FUEREY SPEAKS
As Published On
→ The Out-Lawyer’s Blog: http://www.jaygaskill.com/blog1
And
The Policy Think Site: http://www.jaygaskill.com
All contents, unless otherwise indicated are
Copyright © 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 by Jay B. Gaskill
j@fuerylaw.com wrote:
Mr. Gaskill,
I am writing to ask permission to send copies of your blog (printouts) to Hans Reiser in jail.
I am sending the 2/13/08 blog already because I presume you will not be troubled by that, but if Mr. Reiser wishes further dates, I would like to have your permission to send them to him.
Anything you communicate to Mr. Reiser should be screened by his criminal trial attorney, Bill DuBois, in my opinion. I do not want even the appearance of advising a defendant in the middle of his trial!
The sequence of events not reported in the media were the following:
On Friday June 27th Mr. Reiser fired Mr. Dubois through his mother. That was the first contact I had with Mr. Reiser since his return to Santa Rita. I had been called repeatedly and due to other work was unable to visit before that date.
I was asked to take over for Mr. Dubois because Mr. Reiser terminated Mr. Dubois with no knowledge, input or enticement on my part.
In fact, I discussed the matter with Mr. Reiser at the jail that day and he was adamant about his decision. He asked me to bring in papers to sign substituting me in on a temporary basis until he could find a Public Defender. Mr. Reiser met with Mr. Dubois on Saturday June 28, 2008 and when I met Mr. Reiser on Sunday the 29th he still was adamant about changing attorneys and his goal was to get a public defender with 30 years experience and experience in appeals of capital offenses and murder trials. I literally told him that you were already retired.
The document that Mr. Reiser hand wrote appeared on the David Kravets' Wired blog. The source was Mr. Dubois' office. I know that because when Mr. Kravets reached me, to confirm Reiser's status and who was his attorney, I told him about the papers I had just filed that Tuesday July 1, 2008. I had received the documents signed by Reiser on Sunday, I faxed the 2 pages before 8 am Monday 6/30/08 to Mr. Dubois office and spoke with Mr. Dubois about the client file 3 times that day.
In the meantime Mr. Dubois filed the PC 1368 declaration, also on Monday 6/30/08. When I spoke to Mr. Kravets the afternoon of July 1, 2008 a short time after I filed the 3 page document with the court (A cover pleading sheet, the substitution form and the handwritten "attachment 1" in Reiser's own hand), Mr. Kravets stated that he already had the document and only put the second page on his web site. When I checked the web site, he had the hand written Reiser attachment but no substitution nor the Pleading cover sheet because he did not know the Pleading cover sheet existed.
On July 3rd I arrived at the jail after filing the "competence document" and was told that all visits were suspended by the attorney of record Dubois. He had been terminated, but not released by the Court.
I was prevented from seeing Mr. Reiser and still am.
I appeared in court on the 9th to request access to Mr. Reiser in the jail to find out what his actual intent is and was and to obtain judicial confirmation of my release or to prove that I did not abandon my client.
I accepted the job after Mr. Dubois was terminated, Mr. Reiser signed me into the case and I told Mr. Dubois that Mr. Reiser or the Judge would have to sign me out.
[Filed] documents stated that I resigned on July 1, 2008, which did not happen and could not happen under the Rules of Professional Responsibility because an attorney may not abandon a client and leave him with no attorney in circumstances such as these, I went to court to request access to Mr. Reiser as his civil attorney and to put on the record that I did not resign.
Those matters were accomplished and I left.
What Mr. Reiser wanted was a public defender with your experience. I told him that you were retired -- [CORRECTION by JBG: I am still an active member of the California Bar and an affiliate member of the bar in another state. Last I checked, my Martindale Hubble rating was A V. John Fuery was correct only in telling Hans Reiser that I would not be available for his case.] -- and that he should stick with Mr. Dubois because the timing was terrible, but Mr. Reiser does what he wants.
July 3, 2008 at 10:30pm a received a call from Reiser in jail. He informed me that he still wanted me as his "interim criminal" attorney and wanted me to visit. The jail was on scheduled lockdown on the 4th and the 5th. On the 5th at 7:12am I received my last call from Mr. Reiser prior to the hearing in court on 7/9/08.
Thus, I determined that I must make the record that I had not resigned as the re-substitution filing said. Further, I needed confirmation of my termination.
JJF
→ The Out-Lawyer’s Blog: http://www.jaygaskill.com/blog1
And
The Policy Think Site: http://www.jaygaskill.com
All contents, unless otherwise indicated are
Copyright © 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 by Jay B. Gaskill
Permission to publish, distribute or print all or part of this article (except for personal use) is needed. [Permission for use in group discussions is almost always routinely given.]
Please contact Jay B. Gaskill, attorney at law, via e mail at law@jaygaskill.com
Please contact Jay B. Gaskill, attorney at law, via e mail at law@jaygaskill.com
JOHN FUERY SPEAKS
Hans Reiser’s divorce attorney (John Fuery) who surfaced in court recently has just written me, asking to correct some misimpressions about why he suddenly appeared in the criminal case.
