Problem with a judge and anxiety

What is the name of your state?

I'm in Florida, and suing someone in small claims court, I have an anxiety disorder, among other diagnoses mental condititions, and I tried to make the court aware of my need to take a few minutes to relax. After much wrangling, they did agree to giving me 30 minutes to relax at the start of the trial, but then there were some disputes with procedural issues that caused me to get further upset before I had a chance to presnet my case, so I asked for another couple of minutes to relax, but the judge refused, so I said call 911. I don't really know what happened from there, but I think the judge said I failed to prosecute, when I merely needed a few minutes to call down. I did go to the hospital, but I knew they wouldn't be able to do much, it was just a time thing. I don't know why the judge wouldn't comply, I specifically informed the court in advance of my needs under the ADA. It's very upsetting.

I'm not sure what to do from here, but I'm looking to hire an attorney, because well, this is just such a mess I can't fairly represent myself.

What did written decision from the court state ?

When you come to court it is your responsibility to come prepared to prove your case. If that means having an attorney so be it. Some states don't even allow Attorney's in small claims.

The Judge gave you time. You should have done your best,and if something wasn't clear you could have ask the Judge to explain , then go on from there the best you could of .

It is very important to see your application and the orders for accommodation, along with the Flordia rules re ADA accommodaitons. The problem is that sometimes you request an accommodation but don't anticipate your actual needs or your accommodation is granted but the judge and you have a different understanding of what is granted. The accommodations should be discussed, ex parte between applicant and judge so there is no misunderstanding or if further information is needed. Often it is one thing to get the accommodations another for them to be implemented appropriately, with those such as needing more time or alternative forms of testimony, it is easier to accommodate a physical accommodation than the type you describe. It sounds like a continuance was in order rather than what happened, but it will depend on your application and orders. Call the ADA coordinator for the courts. Here is a sample complaint form, (Florida) this may be separate from other legal options such as setting aside the decision etc and you may need an attorney.
The ADA coordinator for the _____ Judicial Circuit is:

Name
Position Title
Street Address
City, Florida Zip
Telephone

V. Grievances
A complaint shall contain the following minimum information:

A. Name, address, and telephone number of the complainant on whose behalf the complaint is being made.
B. The court facility in which the violation is alleged to have occurred.
C. A complete statement of the grievance and the facts upon which it is based.
D. The desired remedy or solution requested.
E. The names of any witnesses who can provide supportive or relative information.

VI. Procedure for Grievances Relating to the _____ Judicial Circuit

A. Filing
1. Complaints must be filed with the ADA coordinator no later than one hundred eighty (180) days from the date of the alleged discrimination.
2. The filing deadline may be extended upon a show of good cause.

B. Assessment and Determination of Team Members
1. The ADA coordinator will determine which function(s) of the court is at issue: facilities, programs, services, benefits, or activities.
2. The ADA coordinator will notify the chief judge and the court administrator of the complaint.
3. A team consisting of at least three (3) people, one of which must be the ADA coordinator, shall address the complaint. Individual(s) who are charged in the complaint with alleged discriminatory conduct shall not be a member of the team.
4. The team will involve representatives from county government entities in the resolution of the complaint when the complaint involves a court facility, program, service, benefit, or activity that is under the authority or provided by county government.

C. Fact Finding
1. The team, or a member of the team, will review the complaint with the complainant.
2. The team, or a member of the team, will interview witnesses who can provide supportive or relative information and complete the fact finding.

D. Test of Legal Sufficiency
1. The team, or a member of the team, shall determine the legal sufficiency of the complaint. In making this determination the team shall consider a consultation with a member of Legal Affairs.

E. Action
1. If a complaint is legally deficient, the complaint shall immediately be brought to closure.
2. If a complaint is legally sufficient, the team will establish a course of action to resolve the complaint.
3. To the extent necessary, the court will make reasonable modifications to its programs, services, benefits, and activities to ensure future compliance with the ADA.
4. When appropriate, and to the extent necessary, the court will work with county government to make reasonable modifications to court facilities, programs, services, benefits, and activities that are under the authority or provided by county government to ensure future compliance with the ADA.
5. The court may invoke the course of action described in the regulations implementing the ADA (28 C.F.R. §35.164) when modifications would result in a fundamental alteration in the nature of a service, program, or activity or in undue financial and administrative burdens.

