Commissioner Joseph blinks

Commissioner Irwin H. Joseph has spent the last three months trying to build a case of contempt of court against me for this blog. He wrote letters, threatened me with ten days in jail, and bragged that no facts were in dispute. Today was the trial.

I disputed the facts. I denied that I violated any law or court order. Cmr. Joseph seemed completely bewildered that I was not willing to admit my guilt. He told me that I had a constitutional right to remain silent, but forced me to be sworn in, and repeatedly asked me questions in violation of those Fifth Amendment rights.

Eventually Julie Travers had to take the witness stand to present some actual evidence, and I insisted on the right to cross-examine her. I asked her some direct questions about her evidence, but Cmr. Joseph kept interrupting and claiming that her testimony was irrelevant if I would only confess.

For each of my questions, he launched into an argument about the question being irrelevant. I think she only answered 6 or 8 questions. The rest of the hour was spent arguing.

I kept telling Cmr. Joseph that I would be happy to testify, and tell my whole story, but I need to first find out what the charges against me are. He said that I have no such right.

In the end, Cmr. Joseph had no firm evidence of me doing anything contrary to his orders, and he claimed that the dispute boiling down to a legal disagreement about whether a parent can publish the evidence against him without violating section 827 of the Welfare Code. I vehemently disagreed, but he said that he would research the matter and rule within a week.

So I am still a free man. I guess he could still rule against me, but he has no evidence and it is hard to see how he can blame me for not understanding sect. 827 when he does not understand it himself.

I am really surprised that he did not rule against me anyway today. It is true that I gave legal rebuttals to all his arguments, but I've done that before, and that only seemed to increase his threats to put me in jail. I think that he has now lost his nerve. I will not be going to jail.