Time to post another update on Adam's continuing adventures! Unfortunately it's not a happy one for Adam. Just last Monday I posted this congratulatory note regarding the fifth birthday of the Court of Queens Bench of Alberta's decision
Meads v Meads;
viewtopic.php?f=48&t=11545
And today ACJ Rooke of Queen's Bench issued another vicious beatdown of a Freeman just trying to get his legal rights recognized;
Re Gauthier, 2017
ABQB 555
http://canlii.ca/t/h66cp
What's Adam been up to?
[1] This decision deals with two separate processes. The first is a challenge by Adam Christian Gauthier [“Gauthier”] to the operation of an order of this Court which prohibits the Court Clerks from filing documents which include certain motifs that are legally meaningless, but are also both highly stereotypic and characteristic of Organized Pseudolegal Commercial Arguments [“OPCA”], as defined in Meads v Meads, 2012 ABQB 571 (CanLII), 543 AR 215. Litigation based on OPCA concepts is frivolous, vexatious, and an abuse of court processes: Meads v Meads at paras 554-56, 585-85, 606. Many key OPCA concepts are so notoriously false that simply employing these concepts creates a presumption that a person is in court for abusive, improper, and ulterior purposes: Fiander v Mills, 2015 NLCA 31 (CanLII), 40, 368 Nfld & PEIR 80.
[2] The second part of this decision has this Court, on its own motion and authority, evaluate Gauthier’s history of litigation misconduct, and then place court access restrictions on him. While Gauthier was previously declared a vexatious litigant (Gauthier v Starr, 2016 ABQB 213 (CanLII), 86 CPC (7th) 348) he had not, until the present, been the subject of broad-based controls on his access to Alberta Courts. Gauthier’s continued attempts to misuse this Court’s processes warrants that additional step.
Paragraph 1 refers to a decision by ACJ Rooke to issue a draconian court order banning the filing of any document at Queen's Bench which has any of the hallmarks of being OPCA based. Some of these hallmarks are;
1. where a name is expressed in a “dash-colon” format,
2. where an individual marks a personal name with a copyright “©” or trademark “™” symbol,
3. that are marked by one or more ink fingerprints, or blood, or
4. which have postage stamps attached.
And then, to rub it in, the court gives the potential litigant this advice;
[6] The purpose of the Master Order is straight-forward. The Master Order is designed to intercept OPCA litigation at the earliest possible point so that persons attempting to file such are directed to Meads v Meads, given notice of the irregular and legally incorrect nature of OPCA schemes, and then have the opportunity to abandon pseudolegal concepts before those misconceptions lead to unnecessary, abusive, and futile litigation, and the expenditure of litigant and court resources.
There's no escaping
Meads if you deal with Queen's Bench. From what I'm told the order has been very effective in its intended purpose. Sovereign filings have dropped by something like 90%. Since these guys generally just downloaded masses of gibberish documents from the internet and have no clue about any actual law they are lost without them. The rejection of the documents almost inevitably ends whatever lawsuit they were intending to pursue.
Except for intrepid individuals like Adam.
B. Gauthier’s Attempts to File
[9] On July 18, 2017, Gauthier appeared, without notice, in Chambers before Ross J seeking a fiat to file certain documents. Gauthier explained what had led to that:
I had a little discussion with the ladies downstairs and they took a little exception because on a section of the paperwork which is a document from a previously filed, previous filing from 2014, the word independent sovereign individual is there, and they’re trying to suggest that that may make this paperwork fall into OPCA litigation.
[10] He further elaborated on why a fiat should be issued:
I don’t even believe they had legitimate grounds to block me, right. ... They pulled out the regulation that is by the policy, that’s been permitting, they actually also pulled out also the order where I was declared vexatious by Rooke. In that order it stops me from filing anything in respect of those three defendants from a previous case that has nothing to do with this whatsoever.
[11] After a preliminary review of Gauthier’s documents and their subject matter, Ross J declined to immediately issue a fiat, but stated she would engage in a closer review of these items, along with any court orders that related to Gauthier. Gauthier then continued to further explain his perspective:
Maybe I’ll just clarify so that you’re clear, you don’t think that I believe because I am a human being that is the reason that I am afforded the right to the enjoyment of property. That’s a common law right that existed long before the state. You guys are operating on the assumption that the statute is always in line with the Charter. I’d happily like to rebut that in this case ...