Mr. Fuery, a 1995 admittee to the state bar, JF is graduate of John F Kennedy University Law School, in Orinda, CA, and has a general practice. He first came to my attention when, during the trial, he emailed me with the information that he’d printed out a section of my blog commentary and shared it with Mr. Reiser.
This was the exchange:
j@fuerylaw.com wrote:
Mr. Gaskill,
I am writing to ask permission to send copies of your blog (printouts) to Hans Reiser in jail.
I am sending the 2/13/08 blog already because I presume you will not be troubled by that, but if Mr. Reiser wishes further dates, I would like to have your permission to send them to him.
[][][]
John,
Anything you communicate to Mr. Reiser should be screened by his criminal trial attorney, Bill DuBois, in my opinion. I do not want even the appearance of advising a defendant in the middle of his trial!
J
[][][]
Trial attorneys are like surgeons. [I should know.]
You don’t interrupt them in the middle of an operation and you really don’t want to end run them by communicating with their clients. My response to Mr. Fuery was restrained to say the least.
[][][]
Here, with appropriate redactions – and one correction of my own – is Mr. Fuery’s letter to me…
[][][]
I had at the time of the hearing last spoken to Mr. Reiser by phone at 7:12am on July 5, 2008.
The sequence of events not reported in the media were the following:
On Friday June 27th Mr. Reiser fired Mr. Dubois through his mother. That was the first contact I had with Mr. Reiser since his return to Santa Rita. I had been called repeatedly and due to other work was unable to visit before that date.
I was asked to take over for Mr. Dubois because Mr. Reiser terminated Mr. Dubois with no knowledge, input or enticement on my part.
In fact, I discussed the matter with Mr. Reiser at the jail that day and he was adamant about his decision. He asked me to bring in papers to sign substituting me in on a temporary basis until he could find a Public Defender. Mr. Reiser met with Mr. Dubois on Saturday June 28, 2008 and when I met Mr. Reiser on Sunday the 29th he still was adamant about changing attorneys and his goal was to get a public defender with 30 years experience and experience in appeals of capital offenses and murder trials. I literally told him that you were already retired.
The document that Mr. Reiser hand wrote appeared on the David Kravets' Wired blog. The source was Mr. Dubois' office. I know that because when Mr. Kravets reached me, to confirm Reiser's status and who was his attorney, I told him about the papers I had just filed that Tuesday July 1, 2008. I had received the documents signed by Reiser on Sunday, I faxed the 2 pages before 8 am Monday 6/30/08 to Mr. Dubois office and spoke with Mr. Dubois about the client file 3 times that day.
In the meantime Mr. Dubois filed the PC 1368 declaration, also on Monday 6/30/08. When I spoke to Mr. Kravets the afternoon of July 1, 2008 a short time after I filed the 3 page document with the court (A cover pleading sheet, the substitution form and the handwritten "attachment 1" in Reiser's own hand), Mr. Kravets stated that he already had the document and only put the second page on his web site. When I checked the web site, he had the hand written Reiser attachment but no substitution nor the Pleading cover sheet because he did not know the Pleading cover sheet existed.
On July 3rd I arrived at the jail after filing the "competence document" and was told that all visits were suspended by the attorney of record Dubois. He had been terminated, but not released by the Court.
I was prevented from seeing Mr. Reiser and still am.
I appeared in court on the 9th to request access to Mr. Reiser in the jail to find out what his actual intent is and was and to obtain judicial confirmation of my release or to prove that I did not abandon my client.
I accepted the job after Mr. Dubois was terminated, Mr. Reiser signed me into the case and I told Mr. Dubois that Mr. Reiser or the Judge would have to sign me out.
[Filed] documents stated that I resigned on July 1, 2008, which did not happen and could not happen under the Rules of Professional Responsibility because an attorney may not abandon a client and leave him with no attorney in circumstances such as these, I went to court to request access to Mr. Reiser as his civil attorney and to put on the record that I did not resign.
Those matters were accomplished and I left.
What Mr. Reiser wanted was a public defender with your experience. I told him that you were retired -- [CORRECTION by JBG: I am still an active member of the California Bar and an affiliate member of the bar in another state. Last I checked, my Martindale Hubble rating was A V. John Fuery was correct only in telling Hans Reiser that I would not be available for his case.] -- and that he should stick with Mr. Dubois because the timing was terrible, but Mr. Reiser does what he wants.
July 3, 2008 at 10:30pm a received a call from Reiser in jail. He informed me that he still wanted me as his "interim criminal" attorney and wanted me to visit. The jail was on scheduled lockdown on the 4th and the 5th. On the 5th at 7:12am I received my last call from Mr. Reiser prior to the hearing in court on 7/9/08.
Thus, I determined that I must make the record that I had not resigned as the re-substitution filing said. Further, I needed confirmation of my termination.
JJF
[][][]
Consider the record augmented and corrected. JBG
