UPDATED: 1/6/23 at 6:37 AM PST
Yesterday, oral arguments on the motion to dismiss Kenneth Petty's lawsuit against NY were heard...sort of. After all the money spent on lawyers and all the bad press for Nicki Minaj, Kenneth Petty and his lawyer showed up to court just to tell the judge...Oops, My Bad.
Kenneth Petty sued NY, claiming he never got a chance to contest his level 2 sex offender status. Well, NY
fired back, claiming that not only did he get his day in court, but he was there, agreed to his level 2 SO status, and was represented by a lawyer. In addition, NY provided transcripts from the hearing (see below).
On Thursday, Petty waved the white flag and asked the judge to withdraw his lawsuit. Alan Gerson, Petty's attorney, told the NY Daily News that he expects the case to be formally withdrawn in the next week or two.
A paralegal who works with Gerson said, "We were just going according to his (Petty) statement, what he's telling us, that he was not present." She then tries to play in our faces by saying, "I don't think that he purposely lied to us; I just believe maybe he forgot."
To sum it up, Kenneth Petty will stay on the sex offender registry...drop a 💧.
Updated: 8:11 AM PST
Judge is considering sanctions...
UPDATED: 4/15 at 11:53 PM PST
Kenneth Petty's attorney waited until the very last day to oppose the State's dismissal request, but Gerson got the papers in by the hairs on Kenny's chinny-chin-chin.
I have included the arguments below for your reading pleasure, but the main point in dispute is the claim tthat Petty did attend his SORA hearing. If this is determined to be factual, it blows up Petty's claims that his due process rights were violated.
In a previous update, I reported the State presented transcripts showing Petty was present at his SORA hearing along with this attorney. However, Gerson, Petty's attorney, argues that there is a "factual dispute regarding his attendance" and that he is in the process of requesting incarceration records to physically prove Kenny could not have attended his SORA hearing because he was not permitted to leave the premises.
So, on those grounds, Gerson feels a dismissal should not be granted since they have not had discovery yet.
Two thoughts came to mind when I read Gerson's argument:
1) Stalling Tactic
2) Wordplay
STALLING TACTIC
First, we have to remember that Petty is the plaintiff in this case, not the defendant. He is the one claiming his right to due process was violated because he was never informed of a SORA hearing(s).
When the judge gave both sides dates to hear their arguments, Petty ignored his date and instead got his sentencing date in his failure to register case extended.
Which, as I suspected, was a tactical play.
By Petty missing his due date, this forced the defendant, NY State, to present their defense first, where they revealed they had transcripts from the SORA hearing.
Now, Petty and his attorney can stall by claiming they are in the process of getting "proof" that they should have already had, considering they are the ones who filed the fck'n case. By being the plaintiff, the burden of proof falls on them.
It makes you wonder what evidence besides Kenny's words the lawyer had before filing this lawsuit???
Also, why not contact Petty's former attorney, who also attended the SORA hearing, to testify? Oops, I guess that would help out the defense because how can you be represented at a SORA hearing that you were not informed of?
WORDPLAY
This is where we get into the wordplay. Gerson argues that Petty did not attend the SORA hearing cause he was not allowed to leave prison. But, that does not mean Petty was not there via another form of communication. We all know with COVID that you do not have to be physically in court to be present for hearings.
Since Gerson is not arguing the transcripts are fake, it appears he is only claiming that Petty was not physically in the hearing, so somehow that violated his rights, despite him being allowed to hear everything and respond to questions.
This is giving me deja vu of the Hough case where there was a dispute over if Petty was actually served because the papers were not put in his hands...because he refused to open the door.
PINK SHOVEL
This tactic may work only because the judge already allowed Petty to argue against the dismissal despite missing his first date to present his case. I doubt we would be giving the same leeway, but it goes to show what having Nicki Minaj as a wife can get you.
Now that this is a "high-profile" case, the judge will probably allow Petty all the shovels he wants to avoid any scrutiny. So, I would not be shocked if this case is allowed to continue.
Note: 2 SORA hearings are in question.
UPDATED: 4/9 at 9:44 PM PST
The judge has given Kenneth Petty until 4/15 to respond to the State's request to dismiss the case. There will be no further extensions. If no response by the 15th, the court deems this case fully briefed and we wait for a ruling.
There has been an update in the case of Kenneth Petty vs. The State Of New York, and it does not look promising for Mr. Petty.
RECAP
Last year, Kenneth Petty filed a lawsuit against the State Of New York and The New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services to get his name removed from the sex offender registry list. Petty claims he never got the chance to challenge his level 2 sex offender status, which requires him to be registered for life.
In court documents, Petty's lawyer argues he was never properly notified of his SORA hearing to contest his classification because the papers were mailed to his home address while he was incarcerated. Furthermore, his signature declaring he would not be attending the hearing was forged.
UPDATE
The State Of New York/Criminal Justice Services filed a motion to dismiss all claims against them, noting:
Petty failed to serve his opposition to the dismissal request by the March 7th date set by the judge.
11 Amendment prevents American citizens from suing a state in federal court.
But that is not it. The State says Petty's claims that he was never notified of his 2004 SORA hearing are frivolous. They reveal that Petty was not only informed of his hearing but APPEARED WITH HIS ATTORNEY!
The State pulled the transcripts from the 2004 hearing and stated to the judge, "Plaintiff acknowledged his identity on the record, and his counsel stated that Plaintiff did not contest his designation as a level 2 sex offender." They also provided a copy of the transcripts (see below).
HMMM...
Is this why they decided to not respond? What is weird is that on the date Kenneth was to respond to this
case, his attorney requested and was granted a continuance on his sentencing date in the other case where he failed to register as a sex offender. They actually noted this case as one of the reasons they wanted to push back his sentencing date as if they had a chance of winning. Now, the State says, "AHT, AHT."
Also, would Kenny's lawyer be dumb enough to put something in court documents he knew was not factual?
One thing we have learned about the Pettys, is they seem to miss deadlines as some type of strategic move. So, maybe there is a plan in place and it is not as bad as it looks.
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