George Rebane
My sources tell me that – “On December 9, 2010, Magistrate Kimberly Mueller ordered Nevada County to reimburse AtPac for fees incurred in the amount of $20,250 for failing to produce documents as required by law. Magistrate Mueller found that AtPac was diligent in its attempts to obtain the documents, but that Nevada County failed to produce the documents without justification. It is noteworthy to point out that Magistrate Mueller specialized in intellectual property prior to appointment as a federal magistrate.”
Readers may remember the law suit brought against County Clerk-Recorder Greg Diaz and Nevada County in the matter of some alleged illegitimate transfer of intellectual property (software) by Mr Diaz. The Union covered part of the story here.
When I called the county counsel’s office to confirm what should be a matter of public record, I was told that such issues would be referred to outside counsel that county has retained to handle this suit. After asking for the outside counsel’s contact information, I was directed to a Ms Caroline Mankey in the 424 area code.
When I called Ms Mankey, she confirmed that such an order had indeed been issued, and that it was a matter of public record. Nevertheless, she stated that she was not yet “at liberty to comment” further on the matter. She and her colleague, lead counsel Mr Nabil Abu-Assal, would have to confer with their client before anything further could be released. She asked that I call her back tomorrow for any additional information that might be available then. I will do that.
At this time I will not speculate why the county and Mr Diaz, both claiming innocence in the matter, did not release documents that could well torpedo the remainder of AtPac’s suit, and instead are prepared to reimburse the plaintiff from county coffers as a penalty of their non-cooperation.
(For the record, I was asked by both offices who I was and whom I represented. I responded that I was a private citizen representing no one but the audiences of my modest trumpets.)
[15dec2010 update] This morning I called Ms Mankey as she advised me yesterday. The receptionist dutifully took my name and the nature of my call. After a short delay I was informed that Ms Mankey “was not answering her phone.” I left my name and phone number with the request that she return my call. In the interval further corroboration of the above reported action by Magistrate Judge Kimberley Mueller arrived by email. It seems that Nevada County formally asked for “reconsideration of the Magistrate Judqe's November 78, 2010, Order (Docket No. 56) regarding requests for production of documents and admission.” This request was denied yesterday and the order to produce the required documents still stands (pdf of court order Download AtPac Order 2).
Perhaps all this is not newsworthy. Neither The Union nor Yubanet.com has yet to devote any real estate to its coverage. Nevertheless, working in the back rows of this vineyard, we await Ms Mankey’s call.
[21dec2010 update] Well, maybe it's newsworthy after all. For the record, I sent Jeff Ackerman an FYI on the original post. Did not get a response. But this morning's Union featured this story on its front page (here). Apparently both RR and The Union are being stonewalled by the county's attorneys on the matter; neither of us have yet to get a call back from Ms Mankey. Going on no more information than this, it sure is beginning to look like either fog or smoke coming out of the Rood Center.
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