When news broke yesterday that a D.C. Police Detective had come forward to dispute former Chief Charles Ramsey's assertion that he did not order the arrests in Pershing Park in 2002, I immediately thought of Kathy Patterson.
Few fought harder to get at the truth of what led to Pershing Park than the former D.C. councilmember. [...]
An affidavit filed today in U.S. District Court raises questions as to whether former D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey may have committed perjury in his sworn testimony about the Pershing Park fiasco. Ramsey had repeatedly stated in depositions that he had not ordered the mass arrest of approximately 400 people during the Sept. 27, [...]
Last Friday, Pershing Park case lawyers had arranged to depose Detective Paul Hustler. All was going according to routine. Hustler showed up. The OAG lawyers showed up. The day before, he had been prepped by the OAG's team. But just as the deposition was about to start, Hustler made an unusual request.
Hustler wanted his own [...]
In late July, U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan called for an investigation into the discovery abuses in the Pershing Park case. Sullivan suggested that the D.C. Council should get to the bottom of how evidence went missing or got botched.
Councilmember Mary Cheh called for AG Peter Nickles to resign. Councilmember Phil Mendelson, who heads [...]
AG Peter Nickles had promised to settle the Pershing Park cases by Thanksgiving. If he wants to make good on that promise, he might start with picking up the phone, and meeting with the plaintiffs lawyers. According to one lawyer, Jonathan Turley, the attorney general has yet to even call him.
While Nickles may not be [...]
The Office of the Attorney General continues to play stall ball in the Pershing Park cases. Recently, District lawyers lost their bid to take back documents previously turned over to plaintiffs attorneys. The fight over the never-ending discovery now centers around the District's filing of a motion for a protective order banning vasts amounts of [...]
In the past few weeks, the Office of the Attorney General has waged a curious battle against plaintiffs in the Pershing Park case.
Attorney General Peter Nickles & Co. fought over whether plaintiffs could depose a government witness. They lost that battle and the deposition provided devastating evidence of more discovery abuses.
The losing fight over the [...]
First the Pershing Park case. The Office of the Attorney General may have had serious trouble with another high profile lawsuit—the Georgetown Library fire case. In April 2007, a three-alarm fire gutted Georgetown's public library. Two hundred firefighters along with roughly two dozen trucks battled the blaze. That huge effort may not have translated into [...]
After some last minute stonewalling by the Office of the Attorney General, Pershing Park plaintiffs were finally allowed to depose a District employee concerning the vast discovery abuses in this mess of a case. Backed up by a court order, the employee was deposed on October 23. According to a filing submitted in U.S. District [...]
At this point in the whole Pershing Park court mess, AG Peter Nickles is supposed to just play nice and hope the two big cases settle. Nickles offered up his problematic mea culpa and promised that settlements would be forthcoming. It appears his sweet talk has an expiration date.
Last week, plaintiffs lawyers in the Chang [...]
Seven years on and still more government documents being "found" and turned over to plaintiffs attorneys in the messy Pershing Park case. Today, AG Peter Nickles filed a notice that roughly 2,000 pages of documents had been produced for the plaintiffs. This is not the first of such notices nor will it be the last.
Nickles [...]
I know the fight between AG Peter Nickles and Councilmember Mary Cheh is getting a lot of play on City Desk. LL noted it. And our Weekend in Reviewer picked it up as well. I think it needs a third look. WaPo wrote on Sunday:
“It’s almost becoming a lawless administration,” said council member Mary M. [...]
The back-and-forth continues over the Pershing Park mess in U.S. District Court. Today, AG Peter Nickles filed his response to former Councilmember Kathy Patterson's letter to Judge Emmet Sullivan on Aug. 20.
In his barely three-page response, Nickles provides a nearly substance-free denial of Patterson's claims that his sworn statement had contained inaccuracies. Last week, Nickles [...]
Plaintiffs lawyers in the second Pershing Park case have filed their response to AG Peter Nickles' sworn statement submitted to U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan on August 12.
Nickles' statement in which he was ordered to explain numerous discovery problems including a missing police document and faulty radio dispatches has come under heavy fire from [...]
Yesterday, plaintiffs lawyers in one of the controversial Pershing Park cases filed a scathing response to AG Peter Nickles' sworn statement submitted in U.S. District Court on August 12. In their response, the lawyers take a moment to defend one D.C. cop—Sgt. Douglas Jones.
What makes Jones stand out? Jones had testified in a deposition that [...]
