{"id":1076,"date":"2020-01-29T20:40:44","date_gmt":"2020-01-30T01:40:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nlg.org\/guild-notes\/?post_type=article&p=1076"},"modified":"2020-01-29T20:40:44","modified_gmt":"2020-01-30T01:40:44","slug":"dont-be-fooled-by-court-clerks","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.nlg.org\/guild-notes\/article\/dont-be-fooled-by-court-clerks\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Be Fooled by Court Clerks"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Douglas Ankeny<\/strong>
\nIndependence, VA<\/strong><\/p>\n

I recently had the privilege of assisting a prisoner with a tort claim against the Commonwealth of Virginia. After ensuring the prisoner exhausted the offender grievance procedure, I helped him complete his notice of claim alleging a lieutenant deliberately destroyed his property. The Commonwealth at first denied liability, but then in light of the documentary evidence, capitulated and admitted liability. A trial was set for the purpose of determining the amount of damages.<\/p>\n

I helped the prisoner prepare a writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum to have him transported to the circuit court for trial. The clerk returned the petition with a note saying the court did not have authority to grant the petition or issue the writ.<\/p>\n

We then filed a motion requesting an order from the circuit court denying the petition so that we could take an appeal. We included in the motion relevant case law on a plaintiff\u2019s right to be heard; on the circuit court\u2019s authority to issue transportation orders for incarcerated litigants; and on the necessity of a final order before an appeal may be taken. Approximately one week later the prisoner received a copy of the granted petition for a writ of habeas corpus ad testificandum. The prisoner represented himself at trial and prevailed in obtaining an award that was more than was offered at negotiations. \u25a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Douglas Ankeny Independence, VA I recently had the privilege of assisting a prisoner with a tort claim against the Commonwealth of Virginia. After ensuring the prisoner exhausted the offender grievance procedure, I helped him complete his notice of claim alleging a lieutenant deliberately destroyed his property. The Commonwealth at first denied liability, but then […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":89,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"issuem_issue":[208],"issuem_issue_categories":[188],"issuem_issue_tags":[28,27,29],"class_list":["post-1076","article","type-article","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","issuem_issue-guild-notes-vol-44-no-3-4-fall-winter-2019","issuem_issue_categories-beyond-bars","issuem_issue_tags-beyond-bars","issuem_issue_tags-jailhouse-lawyers","issuem_issue_tags-prisons","post"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t