First Attempt: Motion To Have Commissioner Schaller Remove Herself From This Case

Superior Court of Washington

County of Thurston

Family and Juvenile Court

In re: DAWN BAUER Petitioner, and NYLES BAUER Respondent.

No.  09 3 00087 6 MOTION TO RECUSE

 

Now comes the above named Respondent, Nyles Bauer and moves to recuse Commissioner Christine Schaller from the above entitled matter under 28 USCS Sec. 455, and Marshall v Jerrico Inc., 446 US 238, 242, 100 S.Ct. 1610, 64 L. Ed. 2d 182 (1980).
"The neutrality requirement helps to guarantee that life, liberty, or property will not be taken on the basis of an erroneous or distorted conception of the facts or the law." 
The above is applicable to this court by application of Article VI of the United States Constitution and Stone v Powell, 428 US 465, 483 n. 35, 96 S. Ct. 3037, 49 L. Ed. 2d 1067 (1976).
"State courts, like federal courts, have a constitutional obligation to safeguard personal liberties and to uphold federal law."
The United States Constitution guarantees an unbiased Judge who will always provide litigants with full protection of ALL RIGHTS.   Therefore, the Respondent respectfully demands said Commissioner recuse themselves in light of the evidence attached as Exhibit 1 detailing prior unethical and/or illegal conduct or conduct which gives the Respondent good reason to believe the above Judge cannot hear the above case in a fair and impartial manner.

Exhibit 1

That Commissioner Christine Schaller is, or has been, an Attorney to, or Associates with Jason, Margarette and Peg Cain of Cain and Atwell Domestic Violence Treatment Providers, and present and past members, or direct family members, of the Safeplace (advocacy agency for survivors of domestic violence) Board of Directors.
That Cain and Atwell Domestic Violence Providers did provide services to the petitioner Dawn Bauer that are relevant to this case.

That Safeplace did provide services to the Petitioner, including counseling, legal aid and referral, and a declaration attesting to the Petitioner’s competency which was filed and utilized in defending the Petitioner in this case.

That Safeplace did recommend, and assist in arranging for the services of the Petitioner’s current attorney Paul Battan.

That Safeplace has never returned my phone calls requesting assistance as a victim of Domestic Violence since the Petitioner has received services despite providing details of abuse by the petitioner Dawn Bauer.

That Paul Battan did provide free legal services to Dixie Richardson (see attached), an employee of Safeplace, who provided a written declaration which was used as evidence in the Petitioner’s court case.

Because of Commissioner Christine Schaller’s links to the Cain family, Cain and Atwell Domestic Violence Treatment Providers, Safeplace advocacy agency for survivors of domestic violence, and the petitioner’s attorney Paul Battan, all of whom have direct bearing on the outcome of this case, it gives the appearance of impropriety and brings into question whether these connections would create, in reasonable minds, a perception that the judge's ability to carry out judicial responsibilities with integrity, impartiality and competence is impaired.

(For clarity within the blog I should add that two former employees of SafePlace both stated that there is an understood policy that "If a man strikes a woman it's the man's fault. If a woman strikes a man, she was forced to do so and thus the man is also at fault" This coincides perfectly with Commissioner Schaller's rulings, and in light of her connections to SafePlace, should have recused herself from this case for the reasons stated in this motion. It is personally offensive to me that taxpayers pay for the bulk of their services despite the gender biases.)

That testimony presented by the Respondent, quoting Dawn Bauer, the petitioner in this case, was not allowed to be fully presented to this court because it was found “offensive” by Commissioner Christine Schaller and thus could not be stated in court as evidence of the Petitioner’s own words and actions, thus effectively eliminating pertinent evidence, and infringing on my rights to testify as a matter of record on my own behalf, and on that of my son’s. This is a substantial Deprivation of the Right of Due Process, as well as a Deprivation of my right to make an “offer of proof” for any appeals that may occur in the future.

According to Congress, and U.S. Supreme Court case law, a judge must bow out of hearing any case in which his or her impartiality might reasonably be questioned.  The test for appearance of impropriety is whether the conduct would create in reasonable minds a perception that the judge's ability to carry out judicial responsibilities with integrity, impartiality and competence is impaired.

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of Washington that the forgoing is true and correct. Dated June 22nd, 2009 in Olympia Washington

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Signature

Nyles Bauer