Tag Archives: Charles F. Eick

City Of Los Angeles Files Motion To Dismiss Wayne Spindler’s July 2016 Crackpot Case On Grounds Of, Inter Alia, Plagiarism, On Very Same Day Magistrate Judge Eick Waves Magic Judge Wand, Changing It To Motion For Summary Judgement, Warns Spindler To Get With The Program Or Else His Case Is Outta Here

Federal Judge Josephine Staton will hear this case if it doesn’t get tossed out first.
Recall that last July, puppet-wielding crackpot Angeleno rabble-rouser-sans-rabble, Wayne Spindler, filed a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles alleging that the Council’s rules of decorum and the manner in which they’re enforced violated the first amendment. Pleadings are available here. Well, today the City of Los Angeles filed a motion to dimiss. This is hardly unexpected, of course, but it was pretty interesting to see that one of the reasons they gave for dismission was that Spindler had copied his complaint from fellow puppet-wielding crackpot Michael Hunt:

The Complaint as a whole alleges all claims and both causes of action against all parties, drawn substantially from another person’s complaint; such a pleading is a sham, vague and ambiguous particularly as to individually named Defendants, Matthew Johnson, Steve Soboroff, Charlie Beck, Mitchell Englander, Marqueece Harris-Dawson.

That the other complaint they’re talking about was Hunt’s can be seen in the request for judicial notice that the City filed along with its motion, which includes a copy of Hunt’s complaint. Of course, the City famously paid Hunt $215,000 over that complaint, so one supposes there’s good reason for choosing it to copy.

But perhaps the most interesting aspect of this motion to dismiss is that Charles F. Eick, the magistrate judge in the case, responded to the motion on the very the same day it was filed, first stating that he was going to decide on it without a hearing, and next stating that he was going to treat it as a motion for summary judgment rather than as a motion to dismiss. Furthermore, he had a series of exceedingly stern warnings for Wayne Spindler, making it seem as if the case is going to get tossed out summarily quite soon. This reading of matters is also borne out by the fact that Eick gave Spindler a mere 30 days to respond, which in federal court time is essentially yesterday. Here is the document filed by Eick, and after the break you can find excerpts.
Continue reading City Of Los Angeles Files Motion To Dismiss Wayne Spindler’s July 2016 Crackpot Case On Grounds Of, Inter Alia, Plagiarism, On Very Same Day Magistrate Judge Eick Waves Magic Judge Wand, Changing It To Motion For Summary Judgement, Warns Spindler To Get With The Program Or Else His Case Is Outta Here

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City of LA Needs More Time to Consider Proposed Settlement in Street Vending Lawsuit, so Parties Request Rescheduling of Conference

California-centralA request to reschedule the settlement conference in the Street Vendors v. City of LA and the Fashion District BID just hit PACER. A settlement conference was scheduled for tomorrow before magistrate judge Charles Eick, but:

The Defendant City of Los Angeles advised Plaintiffs’ counsel earlier today that the City needs additional time to consider the revised settlement proposal by the Plaintiffs.

The request states that the earliest possible time for the rescheduled conference would be July 18, 2016, but that the Fashion District BID’s lawyer hasn’t gotten back to everyone with confirmation that this date will suit. If you’ve been following the story, you may remember that July 18th is also the date that Judge Beverly Reid O’Connell shifted the defendants’ response deadline to, so something’s got to give.

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Street Vendors v. Fashion District BID et al. Settlement Conference Scheduled for June 22, 2016

California-centralJudge Beverly Reid O’Connell filed an order today in Santiago et al. v. Fashion District BID et al. setting a settlement conference to convene on Wednesday, June 22 in front of magistrate judge Charles Eick. These things are surely top secret, so there’s nothing to report or to attend, but I thought I’d drop the filing on you. It suggests that nothing much is going to happen in this case for a few weeks, anyway.

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Judge O’Connell Orders Extended Time for Defendants Answer in Street Vending Lawsuit

The Fashion District as a hall of mirrors: Outside Michael Levine's.
The Fashion District as a hall of mirrors: Outside Michael Levine’s.
You may recall that the parties to the street vending lawsuit met before magistrate judge Charles Eick last Thursday but failed to reach a settlement. Today documents were filed asking the judge to allow the defendants until April 11, 2016 to respond to the complaint and, in response ordering such an extension.
Continue reading Judge O’Connell Orders Extended Time for Defendants Answer in Street Vending Lawsuit

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Street Vending Lawsuit: No Settlement Reached Yesterday

A man humiliated, arrested, and chained to a bench by the BID Patrol in Hollywood for selling t-shirts on the street.
A man humiliated, arrested, and chained to a bench by the BID Patrol in Hollywood in 2009 for selling t-shirts on the street.
This is an announcement of the merest of non-news. Yesterday the parties to the Aureliano Santiago et al. v. City of L.A. et al. met before federal magistrate judge Charles F. Eick to discuss a settlement of the case. In the terse description of the minutes:

Case called. Counsel make their appearances. The Court hears discussion. Parties retire to chambers to proceed with the settlement conference.

Settlement is not reached.

Continue reading Street Vending Lawsuit: No Settlement Reached Yesterday

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