August 16, 2018.

“West Virginia may well be ground zero for judicial unseemliness, but any number of state courts around the country serve as cautionary reminders that courts and judges, be they elected or appointed, do not always adhere to the highest standards of ethics and integrity…Lloyd Karmeier, the winner of a $9.3 million campaign for the Illinois Supreme Court in 2004, was supported by $350,000 in direct contributions from employees, lawyers and others directly involved with the insurer State Farm and/or its litigation, and by an additional $1 million from larger groups of which State Farm was a member or to which it contributed. Almost immediately upon taking the bench, he cast the deciding vote ending proceedings on a $456 million claim against State Farm.” James Sample, West Virginia’s high court corruption just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to big money’s judicial influence

July 25, 2018.

This post focuses on attorney and judicial misconduct detailed in “The Saga of Huber vs. The American Accounting Association: Forensic Accounting and the Law,” Journal of Forensic & Investigative Accounting, 9(2), 870-879, July-December 2017, https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2970636.

Here you will see that the Executive Director of the American Accounting Association, Tracey Sutherland, committed perjury by swearing in an affidavit submitted to the court that I was never a member of the corporation even though the statute created members (805 ILCS 105/107.03(c). “If the corporation is to have no members, that fact shall be set forth in the articles of incorporation or the bylaws.”), the articles of incorporation created members (see Articles of Incorporation posted by the Corporation on the Commons at Issues of Governance and Legal Status dated 9/8/2002) and I paid dues, claiming that the money I paid in dues was deposited into the account of a dissolved corporation. 2002_Illinois_Corp._Application (1)

Here you will see that Donald Tracy, the attorney for the corporation of the firm Brown, Hay & Stephens, LLP, Springfield, Illinois, intentionally violated the Illinois Rule 3.3 of the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct of 2010 which mandates

“(a) A lawyer shall not knowingly:

(1) make a false statement of fact or law to a tribunal or fail to correct a false statement of material fact or law previously made to the tribunal by the lawyer;

or

(3) offer evidence that the lawyer knows to be false. If a lawyer, the lawyer’s client, or a witness called by the lawyer, has offered material evidence and the lawyer comes to know of its falsity, the lawyer shall take reasonable remedial measures, including, if necessary, disclosure to the tribunal;”

and intentionally violated rule 3.1 of the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct of 2010 which mandates, “A lawyer shall not…assert or controvert an issue [in a proceeding], unless there is a basis in law and fact for doing so that is not frivolous, which includes a good-faith argument for an extension, modification or reversal of existing law,” by telling the court that the corporation never had members even though the statute stated the corporation had members, and misrepresenting material facts to the court by telling the court that I was never a member and the corporation never had members even though the certificate of incorporation specifically created members.

The past and current officers and members of the Executive Committee and those that call themselves the Board of Directors are responsible for, and complicit in, the lies Tracey Sutherland told to the court under oath and in operating the corporation illegally. The names and terms of office of the past and current officers and members of the Executive Committee and those that call themselves the Board of Directors are given in the appendix to the paper and in the Directories menu at http://aaahq.org/About. Those in charge of the Corporation who instructed Tracey Sutherland to lie to the court in her 2013 affidavit, and instructed Donald Tracy to lie to the court, and therefore conspired to lie to the court, are those in office in 2013. Furthermore, every officer from 1996 to the present have conspired to lie to the IRS by claiming the Corporation was a 501(c)(3) corporation when it was not.

Consistent with the reputation of the Illinois judicial system, here you will see that Judge John Schmidt, who presided over the case, illegally dismissed the case after Donald Tracy and his law firm made substantial payments to Judge Schmidt’s political campaign based on Sutherland’s and Tracy’s misrepresentations to the court that I was not a member.

I filed a complaint against Judge Schmidt with the Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board for violating Illinois Code of Judicial Conduct Rule 63, Canon 3, Paragraph C, Section (1) (https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/jib/Pages/Code.aspx#qst5) “A judge shall disqualify himself or herself in a proceeding in which the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned, including but not limited to instances where (a) the judge has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party or a party’s lawyer….” for not recusing himself  but strangely Judge Schmidt died in December 2017 at the age of 52 before the investigation could be concluded and therefore no action was taken. Schmidt complaint

I also filed a complaint against Donald Tracy with the Illinois Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission. Even though Donald Tracy’s intentional misrepresentation of the law and facts was a clear violation of the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct of 2010, Peter L. Rotskoff (the person in charge of investigations) refused to investigate thereby confirming the corruption present within the Illinois bar and making him a participant in the corruption. Tracy complaint

I filed a petition to “Vacate the Judgment of Judge John Schmidt Dismissing This Case, to Remove Him from the Case, and to Transfer the Case to a Judge Who Has Not Received Contributions”  based on newly discovered information the Donald Tracy and his law firm had made political campaign payments to Judge Schmidt. The Chief Judge transferred the case out of the county before the Corporation even responded. Even though the Chief Judge transferred the case to a judge outside Sangamon County before the Corporation even had a chance to oppose the motion, Judge Cherry’s denied the motion based on “the newly discovered information proffered by the Petitioner as grounds for his relief from the Order dismissing his Amended Petition, which Petitioner claims he ‘discovered’ after the March 6, 2013 ruling, was ‘discoverable’ well in advance of Judge Schmidt’s order dismissing the Plaintiffs Amended Petition,” is another blow to the integrity of the Illinois judicial system. Judge Cherry did not deny there were significant political campaign contributions paid to Judge Schmidt by Donald Tracy and his law firm prior to Judge Schmidt’s granting the Corporation’s Motion to Dismiss. Rather, Judge Cherry created a duty for attorneys and parties to investigate judges and unequivocally warned all parties and lawyers appearing in Illinois courts that Illinois judges cannot be trusted  to be impartial. Judge Cherry has warned that Illinois judges can no longer be presumed to be independent which, in conjunction with Judge Schmidt’s violation of Rule 63, Canon 3, Paragraph C, Section (1), firmly reinforces the depth of a corrupt Illinois judicial system.

Judge Cherry further attempted to absolve Judge Schmidt’s violations of Rule 63, Canon 3, Paragraph C, Section (1) by twisting the facts, wrongfully stating that I “The Plaintiff’s claim of fraudulent filings by the Respondent with the Internal Revenue Service was first raised by Plaintiff in his original Complaint.” Judge Cherry twisted the facts because although the issue of fraudulent filings with the IRS was raised in the original petition, that had nothing to do with the issue of Donald Tracy’s fraudulent concealment of the political campaign contributions he had paid to Judge Schmidt.

It is irrefutable that Tracey Sutherland committed perjury and that Donald Tracy, as an officer of the court, lied to the court about facts and law. It is undeniable that those in charge of the Corporation, whether they call themselves the board of directors or executive committee, authorized Sutherland’s perjury and are therefore equally responsible for their lies to the court and conspired with Sutherland and Tracy to lie to the court.

Illinois lawyers be careful when dealing with Donald Tracy and his law firm. Illinois lawyers take heed to investigate every judge.

(c) 2018 Wm. Dennis Huber