Thursday, September 25, 2014

DHECC - An ex parte "partey"


Isn't this quaint?  Right after a hearing Judge Carl Barbier held yesterday about Act 495, he and Magistrate Judge Sally Shushan decided to wind down at Annunciation restaurant in New Orleans' Warehouse District with none other than DHECC Claims Administrator Pat Juneau.



Yeah...you know Pat...the guy BP is asking to have removed from the settlement...the guy that perjured himself in a deposition taken under Barbier's court...the guy who allowed PSC members to expedite their own claims ahead of everyone else in the settlement.

I wonder who footed the bill on this one; I seriously doubt they went dutch.

Better yet, I wonder if it was expensed to the Claims Office.  Must be nice to be so cozy with the judge who's responsible for deciding your fate.  Fortuna has certainly shone her light upon Mr. Juneau.

Who knows?  Maybe they were just discussing the Saints' problems with the pass rush....or Mary Landrieu's keg stander...or whatever Emeril was bitching at Obama about...or where you can get cheap Viagra online.

I'm certainly unsure they never once discussed the settlement.

Hey, what was that whole fuss Freeh brought up about "unclean hands" and the mere appearance of impropriety?

Ah never mind.....I hear the fried oysters are to die for at Annunciation.  The BBQ shrimp will certainly leave one with unclean hands.  

24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Unbelievable.

The key here is the context:

- Juneau is the subject of a pending motion.
- Juneau’s response to that motion is due in 3 weeks.
- This judge will review and react to that response.
- This judge will rule on this motion.
- This motion has severe financial implications for Juneau.
- Therefore, there is at least an appearance of impropriety for this judge to meet with the subject of motion who has a financial interest in the outcome of the motion.

Jason Brad Berry said...

Yeah...I think it may be time to file another FOIA.

Anonymous said...

Who paid???
We all know a judge didn't.
If it got charged back to BP, its bad enough. But what if it didn't. Juneau buying lunch for the judge that will decide if he keeps a $3.5 million/year job? Even Freeh would have to find a problem with that. Well maybe not. But anyone else for sure.

m styborski said...

I hear the paté de FOIA Gras is magnifique!

Anonymous said...

The venison in headlights looks fantastic.

Jason Brad Berry said...

Both are best served cold.

Ears Thyrel said...

"the fried oysters are to die for"

And thanks to BP they come pre-oiled!

Git Some said...

Is it oooweee!

Or is it SOWEEE, SOWEEE, PIG, PIG, PIG?

Nanine said...

My advice to Pat, based on experience, would be that he could probably get away with speaking pretty plainly to the judge and maybe even resort to some forceful language, call a few choice names, "freak" "bitch". Make some extortion accusations. Maybe even raise his balled fist while speaking somewhat menacingly. But whatever he does - absolutely DO NOT tell the judge to look at the evidence and apply the law before making a decision. Judges, I hear, find this very intimidating, even threatening, and the ODC will most certainly find that conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice. DO NOT go there, Pat!

Anonymous said...

I read in the Freeh report that Freeh had a big problem with John Andry buying David Duval lunch because Andry had a claim on appeal. How is that different from Juneau buying lunch for Judge Barbier. Except that Duval was not deciding whether Andry got paid and Barbier is deciding whether Juneau gets paid.

Freeh determined that the DHECC Code of Conduct allowed meals that were "necessary and appropriate". He found that Andry's lunch with Duval was not. I guess if any meal Juneau had with the judge and/or magistrate was "necessary and appropriate", it would have been charged to the DHECC and ultimately paid by BP. Seems easy enough to find out.

Jason Brad Berry said...

No it's not easy to find out, either. The DHECC is not a public entity, I can't file a PRR or FOIA for their expenses. I would love to see those expense reports though, I think they should be made public by the Judge.

Kevin said...


I know PJ's a special master appointed by the court and they're allowed to have ex parte communications and all that, but wouldn't it be best to have a court reporter present so a record of the discussions would exist?

Jason Brad Berry said...

They can have ex parte communication, yes, but In light of the allegations BP has made against Juneau I am having trouble believing they weren't discussing Juneau's fate.

Anonymous said...

If they were discussing official business, the expense would be charged to the program. If PJ has been entertaining the judges on his own dime, that's something different.

Anonymous said...

Freeh argued in his reply to the show cause parties that Sutton breached a duty owed to a public entity. I think he claimed that the DHECC was public. You should check that out and cite Freeh in your FOIA request.

Anonymous said...

Any idea what the hearing regarding 495 was about?

Jason Brad Berry said...

Barbier refused to allow BP to claw back claims payed previous to 495.

Jason Brad Berry said...

...so the PSC's expedited claims are all safe.

Kevin said...


This is a serious request:

Does any have, or has anyone seen, a copy of a Rule 53 order (or any other order) appointing PJ as a special master and setting the circumstances, if any, in which he may communicate ex parte with the court or a party?

Unknown said...

Yes. It's the joint motion to appoint him and it specifically provides for ex parte communications without notice.

Kevin said...

Unknown:

Can you provide a little more specifics? It's a huge docket. Do you have a date or docket number for the "joint motion?"

Also, do you know if an "order" was signed by the court which specifically allows the ex parte communications?

Jason Brad Berry said...

"Yes. It's the joint motion"

It couldn't be a motion, it would have to be an order would it not?

Kevin said...


Jason:

I'm not a lawyer, but I believe you're correct that an order is required.

Ears Thyrel said...

Sorry. Never mind. I was looking at a prior appointment of Juneau in a different case.