Our true chairman of the Orange County Republican Executive Committee, Deon Long, continues his courageous battle against cheater Lew Oliver who clings to power by a thread;-)
Today I tramped down to the belly of the beast; namely the Orange County Courthouse in downtown Orlando, Fl. It's an impressive structure around 30 story's high, with beautiful beige exterior.
Inside it's got the expected high security check in, and yours truly, your faithful Meetup leader and part-time reporter decided to go to the first day of hearings.
After riding the elevator up to the 19th floor and not seeing any activity (amazing that they can build such a colossus, yet have whole floors where not a soul can be found), I called Deon's secretary and was told that the meeting was in room 1101.011 (I'm not making this up, that's the actual room number).
Another ride on the supersonic elevator finally brought me to a suit-wearing individual of the legal profession. I meekly asked, "Sir, do you know where room 1101.011 would be?" He eyed me wearily, surmising from my casual attire that I was a nobody, and sniffed, "That will be on the 11th floor."
I walked down the hall and saw Chairman Lew Oliver, Vice-Chair Gary Phister, Office Manager Jonathan Swift, RPOF Field Director Heidi, PLUS three or four other lawyers hogging up all the chairs outside the meeting room.
Wow, incredible that our county Party has money to pay salaries for all these people to sit around in courthouses. Remember that Lew calls all the shots, so why they were needed is a mystery.
Once inside with the judge seated, he asked, "Who would like to go first?" Then he answered his own question with, "Let's have the plaintiff go first." No one argued.
Now I've watched enough TV legal dramas to know that 'plaintiff' meant us, so Deon takes a deep breath and before he can get five words out of his mouth... OCREC's lawyer interrupts with the usual 'Objection your Honor, Plaintiff doesn't have a case since he hasn't filed a complaint."
Readers, please understand that court cases are won and lost on technicalities. And OCREC has some of the best lawyers money can buy.
The lead lawyer was Dan Gerber, of the high powered firm Rumberger, Kirk & Caldwell. These guys are the best at what they do. They give no quarter and expect none. I saw two large boxes of documents wheeled in and unceremoniously dumped on the floor. It hinted, "We'll keep you so tied up with paperwork, you'll wish you never took this case."
But Deon was undaunted. And so was the judge. Lew Oliver continued twitching his foot as if he had epilepsy.
This was because Deon had filed an injunction against OCREC for not letting some Precinct Committee Men and Women vote. His reasoning was that since a Miami/Dade judge had just heard the exact same case and sided with the plaintiff's (that's our side), this case need only show that we were suffering the same treatment.
Solution? Deon had to file a 'complaint' in other words he had to show that these voters were hurt in some way and therefore a suit was merited. This is really no big deal and Deon said he could have this done by the end of the day.
So to make a short story only somewhat longer the judge then went about trying to find a suitable time for us to all meet again to hear the case.
Gerber said he was kind of busy so we'd all have to wait for his schedule to clear. Deon countered that he was seeking 'Emergency Injunctive Relief.' I fumbled in my pocket for some Tums antacid tablets but found none.
"Your Honor, we have an important meeting tomorrow (Thursday), that I want these 17 people to be able to vote at," exclaimed Deon.
So the judge looks at the defense attorney Gerber and says, "He's right you know. Why can't you come back tomorrow for this case?" This is right because THEY were the ones trying to prolong the case.
The judge then asked what time this important meeting was. Gerber sheepishly said, "Well actually I have to be in the parking lot for a football game." The room erupted in laughter as everyone knew that the BCS Bowl Game top ranked Florida Gators and Oklahoma Sooners was what he was talking about.
After discussion it was finally agreed that Deon would submit his 'complaint' and Gerber would compromise his celebratory activities.
I'll be posting tomorrow's proceedings so stay tuned.
Key to that will be our Special Emergency meeting Thursday Jan. 8 at 7pm at the Winter Park Civic Center 1050 W Morse Blvd, Winter Park, FL 32789 This is primarily a meeting for VOTING members of OCREC. In other words if you were eligible to go the December 8th meeting you should attend this one. Additionally once the judge rules tomorrow on illegally barred Precinct Committee members they should attend as well.
Nick Egoroff
Orlando Campaign For Liberty Organizer
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