Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Recall case news
The hearing did not make it to oral arguments, and has been postponed for at least 3 days.
It's very clear that not only will Michael Sinanian be unable to prove that Nathan Shaffer intentionally falsified information, he had no intention of doing so. His case is based on the fact that the recall was based on false information, and so the Judicial Council needs to exact justice. He may have had better luck just arguing that directly than trying to fit it into proving intentional falsification on the part of Shaffer. His current argument is that, because the original petition didn't reference the fight, while the Voters Guide did, something must have been going on, proving intentionality.
Dina Omar was found to not be a proponent (or rather, Sinanian failed to prove she was a proponent) in pre-oral arguments rather than in the case, so the severance motion succeeded. Sinanian should have tried to keep it from happening on the grounds that it was part of his argument, but he didn't really have evidence. He may still be able to argue that Omar was a proponent, even if she's not a party to the case, and may instead have had better luck in agreeing to the severance without a reason.
Shaffer had three (and then two) other spokespeople, who did nothing to help his case at all. Indeed, one of them piped up at the least opportune times, apparently just to piss people off. The Judicial Council was in the middle of ripping Sinanian to shreds over how he had no way of proving intentionality, and one of the representatives interrupted with a definition of intentionality that contributed nothing to the discussion and just relieved the pressure from Sinanian. They interrupted with many other arguments which just sounded obstructionist, as well as inapplicable arguments using their own understanding of law, rather than the JRPs.
The defense prevented the video from being shown at the hearing, because they wanted someone "qualified" to authenticate it before it was shown, so they knew it wasn't tampered with. So they wanted a hard copy to do their own authentication. John Moghtader wanted to delay handing it over to do his own "security measures," but I'm pretty sure he was trying to stall just to piss folks off. It was pretty silly, considering the stakes. Claiming the same rights they'd have in a criminal trial when they had something to lose was just over the top.
Speaking of over the top, they made the 14th amendment argument we were all waiting for, and referred to the Oren Gabriel case as precedent. That's right, if the Judicial Council doesn't follow its procedures carefully, they'll be violating the U.S. and California constitutions!!! I hope the Judicial Council isn't dumb enough to fall for it. What kind of deprivation would Shaffer even be able to claim if he loses this case?
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