes for me to post videos, you will see them on this blog before you see them on YouTube.

The Highway Patrol Chooses to Ignore a Court Order

Posted on September 19, 2014 by scenensantacruz Edit

It is January of 2010 have completed all the preliminary steps, required and now we can legally sue the California Highway Patrol In Small Claims Court. We are filing for the return of our 2007 (filed in 2008) tax return that was intercepted by the California Franchise Tax Board on behalf of the CHP.  We paid the courts 25.00 to serve the CHP. The CHP receives service at the California Office of the Attorney General in Sacramento.

Because I had done all the preliminary paperwork, we decided that my husband would represent us in front of the Small Claims Court Judge. I did not attend.

SMALL CLAIMS COURT

I’m sure you are expecting this to be interesting… but it is decidedly anticlimactic.

When our case was called there was no one there to represent the California Highway Patrol. Usually that means a default win for the plaintiff (if the defense is a no show). When you sue a State Agency, the Judge goes through your paperwork to establish that you have that all important paper:  A Denied Claim From the State of California, which is dated no more than 6 months earlier- if you don’t, have it the Judge will dismiss the case.

When the Judge issued a default judgement for the plaintiff (us) in the amount of ($482.00) ($417.00 +$65.00 in expenses), he made an interesting comment to my husband.

The Judge said: This never happens.

The Judgement was entered on Febuary 19, 2010

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Collecting The Judgement

 

I then, foolishly waited, expecting a check for $482.00 to arrive in the mail. The California Highway Patrol is an agency that upholds laws. They have been Court Ordered to pay me that amount. There is no gray area here. Although I realize that collecting Small Claims Judgements can be problematic, there is no way I thought collecting this judgement would be an issue.

I can’t emphasize this enough: I could not have been MORE wrong.

You can see my point: 482.00 shouldn’t even be a big deal to the CHP. I mean, $417.00 they already had from my tax return, and as for the $65.00? What could that possibly mean to an agency with an enormous budget that serves as the Police Force for The State of California? Come on…. this is chump change to them. Why wouldn’t they pay me?   Is it possible that Court Orders don’t apply to them?

Before I get on with the collection process, which took another trip to court and more than a year, I want to mention something that occurred around this time.

Just before we went to court we got a letter from an attorney asking us to be part of a class suit against the CHP regarding Recovery Costs related to DUI investigations. Because we had already initiated the paperwork to sue the CHP in Small Claims Court, we wrote a letter opting out of the class. That case can be found here, if you are interested. That case was initially won, and later overturned, on appeal. It is the same case (Allende) that I referenced earlier (making fun of the Judicial Opinion).

I waited (silly me) for 2 months for the check from the CHP to arrive, before I began any attempts to collect the judgement.

The best way to tell you about what I went through in an attempt to collect the $482, is to share the complaint I made to the CHP Office of Internal Affairs with you. I would like to say that I really didn’t want to make this complaint, but I had filled out an online form complaining about the lack of cooperation I was getting from my contact person at the CHP.

In response, I got a phone call asking

DO YOU WISH TO MAKE A FORMAL COMPLAINT AGAINST THIS EMPLOYEE?

I DON’T CARE ABOUT HER! WHAT I WANT IS THE MONEY THE CHP HAS BEEN COURT ORDERED TO PAY ME.

DO YOU WANT TO FILE A FORMAL COMPLAINT OR NOT? IF YOU DO, WILL SEND YOU THE NECESSARY PAPERWORK. IF NOT, WE WILL CONSIDER THIS MATTER CLOSED.

I did not want the matter closed, I wanted it resolved. So I said FINE, send me the paperwork. My complaint, which I am going to share with you, was never really about the employee (Kelly Walker), but I had contacted Internal Affairs, (initially at the advice of the Attorney Generals Office, who also suggested I hire a lawyer) complaining about Ms. Walker, and now I had to see it through.

The bummer is, I think the IA investigation is probably the actual reason we were targeted for retaliation, via an organized harassment campaign, that I identify as Gangstalking. It could also be that the CHP was embarrassed by the way they handled everything, and they blamed us for it.

My complaint against Kelly Walker was not well thought out or organized, because though, she was the focus of the complaint, she was not the reason for it. She was just the face of the problem, and (I am sure) doing her job, exactly as expected for the culture she works in. She was rude, completely unhelpful, not unlike many people who work the private sector. It isn’t something I normally complain about; But I was frustrated and expected more from an organization that is here to SERVE (SAFETY SERVICE SECURITY), or so it says on the bottom of their stationary.

