#TheCrimeOfBeingNamedMelania. How to steal a lucrative business from an immigrant with the help of a New York court. A tutorial. Part III. The burden of proof is on the Respondents - when a judge's and a city attorney's wives are involved in the mess. But, of course!

I have started publishing a series of articles regarding the mess that is happening at this time in the glorious New York Supreme Court, Otsego County, in the case The City of Oneonta v Pervu,

This is Part III.

Part I, #TheCrimeOfBeingNamedMelania. How to steal a lucrative business from an immigrant with the help of a New York court. A tutorial, 

can be read here.

Part II, #TheCrimeOfBeingNamedMelania. How to steal a lucrative business from an immigrant with the help of a New York court. A tutorial. Part II. The politics of motions to withdraw in Judge John F. Lambert's court - can be read here.

You can read about the presiding Judge Lambert's law clerks' advocacy on behalf of the City of Oneonta in Part I, 

and about Judge Lambert's and Melania and Nicolae Pervu's own (now former) attorneys misconduct - in Part II.

In Part II I pointed out that the "ex parte" (and sealed by Lambert) application by Melania and Nicolae Pervu's attorneys to withdraw from the case, improperly granted by Lambert without providing the Pervus instead with an assigned counsel in the upcoming contempt proceedings instigated by Judge Lambert's law clerk Mark Oursler contains a wealth of extremely interesting information.

Here is the analysis of some of it.

So, the whole 9 yards was because of an "order to vacate issued by the City of Oneonta Board of Public Service for the premises located at 195 Main Street in the City of Oneonta" owned by the Pervus.

When you go to the website of the City of Oneonta Board of Public Service, you are in for an interesting revelation.

I am telling you, EVERYTHING about this case is very, very, very interesting.

So, there you go.

You go there and you see - who is the director of that public entity?

It is a Margery Merzig.

It is actually THE Margery Merzig, the woman-trailblaizer

a fighter for Human rights - and, by a mere coincidence, the wife of the Oneonta City Attorney David Merzig - who brought the enforcement litigation, to enforce his wife's order to vacate against the Pervus.

That is quite a witness for attorney David Merzig - and one of the reasons why he does not want any kind of evidentiary hearings or trials - he would have to depose, under oath, his own wife, and have he being subject to cross-examination on the order subject to enforcement.

One heck of a job, isn't it?

Note that Margery Merzig owns a business consulting firm:

The firm, or its associates or partners, or clients, might pop up some place in this case in the future, so beware.  This is the usual way things happen in this area - where I lived and worked for 16 years.

Now, a wife-owner of a business consulting firm, in her capacity as a chairman of the city's "Board of Public Service", issues an order ordering a business owned by two immigrants to vacate a lucrative piece of real estate, a downtown hotel.

And, her husband, by mere coincidence, the attorney for the City of Oneonta - including its glorious Board of Public Service - brings the wife's order to court to have it enforced.

Here he is, the polished and magnanimous-looking David Merzig.

Well, the missus said it - the mister must do it, right?

And here is Judge John F. Lambert, the currently presiding judge, by coincidence, a former prosecutor in the same area who had to have known David Merzig personally for a very long time, as an attorney for the Oneonta City Police with whom Lambert, as a prosecutor, had to have "interacted" very closely.

But, Lambert is not the first judge presiding over this case.

The first judge was a different one.  

Note what attorney Ryan Manley said in his affirmation for the application to withdraw on an Order to Show Cause:

Huh?

What is Judge Michael V. Coccoma doing in this case?

While Judge Coccoma is, indeed, a Supreme Court judge in Otsego County,

as well as the Deputy Chief Administrative Judge for upstate New York (that is, he assigns judges to all cases in all courts outside of New York City):

The problem with him presiding over the City of Oneonta v Pervu case, though, is that many tenants in the Pervu's "Oneonta Hotel" were put there on a contract with the Otsego County Department of Social Services, providing rent subsidies to some tenants.

And, on June 21, 2018, at the time the lawsuit was filed, the City of Oneonta actually publicized that it notified agencies providing rent subsidies, about supposed problems with the building long before it filed the lawsuit against the Pervus:

And, the city of Oneonta, speaking through its attorney David Merzig, has said in that same publication, on behalf of Merzig's wife (sorry, chairman of the Board of Public Service Margery Merzig), that

And who is the Supreme Court Justice in Otsego County?

The Honorable Michael V. Coccoma.

And who is the attorney for the Otsego County Department of Social Services, one of the main witnesses in the case, with an interest to protect themselves from liability of being accused that they have put people into the supposedly unsafe housing, using taxpayer money?

But, of course, it is Judge Michael V. Coccoma's own wife Ellen Coccoma.

So, what, again did Judge Coccoma do once he got into the case where his wife's liability is at stake?

This is what he did:

Figure - the City of Oneonta (Attorney David Merzig's wife) is the petitioner/plaintiff in the case, but the judge, coincidentally, the husband for another witness in the case, DSS attorney Ellen Coccoma, orders that the burden of proof is not on the plaintiff, but on the defendants in the case.