[14] The Master Order attached to her letter identifies at least two defects: Gauthier refers to himself as a “sovereign man”, and Gauthier uses duplicate names, with one name in all upper-case letters, the other in lower-case or mixed-case text.
But ACJ Rooke, always a softie where Adam is concerned, let him file anyhow;
[15] Gauthier, on July 19, 2017, responded by email with submissions concerning the July 18, 2017 documents, and asked that Ross J forward that email to me, which she did. Gauthier subsequently emailed me three additional identical emails on August 3, 8 and 10, 2017. Additional emails requesting a response were received from Gauthier on August 17 and September 11, 2017.
And found that Alberta was in big trouble financially;
[17] That review also indicated the July 18, 2017 documents advance a further OPCA scheme where Gauthier claims to be outside state authority because he has ‘opted out’ of government and court control. He is “a man of the common law ... with full legal capacity at all times”, and an “Independent Sovereign Individual”. He has “rescinded” “the legal person GAUTHIER, ADAM CHRISTIAN, the Canadian citizen, the member of society” via a document titled a “Claim of Right”.
[18] That document purports to bar “... the bringing of charges under any statute or Act against Adam C. Gauthier, Independent Sovereign Individual.” [emphasis in original]. Any government, law enforcement, or court actor who interferes with Gauthier must pay “FIFTY ounces of Silver PER MINUTE” [emphasis in original]. Gauthier will enforce these fines via a Notary Public, who will:
... secure payment of the aforementioned FEE SCHEDULE against any transgressors who by their actions or omissions harm my interests or me directly or by proxy in any way.
So Rooke panicked and blustered his way out;
[19] Stating the obvious, these claims are nonsense.
Of course there is one obvious flaw in Adam's plan. Since Rooke already pretty much disemboweled a notary for doing essentially the same thing that Adam's trying he might find himself having some difficulty finding a willing notary to enforce the fee schedule;
viewtopic.php?f=48&t=10814#p210503
Then we get to the real story why Adam is trying all this;
[20] The July 18, 2017 documents also disclose that Gauthier, on July 13, 2017, was driving a black 2001 Ford Focus owned by Justina Beth Smith of Edmonton. The vehicle had a fake licence plate attached which read “private non commercial use only”. This attracted the attention of the Edmonton Police Service. Gauthier was stopped, detained, and arrested after he refused to identify himself. Gauthier received three tickets under Traffic Safety Act, RSA 2000, c T-6 for:
• s 54(1)(a) - driving without insurance,
• s 94(2) - driving while unauthorized to do so, and
• a third charge which is not legible from the traffic ticket.
The vehicle was seized per Traffic Safety Act, s 173.
[21] Gauthier claimed his Charter rights have been breached in relation to the July 13, 2017 event. He claimed he is due damages and return of the Ford Focus because he is outside the law. This is, again, false.
So he's been 'traveling' again and Justina Beth Smith, whoever she is, lost her car. I'm guessing a now pissed-off girlfriend.
Then on to the hammer;
III. Prospective Control of Gauthier’s Abuse of Alberta Courts
[23] As stated in the introduction to this decision, the purpose of this decision is not simply to document why Gauthier’s OPCA documents were rejected, but to provide reasons for why this Court, on its own motion and under its inherent jurisdiction, is restricting Gauthier’s access to the Alberta courts. This is not, in fact, the first time Gauthier has engaged in litigation activities that abuse the Court’s processes. He has been repeatedly warned that his attempts to litigate on the basis of certain pseudolegal concepts will be unsuccessful and then result in negative consequences.
[24] In the face of this continuing abuse of process, it is now time to take steps to restrict Gauthier’s access to Alberta courts via what is commonly called a vexatious litigant order, so as to minimize his abuse of those institutions, and the persons he targets without a lawful basis.
Paragraphs 25 to 32 list the details of the documents Gauthier filed. This one was about as relevant as any of the others;
[30] Some items in the “List of Authorities” are entirely cryptic, such as “the lost ways. Survival book.” As best I can determine, this is a text written by a Claude Davis that, among other things, teaches how to manufacture pemmican, a traditional aboriginal preserved food made from meat, fat, and berries.
