"The only irreparable harm is the cloud over the office and in Humboldt there are lot of clouds, they come and go"

The lawsuit against Humboldt County regarding their hiring of Public Defender David Marcus was scheduled for a writ to be heard this afternoon. There was a calm presentation by Mr. Patrik Griego and a defensive presentation by County Counsel Jeffrey Blanck.
The summary from today is that the writ got continued. On December 13, Judge Marjorie Carter will rule on the interpretation of the statute cited in the lawsuit filed by Mr. Griego. Both sides are to file written arguments by December 7th and any response to each other by December 12.

Both attorneys can also present additional oral arguments and any supporting facts on December 13, before Judge Carter's ruling.

Twice, Judge Carter said she agreed with Mr. Griego. Once was when Judge Carter stated that she agrees with Mr. Griego that "what needs to be determined is the interpretation of the statute."

California Government Code Section 27701: "A person is not eligible to the office of public defender unless he has been a practicing attorney in all of the courts of the state for at least the year preceding the date of his election or appointment." This is what Judge Carter will be interpreting to decide whether Marcus is qualified.

Regarding Marcus' qualifications, petitioners claim Marcus had to actually practice in the courts, County Counsel has a slightly different opinion. County Counsel interprets the statute to mean that Marcus just had to practice law, not physically be present in courts for the required length of time.

The details of the lawsuit and background are in previous coverage.

Other media was present so I won't rush on updating this post with the other less dry, technical details of today's hearing.

The more embarassing spectacle was the behavior of County Counsel Blanck and the disrespect he showed towards Mr. Griego and the employees of the Public Defender office.

These are only two statements he made in today's hearing that should make his emoployers, the Board of Supervisors cringe.

 "The only irreparable harm is the cloud over the office and in Humboldt there are lot of clouds, they come and go," said Mr. Blanck. This is what County Counsel thinks is the concern of employees of the Humboldt County Public Defender's office.

Mr. Blanck was reacting to Mr. Griego saying that many of the questions in the depositons asked of Public Defender employees were irrelevant to the issue in the lawsuit. The issue being whether Marcus is qualified for the position of Public Defender.

Questions such as How did the letter get drafted? How did  it get to the press? How did it get to the Board of Supervisors?

That statement after another condescending statement by Mr. Blanck about the Public Defender's employees. Mr. Blanck said,  "Most of them have no idea" about why Marcus' hiring was bad for the office and clients.

Ms. Anne Nguyen from County Counsel's office was also present at today's court hearing.

Previous posts:

http://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2017/11/david-marcus-lawsuit-scheduled-to-be.html?m=1

http://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2017/11/david-marcus-lawsuit-scheduled-to-be.html?m=1

http://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2017/10/showdown-between-patrik-griego-vs.html?m=1

http://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2017/10/it-is-clear-why-humboldt-county-board.html?m=1

http://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2017/02/david-marcus-hired-as-public-defender.html?m=1

http://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2017/03/not-everyone-sees-issue-with-david.html?m=1

http://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2017/05/patrik-griego-v-humboldt-county-on.html?m=1

http://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2017/06/lawsuit-regarding-hiring-of-public.html?m=1