Opinion
2 JD 2022
11-08-2023
IN RE: Judge Marissa J. Brumbach Municipal Court Judge 1st Judicial District Philadelphia County
Colby L. Miller Deputy Chief Counsel Elizabeth B. Ruby Assistant Counsel
Colby L. Miller Deputy Chief Counsel
Elizabeth B. Ruby Assistant Counsel
ORDER
AND NOW, this ____day of November, 2023, upon consideration of the Judicial Conduct Board's Request for Extension of Time to Reply to Respondent's Pre-Trial Motions, it is hereby ORDERED that the request is granted and the Board's reply is now due on or before November 13, 2023.
JUDICIAL CONDUCT BOARD'S REQUEST FOR EXTENSION OF TIME TO REPLY TO RESPONDENT'S PRE-TRIAL MOTIONS
AND NOW, this 8th day of November, 2023, comes the Judicial Conduct Board of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (Board) by undersigned counsel and files this Request for Extension of Time to Reply to Respondent's Pre-Trial Motions.
1. A Pre-Trial Conference was held in the above-captioned matter on November 3, 2023.
2. At the conclusion of the Pre-Trial Conference Counsel for Respondent indicated that it would be filing Pre-Trial Motions.
3. In response to Counsel for Respondent's indication that it would be filing Pre-Trial Motions, this Honorable Court ordered the Board to respond to the Pre-Trial Motion on or before November 8, 2023.
4. At 2:08 p.m. on November 3, 2023, Respondent's counsel emailed four Pre-Trial Motions and a Memorandum of Law to this Honorable Court and by including Board Counsel in said email, provided the Pre-Trial Motions and Memorandum of Law to the Board.
5. The aforementioned motions and memorandum exceed ninety pages and include over 1,500 pages of exhibits as more fully described below:
a. 23 page Renewed Omnibus Motion with 656 pages of exhibits;
b. 36 page Memorandum of Law in Support of Renewed Omnibus Motion;
c. 12 page Motion in Limine with three issues and 457 pages of exhibits;
d. 13 page Motion in Limine with one issue and 448 pages of exhibits; and
e. 8 page Motion in Limine with one issue and 204 pages of exhibits.
6. The Board has made every effort to comply with the Court's order to respond on or before November 8, 2023; however, the quantity and length of the motions, exhibits and argument have made it difficult, if not impossible to comply with the scheduling order of this Honorable Court.
7. In addition to the quantity and length of the motions, exhibits and argument filed by Respondent, intervening events have hampered the Board's ability to comply with the scheduling order of this Honorable Court.
8. On November 7, 2023, at approximately 7:30 p.m. while preparing the Board's response to the Pre-Trial Motions, Board Counsel was confronted with intermittent outages of the electrical power and internet service in the Pennsylvania Judicial Center (PJC).
9. The Network Operations Center (NOC) for the PJC was notified and confirmed "an issue with the internet at the PJC." (Exhibit A.)
10. Shortly thereafter NOC reached out to Board Counsel asking, "Do you know if the building lost power" to which Board Counsel replied in the affirmative, explaining that Pennsylvania Capital Police had been notified due to a strange smell in the parking garage below the PJC and that the police had instructed Board Counsel to exit the building. (Exhibit B.)
11. Due to the power outage and interruption of internet service Board Counsel lost approximately six pages of written argument and was unable to access the necessary information in order to continue preparing the Board's response to the Pre-Trial Motions that evening.
12. The Board anticipates that it will be able to submit its reply to Respondent's Pre-Trial Motions on or before Monday, November 13, 2023.
WHEREFORE, the Board, by and through Board Counsel respectfully requests that this Honorable Court grant the Board's Request for Extension of Time to Reply to Respondent's Pre-Trial Motions and allow its reply on or before November 13, 2023.
Respectfully submitted
Colby J. M chief Counsel
Elizabeth B. Ruby Assistant Counsel
From: AOPC Network Operations Center
Sent: Tuesday, November 7, 2023 7:40 PM
To: Melissa L. Norton; AOPC Network Operations Center
Subject: RE: Internet outage in PJC?
Good Afternoon, There appears to be an issue with the internet at the PJC and we are currently looking into it. Thank You
Jordan Rudacille Network Operations Center
Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts
(717)795-3662 noc@pacourts.us
From: Melissa L. Norton <Melissa.Norton@jcbpa.org>
Sent: Tuesday, November 7, 2023 7:33 PM
To: AOPC Network Operations Center <noc@pacourts.us>
Subject: Internet outage in PJC?
A member of my staff is working late in the PJC. She just sent me a text telling me the Internet keeps going off and on. She just lost some of her work and has no Internet connection. Do you know what's happening?
Get Outlook for iOS BOARD'S
(EXHIBIT A Omitted)
VERIFICATION
I, Colby J. Miller, Deputy Chief Counsel to the Judicial Conduct Board, and Elizabeth B. Ruby, Assistant Counsel to the Judicial Conduct Board, verify that the statements made in the Judicial Conduct Board's Request for Extension of Time to Reply to Respondent's Pre-Trial Motions are made subject to the penalties of 18 Pa. Cons. Stat. Ann. § 4904, relating to unsworn falsification to authorities.
PROOF OF SERVICE
In compliance with Rule 122 of the Court of Judicial Discipline Rules of Procedure, a copy of the Judicial Conduct Board's Request for Extension of Time to Reply to Respondent's Pre-Trial Motions was sent by Email to Matthew H. Haverstick, Esquire as follows:
CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANCE
I certify that this filing complies with the provisions of the Case Records Public Access Policy of the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania that require filing confidential information and documents differently than non-confidential information and documents.