Orange County Superior Court Judge Randall Wilkinson today denied Plaintiff Jim Gilchrist’s request for a writ of possession to regain control of Minuteman Project, Inc., and scheduled another hearing on April 25 as to whether or not the Court should appoint a receiver for Minuteman assets pending trial. Gilchrist’s application for a preliminary injunction against Defendants Barbara Coe, Deborah Courtenay, and Marvin Stewart was also denied in large part — the only order issued being that the Defendants can’t use Gilchrist’s signature in fundraising or spend donations to Minuteman Project, Inc, in their possession pending trial. But Gilchrist’s request to enjoin the Defendants from claiming they are members of the Board of Directors of Minuteman Project, Inc., was denied. Gilchrist was also ordered to post a $15,000 bond.
The Defendants feel they have won a victory in the case, and welcome court-ordered receivership of Minuteman Project, Inc. assets pending a trial on the merits.
March 22nd, 2007 at 12:00 am
Can you elaborate on the purpose/reason behind the $15,000 bond?
March 23rd, 2007 at 12:00 am
Jim:
Congratulations on your hard-earned success !
March 23rd, 2007 at 12:00 am
Joseph:
Posting a bond is required mostly as a technicality for the granting of “interim” relief, and it is part of the Code of Civil Procedure. It has its origins in old English common law, and the idea is that if the Plaintiff loses the case at trial, he will forfeit the bond. So the idea is more or less to make sure that a person seeking “interim” relief such as Gilchrist “puts his money where his mouth is.” In this case, Gilchrist did not get much interim relief — and he lost on the most important points: the writ of possession, and a restraining order on Defendants from calling themselves Directors of Minuteman. Nevertheless, to the limited extent the preliminary injunction was granted, the Court still wants him to post a $15,000 bond.
A few years ago, I successfully won a preliminary and permanent injunction to enjoin a state law (Proposition 34) against my “slate mail” clients. Judge Karlton of the Federal Court in Sacramento required that I post a $1,000 bond for my clients after I won the order. I went to a bonding company and paid just $100 for them to underwrite the bond, and that was that. Gilchrist will probably do the same thing, although I can’t speculate on what a $15,000 bond would cost, or if a local insurance company would even underwrite one in this case.
March 23rd, 2007 at 12:00 am
Jim:
Congratulations.
If Gilchrest doesn’t post the bond within a reasonable time, does that mean that the Court’s order is lifted and the board CAN spend the organization’s money? I hope so, for your sake. Otherwise how will you get paid?
March 23rd, 2007 at 12:00 am
Dana:
I’m sure Gilchrist will post his bond timely. And in the tradition of the great advocate, Perry Mason, we never discuss our fees on television or the internet.