IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF COWETA COUNTY STATE OF GEORGIA ELISA LOWE, ) ) ) Plaintiff, ) ) vs. ) ) ) MICHAEL LOWE, ) ) Defendant.

) _________________________)

CASE NO. 2010-V-1534

HEARING FEBRUARY 17th, 2011 COWETA COUNTY COURTHOUSE NEWNAN, GEORGIA HONORABLE A. QUILLIAN BALDWIN, JR., PRESIDING * * * APPEARANCES OF COUNSEL: FOR THE PLAINTIFF: ELISA LOWE - PRO SE

FOR THE DEFENDANT:

MARTIN ENRIQUE VALBUENA ATTORNEY AT LAW DALLAS, GEORGIA

--------------------------------------------------------------DEBORAH SHIELDS MASON, CCR REGISTERED PROFESSIONAL REPORTER PO BOX 1241 CARROLLTON, GEORGIA 30117 770-830-8307

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 FOR THE DEFENDANT: FOR THE PLAINTIFF:

A P P E A R A N C E S ELISA LOWE - PRO SE

MARTIN ENRIQUE VALBUENA ATTORNEY AT LAW 113 VILLAGE WALK SUITE B PO BOX 1125 DALLAS, GEORGIA 30132 TEL: 770-443-2204 FAX: 770-443-6613

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 WASTE OF 16 MONEY 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

(NEWNAN, GEORGIA; COWETA COUNTY; FEBRUARY 17th, 2011.) P R O C E E D I N G S THE COURT: This was such a confusing case, and I was

having a hard time without knowing anything much about this case the last time when we were in court, really not knowing anything about it and keeping up with what y'all were talking about. I've had a chance to deal with that

and had both my law clerk and I go through this and try to determine where we are in this case. Ms. Lowe, I'm going to try to tell you, you're not going to like what I'm fixing to say. about that. I can't do anything

Several years ago I had a lawyer in the There was a lawyer

courtroom, and she represented a lady.

out of Atlanta that represented the guy, and the guy was absolutely the biggest jerk I've ever seen in my life. I

would have done anything legally that I could do, because he was such a jerk, to hold him in contempt or those kinds of things. And that lawyer was in court asking me to do She He was a

that, but she didn't have any grounds for that. didn't have any legal grounds for what it was. jerk. I didn't blame her for asking.

Your problem is that you bring up all this stuff, but a lot of it legally you can't do. So I'm sorry. I'm

sorry you say you can't afford a lawyer. where we are in this case.

But this is

Basically you have asked 3

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for -- let me just deal with the Paulding County thing. That is over. County thing. I could do nothing about the Paulding The last time we were here, we were taJking

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about so many things I wasn't sure. you this then.

I

should have told Your

wasn't sure; but now I'm sure.

avenue to complain about that is an appeal.

It's not to

come to me, another court, another Superior court and say that a Superior Court was wrong. to talk about it. So we're not even going

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And unfortunately you're out of time

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for appeal. Do we need to set straight that we were only looking for declaratory judgement? or will the appeallate court figure it out? WE ASKED MS. LOWE; THIS ON NOVEMBER 15, that. COMPLAINT. I HAVE FOR I've already done 2010 IN ATTACHED HIGHLIGHTED PLEADING. THE COURT: Then that's fine. You can do that. But
I can't do anything about that.

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So that's a done deal

I think from what I've

till they do something about it. seen, although but since Judge
I

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haven't delved into that problem much, had dismissed the case that was

pending here, there was nothing pending here.

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MS. LOWE;
March of 2008. 2008. THE COURT: anything here.

Yes, they were.

They started theirs in

He didn't dismiss it until December of

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When he dismissed it, there wasn't And the order that they signed was before

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the affidavit, wasn't it? MS. LOWE: THE COURT: (Head shook in the negative.) It wasn't?
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Anyway, you're going to have.

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to deal with the Court of Appeals on that. MS. LOWE: THE COURT:
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will. So we can do nothing about that today.

MS. LOWE:

Originally! came because we had been

trying to come to court for several months. THE COURT:

MS. LOWE:

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Ma'am, let me just talk. Okay.

Okay?

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THE COURT: IRS stuff.

You do have a claim against him for the

I don't know why that IRS thing has not been And

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paid or you didn't at least pay her $50,000 on that.

it appears that you have not ever complied with the court order to pay back the $50,000. MS. LOWE: There was a release of the lien that was

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filed with the IRS years ago.

THE COURT:

So that's been released? Yes, Judge.

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MR. VALBUENA:

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MS. LOWE:

Let me see what you're talking about. We explained that to Judge 'Smith back That's all been heard by

MR. VALBUENA:

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in 2008 when I argued the case. Judge Smith. He issued an order.

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THE COURT:

thought Judge Smith

I think I didn't

RECUSAL 23 Court "I 24 LIMINE think I - Mr. 25 didn't Lowe look that was one up"
there.

look that one up; but I thought Judge Smith ordered him to pay $50,000 back to her. MR. VALBUENA: court. He did, Judge. .And then they came to Lowe was found in.

Mr. Lowe wasn't there,

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contempt for not paying the $50,000; and he was ordered to go to jail.

LIMINE

In April of 2008, he was taken into jail on that. Judge Smith released him, let him come out of jail for his hearing. We had a hearing here in April of 2008. Judge

Smith heard it.

Found that he had purged himself of the

contempt and issued an order to that effect.

IsMS. LOWE: I beg to differ. There's no order. he sou MR. VALBUENA: I've got the order he sent me, Judge. ndi ng MS. LOWE: There's not an order. gui lty MR. VALBUENA: I got the order he sent me. or wh THE COURT: Let me see the order he sent you. It's at? .... Tal signed and filed. kin g MR. VALBUENA: It's signed, Judge, but I just have a ab out copy; I don't have the original. I assume Judge Smith 200 5/ sent Sm the original to the Court. I got the copy. ith THE COURT: Who typed this up? ord er

MR. VALBUENA:

I typed it up and prepared it and

submitted it to Judge Smith. THE COURT: In our circuit usually the policy is that

we send these back to the lawyer, and we expect them to get it filed. date on here. So I don't know. You don't have a file

This is that 04-32 case which then later

Judge Lee dismissed. MR. VALBUENA: That's correct, Judge. 6

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MS. LOWE: contested.

However, the modification is separately

They're separate cases.

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All I can tell you is this case number you cant dismiss the contempt part when it was only asking has been dismissed. to enforce an order that was made in 2001, gus made referrence MS. LOWE: What? The contempt action can be brought You can do that. You can't modify

THE COURT;

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with a modification.

in a contempt action like today.

You can't mOdify it, but

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a contempt action if they're split and the two which Judge Smith would not hear anything on child support, he only
of heard the IRS --$50,000.00 to the Defendant, which sum had previously been paid by the Defendant to the The Court's Order allowed the Defendant to purge himself of his contempt by payment Plaintiff. The Court reserved ruling on other issues presented by the Motion for Contempt PAGE 4 STATEMENT OF CASE TO APPEALS COURT WRITTEN BY GUS.

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Judge Smith in 2008 had the hearing. e-mail.

I've got the

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We were going to work it together and then send The next thing, he sent an order. I

it to Judge Smith.