Huh?

Do you think Judge Coccoma momentarily suffered an episode of dementia?

Forgot who carries the burden of proof in civil litigation?

Which is certainly not the defendant.

Of course, not.

The old corrupt fox is just trying to get his not-so-bright wife out of the mess - as he did many, many times before. 

So, he demands that the burden of proof is now on defendants, leaves the case and assigns to it the County Judge John F. Lambert 

whose position as 

• an Acting Supreme Court Justice (appointed for one year only, subject to re-appointment by Coccoma), and with it, the salary and status increase, as well as being
• "supervising judge, DWI parts, 6th Judicial District", also subject to cancellation by Coccoma, and as
• "supervising judge, problem solving courts, 6th Judicial District", position also subject to revocation by Judge Michael V. Coccoma,

rests entirely in the hands of the husband of one of the witnesses in litigation (Ellen Coccoma), Judge Michael V. Coccoma.

So, what does Judge Lambert do after his benefactor sicced him (oh, no, assigned him) to the case of City of Oneonta v Pervu?

Of course, Judge Lambert is starting to do everything in his power to preserve his salary and status, the law be damned.

Same as he did in Delaware County.

There, Lambert has first found that Barbara O'Sullivan, in Delaware County Court, was unlawfully charged with a felony based on forged arrest warrant, and after pointing out that the town justice who supposedly issued that warrant lied in his own testimony under oath (and the charges were fabricated because a police officer illegally employed by the Delaware County Sheriff's Department, because his uncle worked in the District Attorney's office, was the perpetrator of a crime of vehicular assault against Barbara O'Sullivan - who also assaulted another woman who looked like  Barbara, in Broome County, and the lawsuit of that woman in federal court was settled right on the eve of a jury trial).

Derek Bowie, the police officer in question, was after that booted by the Delaware County Sheriff's Department - but was eagerly picked up by the Deposit Town Police and is still "serving" us, unfortunate buggers.

Look at Derek Bowie's glorious career - as demonstrated by his salary dynamics, shown at seethroughny.net - the career saved by Judge Lambert, by dismissing, on frivolous grounds, the case Barbara O'Sullivan already won, by default, from money damages, being booted from the police force, for good, charged for vehicular assault for attempted murder of Barbara O'Sullivan, Alecia Bracci and the unborn baby, as well as for the assault and attempted murder of Kylie Smith, not to mention forging arrest warrants, trespasses, tasering the family dog, unlawful incarceration of Barbara O'Sullivan and Alecia Bracci, perjured testimony, forged application for workers comp etc. etc. etc.

And now, in a chart form:

See Bowie booted from Delaware County Sheriff's Department in 2016 - and the Village of Deposit instantly picking him up, but only for half his previous salary?

See the dynamics of police officer Derek Bowie's salary from 2009 to 2018?

Came from Deposit, returned to Deposit - but not to prison, thanks to Judge John F. Lambert's misconduct.


Why? 

Because, when Barbara O'Sullivan sued the nephew of the Delaware County DA's longtime investigator Jeff Bowie, Derek Bowie, for vehicular assault and he defaulted - and the County (whose Sheriff has PERSONALLY SERVED his own employee Derek Bowie with the lawsuit papers) then used taxpayer money to try to reopen the default, frivolously claiming that it was "not put on notice" of the litigation - Lambert dismissed her lawsuit.

Why? 

Because she did not comply with discovery asked by Derek Bowie.

Why didn't she?

Because her house was burnt down, likely, by that same Derek Bowie, to the ground, and she, her daughter and her then-unborn grandchild narrowly escaped, but one of their three dogs didn't make it.  And nobody investigated.  Because who would investigate - uncle Jeff Bowie will investigate nephew Derek Bowie.  Uncle Jeff Bowie would rather try to put the victims of nephew Derek Bowie in prison - as he tried, but failed, with both Barbara O'Sullivan and her daughter Alecia Bracci.  And, when he failed, the house where the documents were kept was conveniently burnt down, and firefighters who came to look how it is burning had no water, and nobody investigated anything.

And Judge Lambert dismissed Barbara's lawsuit because the defendant Derek Bowie, nephew of DA investigator Jeff Bowie, hs likely burnt down her house, together with the documents that he sought in discovery.

Easy, right?

But, Lambert kept himself in good graces of the local "law enforcement community" and continued in his position as a supervising judge in DWI and "problem solving" courts.

As is what he is doing now - trying to keep himself up in Judge Coccoma's graces.

Because Judge Lambert may also be a witness or target of an FBI investigation now, I wrote about it earlier - and, to keep his freedom, his law license and his judgeship, needs to do anything anybody is telling him to do.

Now, let's look at Judge Lambert's own salary dynamics.

A steady growth since 2012

See that his salary is directly tied to his position as an "Acting Supreme Justice"?