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Internal Affairs Complaint

 

I was mad, and you’ll see why. Here is the IA Complaint, (with minor corrections for readability):

June 19, 2010

California Highway Patrol, Office of Internal Affairs

I would like to file a formal complaint against the California Highway Patrol Office of Legal Affairs, in general, and against employee Kelly Walker, specifically. Kelly Walker is a civilian employee working in the Legal Affairs Office, and my contact person there.

On February 19 of this year (2010) a Judgement was filed by the Superior Court of California ordering the California Highway Patrol to pay the plaintiffs (our names omitted here) $417.00 + $65.00 in expenses. The CHP had one month to appeal the decision. They did not.

Now, for some reason, I expected a State Agency, whose purpose it is, to enforce the laws of the State of California to abide by the laws of the State of California. Silly me. After the judgement was not appealed within the required 30 day period, I waited another month, (apparently foolishly), expecting a check to arrive in the mail.

I began attempting to collect on the judgement, on or about April 12th. Since that time I have spent hours of my time, money for long distance phone calls, and an additional $18.00 faxing documents to the CHP- documents that they already have, but asked me to fax anyway.

Prior to trying to collect on the judgement, I had already spent considerable time making phone calls, writing letters, filing a claim with the State of California and preparing my case against the CHP. The result of all that effort, was a judgement in my favor, ordering the CHP to pay back the money they had intercepted from my 2008 tax return.

It now appears that the CHP Office of Legal Affairs and Kelly Walker have no need or interest in following the “rules of court” in any kind of timely fashion. I have been put through the wringer in my attempt to get paid. Apparently a court order means nothing to them.

Here are the steps I have taken since the judgement was filed (Feb 19th) to try to get the money that is owed to me:

On or about April 12, I start calling various CHP departments to try to find out WHO can help me to collect on the Judgement. I call Risk Management, Legal Affairs and Accounts Payable. I only get through to operators. I leave many detailed messages on many voice mails of various people who the operators think may be able to assist me. I do this every afternoon for a week, leaving messages each day on Kelly Walker’s voice mail; I have been told she is the most likely person to be able to help me. The following week I leave a 4th or 5th message (this time with a real person) for Kelly Walker and am steered by a unknown person in the Legal Affairs Department to the voice mail of Luis (the manager, I think), in the Accounts Payable Department.

I would like to commend Luis, he is the only bright light in this fiasco. Luis returns my call on April 20th. He was the only CHP employee, who returned ANY of the dozens of messages left for various employees. Luis tells me that he would be happy to cut me a check, but it has to be approved first by the appropriate department. He tells me I need to contact Kelly Walker in Legal Affairs. I explain to him that I have already left numerous unreturned messages on her voice mail. He tells me he knows her personally and will talk to her, to see if he can find out what is holding up approval.

At this time he asks me for information about my case, and then transfers my call to Karen Martin in Risk Management. She asks me to fax her all the information about my case, including the original claim forms filed with the State of California and a copy of the judgement. I do this the same day (April 20th) and it costs me $9.00.

I wait over a week for Luis to call me back, leaving messages almost daily on Kelly Walker’s voice mail or with whoever answers the phone in the Legal Affairs Department. On May 3rd, I finally get a hold of Luis, who tells me that the only thing he has been able to find out is that the case is being reviewed by a Staff Attorney. He tells me that there is only one Staff Attorney, and he is really busy, wrapping up other important cases. He says to continue trying to contact Kelly Walker, because his hands are tied and there is nothing more he can do for me. (I stress that he has been kind and as helpful as possible, in all my dealings with him.) He ask me to refax him the same documents I sent to Karen Martin and he will go to Kelly Walker with them and TRY to expedite payment. There goes another $9.00.

Over the next two weeks I leave countless messages on Kelly Walkers voice mail. I am careful not to be rude or sound angry, but it is clear I am frustrated with her failure to return my calls. I finally call Luis back on May 17th. I get my first hint as to why I haven’t been paid. He tells me that the Legal Affairs Department does not want to pay the Judgement. They are looking into ways to get it overturned or set aside. Apparently they are not under the same time constraints as us ordinary mortals. I had to keep to a very strict statute of limitations and follow the rules of court, in taking the CHP to court in the first place. They appear to be looking for a technicality, something that I did wrong, so they can have the judgement overturned.

