JUDGE, JURY AND EXECUTIONER
You would think that when the United
States Supreme Court rules unanimously in your favor that
the issue is resolved. I was soon to find out that even the Supreme Court can
only do so much when you're trying to fight City Hall. The book Anatomy of Hustle: Cable Comes to South Central L.A. details the
story.
In the spring of 1986 the United
States Supreme Court had ruled unanimously in the case of Preferred Communications,
Inc. vs the City of Los Angeles as we sought to break the cable television monopoly. The case was returned to the US District
Court for final resolution. US District Court judge Consuelo Marshall would
hold the case for six more years after the ruling and refused to allow a jury
trial as is customary in such proceedings.
We knew when the case was originally
filed, in 1983, with judge Marshall that she was good friends with Mayor Tom
Bradley and his good friend Johnnie Cochran. . She dismissed the case in less
than 45 days without allowing any evidence to be presented. I did not believe
that she would have the audacity to ignore the ruling and intention of the
United States Supreme Court.
Judge Marshall would establish a new
judicial system that would allow her to become judge, jury and executioner in
our case.. Her appointment by President Carter was done with the assistance and
support of Mayor Tom Bradley and the Los Angeles Democratic Party machine,
including Johnny Cochran.
They say that you can’t fight City
Hall. What they mean is that you can’t win when the game is rigged. While we
did not expect the politicians of City Hall to act in an independent or honest
manner we certainly had an expectation that the federal courts would at least
give us an impartial analysis of our case against the city of Los Angeles. That impartiality certainly did not occur in
the US District Court which is located two blocks from City Hall.
According to Wikipedia "the judge
is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in open court". We not
only did not receive a trial but all hearings were conducted secretly behind
closed doors in the judge's chambers to limit the exposure to the general
public.
By refusing to allow a jury trial the
judge effectively became the jury. Clearly it was not a jury of our peers nor
was the jury impartial. A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an
impartial verdict (a finding of fact on a question) submitted to them by a
court, or to set a penalty or judgment.
While we spent five years in the
discovery phase, in preparation for trial, the judge was fully aware that there
never would be a trial and that the discovery phase was nothing more than
another delaying tactic. Trial dates were set on several occasions but always
changed at the request of the City. The
delaying tactic would effectively eliminate all competition within the cable
television industry within the city of Los Angeles.
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