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I called Judge Smith, e-mailed him, faxed him.

have the fax cover sheet saying that I did not agree with what he was putting, what he was saying and that I wanted him to call me. an order. Nothing ever happened. I never received

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That order is not final.

And the order is not

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an order that is reduced to writing and filed with the Superior Court clerk. THE COURT:
THE REASON JUDGE SMITH WANTED ME TO COME UP WITH ANY MONEY THAT i HAD PAID THE IRS WAS SO THAAT HE WOULD ADD TO THE AMOUNT OF 50K. IF HE INTENDED FOR MIKE NOT TO PAY ME BACK IF I COULD NOT PRODUCE RECEIPTS THEN IT IS DOUBTFUL HE WOULD HAVE MADE HIM EMPTY HIS CHECKBOOK AND CLOSE HIS RETIREMENT ACCOUNT AND PAY IT TO ME.

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I agree with that.

I don't know where

the original is, Mr. Valbuena, but that's your little red wagon you're supposed to take care of. You know, if it

was my client, even if you thought the judge did it, I certainly would under those circumstances make 5ure it was
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filed. MR. VALBUENA: on those issues. I think that Judge Smith already ruled But regardless, the IRS has released her

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from any liability. THE COURT: I understand that. I understand that.

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So there's no IRS claim. MS. LOWE: Yes, sir, there is. There's two liens Number one. And number

that take place during that time. two is during testimony. THE COURT:

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Show me the two liens. The testimony of the parties. Hold on just a second. Ms. Lowe, when you speak would you

MS. LOWE:
THE COURT:

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COURT REPORTER:

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speak up a little bit louder, please? MS. LOWE; THE COURT: Yes, I will. We need to swear both of y'all. You're

representing yourself. Let me see. October 17th. This is $17,811.36; and this is filed

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And I'm just trying to see if there's This is It was $8,000

anything on here that relates to that. October 17th, 2002. And I have no idea.

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and something plus interest. MR. VALBUENA: Judge, I'm not sure what you're I've got a copy of the federal The two numbers.

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looking at for Ms. Lowe.

tax lien that was filed in '97 and '98.

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total $121,344. THE COURT:

The Plaintiff, Michael L. Lowe, shall be solely and totally responsible for payment of indebtedness owing to Internal Revenue Service for taxes due for the calendar years 1997 and 1998, plus all penalties, interest and any other assessments that have accrued on such unpaid indebtedness. The Plaintiff shall indemnify and save harmless the Defendant from any claims or demands which may be made against her as a result of said indebtedness, such indemnity to include without limitation any legal or accounting fees or court costs incurred by the Defendant with respect to any such collection efforts by Internal Revenue Service

I know. The release of the document I just He

MR. VALBUENA:

handed you, that's the release for the same amount. was ordered to pay the tax for '97 and '98. He was

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ordered two responsibilities for that. That release shows He AGREED in the Amended Decree. He was Ordered 50k that she's no longer responsible. there was no "two responsibilities ordered" THE COURT: MS. LOWE: I saw that. I'm with you on that.

He was originally ordered to assume

responsibility, and Judge Smith said, pay him the $50,000. The IRS has not collected. THE COURT: MS. LOWE: Has the IRS tried to do anything? The IRS is considered uncollectible.

Therefore, he has taken my money and not paid the debt. And here I -THE COURT: released. MS. LOWE: Has not paid. My point is, and I'm going This says he has paid that, that you're

off of Judge Smith's order that says Michael Lowe took my $50,000. the IRS. Now, say he didn't pay the IRS. He hasn't paid

So why is it fair for him to keep the money and At least that

not pay the IRS and give me my money back?

would help with my credit that has suffered and everything else. This is a valid order, Your Honor. Well, Ms. Lowe, I'm not going to argue 9

THE COURT:

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 with you. I know the contempt law probably ten times After Judge Lee dismissed this thing, Everything in that case is gone, okay? If you don't like it, better than you do. this case is gone.

I'm not going to argue with you.

you can appeal. I wonder if this part may could be used in Paulding. Saying everything was gone. Proof there was no order giving him joint custody.??? MS. LOWE: Even that order that was appealed to the So he figures it Supreme Court, and they dismissed it. out THE COURT: They didn't dismiss this. and still rules? MS. LOWE: Yes, they did. The Supreme Court heard RECUS AL. this, which was why I was in shock that they brought it back in 2008. THE COURT: That's not what our notes show. Our

notes show the Supreme Court -- hold on just a minute. January 17th, 2006. Georgia, Supreme Court of Georgia I thought I saw

contempt appeal, and it says dismissed.

another one somewhere that was appealed, but that one was dismissed. MS. LOWE: So, in fact, he was found in contempt in

2001, and the 2001-V-32 he was -COURT REPORTER: Ma'am, would you please speak up and

a little slower, please? THE COURT: Look. That is what we're going to do. It I

can't do anything about the Paulding County claim.

appears that he has taken -- you have gotten rid of any liability that you may have to the IRS. 10 Now I don't know.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 No hearing it was in the 13 Amended Divorce 14 Decree. 15 Which the trial court 16 has no authority to 17 change. 18 19 LIMINE 20 21 22 23 24 25

What did you do with the $50,000 that she gave you? Let's swear both of you, by the way. either one of you have been sworn. ELISA LOWE AND MICHAEL LOWE, (Whereupon, after having been duly sworn upon an oath, and testified as follows:) MR. VALBUENA: Judge, if I could, his contention in They I don't think

that case back then was he never received $50,000.

had a hearing on that in the 2001 case, and the judge ordered that he did receive it. So when you say, what did He

you do with it, his answer to me, I never received it. lost that, in one of those earlier cases, he lost that battle; so we're not here trying to say -THE COURT: Did she come forward with a cancelled

check or anything? MS. LOWE: THE COURT: MS. LOWE: It was an agreement signed. Do you have a copy of the agreement? Yes, sir. Judge, I don't think it's an

MR. VALBUENA:

agreement. That's what he was ordered to do. I shouldn't have said agreement, I should have said it's in the amended decree. I see that one. My W point is, I don't see the relevance of that today either because he was ordered to pay -a
hat cro ck THE COURT: Let me just ask the question. thi mind?s I'm trying to sort this thing out. ne xt MR. VALBUENA: I guess, Judge, let me just lin e 11 is... .. Do yo u

Do you

--

WHO THE HELL IS THE JUDGE HERE?

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SCHI ZOP he never got it. That's the answer to the question. HRE MR. VALBUENA: I just want to say for the purposes of NIC, the case, I want to object to your going into issues lol... that
THE COURT: I have a simple question. You say that THE COURT:

aren't before the Court, which I don't think this one is. TO POINT I'm not sure what is because it's crazy. BECAUSE
STAND Ma'am, an agreement and I CANT THIS OUT

JUST HAD

AND SO IS HE.