I was careful. I first filed a claim with The State of California, as required by law. When it was kicked to the CHP, they denied my claim. The sent a letter telling me I had 6 months from that date to file suit, which I did. I filed in the proper jurisdiction. I paid the court to serve the CHP, via certified mail, and I did it all within the statute of limitations set forth by The State of California. There is no doubt that they are obligated to pay me this amount. They have been court ordered to do so.

After my conversation with Luis, I am upset and frustrated. I speak to a Legal Aide Attorney, here in Santa Cruz. who informs me that she can’t help me, unless I can find a cash till, where the CHP takes in cash payments. My court order would entitle me to seize the money owed me. This is how it is done in the private sector.

I fire off a letter, complaining about the situation to the Attorney Generals Office. They tell me that they can’t work on my behalf because they represent the CHP in legal matters. They tell me I should get legal representation and contact Internal Affairs for the CHP.

On or about May 21st, I call the CHP Internal Affairs Office and complain about Kelly Walker holding up my payment and not once returning my phone calls. Not even five minutes after I get off the phone, an amazing thing happens. The phone rings and it is Kelly Walker. She is nice and solicitous.

We talk for 20 minutes, basically, her asking me questions. She says she will look into the matter and give me a call in the early part of the following week. I wait the entire next week for her to call, as promised, and she never does.

.

The week after that, I leave detailed messages, on Kelly Walker’s voice mail every day, clearly frustrated with her.  On Friday of that week she picks up her phone. Apparently she was expecting somebody else and picked up the phone by accident. She then pretends that she has no idea who I am. She says she deals with lots of cases, but is not familiar with mine and she doesn’t have the records in front of her at the moment. She doesn’t have time to pull them right now, Do I want to leave my name and number?

She is flat out lying. She knows EXACTLY who I am. I am certain she would never have answered her phone, if she knew it was me. She says she doesn’t recollect the 20 minute conversation, 2 weeks earlier when (prodded by internal affairs— I’m sure that doesn’t happen every day) she promise me she would look into my case and call me back with answers.

The conversation went like this:

You promised to call me back after you looked over the paperwork regarding my Judgement and call to and tell me what is holding up the payment.

The matter is being reviewed by a Staff Attorney, who is out of the office right now. (I guess she does know who I am, after all)

When is this going to happen?

I don’t know right now. I don’t have a time frame and I’m not familiar with the details (she forgot who I am again)

Can you please just give me the name and number for the Staff Attorney who is reviewing the Judgement, since they are apparently the person who can answer my questions.

I can’t do that. It wouldn’t do you any good anyway. They aren’t in the office and they aren’t available right now.

I would still like the name and number so I can leave a message for this anonymous person.

At this point Ms. Walker gets a bit nasty and superior sounding, like she is talking to a small child who doesn’t understand what the word “NO” means. She explains slowly, (like I am an idiot) :

I will not give you the name and number. You need to ask all your questions and get all your answers through me. I am your contact person.

Well, for a contact person, you have been close to impossible to contact and you don’t have any answers, anyway.  I would really like the name of the person who does have those answers or who is just a little more accessible.

We will notify you when a decision is made.

And when will that be?

(Sounding exasperated again, and speaking very slowly, like I am an idiot who can’t grasp simple concepts)

Whenever they decide.

So there is no time frame? They can take as long as they want to decide whether they will or will not comply with a court order?

(SNAPPING, Now) Not forever, just as long as it takes. We will notify you.

Will that be by mail or phone?

I’m not sure.

The one thing I’m sure of, at this point, is that this conversation is going nowhere. Ms. Kelly Walker has no intention of helping me . She was condescending, rude and made it clear to me that she felt she did not owe me an explanation for anything.

And if you don’t think that I have already been through enough, I was notified on May 15 that a portion of another tax return (2009 this time) had been Intercepted by the CHP. And guess what? This was done without any court order when I don’t owe them a dime, I never did, and neither does my husband. There is no doubt in my mind that this INTERCEPTION, without a judgement is unconstitutional and needs to be challenged in the courts.

Isn’t it Ironic that I have a court order saying they me owe me money, and I can’t collect. They don’t have a court order and they can. How wrong is that? The CHP owes me money, not the other way around!

I am asking Internal Affairs to resolve this situation, or tell me how to resolve it myself. It has been more than a year since they took my 2008 tax return and more than 4 months since they were ordered to return it.

Stay Tuned… the fun isn’t over.  Next Post I finally hear from the CHP Staff Attorney, who explains what is holding up the payment.

Scenensantacruz