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Tuesday, July 4, 2017

ATTORNEY ROSA REBIMBAS, ATTORNEY BRADFORD BARNEYS AND THE INJUSTICE OF THE STVAN V. STVAN CASE!

For some time now, I have been trying to wrap my head around the involvement of Attorney Bradford Barneys as Attorney for the Minor Child (AMC) in the Stvan v. Stvan case.   As you all may recall, I had written an extensive series of articles about the Stvan case which are located at the following link:  



Just to bring you up to speed, in the Stvan case, on September 25, 2015  Ms. Paige Stvan lost custody and any access whatsoever to her 12 year old daughter, despite having been the primary, if not the sole caretaker, up to that point.  This occurred when Judge Gerard Adelman, the judge in the case, improperly allowed Ms. Stvan's attorney to withdraw under conditions which cast a shadow on Ms. Stvan's reputation, making it impossible for her to replace him with another attorney. Judge Adelman also never conducted the evidentiary hearing which is required by law for a such a radical change in custody to occur, one that totally cut Ms. Stvan out of her daughter's life.  So, to cut a long story short, there was considerable injustice in this case. 

In recent months, this case has again come up on my radar.  Apparently, on February 17, 2017, Rebecca Lurye of the "CT Law Tribune" reported that Attorney Bradford Barneys had pled guilty in federal court to his involvement in a foreclosure scheme.  According to the story, he "admitted he scammed multiple homeowners who were in, or facing foreclosure by making false promises to buy their homes and pay off their mortgages."  How does a criminal like this end up being the Attorney for the Minor Child in a delicate case such as Stvan v. Stvan?

Apparently, Attorney Barneys ended up in the case through the puzzling intervention of a State Representative, Attorney Rosa Rebimbas, who brought Attorney Bradford Barneys into the case despite his criminal background, repeated license suspensions, and clear lack of qualifications for the job.    

So let's just take a look at Attorney Rosa Rebimbas and the nature of her involvement.  Here are the issues.  First of all, there is a problem with Attorney Rosa Rebimbas' participating in this case because, as a State Representative, she has an inordinate amount of influence on the outcome, simply because her status can be very intimidating to the parties, particularly an abused protective mother.  

Further, as a member of the Judiciary Committee of the CT General Assembly, after the case was over she became a part of the state governmental body responsible for reappointing Judge Gerard Adelman to another term as a Judge of the Superior Court.  So on one day she is appearing before Judge Gerard Adelman as a supplicant, and then on another day she is there exercising her authority over him.  Somehow, I find this a very unsavory example of a conflict of interest, and at the very least, you would have thought that Attorney Rebimbas would have abstained from voting under these circumstances.  

Second, it is my understanding that Judge Gerard Adelman gave the job of securing an AMC to Attorney Rosa Rebimbas.   Then once Attorney Rebimbas had decided on Attorney Bradford Barneys, she subjected the mother, Ms. Paige Stvan, to considerable pressure to agree to allow the appointment of Attorney Bradford Barneys over her better judgment.  

Didn't Attorney Rosa Rebimbas have the obligation when she took responsibility for locating an Attorney For the Minor Child to make sure that the person she selected was ethical and capable of doing the job?  

For instance, after reviewing Attorney Barney's case list, it appears that he never once, in any case whatsoever, previously worked as either a Guardian Ad Litem or Attorney For the Minor Child.  So he had zero experience in this field.  In fact, it is also not clear to me that he ever legitimately completed the GAL course!  I'd love to know for sure.   Remarkably, his name still remains on the CT Judicial Branch list of approved GALs. 

Not only that, a quick look at the notation under Attorney Barneys' juris number on the CT Judicial Branch website indicates that Attorney Bradford Barneys' license was suspended from 2001 to 2010. That's one heck of a long time to have your license suspended!  

Next, if you look at Attorney Bradford Barneys' avvo rating--and of course, these are just simple preliminary steps you can take to investigate an attorney's qualifications which can be done in 5-10 minutes--you will see that Attorney Barneys' licenses to practice law were suspended in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and New York, in addition to Connecticut.  