Meaning, if he is booted from that position to a "mere" County/multi-bench judge, he will be hit in the pocketbook?

And the person who can hit him is the Deputy Chief Administrative Judge Michael V. Coccoma, who

• presided over the City of Oneonta v Pervu case initially;
• ordered a reverse order of the burden of proof in the case, on the Pervus, not on the City of Oneonta - to protect his own wife and the wife of David Merzig, the Chairperson of the Board of Public Service, and who
• after recusal, still assigned a judge to the case - and will keep assigning judges until he gets the judge who will do what Coccoma wants, or else.

Of course, Lambert's own financial well-being and ability to put his three children - one in middle school, two in high school

 - through college, living in style and with UNLIMITED power of people's families, properties and right to earn a living takes precedence over some pesky rights, as a matter of law, of some immigrants like Melania and Nicolae Pervu, in this case.

And this is the state of protection of public safety and of the "rule of law" in Otsego County, and in the glorious State of New York, ladies and gentlemen.

Protection from liability of 2 wives of local public officials and judges' pocketbooks supported or not supported by the local rich individuals (including attorneys) during elections is what governs the "rule of law".

Only greed and power.

Only career considerations.

Not your rights.

Remember that.

#TheCrimeOfBeingNamedMelania. How to steal a lucrative business from an immigrant with the help of a New York court. A tutorial. Part II. The politics of motions to withdraw in Judge John F. Lambert's court

I have written in my previous blog about the disbarment-level misconduct of attorneys David Merzig (City of Oneonta, NY), Mark Oursler (law clerk for Judge John F. Lambert) and of Judge Lambert himself, without whose approval Mark Oursler will not even sneeze:



This is Part II of the blog series dedicated to the Pervu case.

Part I, #TheCrimeOfBeingNamedMelania. How to steal a lucrative business from an immigrant with the help of a New York court. A tutorial, 

can be read here.

Fixing a court case is a federal crime.

Tampering with witnesses and hiding evidence of such a crime are yet additional crimes.

And, there is documentary evidence of tampering and hiding evidence by Judge Lambert.

The "Thursday" meant in the screenshot above is January 24, 2019.

As of that date, Judge John F. Lambert had to recuse himself - because he started to act in the case (if he didn't before) as an advocate for a party, TEACHING, through his law clerk, one of the litigants, the City of Oneonta,

• What to do in the case, and 
• How exactly to do it.

That is "practice of law", prohibited to the Supreme Court judges in New York by the State Constitution, not to mention that giving such legal advice to a party requires an immediate recusal and discipline imposed upon a judge.

But, of course, Melania and Nicolae Pervu's attorneys - one of them a town justice and a law professor - did not bring a motion to recuse Judge Lambert, as they were required by law in order to preserve evidence of the judge's bias for appeal, even after TWO publications describing what Mark Oursler did - thus committing an act of malpractice for which, I hope, the Pervus should sue the hell out of them.

Instead, 5 days after that legal advice was given, AND PUBLICIZED, Melania and Nicolae Pervu's attorneys brought a motion to withdraw from the case IN FRONT of the judge THEY KNEW was working for the opposing party AS AN ADVOCATE, to allow them to withdraw from the case and to leave their clients unprotected from the onslaught by the City of Oneonta, advised by Judge Lambert's law clerk to file yet another contempt proceedings against them, just 5 days prior, and teaching the City of Oneonta how exactly to do it.

I have got my grubby hands on an that document, the application for an Order to Show Cause of Melania and Nicolae Pervu's now-former attorneys requesting permission of Judge John F. Lambert for them to withdraw from representation of Melania and Nicolae Pervu.

What makes me so excited is that it lists, quite frankly, what was happening in the case since its start, and the "achievements" of the attorneys - and asks the court to seal the document, for Melania and Nicolae Pervu's benefit, of course.

Their benefit, right.

Of course, Judge Lambert did not ask the supposed beneficiaries of sealing this document, Melania and Nicolae Pervu, whether they want to have this document sealed or not.

I did.

They do not want to.  They want it public.  And their opinion is the only one that matters in this case - especially since 

the City of Oneonta, its attorney David Merzig, in OPEN COLLUSION with Judge Lambert, and knowing that Melania and Nicolae Pervu can no longer afford counsel, is pushing, with Judge Lambert's law clerk's help not just to dishonor and bankrupt the Pervus, but to put them in jail "for contempt of court". 

Before I start analyzing this exciting document and the wealth of information it offers - in the next blog article to come - here are some politics of this particular presiding judge, specifically on motions to withdraw, that I know of, and certain other interesting points regarding Judge Lambert's decisions on representation in this case.

I.  New York law does violate the 13th Amendment in not allowing attorneys to leave a case on their own if the client does not pay

There is a rule of slavery regarding attorney's work, 13th Amendment prohibiting slavery and forced labor be damned:

CPLR 321 forbids an attorney, once he entered the case, to withdraw from the case even if the client does not pay.

