Rated
Oct 01
•
1 review
•
law
• 911blogger.com
From the page: "The Cityâ€s previously assumed deadline of September 30â€"spurred by the printing deadline for military absentee ballotsâ€"was brushed away by Judge Lehner as he suggested the printing of absentee ballots would likely not be ordered on Wednesday, September 30, since runoff elections were being held while the Court was in session. Even if the ballots were ordered on Wednesday, Lehner indicated, this should not prevent the referendum from being put before the vast majority of the electorate who would be voting in New York City.
Judge Lehnerâ€s postponement of the supposed deadline came after McMahon had requested that the Judge carefully consider both sides†arguments, rather than render a rush decision and fail to adequately contemplate NYC CANâ€s legal arguments, as the Referee had done.
Initially there was a question as to whether oral arguments would go forward as a clerical mishap resulted in the Judge not being presented with the papers on time. As a result of the snafu, the procedure for the Court to hear arguments was inverted, whereby oral arguments were heard first and served to orient the Judge.
Over the next few days the Judge will go through both sides†legal memos, as well as the applicable statutes and case law.
Surprisingly, the file forwarded from the Referee to the Judge did not contain NYC CANâ€s legal memo, which McMahon told the Court seemed apropos, since the referee had barely considered the Petitioners†memorandum of law.
The Judge proceeded to invite discourse on why an investigation was needed. When McMahon raised as an example the 9/11 Commissionâ€s omission of the collapse of Building 7 from its final report, the Judge replied in puzzlement, â€oeBuilding what?”
When asked by the Judge whether or not there has been an investigation into 9/11 by New York City authorities, Steve Kitzinger, the Cityâ€s lawyer, replied, â€oeItâ€s irrelevant”, to which the packed courtroom was loudly disdainful, some openly laughing in disbelief. At which point Mr. Kitzinger prevailed upon Judge Lehner to quiet the crowd, which the Judge did.
With order restored, the Judge again asked Kitzinger if the City had done anything to investigate 9/11. Kitzinger flatly responded, â€oeNo.”
â€oeThe City never did anything?” retorted the Judge in disbelief. Nothing, Kitzinger admitted."