6th District Justice Conrad Rushing Issues Sham Order for Divorce Lawyer Garrett Dailey: Indigent Pro Per Denied Right To Appeal

Justice Conrad Rushing

In an unsettling example of judge and attorney misconduct, indigent, self-represented Santa Clara County family court victim Catherine Raffa attempted to appeal a trial court order declaring her a vexatious litigant. Raffa successfully filed the appeal, # H043207, in the 6th District Court of Appeal in San Jose.

Earlier this year, the opposing attorney, veteran family law lawyer Garrett Dailey, filed a motion to dismiss the appeal because, he claimed, Raffa was a vexatious litigant and required to get permission "from the presiding justice permitting the appeal to proceed."

But a litigant appealing a vexatious litigant order issued by a trial court doesn't need permission to appeal the order. If they lose the appeal, thereafter they need permission from a presiding judge to file anything in any court. They don't need permission to appeal the initial VL order, according to both case law and statutory law, CCP § 904.1(a)(6).