Monticello Live

Special Judge David Laser, of Jonesboro, a special judge appointed by Administrator of the Courts of the state, filled the judge’s seat, after all 5 local circuit judges recused, since Jim Hall had sued them all, last year.

Chris Burks represented Johnnie Bolin, who brought the case against Hall, claiming that Hall’s 2014 arrest for hot checks, in Conway, disqualified Hall on the principle of deception. “Infamous crimes” is described as “deceit or dishonesty.”

Judge Laser said that this applies to circuit court cases. Burks offered a description where a district court case, many years ago had been adjudicated, in this manner. He then added that statute 5-37-302 is a higher standard case than most hot check cases.

Burks pointed out that the time for Hall to dispute the details of the crime, was while the criminal case was being heard, before he accepted a guilty plea, in District Court.

Judge Laser stated that even if Hall was able to get his conviction sealed, that it would still be relevant to this case.

Cliff Gibson then added that this ruling will affect 2 elections.

At 10:30, Jim Hall began presentation of his case. He started by suggesting that the person he wrote the check to is likely deceased, and therefore unable to testify.

At 10:40, Hall described the history of the lawsuit against the 5 local judges, the alleged “hit” on him, and accused multiple entities of conspiring to harass him and keep his name off the ballot.

After Hall stated that he needed time to call witnesses, Burks stated that the only witness that needed to be called was Hall. He added that Hall should only be asked if he had pleaded guilty to the crime or not.

At 11:00, the court began a 15 minute break.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 13th, 2016 at 12:41 am and is filed under Site. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.