Partial Summary Judgement Granted

The judge ruled from the bench in yesterday's hearing, and granted the State's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment as to Count 5, in all respects.

He has ordered James Catledge to comply with the Consent Order to Cease and Desist and make the rescission payments of about $1.9 mil. He also awarded pre-judgment interest of over $400,000, and levied a penalty of $10,000 for failure to comply with the Cease and Desist order. The judge also awarded a money judgment to the State as a means to help the State collect the money. The judgment is for slightly over $2.4 mil.

Hearing results

A hearing was held on various motions of the parties, at 3:00 PM on October 6, 2010. The result is that James Catledge and the Impact defendants have been ordered to respond to the Motion for Partial Summary Judgment filed by the Department.

Defendants are to file their response by October 27, 2010. The Department has a week to reply to that response, and the hearing on the Motion for Partial Summary Judgment is set for 3:00 PM on November 10, 2010.

Summary Judgment

The State has filed a motion for partial summary judgment, as to Count 5 of the Verified Complalint. This motion seeks a judgment that James Catledge and Impact violated the Consent Order to Cease and Desist. The State is asking for an order that Catledge and Impact obey the terms of the Consent Order, and that they be ordered to make rescission payments.

This motion is currently set for hearing on October 6, 2010, at 3:00 PM, in the Ada County Courthouse.

A flurry of motions

Defendants John Thomson, Steve Cabezud and Barbara Nagel recently obtained new counsel, Boise attorney Thomas Banducci.

The Department filed a Motion to Strike Answers of Thomson, Cabezud and Nagel, and asked the court to enter default, based on the defendants' failure to comply with the court's order compelling discovery and its order to show cause. Banducci has filed an opposition to this motion.

Banducci has also filed a motion to set aside the court's order deeming the Department's Requests for Admission as admitted, and has attempted to respond to the court's order to show cause. The Department has filed briefing opposing these two efforts, and has filed a motion to strike from the record parts of what defendants filed.

The hearing on the various motions is set for Monday, August 2, 2010, at 11:00 AM, in the Ada County courthouse.

The Department is still waiting for the judge to sign the stipulated order on Catledge's Motion for Protective Order, and we are also waiting for the judge to sign the documents to take a default judgment against Derek Elliott.

Update: Just received the judgment and permanent injunction against Elliott, and the order for the Protective Order. The Department was awarded a judgment amount against Derek Elliott and Sun Village Juan Dolio Associates in the amount of $2,653,880.65.

Motion for protective order

During the May 24th hearing on the State's Motion to Compel and Catledge's Motion for Stay, counsel for Catledge verbally converted their Motion to Stay to a Motion for Protective Order. The judge directed counsel to prepare a draft protective order.

Catledge's counsel and I have been negotiating the terms of the order. I expect we will reach some agreement and will submit that to the judge for his review and approval.

The judge did not rule on the State's Motion to Compel, as that was essentially subsumed by the Motion for Protective Order. Counsel are also negotiating terms of future discovery.

Motion to compel, motion for stay

The Department has filed a motion to compel Mr. Catledge to respond to discovery filed by the Department in August, 2009. This motion is set for hearing on Monday, May 24, 2010, at 1:30 PM in Judge Wilper's courtroom.

Catledge and the Impact Defendants have filed an opposition to the State's motion, and have also filed a motion requesting a temporary stay of the State's case. The gist of Catledge's motion for a stay is that he is under investigation by the FBI and the US Attorney's Office in the Northern District of California, and he believes the State's action should be stayed until the criminal action (if any comes out of the investigation) is resolved.

This issue will also be heard on May 24th.

Barbara Nagel files for bankruptcy protection

Barbara Nagel has now filed for bankruptcy protection in California.

Another bankruptcy

The Department discovered today that Defendant John Thomson filed for bankruptcy on march 12, 2010, in Utah, case # 10-22990. A notice of the bankruptcy was filed with the District Court in Idaho in this action, and the Court entered a civil disposition regarding Thomson based on the stay.

The Department is considering its response to these developments.

Motion to withdraw - Monday, April 5, 2010, 2:30 PM.

At the hearing on the Department's motion for sanctions, and to vacate the order quashing the subpoena of Wells Fargo records, no party other than the Department showed up.

The Judge vacated his order quashing the subpoena. The State is now free to proceed with the production.

As a sanction for violating his order to provide discovery, the judge "deemed admitted" the Requests for Admission previously filed by the State. He also directed me to provide a proposed order giving defendants Thomson, Cabezud and Nagel 10 days to show cause why their answers should not be stricken. I have sent him the proposed order, and copied it to the other parties.

Counsel for Thomson, Cabezud and Nagel filed various motions on Friday, March 12. He has asserted the bankruptcy stay in an effort to avoid the actions against Cabezud. He has moved for a protective order to prevent the depositions of Thomson, Cabezud and Nagel that are currently set for the end of this month. He moved to withdraw as counsel for the three defendants. He also objected to the proposed order to show cause.

Counsel for defendants noticed the motion to withdraw for Monday, April 5, 2010, at 2:30 PM.

Catledge answer; motion to quash

James Catledge and the Impact defendants filed an Answer on February 25, 2010.

Counsel for Defendants Thomson, Cabezud and Nagel filed a petition to quash a subpoena issued by the Department to Wells Fargo Bank, seeking bank records related to James Catledge and various Impact and Impact-related entities. The judge granted that motion to quash. The Department has moved to vacate the order to quash so that it can obtain the records. That motion is also currently set for March 8th, along with the motion for sanctions.

Motion for Sanctions

The Department has filed a Motion for Sanctions against Defendants Thomson, Cabezud, and Nagel. The Court ordered that the Defendants provide discovery to the Department. Thomson and Cabezud did not respond at all, and therefor the Department believes they are in violation of the Court's Order to respond. Ms. Nagel did provide a substantial number of documents, but failed to otherwise respond to the discovery. As punishment for violating the Order, the Department is seeking sanctions.

The Hearing on the Motion for Sanctions is set for March 8th, 2010, at 2 PM.

The Department received notice this week that Defendant Cabezud has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in California. Case No. 10-10419 AJ 7.

David Brimley default judgment

When the Diaz and Nevin firms withdrew as counsel for James Catledge and David Brimley, they has a set time to obtain new counsel or otherwise appear in the action. Brimley never appeared, so the Department moved for entry of default against him. Having obtained default, the Department also was able to get a default judgment.

You can see a copy here.

Recent news stories

Here are links to a couple of recent articles about James Catledge.

Motion to compel

The State scheduled a Motion to Compel Discovery from Defendants Thomson, Nagel and Cabezud, which was heard on Friday, January 29. The Judge signed an order compelling those Defendants to produce the requested discovery no later than February 12, 2010.

There are no other hearings pending at this time.