Paragraphs 33 to 43 explain why Gauthier thinks he should be exempt from Canada's law. You can read them yourself. There's nothing new, same old bullshit I've seen dozens of times in the past. In fact, in refuting most of them, Rooke didn't even have to explain why they were invalid. He just referenced prior Gauthier and other OPCA judgments, most discussed here on Quatloos, where these guys had already tried the same arguments and linked to the reasons they were rejected there. By paragraph 67 Gauthier was toast. Then came paragraph 68;
[68] It is a principle of law, and simply common sense, that a person is presumed to intend the natural consequences of their acts: Starr v Houlden, 1990 CanLII 112 (SCC), [1990] 1 SCR 1366, 68 DLR (4th) 641. Gauthier has been told he has advanced pseudolegal concepts that do not work, and will never work. He has been cautioned that continuing to use these spurious concepts may lead to negative consequences. He has, nonetheless, persisted. Since Gauthier will not listen to the Court’s warnings, it is time to control his litigation activities.
Then Rooke explained in detail why Adam has been a bad boy and deserved to be declared a vexatious litigant. Normally a court deems an individual a vexatious litigant if some party requests it. Since that hasn't happened in this case Rooke decided to take the initiative and do it himself!
[73] At the conclusion of Gauthier v Starr, I invited the Attorney Generals to apply to have Gauthier declared a vexatious litigant and have his court access restricted, but “if the Attorneys General do not choose to take that step then the Court may do so on its own motion.”: para 53. The Attorneys General of Alberta and Canada did not take that step. So, in light of Gauthier’s continued litigation misconduct, it is time for this Court to act on its own motion.
How wide a scope does ACJ Rooke want to extend it? As far as possible!
[77] First, Gauthier’s history establishes future abusive litigation is grimly predictable. He does not take “no” for an answer. His August 3/8/10, 2017 email is explicit: he intends to take procedurally abusive action against those he considers to be wrongdoers.
[78] His philosophy and animus to government means he plausibly will litigate against any government, law enforcement, or court actor who will or has crossed his path. In Crossroads-DMD Mortgage Investment Corporation v Gauthier he previously advanced OPCA concepts in an attempt to frustrate collection of mortgage debts due under contract. Given these facts I cannot identify a subset or category of potential litigation targets for Gauthier’s abusive court activities. He is a threat to every Canadian.
[79] Similarly, Gauthier’s misconduct spans everything from illegal defenses to debt collection, to attempts to attack government workers engaged in their duties, to illegal claims on property, to springing a convicted drug trafficker from prison. I see no way to predict a focus or restriction on Gauthier’s misuse of courts. In fact, the opposite is likely, since he is so globally offended by what he (incorrectly) identifies as oppression and conspiracy.
[80] These two conclusions also favour broad court access restriction.
[81] Last, Gauthier’s misconduct has occurred at all levels of court. He has made spurious appeals, such as occurred in the Crossroads-DMD Mortgage Investment Corporation v Gauthier, and as reported in R v d’Abadie, 2016 SKCA 72 (CanLII). I therefore restrict Gauthier’s access to all three levels of Alberta Courts, though in taking that step I am mindful of jurisprudence from the Alberta Court of Appeal in relation to the preconditions for court access restriction in that Court which is difficult to reconcile: Hok #2; Ewanchuk v Canada (Attorney General); 1985 Sawridge Trust v Alberta (Public Trustee), 2017 ABQB 548 (CanLII).
[82] Gauthier’s conduct in Court has been problematic. He is not forthright with judges, and has been uncooperative with the Court Clerks. He is argumentative and disruptive. He clandestinely attempted to record court proceedings, which he says is his right. In his Claim of Right he has said that he has the right to set up his own vigilante “de jure” court, and, like Allen Nelson Boisjoli in Re Boisjoli, Gauthier claimed he can use Notaries Public to enforce property claims on those he has ‘judged’. He has misused the habeas corpus procedure (R v Abadie, 2016 SKQB 101 (CanLII), aff’d 2016 SKCA 72 (CanLII)), and as a busybody interfering third party, no less. I adopt Justice Thomas’ conclusion in Ewanchuk v Canada (Attorney General), at paras 170-87, that abuse of habeas corpus is a special aggravating factor. If that appears in a history of vexatious litigation then stricter court access control is warranted.