The words "totally incompetent" are coming to mind, not only to describe Attorney Rosa Rebimbas' failure to vet Attorney Bradford Barneys in advance of recommending him, and in regard to Attorney Barneys' clear lack of ethics.  

Ms. Paige Stvan herself describes some of his incompetence as follows, "He never returned any calls or letters...When he was put in the case in December 2015 until April 2016 he never once visited my daughter.  He never met with me and never went to her home with her father.  He just talked to her on [the] phone.  And charged for reading all my emails...I sent him many emails and messages inviting him to visit me anytime no response."  

How is it possible that Attorney Rosa Rebimbas failed not only to screen Attorney Bradford Barneys prior to getting him appointed, but that afterwards she also failed to note his incompetence.  

I do believe that by rights steps should be taken to revisit this case in the light of the multiple violations of the law and of common sense that have occurred in it. 

As an aside, I also think it worth noting that if anyone had cared to do a google search on Attorney Bradford Barneys prior to his appointment in the Stvan case, articles detailing his involvement in the foreclosure scam would have surfaced at least as of November 16, 2014.  "The Day" had an article on this subject including information on Attorney Barneys just around then. A year later, on November 19, 2015, Mr. Timothy Burke was jailed for his role in this scam while Attorney Bradford Barneys was released on $50,000 bond. Astoundingly, Attorney Barneys was then appointed AMC in the Stvan case a little over a month later on December 23, 2015.

Given what we now know, let us look at the outcome of the mortgage fraud case that Attorney Bradford Barneys was involved in along with con man Timothy W. Burke.  On April 28, 2017 Karin Florin of "The Day" reported that Mr. Burke will be serving 9 years for the combined housing scam and tax evasion charges, 6 of them in jail, and 3 of them on probation.  

As we know, Attorney Bradford Barneys was integrally involved in these criminal activities. According to Rebecca Lurye in her February 21, 2017 article in the "CT Law Tribune", "Between 2011 and at least 2014, Barnes participated in dozens of meetings with Burke and homeowners at his law office."  

And further, "Barneys pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, which carried a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.  Sentencing is scheduled for June 13."  

On April 11, 2017, Attorney Bradford Barneys' license was suspended again in Connecticut.  But as for the sentencing held on June 13, 2017, after a hearing of approximately 45 minutes, the hearing was continued and has now been rescheduled for July 13, 2017 at 2:00pm.  We have seen that Burke got 9 years for his malfeasance.  I am assuming Attorney Bradford Barneys will get the equivalent.  

Still, what about Attorney Bradford Barneys' infamous role in the Stvan v. Stvan custody switching scheme?  What will be done about that?  Until this issue is addressed, there remains injustice in this case.

UPDATE:  For those who are interested, on July 13, 2017 Attorney Bradford Barneys was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in jail and 3 years of probation.  He will be required to surrender on October 19, 2017.  I am not sure if this will compensate his victims, but at least it is a start.

16 comments:

  1. Only the best crooks in Adelmonster's court. Crooks + Children = Pedo.
    Connecticut, where it takes the State government to traffick kids......no one can hear them scream.

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  2. several CT residents have followed this saga, some for months, others for years. One irony among several is all residents, investigative journalists/media outlets and legal authorities have been provided with this thorough, factual reporting during this period reflecting a common thread and consistent negative theme throughout. Information from this site has been provided on a silver platter. What's the remedial action to date? Why doesn't a law school curriculum include an ethics research and report on this fiasco and/or simply explore this site for real world insights? Where are the legislators aside from a very few brave souls?

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    1. With due respect sir/madam the answer to your dilemma is in plain sight. Yes, clearly key legislators are either tacitly in support of the status quo (with some being conscious contributors) and others simply pretend these unlawful family court practices and actions don't exist..Clearly, a high percentage of legislators have zero incentive to act a la federral legislators' thankless task at roping in excesses of Obamacare Medicaid and other wonderful Demo-giveaway programs..But alas,back to the "plain sight" above. What a group of us like-mindeds in northern CT concluded, the main reason for the glacial progress in uncovering and punishing the lawless actions ofthefamily court food chain..from judicial committee heads to the majority of CT family attorneys sycophants and the cadre of administrators serving them is one thing. FEAR. F-E-A-R. Fear of reprisal, fear of economic loss, fear of having to defend oneself in court, fear of a long, arduous fight. And with most crusaders/vigilantes on limited time and financial budgets. If YOU have any doubt, read the litany of reprisal detailed in this blog!!.so it is..this large silent majority of observers, many of us choosing to hide under the "anonymous" cloak, for we can only look to the investigative reporters named in this blog who report, communicate and endure every day with grateful support from legislators Menendez and handful of others... What shape will this CT family court charade take two or five years from now? What does your heart say?

