FAMILY COURT - DOMESTIC RELATION BRANCH
500 Indiana Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.  20001

ANSWER TO MOTION TO RESCHEDULE THE DEFAULT DIVORCE HEARING
ON AN EXPEDITED BASIS AND DEFENDANT'S MOTION TO SET ASIDE
DEFAULT JUDGMENT UNDER RULE 55 DC SUPERIOR COURT RULES

Defendant herein, Frederick Shaddock, and his counsel, Robert R. Stone, move this honorable Court to deny Plaintiff's motion to advance the scheduled hearing for January 18, 2008 to December 2007, and further move this Court to set aside the default judgment.

As grounds for this answer, Plaintiff states the following:

1. The filing by Plaintiff herein is mistimed, ill-considered, spurious, and a sham pleading.

2. Plaintiff, through her counsel, should know that this request is without merit, since he filed his motion to expedite on December 17, 2007, which was received by counsel for the Defendant herein on the evening of December 20, 2007.

3. The request for an expedited hearing does not advance any credible reason for the need to expedite the pending actions, and does create a hardship for the Defendant herein.

4. Neither the Plaintiff, nor Defendant, are prejudiced by the current date in any material way; thus the only party who may have good cause for this continuation is counsel for the Plaintiff, Robert Case Liotta, who did not notify either the Defendant or his counsel prior to this request.

5. Throughout the paragraphs of the motion by Plaintiff, counsel for the Plaintiff has either mis-spoken or deliberately set forth erroneous information, which he should have known to be factually incorrect. For example, the Defendant herein did not know of the injury of his counsel, when he called to ask that the underlying counsel accept this case. He did so because because attorney Robert Stone had previously represented him in DC on all related matters, which is a part of the record before the Court.

6. The conversations between the Defendant herein, and his estranged wife, have been initiated by her, and information she provides is not always credible.  Moreover the Defendant has been harassed by her continuing insistence to discuss this case, and alternatives for her to gain entry to Defendant's Washington DC property, and it may require sanctions to correct this situation.

7. Given this situation, the Defendant believes an extreme sanction should be imposed, including not only dismissal of the default, but dismissal of this case. The further sanction of reasonable attorney fees should be paid to the Defendant's counsel, who has been required to file an answer to this frivolous and unreasonable motion.

 

Wherefore, the Defendant moves this Court to
1) continue the pleading date presently set
2) to dismiss the default judgment, and
3) to enter an order dismissing the complaint for divorce, filed by Plaintiff in the District of Columbia, and sanction of reasonable attorney fees required on an expedited basis during the already busy Christmas holiday.

Respectfully submitted,

Robert. R. Stone, (DC Bar #139725)
Counsel for Defendant
117 East Raymond Avenue
PO Box 10041
Arlington, VA  22202
202-744-2618

Points of Authority:
The record herein, Rule 55, a rule against sham pleadings.

 

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I HEREBY CERTIFY, that on this _____  day of December 2007, a copy of the forgoing was sent via fax and first-class postage prepaid to Robert Liotta, Esq., 166 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 250, Washington, DC  20009.

_______________________
Robert R. Stone, Esq.