Let me see what the agreement is.

the fact that he got it and paid it or did something KISSING with it are two different things. He, in an amended divorce

BALDWIN MV'S ASS.

decree, was ordered to pay the IRS, right? MS. LOWE: THE COURT: MS. LOWE: THE COURT: MS. LOWE: THE COURT: He admitted to paying it. He admitted to paying it? Yes, sir. Where does it say that? Right there. The defendant paid and delivered to the

plaintiff over $50,000 with an understanding towards claim if plaintiff accepted said sums from the defendant for payment of said taxes but failed to apply said payment to income taxes -- (Reading from document.) Mr. Lowe, what have you got to say about that? MR. VALBUENA: Just the very next paragraph is what Go ahead. Read the next

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we have to say about it. paragraph.

The plaintiff, Michael Lowe, is going to be solely 12

for taxes due for the calendar years 1997 and skips a big part/ 1998, plus all penalties, interest and any other assessments that have accrued on such unpaid indebtedness. s ... was this the court reporter or 1 and totally responsible for the payment of the VALBUENA CL 2 skipping theseindebtedness -- (reading from document) -- The plaintiff AI CO PI 3 shall defendant from any MS parts? I think they indemnify and save harmless the save harmless the Defendant from anyIN or ED The Plaintiff shall indemnify and claims TH demands whichFR be made against her as a result of said indebtedness, such indemnity to may 4 claims in the making. are pretty E include withoutO limitation any legal or accounting fees or court costs incurred by the Defendant M important when That's when we came back in collection efforts by Internal Revenue Service M 5 8 years later! front of Judge Smith. AK with respect to any such TH E the appeals court Lowe at that point is asking again for the $50,000. IN 6 Ms. G? A ???. looks at itNO I WAS ASKING HIM TO UPHOLD A CONTEMPT FROM 2001 AND A SUBSEQUENT 50K ORDER IN 2005 IN 2004V32- AS WELL AS don't M .. 7 I said, Judge, he doesn't have to pay the 50,000 EN A ORDER DISMISSING HIS APPEAL FROM SUPREME COURT DECISION. IT you? picks back DE D 8 back. HeHE has to hold her harmless for anything she's paid PRETT D OE up. DE NOTE: Indemnification may work by either reimbursement or through direct compensation to the liable party. LE

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Ma LIMINIE

EE. defendant with respoect to any such collection efforts by the IRS. "(amended decree) ES EV ... She O said she had paid out some sums of money. Judge Y to tell EN rti UT ENa Senior n TH Smith ordered her to provide proof of that, ordered us to judge D Val Judge Smith made him cash in his teacher retirement account, empty his checkbook at the time of 600-700$ He told him that he knew his type E TH bu IN make payments that based on what she said at trial before what he AT ena DE And that I would get my money. He then asked if I had paid any additional money to the IRS over and above the 50k. I told him my taxes W has to sta M rti she had any proof, we made the payments of more than two AYdo NI . were very confusing back then due to Personal, Elisa Lowe Inc. and Mikes business taxes. I knew I had paid penalties but had no idea on what ng TY linor $3,000 for that. That's all included in the order that when PA there is years they were for etc. He told me to get receipts and that he would make sure I got that also. He was very harsh to Mike. He also said that e RT 10 Judge Smith signed that hasn't been filed. an ....

SN' CR out. "such imdemnity to include without limitation any legal or accounting fees or court cost incurred by the AV T BALLS

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But the reality is he wasn't ordered to pay $50,000. saying Martin wrote in an email to Judge Smith: Ms. Lowe thought she was to be paid in full by the 15th and that she would have the He was ordered to assume sole responsibility. THE COURT:
custody of the children until she was paid.....something to the effect of, I don't believe you said that. (I'll attach the letter) 50k? I believe this was just more of Martins confusing the court in order to get what he wants.

I would get fully reimbursed by the 15th of May or June and that I would have sole custody of the boys order paid until I was

pay

What it was was he said in here that she

paid him $50,000 and that he was to apply it towards that debt. MR. VALBUENA: And yet because he didn't he was to be

solely responsible for the taxes. THE COURT: That isn't what it says. That's exactly what it says, Judge. It says he'll be solely

MR. VALBUENA: THE COURT:

It does not. 13

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responsible for them, but it didn't say if he didn't pay the $50,000.

BECAUSE HE WASN'T ORDERED TO DO THAT YET. IT WAS A SUBSEQUENT ORDER THE ONLY VALID ORDER IN 2004 V 32 Why should it matter? Talk about what is not before the court Martin, sheesh! /:>

All I'm asking him is what did he do with the $50,000 that he said he got right here. MR. LOWE: THE COURT: 2000, 1999.

You got your name on here, Mr. Lowe. Just sit down, Ms. Lowe.

Wait just a minute.

You signed this yourself saying you got the $50,000 and that you were to apply it. the $50,000? MR. LOWE: I signed that. THE COURT: did? MR. LOWE: Well, to be honest because I thought that This has been 2000. Why did you sign something saying you Your Honor, I never received the $50,000. So what did you do with

Elisa and I would work together.

This is now 11 years that we've been moving back and forth. We initially, when we got divorced and I came

through that divorce agreement, I just wanted it to be finished and finalized. this. I never thought it would go to

I thought she would actually pay me the $50,000,

but I never received the $50,000. THE COURT:

really mike? :)
The last Do you have

Let me just ask you this.

question -- no more arguing about this point. a receipt for the $50,000?

A receipt, not this agreement, 14

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but a receipt? MS. LOWE: THE COURT: I can easily get one from Smith Barney. Golly, Moses, Ms. Lowe. We're in court.

I'm not modifying anything. $50,000. MS. LOWE: THE COURT: gone.

You want him to pay you

To enforce an order. You can't show. Well, that order is

I'm not going to argue with you about that any more

either.

Recusal recusal recusal.... what an idiot.

He's got a document there that says that you've been released from the debt, so what I want to ask you is -MS. LOWE: am not -THE COURT: There's no document the same tax year, I

another document.

Have you got a certified copy from the

IRS saying that you're not released from the other thing?

I actually did have a certified copy of the 17k tax lien to show THE COURT: Ma'am, if you're going to represent after the break. it was state tax not federal. but the decree court with the same type yourself, you've got to come tojust said taxes due for 97 & 98 and it is for those tax years so really. It is a separate issue I guess. 50k from of information that we would require your from this to have. Smiths order and 17k lawyer new deal.
MS. LOWE: THE COURT: MS. LOWE: You would need certified copies. I didn't think it was proper to

MS. LOWE:

No, sir.

I would think Martin should have provided me I understand that. with that in his discovery Kirby told him to do.

re-litigate an order that has already been in place. THE COURT: MS. LOWE: Ma'am -This is a contempt action on him to 15

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enforce an order. Go Elisa :) THE COURT: be in contempt. MS. LOWE: THE COURT: in contempt. He is in contempt. I see right now you can't prove that he's I know exactly what it is. He's got to

RECUSAL

I cant believe it again, I'm here to have him enforce orders.

MS. LOWE: THE COURT:

In 2001 -Wait just a minute. Wait just a minute,

or I'm going to hold you in contempt and put you in jail right here. Do you understand me? MS. LOWE: THE COURT: Yes, sir. All right. You cannot prove that you Wait just a

gave him the $50,000; so that's out the door. minute. That's out the door.

So we don't have the thing

about Paulding County. taxes.

