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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Tables turned: Judge Herman Marable faces civil contempt of court charge
Published: Friday, May 18, 2012, 7:00 PM
By Ron Fonger | RFONGER1@mlive.com
FLINT, MI -- The Flint Housing Commission wants District Judge Herman Marable held in contempt of court for his handling of a landlord-tenant dispute that lingered for months in his courtroom without a resolution.
Genesee Circuit Judge Joseph J. Farah is expected to consider the request, which Marable's attorney called a politically motivated attack on the judge, on Monday.
Herman Marable
The request for a civil contempt finding against Marable is connected to an Oct. 7 Flint District Court complaint against a tenant at a public housing complex owned by FHC.
The Housing Commission said in court filings that it was attempting to evict the man after he damaged another tenant's vehicle, kicked and pounded on a door in the complex and threatened another tenant.
After a trial was completed in early December, Marable adjourned the case several times earlier this year without issuing a decision.
Court records indicate Marable said he was adjourning the case because he was waiting for a separate criminal case against the same tenant to be resolved.
FHC went into circuit court, seeking an order forcing Marable to decide the case, and Richard Yuille, chief judge of all courts in Genesee County, ordered Marable to issue a decision in the case on April 9.
Marable dismissed the case on April 9 after FHC attorneys failed to appear for a hearing date, a court session the FHC said it never received notice of until it was over, prompting the request that Marable be held in contempt of court.
Yuille disqualified himself from deciding the contempt question, saying it should be decided by a judge who was not involved in the earlier order.
Yuille has already written in that order that Marable was taking too long to decide the landlord-tenant case.
"It is particularly significant to this court that the trial was completed Dec. 1, 2011, and a commitment was made by Judge Marable to decide the case Dec. 19 ...," Yuille wrote. "That commitment is more than three months overdue.
"As of March 31, 2012, the landlord-tenant case has been pending 174 days -- about two months over guidelines."
The Flint Journal could not reach an attorney for the Housing Commission Friday.
Philip J. Thomas, Marable's attorney, said the case against his client amounts to "election-year politics."
Marable has filed election documents to retain his judgeship in Flint District Court, as has incumbent William Crawford. Two other attorneys -- Jill Creech Bauer and Glenn Cotton -- are challenging for those seats.
"Certain landlords perceive Judge Marable is being biased (in favor) of tenants," Thomas said. "They have a perception that's not really true."
"Somebody leaked this story to the media ... We're going to litigate the matter in court," he said.
Civil contempt of court most often happens when someone fails to adhere to an order from the court, according to the Web site Findlaw.com.
Unlike criminal contempt sentences, which aim to punish the act of contempt, civil contempt sanctions aim to either restore the rights of the party who was wronged by the failure to satisfy the court's order, or move a case along, the Web site said. |
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Fri May 18, 2012 7:03 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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Judge Herman Marable will not be held in contempt of court, ordered to change ruling in case
Published: Monday, May 21, 2012, 3:00 PM
By Gary Ridley | gridley@mlive.com
FLINT, MI -- Flint District Judge Herman Marable will not be held in contempt of court but he must change his ruling on a contentious eviction case, a Genesee Circuit Judge ruled today.
The Flint Journal | File PhotoHerman Marable
A hearing was held today in front of Genesee Circuit Judge Joseph J. Farah to decide whether or not Marable would be forced to show cause why he should not be held in contempt of court on allegations that he violated a writ of superintending control from Genesee Circuit Judge Richard B. Yuille that ordered Marable to make a decision on an eviction case that had been in his court for months.
Yuille ordered that Marable had to make a decision on the case by 1 p.m. on April 9. However, records show that Marable did not dismiss the case until after the 1 p.m. deadline, Farah said.
The case revolved around the Flint Housing Commission's attempt to evict a tenant from one of its properties.
Proceedings against the tenant began in October 2011 and were eventually concluded in December, court records show. However, Marable failed to ever provide a decision on the case.
Bernhardt D. Christenson III, an attorney for the FHC, said the tenant has been living at the property rent-free for the past seven months.
On April 9, Marable ruled that the tenant did, in fact, violate his lease agreement. However, Marable dismissed the case against him because the FHC did not appear at the hearing and the tenant reported that a new rent calculation had been agreed upon.
"He attempted to comply with the order that had been entered by Judge Yuille," Marable's attorney Philip J. Thomas said.
Christenson, who accused Marable of being "openly biased against landlords," said his office never received the notice until after the hearing took place.
Marable also acted inappropriately, Christenson said, because he decided the case on information that was provided to him by the tenant after the case was heard in December.
"He's considering facts after the trial, which is improper," Christenson argued.
Farah questioned Marable's decision to consider the new information after the trial without taking the appropriate legal steps to add such information into the record.
"Where did Judge Marable get authority to do that?" Farah asked.
Farah also questioned Marable's "mysterious" intellectual exercises, in which the district court judge attempted to make a connection between the eviction case and an ongoing criminal case the tenant was charged in by declining to make a decision until the criminal case was resolved. The criminal case, Farah said, had no bearing on the eviction.
Since Marable did eventually dismiss the eviction case, Farah said he was not in contempt of court for violating Yuille's order.
If Marable would have had to face a contempt charge it would have been a rarity. Farah said he could not remember a contempt proceeding against a Genesee County judge.
However, the Circuit Court judge did say that Marable was incorrect in his ruling on the eviction case, saying that Marable was obligated to terminate the lease once the tenant was found to be in violation of the lease agreement.
Farah ordered that Marable reverse his decision and terminate the tenant's lease within five days of his order being finalized.
"There is no choice here," Farah said. "I'm taking it out of Judge Marable's hands."
Gary Ridley can be reached at 810-280-9516. You can also follow him on Twitter @GaryRidley or on Facebook. |
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Mon May 21, 2012 8:10 pm |
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