The attorney may do that only if 

• the client agrees to the attorney withdrawing from the case, giving the client's notarized consent, or
• if the judge allows such a withdrawal.

Instead, New York makes permission to withdraw because of the breach of contract/nonpayment of fees, or remain enslaved by a nonpaying client, a matter of judicial "discretion"/ whim.

I will later show that, in this particular case, Melania and Nicolae Pervu not allowing their attorneys to leave their case was not a matter of enslavement, but was a matter of demand to deliver services already OVER-paid for.

II.  The Acting Supreme Court Justice John F. Lambert has a personal history of NOT allowing attorneys to withdraw in the case of a nonpaying client that had extensive resources to pay, and to make attorneys work for free

For example, Judge John F. Lambert forced me personally to conduct a whole trial on behalf of a non-paying client in a divorce case, after being presented evidence that the client has just outfitted a bed-and-breakfast in Stamford, New York, for 16 (!) rooms, but refuses to pay me.

And, Melania Pervu, as far as I understand, has paid the law firm $16,000 and is owing them, at their claim, $21,000 more - for 4 appearances in court, waiving her rights and screwing up her case before withdrawing.

Not to mention that, as far as I know, the law firm did not give their file back to Melania yet, and did not notify her of her right to arbitrate their outrageous fees, 

as the law requires them to do and as is part of their attorney-client agreement.

Note that the law firm of the Honorable Ryan T. Donovan,

also an adjunct professor of law in Albany Law School

who represented Melania and Nicolae Pervu until they sucked them dry on litigation (and, consequently, the Pervus did not have any money left for improvements required of them by the City of Oneonta, conveniently) and charged Melania and Nicolae Pervu $300 per hour for his valuable time, including travel to Cooperstown where the court is, and back to his office at 50 State Street, 2nd Floor, Albany, NY 12207:

• did not guarantee a "favorable result" (which is, yes, part of attorney disciplinary rules, but may be used conveniently to take money and do nothing - or sell out the client, which is what was done here, as I will start showing in this article), and
• is charging its non-paying clients an interest of 2% PER MONTH, or 12% per year - which, in New York is just a split hair short of usury.

Convenient, isn't it.

We will screw you at your own - big - expense.

III.  A judge does not have to sign applications for an order to show cause - he has a discretion to refuse to sign those.

Local judges, including Judge John F. Lambert did that to me multiple times, including regarding motions to withdraw.

You apply for an Order to Show cause, pay a motion fee, and then - silence.  When you ask the clerk, what is happening, the clerk tells you - the judge refused to sign the Show Cause Order, he does not have to.

So - here, Judge John F. Lambert did not have to sign the Order to Show Cause on Melania and Nicolae Pervu's now-former attorneys' motion to withdraw.

But, he did.

Note the timing of response.

Judge Lambert orders 

• attorneys for Melania and Nicolae Pervu (who are immigrants and non-attorneys, thus who may be not only non-sophisticated in the law, but who may have English language difficulties) to serve Melania and Nicolae Pervu, by personal service, by February 1, 2019.

And, Judge Lambert orders Melania and Nicolae Pervu to respond to this motion, pro se, on their own behalf, within 4 (FOUR!) days.

While the very minimum that is usually provided to people to respond to motions, under the CPLR 2214, and that is - including for people represented by counsel, is 8 days (twice more), and Judge Lambert, having been an attorney for 20 years

knew very well what exactly he was doing to the Pervus.

And, knowing what he was doing, he sealed this document under the rule 22 NYCRR 216.1

- without following the procedure that that particular rule requires before sealing

Section 216.1 Sealing of court records.

(a) Except where otherwise provided by statute or rule, a court shall not enter an order in any action or proceeding sealing the court records, whether in whole or in part, except upon a written finding of good cause, which shall specify the grounds thereof. In determining whether good cause has been shown, the court shall consider the interests of the public as well as of the parties. Where it appears necessary or desirable, the court may prescribe appropriate notice and opportunity to be heard.

There is no written finding of good cause there.

There is no indication of what "statute or rule" was used by Judge Lambert as a ground to seal this document without a hearing.

If that is done to protect rights of Melania and Nicolae Pervu, their rights are better served by SHOWING this document to the public, not by hiding it.

The only people who are protected by the unlawful sealing of this document is Judge Lambert himself and the attorneys for Melania and Nicolae Pervu who wanted to conceal how exactly they have sold out their clients and how badly incompetent and dishonest their so-called (expensive) "services" were.

And, under the 1st Amendment jurisprudence, 

• court proceedings in New York, especially 
• court proceedings started by a public entity, the City of Oneonta, against a citizen and business owner, especially an immigrant business owner, and especially 
• court proceedings where 
• one public entity (the City of Oneonta) asks 
• another public entity (the Court) to put these same business owners in jail for contempt of court, into the jail 
• governed by yet another public entity involved in the whole mess, the Otsego County (Sheriff's Department) - and attorneys withdrawing out of CONTEMPT PROCEEDINGS,

such proceedings are PRESUMED open to the public.