We don't have the thing about the

Now, I will say the thing about the child support is problematic because of the way y'all did this because you had an order in there that said neither one of you would also part of the 2004 he said was dead "everything in it" when it pay child support for a period of time. That causes a FAVORED MIKE. problem in figuring out what's what. one that was. Let me find which

Since Judge Lee dismissed that case, I

would say that order is not in effect. oops nevermind So then we have to go back somewhere at some point 16

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somewhere and figure out where we start with the $750, although I would say from May 7th, 2004, up until Judge Lee signed the order that he signed, I would be reluctant to hold him in willful contempt for those approximately four years because Judge Simpson had signed an order that said that plaintiff's child support obligation is suspended pending further Order of the Court. Evidently

there was no further Order of the Court; isn't that right? By George I think he's got it. nahhhh MS. LOWE: The plaintiff took the risk by charging all the erroneous charges saying that I had a drug problem. THE COURT: child support. MS. LOWE: THE COURT: It does. You have got to have an order there that That doesn't have anything to do with the

says you weren't paying anything. Now, I don't totally disagree with you that once it was dismissed none of this existed which should go back. But the problem is is you've got about four years, not quite four years, but approximately four years there that he had a court order saying he didn't have to pay anything. So I'd be reluctant to hold him in willful contempt on that amount. I would need to go back to the order that

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MS. LOWE: THE COURT: somewhere.

That was August 14th, 2001. August 14th, 2001; I've got that

It was filed August 14th; $750 per month from August 14th, 2001 till the agreement that Judge Simpson or that temporary order that Judge Simpson signed on May 7th, 2004. Judge Lee signed his order December of 2008. May I bring a case that I pulled up on

MS. LOWE: this?

COURT REPORTER:

Ma'am, please speak up if you want

what you say on the record. THE COURT: MS. LOWE: May you bring me a case what? (Inaudible) -- A child support judgment

cannot be modified retroactively. THE COURT: Well, the 750 at the time he was not

paying anything, was he? MS. LOWE: THE COURT: pay anything. MR. VALBUENA: THE COURT: Before the 2001 order, that's correct. This is what it looks like to me. Correct. What I'm saying was he wasn't ordered to

Okay.

From August 14th, 2001 to June 10th, 2004, that's when the order was filed. I calculated that as 34 months. That's But

actually 34 months lacking a couple of days there. for practical purposes it was 34 months. 18

And from 2008,

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December 2008 till December 2010, it's 25 months. that's 59 months.

So

It looks like to me that that totals $44,250 that he probably should have paid in child support, but I'm gathering y'all say he didn't pay. But I know at some

point you said he paid like $9,000 or something. MR. VALBUENA: Two things, Judge. The Paulding

County case, the judge there issued an order on August 9th, nunc pro tunc July 21, pay the father's child support obligation because the father after that temporary hearing, the father had primary physical custody of the children. THE COURT: From when to when to when? In the period you said from December

MR. VALBUENA:

of '08 to December of 2010, from December '08 until July of 2010. THE COURT: December of '08 to -To July of 2010. So it would be seven months to

MR. VALBUENA: THE COURT:

Okay.

July is what you're saying. MR. VALBUENA: It would be four months, five months

left in the second period. THE COURT: It would be seven months. It would only be 20 months instead of

MR. VALBUENA: 25.

1 year, 7 months, 14 days December 19

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THE COURT:

I know, but I'm just saying 2010. Would be seven months.

MR. VALBUENA: THE COURT:

Seven months.

he didn't file custody .mod until 2004 claiming then it was 1 year. b.s. then and b.s. now.

MR. VALBUENA:

And then, Judge, we have the temporary

order in the Paulding County case. Then, Judge, as to the period from August of 2001 until April of 2005, our defense for that is that Mr. Lowe had the children the majority of that time, which was what was litigated in the 2004 case which is why Judge Smith said he didn't owe any back child support. That's our

defense, and that's what we'll be litigating today. THE COURT: That's another thing. He says it this

I'm assuming the way things have been going, she's

denying that. So have y'all got some independent evidence of that? MR. VALBUENA: We have school records, e-mails, him The e-mail showing that

checking the kids out of school.

you have the kids this time; you have the kids that time. Yes, Judge, we have all of that. All of that was

presented in 2005, but we'll present it all again today. THE COURT: What I'm asking you is, of course, I'm

not sure how much of that is admissible unless you've got it in the proper form. MR. VALBUENA: It's all in proper form. It's the

communications between the two of them and his own 20

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

testimony. THE COURT: That's fine. I was just saying I just

didn't know whether it was or wasn't, whether y'all had just gone to the school and got these records. But you

can't testify. This needs to be changed big time to HE tried to file or either Valbuena said this,. either way it has to go. MS. LOWE: I tried to file a motion to set aside, and it was denied by Judge Kirby in October. THE COURT: I'm not going to re-litigate that if he's
I have no idea what but I know i didn't say this. I'm saying I'm having to deal with the can anything be done like objecting to this?

already denied it. MS. LOWE: IRS.

LIMINE

MR. VALBUENA:

She's saying that she filed a contempt

in that 2004 case, and she lost because of the defense that he raised. Now she's filed another contempt alleging that same child support. She doesn't want to allow us to raise

those defenses we raised in that case because that case, you already did that. get to do it again. eat it, too. THE COURT: You're right about that.
WTF?

You did it in that case.

You don't

Well, you can't have your cake and

MR. VALBUENA:

We're going to have the same defense

we had then with the same result. MS. LOWE: Your Honor, I would like to please call a

witness that can offer some proof on this. 21

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

THE COURT: MS. LOWE:

Proof on what? On what Mike is saying is false, and he

has dealt with him extensively. THE COURT: Have a seat. Y'all are saying that when

Judge Smith ordered him to pay the 50,000, he said that he didn't owe any child support. Is that in his order? MS. LOWE: THE COURT: Well -Be quiet. Judge, that's in the transcript. That's in the

MR. VALBUENA:

Remember an order was never signed on that. transcript on page 3 of the transcript. He said, "I heard all y'all.

It's too confusing.

I'm going to find that no back child support is owed because I can't figure out who has the kid when, so I'm going to find no child support." THE COURT: problematic -That's the reason why I'm saying it's
NO HE WAS SAYING SIMPSONS 2004 ORDER WAS THE PROBLEM

MR. VALBUENA: THE COURT:

I agree.

-- is that they're going to get up there I'm

and say one thing, and you're going to say another.

probably not going to be able to make heads or tails of really who had the child. This is the deal. Let's say, the way it usually

works is the mother has the children and the father is 22

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

ordered to pay child support. course.

Usually, not always, of

Maybe they work out visitation rights and he has

them for two months in the Summer or something like that. He has them as part of Spring break and part of Christmas and all that. But unless they've agreed to something

differently or the Court to something differently, he's still got to pay that child support all through that time. It doesn't just stop because he's got them. there's some court order that says it stops. MR. VALBUENA: Or it stops, Judge, if she, if a It stops if

non-custodial parent allows the custodial parent to assume primary physical custody of the children and the custodial -THE COURT: Actually that's not true, Mr. Valbuena.

