Judge Hotchkiss Hangs Up On Me In Hearing

I filed my motions and tried to appear for the hearing. I was hung up on by Judge Hotchkiss, whose excuse, according to his secretary Jo Jackson, was that I wouldn't be quiet and allow the proceedings to continue.

The Judge said, right off the bat, that he was not going to address my motion for his recusal and he was rejecting it, and he also said he wasn't going to appoint another PD. He didn't have any excuse for justifying why Paul Cassel has refused to even answer my emails for the last week and a half, to at least let me know whether or not I'm being represented by legal counsel. Jeanne Wellbaum, at least, sent an email stating she was withdrawing. Cassel left me to guess, as usual, until the day of trial.

After all the problems I've had with both of these PDs, which I have documentation for, the Judge claimed I would dismiss and report any and all PDs which is not true. Both Cassel and Wellbaum did things which were far below standards, and anyone who hears what happened, agrees with me. But the Judge denied me even the right to fair hearing, to bring up what things could be considered ineffective counsel.

So the Judge said he was proceeding, without my being represented by legal counsel. I told him I object and that I do NOT wish to represent myself pro se. I said this several times, for the record, that I did NOT waive my right to counsel, and did not wish to proceed pro se. The Judge said, "Then hire your own private attorney" and the next thing he did was hang up on me.

I called back, to show my own diligence at attempting to attend, and his assistant Jo Jackson was extremely rude to me. I asked why I was disconnected and she said the judge hung up on me. He gave no notice or reason for doing so, just did it. So I asked her to ask him what his reason was and she said he emailed back that it was because I wouldn't be quiet and allow the proceedings to continue.

He has everyone there for the state, on behalf of the state, with all his friends from Wenatchee, including medical professionals he knows, and his PD buddies, and he expected me to "attend" on my own, when I was making a diligent effort for almost 2 weeks to find out if I was going to be told I had to represent myself or Cassel was still doing it, whether I liked it or not (because this is what Judge Hotchkiss told me at another hearing, that I didn't HAVE a choice to be represented by Cassel or not). In one hearing Judge Hotchkiss tells me I have to be represented, even when I don't want to be, and had already fired Cassel, and after Hotchkiss got through the hearing, feeling satisfied I was "represented", he then said Cassel was released from my case. So I go for weeks thinking I'm not represented by Cassel, because Wellbaum was appointed instead, and when she dropped me, telling me she had a conflict of interest, and stalled my case by this delay, suddenly, in the very next hearing, I'm told Cassel has been representing me all along, alongside Wellbaum, even though he's not made any effort to contact me until last hearing. Judge Hotchkiss tells me I'm represented by Cassel, like it or not, and then changes his mind (with no notice to me) and says he's released from my case, and then changes his mind again, on the day of the hearing, and informs me "Oh, Cassel is back on your case and has always been."

This Judge is wishy washy and has not given me notice of any of his shifting orders. Neither has Cassel. And both of them are friends and used to work together as partners of their own law firm.

So I asked Jo Jackson if the Judge was going to let me go back in to attend the hearing and she said no. She told me the Judge said the hearing was going to proceed without me.

That's Wenatchee for you. Wenatchee doesn't like being called to task, and yet they do things like this all the time. And nobody holds them accountable, which is why it continues.

So basically, I have a hearing going against me, without my being able to defend myself at all, and without any representation. I was not even given an opportunity to prove how my former PDS WERE INEFFECTIVE and negligent. The judge just assumed I was wrong, and allowed no fair and full hearing to find out whether I was telling the truth and had such evidence.

Which shows prejudice and bias in and of itself. If the Judge doesn't allow me to be heard fully, and allow time for the evidence to be brought forth, he is making it clear he has already made his own opinions about me, and that he is too prejudiced against me to even allow me fair hearing. He voluntarily chooses to discriminate.

Jo Jackson was snide when she said the hearing was going to proceed without me and then she hung up on me, even though I wasn't saying anything, just listening to what she was telling me.

They want to be right, and will not allow anyone to say they are wrong.

Basically, if the Judge told me, in his parting words, that I could hire my own private attorney, he is then acknowledging I have the right to counsel. At the same time he admitted my right to counsel, he refused to allow time for me to find private counsel, and went ahead with an important fact finding hearing, WITHOUT ME.

This was not just Contested Sheltercare, it was Preliminary Fact Finding, and he refused to allow me representation for fact finding. Which is no small thing.

Because of this behavior and treatment, I know absolutely that I cannot stay in Washington. I need the assistance of the ADA and another state.