Legal history is about to be made in the Commonwealth of Virginia, regardless the outcome. The decision will not only deal with the procedural issue of how an appeal must be filed, but also with the matter of how justice is dealt out in Stafford County. Party affiliation and personal association has everything to do with how Judge James Haley makes his decisions.
If the name sounds familiar it is because it is. He is the same notorious judge who issued the decision dismissing the $31 million lawsuit against the University of Virginia (UVA) Medical Center in the highly publicized baby switch case. Judge Haley ruled that Paula K. Johnson, whose baby was taken from her in the UVA hospital, failed to show she had suffered emotional distress. According to Bill Howell, Republican elected official, Judge Haley is his very close personal friend. It has been opined that Howell's political influence helped Haley get his job as Circuit Court Judge. Is there any surprise about the ruling if you know that both Howell and Haley are UVA alumni?
Here are the facts in this case: Gretchen I. Scalf has been found in contempt of court three times in the Stafford Juvenile & Domestic Relations Court; twice by Judge Ellis and once by Judge Bass. Judge Plummer in Circuit Court also admonished her for interference with her ex-husband's visitation with his children. She has a long, documented history of interfering with Mr. Scalf's visitation. She filed an appeal only on the last contempt citation, for which she was fined $500.
The ironic situation is that she appealed this decision by Judge Ellis before the final order was entered and never remedied the error by re-filing after the order was entered. Mr. Scalf filed a motion that her appeal be thrown out as it was not timely, in accordance with the Code of Virginia. Judge Haley, of the Stafford County Circuit Court, illegally ignored Virginia law and heard the appeal anyway.
Ms. Scalf switched her counsel after the contempt citation and was represented by Ted Butler, a well-known, young, up-and-coming Republican attorney. After some considerable discussion, Jay Vance, also an active Republican attorney, who had represented Mr. Scalf for almost two years by this time, was convinced to withdraw his representation of Mr. Scalf, so that Mr. Vance would not be sullied by what was about to happen.
Mr. Vance recommended that Mr. Scalf seek representation from Thom Savage, a staunch Stafford County Democrat attorney and pariah in Judge Haley's court. Mr. Scalf was not aware of the political machinations in Stafford County jurisprudence and went into the hearing fully expecting the Judge would be fair and neutral. What Mr. Savage, his new attorney, dared not vocalize, Mr. Scalf soon discovered.
In the process of hearing the motion to suppress the appeal, Judge Haley stated that, it is not practical for litigants to check with the Court every day to determine if orders had been entered by the Stafford Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. This flies in the face of Virginia Code, as well as both published and unpublished decisions of the Virginia Court of Appeals. Judge Haley apparently plays fast and loose with the laws when it suits him.in the infamous baby switch case he dismissed Ms. Johnson's lawsuit because the statute of limitations for filing the lawsuit had run out. Judge Haley does not have an immutable standard, but rather a standard based on affiliation.
As the appeal proceeded, Ms. Scalf put her daughter, Emily, on the stand to testify in Ms. Scalf's defense. Emily's testimony was not necessarily enlightening, however, Mr. Savage was illegally precluded from cross-examining Emily by Judge Haley. Haley let Ted Butler expose this minor child, Emily, to the trauma of entering into the legal fray between her parents and then declared that it would be too brutal for her to be subjected to the indignities of a cross-examination. Then without the benefit of a full set of the facts, Judge Haley took his decision and reversed the decision of the lower court.
It is this type of autocratic behavior displayed by Judge Haley that has incited Judge Bass to write decisions from the JDR court. It is assumed that Judge Bass was just sick and tired of being reversed and wanted to establish a line of reasoning on record in the event that Judge Haley should decide to activate his political apparatus for dispensing his brand of justice in Stafford County.
Mr. Scalf was furious about Judge Haley's obvious flouting of Virginia law in his court and asked Mr. Savage to assist him with an appeal. Mr. Savage told Mr. Scalf that he no longer handled appeals because he had had some bad experiences, which was later identified. Apparently, Judge Haley had refused to sign a statement of facts, which was necessary for the appeal to proceed. This was an important detail later in the case.
Mr. Scalf went about seeking an attorney to assist him with his appeal. His reasoning was that if he ever expected to get justice in Haley's court, he needed to send a message that these shenanigans would not be tolerated and that he would ensure that every word would be officially recorded in the future.
Mr. Scalf had also gone to Bill Howell, as mentioned previously, to solicit assistance in this miscarriage of so-called justice. Bill Howell told Mr. Scalf that Judge Haley was a classmate of his and was a close personal friend. Mr. Howell stated that if Mr. Scalf believed that he had been wronged to file an appeal, although he would be wasting his time because to the best of his knowledge Judge Haley had only been overturned once. A records' check of the Virginia Court of Appeals and Supreme Court shows that 9 of Judge Haley's decisions have recently been overturned, and none of them went on to the Supreme Court.
Mr. Scalf contacted Wesley Wornam, who considered taking his case. It should be noted that Mr. Wornam gathered all the information Mr. Scalf had then suddenly backed out of the case. It should also be noted that Mr. Wornam is also a prominent Republican and Stafford County attorney, who was then running for public office. We can only surmise that the Haley/Howell machine got to him and convinced him it would be contrary to his own interest to participate in the embarrassment of a senior party official.
It was all for the better, however, because Mr. Scalf retained Richard F. MacDowell, Jr., a well-respected Fairfax County attorney, who was more than willing to take on this case. It appears that Mr. MacDowell had had previous dealing with Judge Haley also, and was well aware of Judge Haley's tactics.
A series of events had made this case more interesting as the time draws near for the Court of Appeals to make their decision. Judge Haley was up to his old tricks and once again refused to sign a statement of facts arguing that he had not filed a final order. Mr. MacDowell understood that but just wanted to cover all his bases, in the event that the argument was that he should have filed on that order.
Mr. MacDowell therefore, also filed on the final order and had a court date to get it signed by Judge Haley. As luck would have it, Judge Haley could not be in court that day and Judge Ann Simpson signed the statement of facts. At this point, Judge Haley apparently went to work on his contacts in Richmond to get the appeal pulled. Mr. MacDowell fought a Motion to Show Cause, filed by the court, why Mr. Scalf's appeal of Judge Haley's decision should not be dismissed. Haley's cronies had opined that the first order, for which Judge Haley refused to admit a statement of facts, was the order that should be used for deadlines for filing responses, even though it was not a final order. Meanwhile, in response, Mr. MacDowell had argued Judge Haley was correct, the first order was not a FINAL order, so it could not be an order upon which an appeal could be filed.
How long will it take for the Commonwealth of Virginia to reign in this brand of renegade jurisprudence? It also highlights the need for limiting government, especially local governments. As Alexis de Tocqueville once observed about American democracy, the multiplicity of associations prevents abuses of the minorities, however, if any association becomes too powerful, it will become abusive. Stop the abuses of the republican political machinery in stafford county before someone else is hurt!
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