Let's just say that she did that and you got 20 witnesses in here, and she doesn't have anybody that says those children were living with him all the time. wouldn't make him pay it. MR. VALBUENA: There's a Department of Human Resource I probably

case that the Court of Appeals said that. THE COURT: it. Okay. I probably wouldn't make him do

But it's got to be clear that that's what happened.

If it's not clear, they can't on their own modify the child support. MR. VALBUENA: Judge, I don't disagree with you. 23 I

JAN-1-2002

12: lOP

FRO~l:

TO: 18666986080

P: 10-13

1
2
3

guess my point is all of that was litigated in the 2004 case, but we don't have an order in. THE COURT: That's not my fault. I'm not saying it is, Judge. But to

4
5
6

MR. VALBUENA:

me in the interest of judicial economy and the interest of endorsing the unclean hands of MS. Lowe, it just seems ridiculous to go back and re-litigate on that. here today prepared to do that. But we're

8
9

THE COURT:

I'll give you a chance. She can't tell us we can't raise those

10
11

MR. VALBUENA:

defenses because you raised them in the 2004 case. THE COORT: No, you're right about that. I did not lose. There was never an order.

12
13

MS. LOWE:

14
15

And if there was an order, it was not signed.

THE COURT:

Look. I can't appeal it. I couldn't. There's

16
17

MS. LOWE:

no way to appeal it. THE COURT: right.

I would have lost that right. It's okay. You're

18

That's all right.

19
20

They didn't get an order on it, and there's no

order back there. I would assume he must admit that he owes some child support.
MR. VALBUENA:

21 22

23
24
25

We did that in our brief, Judge, in

our letter to you I told you what we owe. THE COURT: What do you owe?

24

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

MR. VALBUENA: support.

It was 3,000 -- 2,050 in child

We agreed we owe the $590 in attorney's fees.

And we agreed under that 2001 order he was ordered to pay 25 percent of any amount that he owed over $3,000 a month, and we agreed that we owed an additional $339 for that. The total that we agree we owe is $2,979. THE COURT: Let me ask you this. What about her

allegation that he was supposed to help pay for the house or something for a period of time? he didn't do it? MR. VALBUENA: Judge, if you see in my letter, again What about that, and

I object to that being before the Court because that was never raised in the complaint or the amended complaint until the wherefore prayer clause and the wherefore complaint. That's problem number one. I thought this had been amended. It's in the prayer for relief in the

THE COURT:

MR. VALBUENA: amended complaint. THE COURT:

Well, I agree.

I remember seeing it.

Let me just look at it again. MR. VALBUENA: Judge. THE COURT:

Hold on just a second.

Paragraph 40 of the amended complaint,

Well, again you don't have a lawyer.

You

say something like previous contempt of incarceration, which is kind of like a little history of what has 25

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

happened; but that's not an allegation of contempt. MS. LOWE: 2001. THE COURT: MS. LOWE: THE COURT: MS. LOWE: THE COURT: MS. LOWE: By whom? By Judge Simpson. Which case was that? The same case. The 2004-32? No, sir. The 2001, 2001 when he gave me He was found to be contempt of this in

the child support.

He also had a petition for contempt

for child support, and it's on there that Mr. Lowe provide medical insurance, that he provide copies of his income tax returns, which I have still not received. His failure

to vacate the marital residence as is required by agreement of the parties, and failure to pay federal income tax. The plaintiff testified he sought innocent He filed

spouse instead of paying or taking the heat. innocent spouse against me. contempt right there. THE COURT:

He was found in willful

Then -I'm trying to find Judge I think I pulled

Hold on.

Simpson's order that had the 750 in it. it out. Let's see what he said.

What do you say about Judge Simpson's 2001 order, Mr. Valbuena? MR. VALBUENA: What part, Judge? 26

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

THE COURT:

The part where he says that he failed to

pay for the residence and that he was in contempt for that. It says the plaintiff filed motion for contempt due to the plaintiff's failure to provide medical insurance coverage for the children, failure to provide copies of the federal income tax return, and failure to vacate the marital residence by agreement between the parties, and his failure to pay federal income tax. It doesn't say anything about paying for the residence. contempt? MS. LOWE: things. THE COURT: It says failure to vacate the residence. He was in willful contempt for those Where is that? Where does that hold him in

Is he in the residence now? MS. LOWE: No, sir. The deal with the divorce

decree, he was allowed to stay in the house so that I could get another home. He stayed in the house, and he That was something we did

was going to make payments.

because I could afford another house. So out of 13 months there he paid three months in payments. He was supposed to vacate it or turn it back He

over to me if it became more than two months past due. never let me know.

The first I knew is that he had moved 27

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

out with his girlfriend. left the house a wreck. I went over there. estate agent. market.

And on 5-25 of '01, moved out,

Cleaned it up.

I was a real

Cleaned up the house.

Put it on the At that

I got a contract on it pretty quickly.

time the State ran -- at that time the foreclosure was in such a belated state that we could not stop it because of FULL the contract -- it was a good price contract. We got the broker to testify to that. They had a contract on it for PURCHASED $224,000. We -- (inaudible) -- the house for 179. I put "we purchased TOWARDS DOWN PAYMENT the house for from my previous house. From $5,000 to -- (inaudible) -179" marked as inaudible the sale of this house, I was supposed to get 5,000 off of the top, and they were going to split the rest. So I had the 224. I lost $50,000 or we lost $50,000.

But I'm even being nicer about it in saying okay, it was foreclosed on on the 3rd of -- this is the home that was advertised on June 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th. see. And let's And

I received a contract a couple weeks later.

they said they wouldn't close.

The mortgage company would They

not wait past the close date, which was July 3rd.

would not wait past that, and that's in the real estate THEY KNEW THEY COULD TAKE THE HOUSE AND MAKE MONEY agreement. WHEN MARKET WAS HOT. He knew he could probably take the house. They wouldn't work with the foreclosure on the house. Then they took it and did a short sale on it for 214. So yes, that was my money lost. 28 He paid again three

THIRTEEN months' payments in that ten months.

RECUSAL 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

THE COURT:

This is what I want y'all to do.

It's

the silliest thing I've ever seen in my life. have the Paulding County question before us.

We don't We don't

have the tax thing before us, but you don't have the evidence. MS. LOWE: THE COURT: my courtroom. There's two bills. Ma'am, listen, let me talk, please. It's We

You don't have the tax thing before us.

do have a child support issue before us.

And I'm not sure

I totally agree with you, Mr. Valbuena, about what you said. I do believe that he didn't comply with what he was supposed to do about paying for the house. house because of that. You lost the

I know I could at least order him

to pay -- just have a seat. (Mr. Valbuena sits down.) THE COURT: -- $5,000 on that. If you can show me a

signed contract for the other, and I probably can make him pay the $25,000 that he caused you to lose on that and to purge himself of that for failure to do that. Now, what did you want to say about that, Mr. Valbuena? MR. VALBUENA: A lot of things. Number one, in Judge

Simpson's order from August 10th, 2001, the order and 29

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

judgment he found him in contempt. to purge himself.

Okay?

He ordered him

Well, he said Defendant shall be Otherwise he

allowed to purge himself by September 20th. would be incarcerated.