F. Closure, Notification, and Records Retention
1. The ADA coordinator shall communicate the results of the investigation and the chosen course of action to the complainant not later than thirty (30) working days from the date the complaint was filed.
2. In instances where a grievance against the _____ Judicial Circuit is filed via the ADA coordinator of the State Courts System, the ADA coordinator shall also communicate the results of the investigation and the chosen course of action to the ADA coordinator of the State Courts System not later than thirty (30) working days from the date the complaint was filed.
3. A record of the grievance shall be maintained for three (3) years; the record shall be located with the ADA coordinator.

Blonde Lebinese said:

What did written decision from the court state ?

When you come to court it is your responsibility to come prepared to prove your case. If that means having an attorney so be it. Some states don't even allow Attorney's in small claims.

The Judge gave you time. You should have done your best,and if something wasn't clear you could have ask the Judge to explain , then go on from there the best you could of .

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Well, I just got the order today and it said: "This cause is before the court for final hearing, the parties being presetn, the Court having complied with the plaintiff's requests under the ADA, and the Plaintiff indicating his willingness to proceed, the Plaintiff then failing to prosecute this action...blah blah blah, This cause shall stand dismissed without prejudice for lack of prosecution"

But that is not accurate, as I was trying to cover certain issues before proceeding but the Judge wouldn't let me, he just kept badgering me with one question, and I requested a short time to take a break, which the ADA Coordinator indicated in a letter was going to be allowed. But they also claimed it was a public hearing, and I was going to object to that as well, because it made me uncomfortable having certain people there, and ask the judge to recuse himself for reading a letter written by a court officer which hadn't been provided to me, I only found out about it through looking through the file myself. Plus I had a motion for discovery that hadn't yet been granted or denied.

Basically, I may have been ready to proceed if I had been allowed to get my body under control, but I wasn't given a chance to do so.

"Without prejudice" means you can file it again.

I suggest you get all your discovery issues in order before you go to court this time so it's one less surprise when your hearing comes up.


Oh. If you want to ensure you never win, go right ahead and make that motion to recuse the Judge for reading the file.

rmet4nzkx said:

It is very important to see your application and the orders for accommodation, along with the Flordia rules re ADA accommodaitons. The problem is that sometimes you request an accommodation but don't anticipate your actual needs or your accommodation is granted but the judge and you have a different understanding of what is granted. The accommodations should be discussed, ex parte between applicant and judge so there is no misunderstanding or if further information is needed. Often it is one thing to get the accommodations another for them to be implemented appropriately, with those such as needing more time or alternative forms of testimony, it is easier to accommodate a physical accommodation than the type you describe. It sounds like a continuance was in order rather than what happened, but it will depend on your application and orders.

Click to expand...

Thank you, I have called the ADA coordinator and asked for the forms, so it should be here soon. I'm not sure what I'll do about the actual order, but I will file a protest of some kind shortly.

I do think we mutually misunderstood the accomodations, and I was certainly aware of the difficulty in this kind of matter, plus the possiblity of needing changes in the process at the time. It is difficult for me to anticipate how things might go until I experienced them. I was worried that thing woudln't work out right, and I tried to make the court aware, but I guess I failed.

Anyway, thank you so much for your help. I probably will need a lawyer, not to present my case, but to represent me against the courts, at least in telling me what people I need to be talking to.

Well, I'm filing a motion for a new trial/hearing, and this is the language I've chosen:

Motion for new hearing

Having reviewed the court’s order for dismissal issued on August 3rd, I find that the grounds for it are inaccurate and dispute all of them.

Firstly, the court did not comply sufficiently with my requests under the Americans with Disabilities Act, failing to grant me a requested rest break as had been agreed to by the ADA Coordinator.

Secondly, I did not indicated a willingness to proceed with the case as there were several outstanding issues of dispute in the case:

A motion for discovery that was not ruled upon,
A continuing concern with judicial bias, and
The change from a private hearing to a public hearing which was actually detrimental to the court’s accommodating my disabilities.

The court, by refusing to grant me the time I needed to respond, therefore made it impossible for me to prosecute my case, and instead induced a level of stress that I was not able to manage due to the court’s denying me the requested rest break. Therefore, I did not fail of my own accord to prosecute the case, but was denied by the court a fair opportunity to do so.

***

How does that look? And yes, the page I've got it on does mention the case number, addresses and what not.

Small claims court judges usually run a pretty tight ship, your case is probably not much different, from a legal standpoint, than many of the dozens of cases that he's already heard so far that week. The judge usually has a pretty good idea of what needs to be brought out in order to make a decision.

but then there were some disputes with procedural issues that caused me to get further upset before I had a chance to presnet my case

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was trying to cover certain issues before proceeding but the Judge wouldn't let me, he just kept badgering me with one question, and I requested a short time to take a break

Click to expand...