Not to mention problem # IV:

Judge Lambert, 

• having accepted, on January 29, 2019, claims of Melania and Nicolae Pervu's attorneys that Melania and Nicolae Pervu can no longer pay their attorney fees, 

AND

• having accepted earlier, on January 24, 2019, through his law clerk Mark Oursler,  the claims by the City of Oneonta that Melania and Nicolae are allegedly non-compliant with making the required improvements to supposedly bring the building up to code,
• and having taught the City of Oneonta, through his law clerk Mark Oursler, HOW EXACTLY to file for contempt of court against Melania and Nicolae Pervu 

Judge Lambert, an attorney of 20 years and a judge of 10 years, allows Melania and Nicolae Pervu's attorneys, after having received, reportedly, 16 thousand dollars and having appeared in court for that money 4 (four) times total, without doing discovery, motions or trials and claiming they are "owed" 21 thousand dollars more - 

• ALLOWS the motion to withdraw to proceed;
• ALLOWS attorneys who still owe Melania and Nicolae Pervu services paid and overpaid for, out of the case;
• SEALS the records of his shameful conduct - without following constitutionally required procedure of how to seal it; 

AND,

reportedly, Lambert did not even so much as ASK Melania and Nicolae Pervu whether they can afford an attorney to address the contempt proceedings that his own law clerk taught the City of Oneonta how to bring against them.

Knowing very well that he, Judge John F. Lambert, 

• ABSOLUTELY MUST make such an inquiry in a case of contempt proceedings, and 
• ABSOLUTELY MUST advise litigants facing contempt proceedings of their RIGHT to FREE COUNSEL, and
• ABSOLUTELY MUST review their application for that purpose, 
• ABSOLUTELY MUST assign counsel to them if they qualify - and, according to what I have heard, they do, and
• ABSOLUTELY MUST give that counsel proper time to prepare for the contempt hearing, and
• ABSOLUTELY MUST 
• provide an EVIDENTIARY HEARING - 
• with witnesses, the City of Oneonta having the burden of proof by clear and convincing evidence, having to actually 
• TESTIFY THERE, IN OPEN COURT, UNDER OATH, 
• PROVING BY CLEAR AND CONVINCING EVIDENCE that Melania and Nicolae Pervu supposedly 
• intentionally, 
• while HAVING MONEY to pay for the changes required by the City of Oneonta (because punishing people for not having money to carry out a court order is unconstitutional in the United States), 
• violated 
• a LEGALLY VALID court order.

Not the way Judge Lambert (and the previous judge, Coccoma) are deciding this case - through "conferences in chambers", off record, without any testimony of any witnesses.

And, there will be a problem proving that

* there was a LEGAL order - see my next articles; that

* there is a violation of that order, and that

* the violation, if it happened, was intentional, not based on lack of money.

And, by the way, the assigned counsel, in order not to commit his or her own malpractice and in order to preserve the issue of gross judicial bias and misconduct for appeal, should start representation of Melania and Nicolae Pervu, with a motion to recuse Judge Lambert - if Judge Lambert does not have the good grace to run from this case himself a.s.a.p.

Instead of doing all of that, Judge Lambert told Melania and Nicolae Pervu, reportedly, to go "FIND" an attorney for themselves.

Nice guy, isn't he?

Lambert should be taken off the bench for this - and Oursler disbarred, and both jailed.

Lambert, on a more practical plane, MUST recuse from this case, given his law clerk's role de facto practicing law and teaching the City of Oneonta when, how and in what way to conduct litigation against the now unrepresented two immigrant respondents.

And, the new judge MUST at least INQUIRE whether Melania and Nicolae Pervu are entitled to an ASSIGNED COUNSEL, for God's sake.

Because if you want at least to pretend to follow the so-called "Rule of Law", try at least to not openly acknowledge corruption - while then sealing documents documenting that corruption and intimidating witnesses with jail time through contempt of court disclosing that document.

Because, remember,

*  fixing court cases,
* theft of honest services of judges,
* tampering and intimidation of witnesses, and
* hiding evidence of court-fixing pertaining to the presumed-open court proceedings

are FEDERAL CRIMES.

#TheCrimeOfBeingNamedMelania. How to steal a lucrative business from an immigrant with the help of a New York court. A tutorial. Part I.

The City of Oneonta's attorney David Merzig appears to not be aware of attorney disciplinary rules prohibiting pre-trial publicity in a court case that may prejudice that court case.

In fact, I am sure he is aware of that rule, but he is simply spitting on it from the roofs of the City of Oneonta.

Because he knows he will never be disciplined no matter what he does.

Like, for example, helping somebody high up to

1. escape liability for certain actions, and to
2. grab a lucrative piece of commercial real estate for peanuts, having conveniently devalued that piece of real estate with the help of the local corrupt court system.