Well, Ms. Lowe's attorney went back in front of the judge and showed the judge in October that Mr. Lowe had not purged himself, and Judge Simpson issued another order on all of that contempt. issue. So we can't re-litigate the

Judge Simpson said, this is what you've got to do

to purge yourself of the contempt including the house. THE COURT: Wait, wait, wait. The only thing that This

was said in the house -- let me see Judge Simpson's. one wasn't filed either? MR. VALBUENA:

COMPLAINT ON VALBUENA
Finally I've got

No, Judge, this was.

one that was filed and stamped and signed by the judge. THE COURT: Hold on just a second. In my defense so we need it on the

LIMINE MR. VALBUENA:

record.

I didn't represent Mr. Lowe in any of these older

cases where orders weren't filed. THE COURT: You're the one that said you sent it to

Judge Smith and figured he'd take it on to the clerk's office. MR. VALBUENA: THE COURT: That order, it was my fault.

(Reading document to himself.) --

indebtedness of the parties, abandoning innocent spouse 30

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 RECUSEAL

defense, which at least he has one document that says that. MS. LOWE: THE COURT: That was four years later. And defendant shall provide such evidence

to the sheriff of Coweta County, Georgia, but be released at such time as the evidence was provided. It says nothing about him paying for the house. MR. VALBUENA: issue at that time. Correct, correct. And she raised that She She

She didn't get that relief.

can't now ask for it again; that's res judicata. asked the judge, she asked the Court -THE COURT:

It doesn't say in here you're not

entitled to that anyway.

WHERE IS MR. VALBUENA: THIS LETTER?

vacating.

He found him in contempt for not

So then he didn't order any penalty.

Then in April of 2008, when we had the temporary hearing in Paulding County, Mr. Lowe was taken into custody. So here's the letter I provided to Judge Simpson

and the order where Judge Simpson released him from jail showing that he purged himself from that contempt.

RICO-DAWN At that point in time, Ms. Lowe was represented by a

lawyer, and the lawyer spoke with Judge Simpson. what the result was. already. That's

He's purged himself of that contempt

It's not fair for her to bring it up now. Judge Simpson didn't say -31

MS. LOWE:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

THE COURT:

Wait, wait, wait.

Look.

Y'all are going

to argue yourself into the ground. MR. VALBUENA: THE COURT: Judge -It looks like every one of you is

Wait.

going to be in jail in just a minute or two. He obviously made no decision about what to do about that. order. I don't know whose fault that was. It's not in the

He didn't say anything about paying for the house. It's not whether he vacated the house.

That's the issue.

It's whether he paid for it or not and whether she lost the house because he didn't do what he was supposed to. So I'm going to tell you right now that -- oh wait, I need to look at the petition, though. You're saying it

wasn't ever alleged in here. SEE AMENDED CONTEMPT HOUSE FILE MR. VALBUENA: Yes, Judge.

ATTACHED IT WAS ALLEGED 3 TIMES.

You started out asking me

what I have to say about that, I've still got two more things I want to say. THE COURT: MS. LOWE: THE COURT: MS. LOWE: Hold on just a minute. It's alleged in number 21. 21. And then on the back --

(The Court reading documents to himself.) MS. LOWE: Said I could file a contempt action in the

final decree if they did not do that. THE COURT: Well, I don't know any decree that found 32

DOES HE MEAN ANY ORDER?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

him in contempt for the failure to pay for the marital residence. I haven't seen that. One has failure to

vacate, but I'm not sure you have alleged that. MS. LOWE: The thing was he was supposed to vacate.

He was more than a month past due. THE COURT: Look. Let me tell you. If you're going

to be your own lawyer, you've got to do it right. MS. LOWE: THE COURT: here, okay? MS. LOWE: THE COURT: MS. LOWE: THE COURT: (Inaudible.) Okay? I'm sorry. I'm just trying to explain. It doesn't matter. It's got to be in

It is in the complaint. No, ma'am, it is not. It is not, you

said in here you tried to allege some previous contempt action, which is nothing but a history of these previous contempt actions, one of which you say is failure to pay for marital residence as ordered and allowing said residence to be foreclosed and this, that, and the other. But the thing about it was that it wasn't in the contempt action. residence. You said in there about him vacating the

But there was nothing in there about him It certainly wasn't in the

vacating and paying for it.

order saying that he had to pay for it. MS. LOWE: Did you look at the final amended divorce 33

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

decree?

It talks about it. Yes, ma'am. It orders him to do it, but

THE COURT:

you didn't allege in here that he's in violation of that order. You said that he had previously been held in

contempt of that. RECUSAL:::::::DIDN'T HE JUST SAY HE KNEW OF NO DECREE MS. LOWE: He was in contempt for vacating.

THAT ORDERED THIS?

I think

it goes along with the words in the order. THE COURT: Ms. Lowe. This is what we're going to do. I'm probably going I'm not going to argue with you any more,

RECUSAL 8
9 10 11 12 13

to hold him in contempt for not paying on the 25,000 one way or the other. I'm probably going to hold him in It appears to me

contempt for more than y'all have got.

RECUSAL

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

that he owes about $40,000 in child support, and I'm probably -- again on the property she hasn't alleged it in here correctly. So I'm probably not going to hold him in But on the child support it looks like

contempt on that.

to me it's about $40,000.

HOW CONFUSING!

Now if you want to, if y'all want to go back there and y'all try to make me a list and show me why he shouldn't be held in contempt for particular years on the child support, I'll be glad to do it.

HE IS GLAD TO DO ANYTHING FOR I've already MIKE AND NOTHING FOR ME.

modified that to show in 2010 it only went seven months. And if you want to show me that, I'll be glad to do it. But I do think once Judge Lee dismissed that other 34

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

thing, it kicked that all back. stuck. I'm just sorry.

He's just going to be

RECUSAL? WHY THE HELL IS HE SO SORRY?

MR. VALBUENA:

Judge, are you saying that we're not

going to have a hearing where we can present our testimony, or are you saying -THE COURT:

ISN'T THIS WHAT KIRBY SAID NO TO?

I've got

You can present the testimony.

other cases here.

Y'all are going to have to go out there

and get this in some kind of order so I can understand it. I'm talking about the child support now. Again, we don't have the Paulding County order before us. We don't have the IRS thing before us. Unfortunately

RECUSAL

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

for Ms. Lowe, we don't have the stuff about the paying for

TELLING US TO AMEND

the residence.

But I would tell you, if you file that I But you haven't got it right

would make him pay that. here.

So y'all might want to keep that in mind in going That's the

back there and trying to settle this thing. smart thing for y'all to do.

RECUSAL: HERE IS THE BIGGIE

I'm telling you, he's not leaving this court today without either paying the money or going to jail. MR. VALBUENA: Then I guess what I'm going to say is

I don't think that the two sides, without a mediator, have any chance. THE COURT: Have y'all been to mediation? No, Judge. There's been no mediation.

LIMINE 23
24 25

MR. VALBUENA:

But having said that, as the defendant I want LEAST 2 MED. SEE 35

THERE HAS BEEN AT ATTACHED TO PORTFOLIO

1 2 3 4 RECUSAL 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

IS THIS PROPER PROCEDURE SINCE IT IS MY CASE? DOESN'T SOUND RIGHT...IF NOT ITS RECUSAL TIME.