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  3. I’m not involved in family law but I take your point that there’s no longer a separation of powers in this state. As a member of the public I recently asked a member of the Judiciary Committee for a copy of a judge’s Judiciary Committee questionnaire submitted back to that committee before the judge’s reconfirmation proceedings. Rather than a response from that committee member (as required by FOIA), I got an email from a Legislative lawyer telling me, untruthfully, that the questionnaire was exempt from disclosure and deceitfully quoting a section of a statute that actually came from the statute pertinent to the confidentiality of a judge’s questionnaire submitted to the Judicial Selection Commission (Executive Branch), and was not pertinent to the questionnaires submitted to judges by the Joint Judiciary Committee of the CGA. I went to someone else in the CGA administrative office and he reiterated that the questionnaire I sought was not subject to disclosure. I filed a complaint with the Freedom of Info Commission. An Ass’t Attorney General filed an appearance. (Even tho’ there are a number of attorneys employed by the Legislature purportedly to represent the Legislative Branch in legal actions.) The FOIC ombudsman called me and said the AG’s office was prepared to argue the constitutional “speech and debate clause”! OR…, she said, if I withdrew my complaint he’d give me the questionnaire. I did and he did. Apparently no one looked forward to a public hearing on the matter. But consider this-- 3 branches of our government fighting a request for a public record by a member of the public! No checks and balances at all. And Connecticut is called “The Constitution State?” Better change those license plate slogans. Truth in advertising.

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    1. Clearly you're one of the leaders and visionaries we, the silent majority, so respect..Godspeed..

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    2. Thanks for your comment. But when I found that the judge had answered one question untruthfully, violating a statute, and informed Judiciary Cmte members about it, with proof, I got no response at all. (I'm a civil litigant) In this state there seems to be a pact between judges and lawyers (including the ones on the JC)--Don't hold us accountable and we won't hold you accountable. Note also to anyone who wants to request a judge's questionnaire: The "speech and debate clause" of the constitution only protects a legislator from being brought before a tribunal when the legislature is in session.

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    3. The silent majority sadly hasn't responded to this noble civil litigant. What a waste.

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  4. Adelman is a crook. Feds are protecting the scam. Rebimbas is dirty. Follow the money. Plenty of felonies to prosecute here.

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  5. I truly hope this case does not atrophy in the minds of others.. The mother continues on hourly with a painful heavy heart just barely staying relevant..as mentioned before in this blog..why isn't there a LEGAL AID fund earmarked for women's rights in CT family Court? Is there one I'm missing? How can it be that no CT law schools have course work (ethics/family law) designed to explore cases on this blog and the ugly thread through so many of them? Where is the conscience of CT?

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    1. Incredible there are no replies to mny of these posts..a surrendered readership regretfully..

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  6. Don't tell us Judge Rebimbo is unscathed over the Barney case!!Does anyone know re cases where Barney was involved(including the Stvan case) if there's any relief for the aggrieved individuals? Where is the "aggrieved mothers of CT" legal fund to which we can contribute? Why the collective yawns out there? Wake up all you Van Winkles!!

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    1. The silence is deafening..wake me at 9 and have the keurig on, yawn..

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    2. Where in the He'll does the Barney case stand regarding the cases he was dealing with at conviction. I heard a judge reassigned another legal clown to these cases. Past cases like Stvan vs Stvan what happens there? Does Mrs Stvan get any relief or is more of a downward spiral for her? Does anyone have a clue and for that matter does anyone care?

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    3. I don't think anyone is home..the CT family court fiasco deserves better.

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  7. Where is Mr Barney now and what happened to his recent cases including Stvan vs Stvan? Anyone besides Barney get in legal trouble or is it shoved under the friendly CT family court rug?

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