But, as it often happens with corrupt people high up in power - they lose the grip on reality as to what they can and what they cannot say out loud.  They say things that show their corruption in the full and think that nobody will see it and will not be able to put the mosaic together.

Yet, all you have to do is to pick up the details and connect the dots - they are all there.

Which is what I am going to do with a series of articles dedicated with David Merzig's raid upon the Oneonta Hotel at 195 Main Street, and its owners, immigrants Melania and Nicolae Pervu.

David Merzig is leading a relentless publicity campaign against the Pervus - which the Pervus' now-former attorneys refused to seek sanctions for in court despite the obvious prejudice created by it in people's minds, look what a reader "Dave" said in his comment regarding one of David Merzig's publicity stunts that the city inspector was supposedly threatened by Nicolae Pervu in his attempt for inspection:

For "Dave", and, I am sure, for many other readers of publications put in local newspapers by Merzig, everything is clear - there is already 

"only ONE side … the FACTS.  In this case, the facts clearly show this building has not been properly and safely maintained by the current and possibly the previous, owners".

But, that was Merzig's goal all along, wasn't it?

To create in people's mind that there was only ONE side of the story - his client's and employer's, attorney disciplinary rules, ethics and fairness be damned.

Yet, if the so-called "facts" are so important for attorney Merzig, I wonder why he prefers to "try" them in newspapers and fights tooth and claw not to have specifics in his petition, the initial document that started the lawsuit Merzig is writing about in newspapers - and why Merzig thwarted evidentiary hearings in the case, not once, not twice, but three times in a row.

By the way, do not try to complain about David Merzig to the attorney disciplinary committee of the 3rd Department.

Because David Merzig obviously has support of somebody very high-up in the government - as the series of articles shows, the interests of the formerly presiding judge in this case, the Chief Administrative Judge Michael V. Coccoma and his wife, the Otsego County Attorney Ellen Coccoma, is involved in the situation, as well as the financial well-being of the presiding judge John F. Lambert, as a minimum.

And, there is an office of Senator Seward in the City of Oneonta - did you know that?

Rented, for decades, to the good old Senator by the attorney and son of a late judge Richard Harlem - who, as a result, can sue on behalf of non-existing clients, for non-existing causes of actions, and have his personal attorneys sit on disciplinary committees thwarting complaints about himself and destroying the complainants instead.

With the help of Ellen Coccoma, wife of the Chief Administrative Judge.

Now Ellen Coccoma is gone from the attorney disciplinary Committee, but, guess what, Senator Seward former legislative counsel, Judge Robert Mulvey is in, as a judge of that court.

So, complain away about attorney Merzig - and  court attorney Mark Oursler.  

Why about Mark Oursler?

Courtesy of Oneonta City Attorney David Merzig, who, being what he is - brains are not needed to push through corrupt deals on behalf of his powerful client -  has let people see a glimpse of what kind of wheeling and dealing is going on between him and the court by releasing this wonderful piece:

If you did not get the first time that the City of Oneonta has the presiding judge, and his law clerk Mark Oursler, in their pockets, ADVOCATING for them and TEACHING them, openly, what to do (ask for an Order to Show Cause of Contempt) and how exactly to do it - what to attach to the application for such an order - David Merzig put in not one publications about it into the local press, but at least two, here is another one:

All to make you safe, citizens of Oneonta, New York.

The lawsuit is not just bad, but very, very bad.

Apparently, because 

• the owners of the Oneonta Hotel are immigrants, not sophisticated in the law, and h
• appened to have fallen into the greedy grip of an attorney who is also a town justice and an adjunct professor, and both of those positions are not easy to come by and to keep, and because t
• he local press is well in the local government's pocket and WOULD NOT report honestly and diligently on what is A MATTER OF PUBLIC RECORD and shows very, very clearly the corruption involved in this little scheme designed to take a lucrative business and a lucrative piece of downtown real estate away from Melania and Nicolae Pervu -

because of all of that, Merzig and Co. do not even care to pretend to follow some semblance of the law in doing it and brazenly present their corrupt raid upon Melania and Nicolae Pervu's business as a concern about health and safety of the people of the town of Oneonta.

Since the local press would not do the job of honest journalism, I will do that for them.

Starting with this article, the first one in the series, based on documentary evidence, about the case of Melania and Nicolae Pervu.

Showing judicial corruption, corruption of town public officials and the corruption of Melania and Nicolae Pervu's own former attorneys at their very ugly best.

Is the City of Oneonta asking for yet another lawsuit for discrimination against immigrant business owners?

Are Oneonta taxpayers ready and happy to back up paying for legal defense in such a lawsuit?

Should attorneys Mark Oursler, David Merzig and Ellen Coccoma, as well as attorneys Ryan E. Manley and "The Honorable" Ryan T. Donovan, be disbarred because of this case?