ADA or no, he might have stopped the hearing right then as it was no longer moving forward and you were essentially unresponsive, as you would not answer his question. Do you really think that it would have been productive to allow you a break and continue the above? The judge probably didn't think so either.

Next time try following the court's lead and answer the questions as they're asked and you will get the chance to present the relevant details of your side.

I'm not unsympathetic to your disability, but even with it you must observe the proceedures and routine of the court.

Good luck and hopefully in your next try you'll have success.

wtd

You already have a heads up on what approach the defense is taking. This is good.

You already know the type of questions the judge is wanting to ask to resolve this case, this maybe helpful for you.

Take time to consider the answers to the questions that upset you and be prepared to answer them. Practice with someone if you need to.

Try to focus on the judge and your answers. Don't let the defense get to you. They are trying to defend themselves and can try to construe the facts, again don't let that get to you.

Focus on the fact that you were upset enough to follow through and file a case. Many people do not get that far.

Try to get through this without getting to upset. This may be a victory in that itself.

Remember that this won't be the end of the world if you are unable to present all the facts in your favor. But you can go in there and give it the best shot you can. Good luck!

Happy Trails said:

You already have a heads up on what approach the defense is taking. This is good.

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Um, no. We didn't get that far at all. We stopped at a point before I even began to say a word on the case, let alone the defense.

wtd said:

Small claims court judges usually run a pretty tight ship, your case is probably not much different, from a legal standpoint, than many of the dozens of cases that he's already heard so far that week. The judge usually has a pretty good idea of what needs to be brought out in order to make a decision.

ADA or no, he might have stopped the hearing right then as it was no longer moving forward and you were essentially unresponsive, as you would not answer his question. Do you really think that it would have been productive to allow you a break and continue the above? The judge probably didn't think so either.

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Um, I'm taking from the context of your post that you also think he was asking me something material about the case, but the question was "Are you ready to prosecute?" or something like that, and not directly related to the case. I was trying to him about my physical state and how it was affecting my mentality, some of which was due to a decision by the court to hold it in a public forum, which lead to certain people being there who shouldn't have. For my sake, because there was no way I could operate with their prescence, and I had been previously told that the hearing would be more private, with me, the defendant, and court officers present. Plus any witnesses. That change caused severe problems.

And whether or not the judge thought I would recover or not, we don't know whether or not I would have, and they did agree to allowing it in writing. Really, it wouldn't have cost that much time and effort to just take a few minutes to relax.

Fred:

Do I understand you correctly?

You have an anxiety disorder and requested a 30 minute delay prior to presenting your case. The judge graciously granted your request. After composing yourself, some disputes concerning procedural issues were raised. When the judge refused to grant you further time to settle down you freaked out and demanded someone call 911?

Unless you were experiencing cardiac arrhythmia or another life threatening situation, you had no business calling 911. Last time I checked monetary loss does not equate to life or death.

tami123 said:

Fred:

Do I understand you correctly?

You have an anxiety disorder and requested a 30 minute delay prior to presenting your case. The judge graciously granted your request. After composing yourself, some disputes concerning procedural issues were raised. When the judge refused to grant you further time to settle down you freaked out and demanded someone call 911?

Unless you were experiencing cardiac arrhythmia or another life threatening situation, you had no business calling 911. Last time I checked monetary loss does not equate to life or death.

Click to expand...

You clearly do not understand a "Panic" disorder.

Well, I've since filed the motion and now I'm waiting on the response. Not that I expect a positive one, so I've also filed grievances with the local court and the DOJ. Probably forward something to the state Supreme Court as well.

As for the rest....well, just the day after my case I saw in the newspaper about someone who died of a panic attack caused by a bear, so I think having 911 called was a reasonable and prudent step.

Almost forgot...the judge was not gracious at all about granting my request, I had to quote the ADA on him to get him to agree to the 30 minutes. The judge suggested I come early, but having done that at the initial mediation session, I knew that would bring no relief, so it was kind of...useless in terms of value to me.

Well, the judge has apparently denied my motion. No surprise there, and I can always refile, but I was hoping for at least a little integrity. Who knows, maybe the response will have an apology....nah.

Anybody got any suggestions on how I can handle the court better this time? More than likely I'll get a new judge, who will be just as unfamiliar with my needs as the current one, but maybe if i'm a little more thorough this time..