Ms. Lowe to take the stand and present her evidence and I get to cross-examine her before we're going to put up our side of the case. THE COURT: I object to doing it any other way. I don't care. It doesn't

That's fine.

matter to me, but we're not going to do it right now. MR. VALBUENA: THE COURT: I understand that, Judge.

I'm going to get rid of all of these

other cases and come back to this. But the only thing we're going to be talking about is the child support. None of these other things we're going Do y'all understand? And, of

to be talking about.

course, y'all have already admitted the attorney's fees being paid. MR. VALBUENA: Yes, sir.

i am just marking this to see if he mentions the "other stuff" again.

RECUSAL THE COURT:

there.

But I need the stuff you have got right

If he's not prepared to pay that much that y'all

admit that he owes, he's going to stay in jail until he pays.

MR. VALBUENA:

I GUESS HE IS TALKING ABOUT THE 2700 IN HIS LETTER WHICH I WILL COMMENT ON IS A BUNCH OF B.S. DUE TO OUR FINANCIAL AFF,
Again, Judge, I think that if he's not Like

found in willful contempt, he shouldn't go to jail. you said, if he was operating under court order that said --

NEEDS 23 BE CHANGED MS. LOWE: TO

24 25

I took care of that. I understand.

ID LIKE TO KNOW THE END OF THIS AND WHY I WOULD HAVE SAID....
And then under the He

MR. VALBUENA:

entire 2004 case, there were court orders in place. 36

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 RECUSAL 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

was operating under those. THE COURT: I didn't hold him on 2004. I just got Then I

him on 2001, 2002, and 2003 to June 10th, 2004. started back again in 2008. MR. VALBUENA: THE COURT: still $40,000. MR. VALBUENA: THE COURT: I understand, Judge. And go on forward.

I didn't hold him in contempt.

That's

I'm sorry.

I thought we were going to

get right through this, but obviously none of y'all agree with anything I have to say so we'll just -MS. LOWE: Your Honor, if I have a witness from out

of town I want to bring with me, can I bring them up?

(Proceedings adjourned and then continued in session.)

BALDWIN WILL NOT LET ME PROVE MY CASE!!

THE COURT:

Not right now, no.

Let's go.

THIS IS WHEN MY MOTHER AND E R O R D GRANDMOTHER HEARD THE EXPARTE COMMUNICATIONS.

THE COURT: There's no question that he owes you some attorney's fees. The other question is how much child support does he owe you? I would only find him in contempt for those

times when that was kind of, that the other order was in effect when we had, when y'all were given time that you had, that y'all were supposed to have shared custody and no child support paid. contempt for that. I'm not going to hold him in

CHANGED HIS MIND FROM HE WOULDN'T HOLD HIM IN WILLFUL CONTEMPT TO NOW IN CONTEMPT AT 37 ALL. TIME HE IS SPEAKING OF IS SIMPSON TEMP FROM JUNE OR JULY 2004- DEC. 2008. It doesn't sound right that Mike be able to not drive his case, end up loosing it and still get what he wants!

THIS MAKES NO SENSE. "WHAT I WANT IS AN ORDER" AND I WANT TO APPROVE THE MEDIATOR? DO YOU THINK HE WANTED A 40K ORDER? AGAIN IT LOOKS LIKE SOME PART IS MISSING?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Then I had the other time, and I figured it up at $40,000. So what I want is an order, and I want to

approve the mediator. When is the next time we're in court in, let's say April? THE CLERK: THE COURT: THE CLERK: THE COURT: it the 28th. then. 14th and the 28th. Am I here both times? Yes, sir.

RECUSAL.

I'm going to give y'all until -- we'll do

And y'all have got to have this mediated by

The mediator has got to give me a report of either

the agreement that y'all have written or are recommending now.

This is not all bad for you, Ms. Lowe, because if

IVE RECOMMENED WHAT I WANT INTHE COMPLAINT!

during that time I'll allow you to amend your petition, contempt petition, and if you allege it correctly about the money you lost on losing the house, I would probably give you some or all of that money. you now. I can't exactly tell

It sounds like the 5,000 you're definitely due, We'll just have to see. I'd

and the other I don't know.

have to see all your documents.

You're going to have to So you've

have somebody to testify about those documents. got that.

The other thing, wasn't there some taxes, y'all had the tax thing that said she was no longer in the deal? 38

RECUSAL. HE HAS MEMORY PROBLEMS!

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

MS. LOWE: THE COURT:

I've got a certified copy. What I want to do is I want to find out

what those taxes were for and whether she still has any liability for them. That's what I want to find out.

I will accept some kind of certified something from the IRS that says whichever way it is. I don't care.

Technically we should have somebody from the IRS come in here and testify that this is a true and correct copy of this thing. But I know that's a lot of trouble for y'all.

So I'll accept just a, kind of like you've got on the other thing about the showing that she's taken off. Now, the dilemma is is that I never understood i knew he would exactly why you gave him $50,000 to go toward the taxes. MS. LOWE: them.

mention it again. DOESN'T MATTER BALDWIN! Because he did all of our finances, all of

Hopefully Matt Collins -I can't hear you. I'm sorry.

COURT REPORTER: MS. LOWE:

Hopefully Matt Collins will be happy to

come up and testify. THE COURT: What I'm trying to find out was in the

divorce were y'all taking the position that both of you owed these taxes, and so you just gave him your share or some portion of it and he was supposed to pay it? OMG, READ THE MS. LOWE: No. He took it. We had shared accounts.

DECREE.

It was for our taxes, so he said he was paying the taxes. I made more money than he did at that point, and that's 39

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

how it went.

He took the money.

I said I didn't know

they were not paid until I got a tax bill. But what I do know is that his tax lien, personal tax lien got paid off at the same time. THE COURT: What I'm trying to ask you is, is you I'm trying to think of some reason It seems like

want this 50,000 back.

I should or should not give it back to you.

if you gave him 50,000 to take care of y'all's joint tax bill, and so far as you're concerned it was taken care of, I don't know why you should get the 50,000 back. MS. LOWE:

BECUASE IT IS AN ORDER IS WHAT I SHOULD HAVE SAID Because that's like you allowing him to INSTEAD OF....
You just said his taxes were paid off. His personal before we were married. He

steal from me and him not paying anything. THE COURT: MS. LOWE:

had a $12,000 tax lien he paid off at that time. THE COURT: MS. LOWE: THE COURT: gave him. Was this a tax lien on the business? No. It was on him personally.

No, I'm talking about the 50,000 that you

Was that on the business? Personal taxes. Personal taxes? Personal taxes. Just a joint-tax return thing. There was self-employment for business and

MS. LOWE: THE COURT: MS. LOWE: THE COURT: MS. LOWE:

then a personal also. 40

1 2 3 4 5

THE COURT:

Okay.

Well, the whole purpose of you

giving him $50,000 was to take that liability off of you. MS. LOWE: that time. THE COURT: But I mean, why do you care if you don't And you did have the exposure now No. It was just -- we were married at

RECUSAL 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

have the liability? before.