Should judges Michael V. Coccoma, John F. Lambert and the town justice Ryan T. Donovan be taken off the bench, disbarred and charged with federal crimes?

I will publish my opinion on this matter in the articles to come - backed up with documentary evidence.

Stay tuned.

The law I have set in New York at the price of my law license and livelihood - that attorney disciplinary committees are not collection agencies for the "Fund for Client Protection" from civil rights attorneys fighting for their rights in court

In November of 2015, more than 3 years ago now, my law license was suspended for making constitutional arguments in motions to recuse judge Carl F. Becker, who has since run from the bench amid the triple investigation:

1. by the New York State Comptroller;
2. by the State Judicial Conduct Commission, and
3. by the FBI.

The suspension is obscure as to the causes of suspension, only mentioning that I was sanctioned - by Becker - for "frivolous conduct", for those same motions to recuse Becker (Charge IV was dismissed, about that - later in this blog):

This was a cowardly - but very convenient, for the court, move.

Because people believe the government, believe it or not.  The government cannot do anything wrong, right?

And, whenever they cannot provide arguments on the merits, they dive into this case and start bashing me as a suspended attorney - suspended for "misconduct", what misconduct, nobody knows, including myself and the court.

Despite the ancient principle that a judge cannot sit in judgement of his own case,

Nemo iudex in causa sua

 in New York judges are not only allowed to do just that, when dealing with criticism of themselves in motions to recuse - but are given an "absolute discretion" to do whatever they want in such cases, both with the motions and with those who made them.   

Moreover, when they think they were "defamed" by those same motions, that "their integrity were impugned" by those motions, they are allowed, in New York State, something that other residents of New York who are feeling defamed by anybody, are not allowed to do.

When mere mortals must sue for defamation in court, satisfy the elevated pleading standards, and risk sanctions - for that same frivolous conduct - for making a lawsuit that is barred by litigation immunity (where the supposed defamation happened during litigation), and, barred by the constitutional jurisprudence of the U.S. Supreme Court that elevated the bar in such cases for plaintiffs who are public officials - 

judges in New York have invented a different procedure for themselves when they feel "defamed", a sort of "defamation-lite".

They simply start a proceeding-within-a-proceeding, a so-called "frivolous conduct" proceeding when the judge is, at the same time:

• an accuser (the moving party, on his own Order to Show Cause);
• an unsworn factual witness;
• an unsworn expert witness;
• a prosecutor, and
• an adjudicator.

So, there was, of course, 

• no filed court case, 
• no Judge Becker as a plaintiff against me for defamation, 
• no paying of court filing fees, 
• no discovery, 
• no depositions of Judge Becker that I would have been entitled to, 
• no right for me to make a motion to dismiss on litigation immunity and 1st Amendment grounds, as I would have had he sued me for defamation, as he was supposed to, on par with mere mortals, and 
• no right for me to a jury trial where I would be able to cross-examine Becker as to the supposed defamation.

And, this "frivolous conduct" procedure was not even enacted by the Legislature, people's representatives, it was made by courts for their own use, separately from any other litigant.

The mentality of judges is like that: 

• I sit in my own case, 
• as a witness, 
• accuser, 
• prosecutor and 
• adjudicator, 
• I start proceedings within proceedings if I feel a need to punish the critic and destroy her livelihood, 
• I allow myself to punish her, in my own discretions, with "fines" that are at the level of a felony requiring a grand jury indictment and the whole 9 yards of criminal procedure to impose, 
• I allow myself to impose sanctions in various court cases in retaliation for being sued for OUT OF COURT misconduct, and, 
• when I get sued in federal court for that retaliation in addition to state court, I 
• 1. invoke self-given absolute judicial immunity for malicious and corrupt acts, 
• 2. use the State Attorney General (whose law license I control) to DEFEND myself, at taxpayers' expense, and to ADVANCE this argument of my immunity for corruption, instead of prosecuting me for corruption, and 
• 3. I participate, behind the scenes, ex parte, in fixing that same case, through a State-Federal Judicial Council - and do not tell my opponent in litigation that such a thing is even happening.

That is all instead of following procedure required for every other mere mortal and suing the person for defamation if one feels himself defamed - and allow the court (another court, another judge, and the jury) to decide the fate of your claim.

Of course, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled many times that this combustible combination of functions is unconstitutional, but - might is right, and the practice continues.

After all, judges are "honorable" and have a right to protect their supposed honor by dishonorable means.

I have tried to prove the obvious unconstitutionality of punishing an attorney for trying to secure for her pro bono indigent client, through the ONLY procedural tool provided for this purpose by the State of New York, the client's federal constitutional right for access to court and impartial judicial review, in several courts:

1. The Delaware County Supreme Court;
2. The Appellate Division 3rd Department;
3. The New York State Court of Appeals; then, when the 3rd Department, acting also as a licensing court and a prosecutor of the licensing proceeding (another unconstitutional combination of functions) filed disciplinary charges against me, I
4. removed the case to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, when it was remanded back,
5. I appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit,
6. on remand to the 3rd Department, that transferred the case to the 4th Department, I filed motions asserting the lack of constitutionality of proceedings against me - that nobody read, since the case was pre-judged from the very beginning;
7. filed an appeal from the suspension to the Court of Appeals; 
8. filed a certiorari petition to the U.S. Supreme Court.

