On November 21, while checking the docket, I discovered that Judge Williams had entered an order nearly one month earlier, which was about one month after the September 25 hearing. This order was never served, never emailed, never posted in my eCourts notifications, and never mailed to my address of record. I only learned of its existence because I manually checked the file to update my posts. This is now the second major order by this judge that was never served and there is also one that is still locked from public viewing.
The undisclosed order claims that the “motion to dismiss has yet to be considered,” even though the February 17 written order already denied the combined motion to strike and dismiss. The written order controls under Rule 58 once reduced to writing, signed, and entered. For the court to claim seven months later that the motion “was never ruled on” contradicts the record and the law. He also claims a hearing for reconsideration can be requested at any time if party agrees or the court calls for it, which also not the case. The only judge that can reconsider the motion is Judge Davidian, to which he can’t because it’s a conflict of interest. Mind you, the original order itself was issues outside judicial authority.
For Judge Williams to make that assumption he is admitting on record of ex parte communication and issuing an order based on information not on record. The order mirrors the defense’s off-record “brief” even though that document was never filed. Instead, attorney Yopp emailed it privately to the Trial Court Administrator with instructions for her to “send the brief to Judge Williams.” This email has no filing stamp, no docket entry, and a false certificate of service.
The only way the court could have relied on it was through ex parte communication, because nothing in the record provided any basis for the conclusion the judge adopted or he spoke with Judge Davidian which is also a violation of judicial canons and law.
Even more concerning, the order appears to have been drafted long after the briefing deadline, yet with no notice to me that the judge had ruled. For nearly a month, I continued preparing filings and legal strategy under the assumption that the judge simply had not acted. I had no reason to suspect an order existed, because no order was served. This is not a minor clerical oversight. This is a structural due process failure.
I was forced to brief a motion the court had no authority to revive.
I filed my reply because I had to preserve the record.
The defense never filed theirs.
They emailed it privately instead.
The court then issued an order adopting the very position found only in the unfiled email attachment.
The order was hidden for a month.
This is not how a court of law functions. It is exactly the type of behind-the-scenes conduct that destroys public trust in the judicial system and demonstrates why my federal claims are not theoretical