[83] Given these facts, Gauthier’s history, and his clear animus to the persons he views as wrongdoers, I find that an additional and more unusual step is required to control his abuse of Alberta Courts. As in Re Boisjoli and Ewanchuk v Canada (Attorney General), I also order that Gauthier is prohibited from making any leave application to the Alberta Provincial Court, Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench, or Alberta Court of Appeal except where that filing is made by a member of the Law Society of Alberta. This will help screen Gauthier’s future court activities to minimize further abuse of the courts and other litigants.
In other words, every courtroom in Alberta. To effect this he made as sweeping an order as I've seen;
[84] I therefore order:
1. Adam Christian Gauthier is prohibited, under the inherent jurisdiction of the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench, from commencing, or attempting to commence, or continuing any appeal, action, application, or proceeding in the Alberta Court of Appeal, Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench, or the Provincial Court of Alberta, on his own behalf or on behalf of any other person or estate, without an order of the Chief Justice or Associate Chief Justice, or Chief Judge, of the Court in which the proceeding is conducted, or his or her designate.
2. The Chief Justice or Associate Chief Justice, or Chief Judge, or his or her designate, may, at any time, direct that notice of an application to commence or continue an appeal, action, application, or proceeding be given to any other person.
3. Adam Christian Gauthier must describe himself, in the application or document to which this Order applies as “Adam Christian Gauthier”, and not by using initials, an alternative name structure, or a pseudonym.
4. Any application for leave will only be accepted if Adam Christian Gauthier is represented by a member in good standing of the Law Society of Alberta.
5. Any application to commence or continue any appeal, action, application, or proceeding must be accompanied by an affidavit:
(i) attaching a copy of the Order arising from this Decision, restricting Adam Christian Gauthier’s access to the Alberta Court of Appeal, Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench, and Provincial Court of Alberta;
(ii) attaching a copy of the appeal, pleading, application, or process that Adam Christian Gauthier proposes to issue or file or continue;
(iii) deposing fully and completely to the facts and circumstances surrounding the proposed claim or proceeding, so as to demonstrate that the proceeding is not an abuse of process, and that there are reasonable grounds for it;
(iv) indicating whether Adam Christian Gauthier has ever sued some or all of the defendants or respondents previously in any jurisdiction or Court, and if so providing full particulars;
(v) undertaking that, if leave is granted, the authorized appeal, pleading, application or process, the Order granting leave to proceed, and the affidavit in support of the Order will promptly be served on the defendants or respondents; and
(vi) undertaking to diligently prosecute the proceeding.
6. Any application referenced herein shall be made in writing.
7. The Chief Justice or Associate Chief Justice, or Chief Judge, or his or her designate, may:
(i) give notice of the proposed claim or proceeding and the opportunity to make submissions on the proposed claim or proceeding, if they so choose, to:
a) the involved potential parties;
b) other relevant persons identified by the Court; and
c) the Attorney Generals of Alberta and Canada.
(ii) respond to the leave application in writing; and
(iii) hold the application in open Court where it shall be recorded.
8. Leave to commence or continue proceedings may be given on conditions, including the posting of security for costs.
9. An application that is dismissed may not be made again.
10. An application to vary or set aside this Order must be made on notice to any person as directed by the Court.
[85] This order takes effect immediately.
Given the overall tone of that judgment I don't think Adam is going to get his day in court anytime soon.
So where did the fifty ounces of silver per minute fee come from? I found a possible answer in the copy of Adam's fee schedule included as an appendix at the back of the judgment. It came from an American court decision;
Furthermore, I claim my FEE SCHEDULE for any unlawful transgressions by any peace officers, government principals, agents or justice system participants is FIFTY ounces of Silver PER MINUTE based upon the established precedent of $25,000.00 per 23 minutes of detention. This is in accordance with the court ruling in the matter of James C. TREZEVANT, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. CITY OF TAMPA, a municipal corporation, Hillsborough County Board of Criminal Justice, et al., Defendants-Appellants Nos. 83-3370, 83-3038, UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT 741 F.2d 336; 1984 U.S. App. LEXIS 18863.