No answer.

With all the ocean of jurisprudence of the U.S. Supreme Court, supposedly mandatory and binding on all other courts, prohibiting discrimination of speech based on its content, courts make one exception to that constitutional rules - criticism of themselves.

That is unforgiveable treason.

Several people in New York received promotion for their role in my unconstitutional suspension:

• the disciplinary prosecutor Mary Gasparini who was prosecuting me for (1) not committing a crime of unauthorized practice of law in 2008 when I was not an attorney, by not appearing, as an attorney, on behalf of clients in a court case, apparently, inability to read is basis for promotion in New York, 
• Judge Eugene Fahey who refused to read my constitutional arguments in a motion, as well as factual exhibits, including affidavits of witnesses - was promoted to the New York State Court of Appeals;
• Judge Robert Mulvey who refused to protect me from retaliation of Carl F. Becker and kept assigning him to my cases, knowing that Becker is bent on revenge for my complaints against him to the Judicial Conduct Commission - was promoted to the Appellate Division Third Department;
• Andrew Ayers - the Assistant Solicitor General who, same as Gasparini, cannot read and, having in the record court documents showing that the deposition where I supposedly failed to appear as an attorney on behalf of clients and the motion that I supposedly did not answer as an attorney on behalf of clients, all happened in 2008 when I was not an attorney and when appearing at a deposition and answering a motion would have been, for me, 2 counts of the crime of unauthorized practice of law - was promoted to the position of the Director of the Government Law center of the Albany Law School.

1 month after my suspension for 2 years that happened 3.5 years ago, without the right of automatic reinstatement, of course, New York State changed the rules of reinstatement, now requiring of me to retake the bar examination.

Oh, well.

But - you know what silver lining I DID obtain for all attorneys in New York through the order of my suspension?

Freedom from harassment of the so-called "Lawyer's Fund for Client Protection" which was founded, supposedly, to protect clients from FRAUD and MALPRACTICE of their own attorneys, but instead became a lapdog of the judiciary in harassing attorneys who faithfully pursue their indigent clients' constitutional right to impartial judicial review in court.

That lapdog was actually one of the complainant to the disciplinary authorities about me, that I supposedly did not pay the rain of fines imposed upon me by Becker in several cases right after I sued him on behalf of an indigent client for misconduct.

I stupidly paid some of those fines, which I know regret, because I was threatened to be put in jail for non-payment.  

The Lawyers' Fund still turned me in, because I did not pay - as I was allowed to do by law - while I was appealing the first three fines, while putting the necessary amounts into the court's own escrow, and thus ceding my own control over money.

And, attorney Mary Gasparini (since promoted for her hard work) asserted to the disciplinary court, in earnest, that her function in the disciplinary proceeding is, indeed, not only to prosecute supposed violations of attorney ethics, but also:

• being a criminal prosecutor trying to get me convicted and jailed for, allegedly, recording two conferences before a referee, comparing those recordings with transcripts, finding vast differences showing that the transcripts were cooked, and publishing the recordings online, into public access - she failed in that, but the 4th Department refused to disqualify her for lack of impartiality despite her acting in criminal proceedings instituted by her as the sole witness for her own prosecution;
• A COLLECTION AGENT for the Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection.

She put it right in so many words in her pleadings - that it is her duty to help the Lawyer's Fund collect money from me.

Guess what.

The 4th Department, I do not know what came upon judges who issued that decision on suspension, suddenly saw the light and told Gasparini in their decision to suspend me that she does not actually have authority to act as a collection agency in attorney disciplinary proceedings.

That was the same court that skipped through all constitutional infirmities of the case, and that punished me with the de facto permanent suspension, as a matter of pre-judgment and in retaliation for pointing out the court's own misconduct, that the court, same as Becker did, reviewed in their own case and rejected "as a matter of procedure":

because I "did not admit misconduct" and "did not express remorse" BEFORE they determined my liability in the case.

It is like punishing a criminal defendant for not pleading for leniency in sentencing before he is found guilty of a crime.

And, don't ask me what was meant in this decision by "was not an isolated incident and involved a pattern of abuse of the legal process" - because no such thing was asserted in the disciplinary petition or argued in the prosecution's motion for a summary judgment.

So, I do not know what the court used as grounds of my suspension, and neither does anybody else reading this decision.

But, again, here is my gift to attorneys of the State of New York, that I obtained for them at the expense of my law license:

Attorney disciplinary authorities are not a collection agency for the Lawyer's Fund for "Client Protection" (from civil rights attorneys fighting for their federal constitutional right to impartial judicial review in court).

Enjoy.