That's what I don't understand. I still have the exposure. He's not

MS. LOWE:

paying the IRS back the 50,000. THE COURT:

He's already said that. He's

No, you don't have the exposure.

got the thing from the IRS saying that you don't have any responsibility for it. MS. LOWE: That would be just like telling people

it's okay to take the money and then bankrupt on the loan that you keep the money. right. That's not right. That's not I'm not

My credit is seriously damaged by this.

even taking any of that into account. RECUSAL- HE KNOWS NOW ABOUT THE COURT: 50,000. You're probably not going to get that

SUPREME COURT HE READ IT HIMSELF.

A

RECUSAL
There's an order that says that.

MS. LOWE:

contempt action can modify; is that not right? do you have that tells that? THE COURT: MS. LOWE: THE COURT:

CANT MODIFY. I THOUGHT SHE CHANGED THAT.

What law

I don't have to tell you anything. I'm just asking.

RECUSAL.

I'm not going back through all these 41

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

things.

RECUSAL....OMG!!! outstanding order like that, order for him to pay you

I know darn well that you don't have any RECUSAL,

RECUSAL,

MY $50,000. GRANDMOTHER I'll double check that, but I'm sure I'm right. IS RIGHT.
What y'all have got to do is have somebody mediate. Y'all are going to That mediator I need to know who the mediator is.

have to share in the cost of the mediator.

has got to give me a written report about what he recommends as back child support, what he recommends about the tax bill, and what he recommends about the contempt -I feel like, and I know you don't agree with that; you think it's been litigated and is no longer an issue, but I don't agree with you -- what he thinks about the house, what she should get where he was supposed to be paying for the house and it went under. MR. VALBUENA: Judge, two things. Would you want it

more in the nature of a special master instead of a mediator because the mediator normally tries to stay neutral and doesn't make a report like that back to the Court? THE COURT: I'm ordering him to do it. I think it

ought to be mediated.

Y'all ought to have a professional

mediator, but I don't want y'all coming back here and telling me what the mediator said. If y'all can't settle

it -- now, if you settle it, it doesn't matter -- if you can't settle it, then I want a report from him 42

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

recommending to the Court what he thinks ought to be done in this case. MR. VALBUENA: What I'm saying is, the mediator He can't be

hearing rules it is completely confidential. compelled to testify to all of that.

Do you want it to be more of a special master where the special master is ordered to mediate the case and then make a recommendation back to the Court? The mediator may

say, I can't do that; because of mediation rules I'm not allowed to do that. THE COURT: testify?

Is that right?

RECUSAL, HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW WHAT HE CAN OR CANT DO.

You can't compel them to I can compel

I've never seen that before.

almost anybody to testify, including doctors and psychiatrists and everybody else. MR. VALBUENA: The mediators tell you that when you

start mediation, they will tell you it's completely confidential. I can't be compelled to testify. You can't

call me to court to say this is what has been offered, and this is how they want this mediation. THE COURT: You're not supposed to be able to discuss

any kind of settlement discussions, if the thing is not settled.

But if you want to make it like a special master, that is fine with me. I don't care.

RECUSAL: WHY ME PAY FOR 1/2 AND I DON'T CARE?

They both have got

to pay one-half the bill, and it's got to be done by April 43

JAN-1-2002

12: lOP FRDr1:

TO: 18666986080

P: 11- 13

1
2

the 28 th.

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4

6
7

I ha ve . Yo ur Ho nor , on e oth er thi ng er. st on Ms. Lowe ba ck in Oc tob We ser ve d a dis co ve ry req ue th fir st ha d a co nv ers ati on wi When we fir st ap pe are d or I se d th at. And sa id, we ll, Jud ge Ki rby , he sa id I rai nte mp t. Ms. Lowe sa id th at. n't nee d dis co ve ry for a co do e to ld Ms. Lowe she di dn 't hav So Jud ge Ki rby ba sic all y to MR. VALBUENA:

8
9

ans we r dis co ve ry. dir ec tio n fro m the Co urt At th is po int I ne ed some th at d tod ay it' s cle ar I nee d be cau se as thi ng s pro gre sse fen d wh at sh e'S all eg ing , dis co ve ry to be ab le to de mo dif ies or am end s he r es pe cia lly if she go es and ho use stu ff. I nee d th at nt as to now th is ma rit al co mp lai We e no do cum ent s fro m he r. dis co ve ry. Ot he rw ise I hav s a cir cu s. ge t he re lik e th is, and it' ing for ? THB COURT: What are you ask the ans we rs to the VALBUENA: The do cum ent s and

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14

15 16 17
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MR.

dis co ve ry. -- (in au dib le) Al l my acc ou nt nu mb ers and u'd lim it wh at yo ur THE COURT: Lo ok. I thi nk yo s th at I ju st gav e yo u. dis co ve ry is to tho se iss ue MS. LOWE:

20
21

22 23 NOTE: MARTIN IS SUPPOSED TO 24 LET HIM KNOW WHAT HE IS 25 ASKING FOR IN DISCOVERY BEFORE I GIVE UP ANYTHING.

MR. VALBUENA:
THE COURT:

Ye s.

w wh at yo u'r e You do th at and le t me kno see if I le t you do it. ask ing fo r, and the n I'l l th at the y we re. MS. LOWE: Yo ur Ho nor , if I mi gh t ad d 44

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

also asking to get the receipts on any money they paid. never did receive anything.

The timeline that you ordered I've

him to give to me to send to you, I even called him. e-mailed him. I even paid for the transcript.

They've

never sent me anything.

He said no; Judge Baldwin said

for you to send me your allegation and then you send that to him.

RECUSAL: HE WILL NOT LET ME PROVE MY CASE

It does not

We have been to mediation twice before. help. case.

I wish -- I'm begging you to let me prosecute this Let me get my witnesses up there, and you will see;

it will be very clear to you, if you would let me do that. THE COURT: I would not be doing this if this was

clear to me, Ms. Lowe. MS. LOWE: THE COURT: It will be clear if you'll to listen them. I've read tons of stuff. So this is what I didn't

we're going to do. make this mess. MS. LOWE:

I didn't cause this problem.

I didn't either.

(Proceedings concluded.)

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 G E O R G I A: CARROLL COUNTY:

C E R T I F I C A T E

I hereby certify that the above and foregoing proceedings were taken down, as stated in the caption, and reduced to typewriting under my direction; that the foregoing pages, 1 through 45 represent a true and correct transcript of said proceedings. This, the 7th day of March, 2011.

_________________________________ DEBORAH SHIELDS MASON, CCR-B-1040 Registered Professional Reporter My Commission Expires the 6th day of May, 2013.

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JAN-1-2002

12:11P FROM:

TO: 18666986080

P: 1]/13

6:24 pm, Mar 30, 2011

C E R T I FIe ATE

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G E 0 R G I A:
CARROLL COUNTY:

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I hereby certify that the above and foregoing proceedings were taken down, as stated in the caption, and reduced to typewriting under my direction; that the foregoing pages
4, 5, 7, 8, 24, and 44 are amended to the original

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9

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transcript and represent a true and correct transcript of said proceedings. This, the 18th day of March, 2011.

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DEBORAH SHIELDS MASON, CCR-B-I040 Registered Professional Reporter My Commission Expires the 6th day of May, 2013.

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