What 'established precedent" is this? I checked out
Trezevant;
https://openjurist.org/741/f2d/336/trez ... -trezevant
and, shocking news, I'm beginning to suspect that Gauthier pays as little attention to the cases he cites in his own support as he does to his own past decisions. This is where the 23 minutes comes from;
Central booking has two entrances. In 1979, one of the entrances was used by bail bondsmen and lawyers to post bail bonds. Through a series of halls, this entrance leads to a glass window adjacent to the central booking desk. The only other entrance was used by policemen who were taking arrestees to be booked. This second entrance opened into a large room adjacent to the booking desk. Officer Eicholz escorted Mr. Trezevant to central booking and when they arrived he frisked Mr. Trezevant and took him through the door normally used by policemen with arrestees in custody. Officer Eicholz walked up to the central booking desk and presented the jailer on duty with Mr. Trezevant and with the citations that Mr. Trezevant had refused to sign. The jailer took Mr. Trezevant's valuables and his belt and shoes and placed Mr. Trezevant in a holding cell until he could be processed. Mr. Trezevant was in the holding cell for a total of twenty-three minutes.
The police had no real reason to arrest him, just a guy driving to work who ticked off a cop by demanding his entirely legal right to post a bond rather than sign a citation for some claimed minor traffic offense. He sued and won for illegal arrest and was awarded $25,000 but this was not attached in any specific way to the time he spent in jail. Just a jury award.
Ironically the police had a valid reason to arrest him but didn't know it. He didn't have his vehicle registration in the car, an arresting offense, but the cop didn't think to ask for it at the time. They realized it later but it was too late, they hadn't arrested him for that offense. Tampa tried some absolutely classic buck-passing to show that its police weren't at fault. The arresting cop took him to the jail but didn't actually process him for jail. So he's not responsible for the guy being illegally jailed, Trezevant was a free man when the cop passed him over to booking. The booking cop had a valid order from the arresting cop to jail Trezevant so he's not responsible for any illegal jailing either. So, according to Tampa, nobody was legally responsible for Trezevant being illegally jailed. Maybe he jailed himself! It's stuff like this that keeps me reading jurisprudence;
Applying this standard to the case at bar, the City of Tampa and HBCJ would have us find that there was no evidence of a policy that caused the deprivation of the plaintiff's rights. They would each have us look at their actions in this matter individually. The City of Tampa contends that Officer Eicholz properly escorted Mr. Trezevant to central booking and turned him over to HBCJ for processing. The City argues that once Officer Eicholz reached the booking desk and handed the citations to the deputy on duty, the City was absolved of all further responsibility. Even though Officer Eicholz was present and observed that Mr. Trezevant was being incarcerated, the City believes that Officer Eicholz had no responsibility to object to the incarceration.
The HBCJ, on the other hand, argues that it did nothing wrong because all that its personnel did was accept a prisoner from Officer Eicholz on citations that were marked for arrest.3 The HBCJ would have us hold that their deputy did not do anything wrong because he believed in good faith that Mr. Trezevant was under arrest and that the deputy had no obligation to make any inquiry of Officer Eicholz concerning Mr. Trezevant's status. We cannot agree with either the city or the HBCJ.
The $25,000 amount is the damages that Trezevant was awarded at trial. This is what the appeals court said about the $25,000;
There was evidence of Mr. Trezevant's back pain and the jailer's refusal to provide medical treatment and Mr. Trezevant is certainly entitled to compensation for the incarceration itself and for the mental anguish that he has suffered from the entire episode. This award does not "shock the court's conscience" nor is it "grossly excessive" or "contrary to right reason." Finally, there is no indication that the jury considered this amount to be punitive as opposed to compensatory.
While the jury awarded him $25,000 for the incident there is no evidence that they tied it to the amount of time he spent in jail. They apparently just figured it was a nice number.
I've seen
Trezevant cited elsewhere in Canadian claims of right and fee schedules. Which means;
1 - None of these nitwits have bothered to read it and realize that it's totally irrelevant. They just cut and pasted it from other sources. Or, if they realized it, they didn't care.
2 - They don't understand that American jurisprudence is of no precedential value in Canada.
One thing I wonder is why
Trezevant? It's just a inconsequential run of the mill illegal arrest case of absolutely no significance. It doesn't say anything that they claim it says and all it does is award some minor damages for a very short stay in jail. Nothing about fee schedules or cost per minute of jail time. But I've seen it cited numerous times on various sovereign gibberish relating to fee schedules. Of all of the thousands of illegal arrest cases to chose from why did somebody pick that one? The only possible thing I can think of is that 23 minutes and $25,000, while not exact, come close to $1,000 for every minute Trezevant spent in jail. Just coincidence and the award was not directly based on time anyhow. But some knucklehead reading the case must have thought that set up a de facto standard of some kind of $1,000 a minute and that it validated the use of a fee schedule.