Not a win, but not really a loss either.

I am working on a longer post for both here and LinkedIn, but wanted to get this out because I think it’s important and this is how I think through things.

The case was dismissed on jurisdictional grounds. This came from the judge before we even got started. She asked why I thought this could or should be heard in this court.

So, let’s backtrack a bit. I filled out the small claims forms in August of 2024 and the clerk of courts accepted them.

15-39-50. Determination of sufficiency of plaintiff’s statement.
The clerk shall serve in a supervisory role to determine whether or not plaintiff has met the criteria of sufficiency and clarity.
If the clerk deems the statement of a cause of action insufficient, the court at the request of the plaintiff or the clerk shall decide whether such cause of action shall be received.

I read the above statute as, “if we take your form you have a case.”

I also assumed (yep, my bad) that since it was moving along with all the nonsense motions of AL, that it had been accepted in this court.

Turns out, nobody really looked at the papers till the night before the hearing (or so was implied). One minute into the hearing and the judge is asking me how I think it should be heard in this court, and I was kind of blind-sided, because I thought we had moved past that question. I didn’t have the SDCL 15-39 chapter in front of me. I did have it in a bag, but I didn’t feel like anything I would say was going to change what the Judge and AL (cuz she asked him) thought.

She told me small claims was for torts and contracts, and that this didn’t seem to fit either one. I was certain that when I read the chapter, I believed it did, but that’s not where my head was. So, I caved.

However, I had been rethinking this decision to file in small claims for quite a while anyway. There was no way to get punitive damages and our damages already mentioned had gone up significantly. Going into the next year meant anther year of interest and another year of the bullshit fee.

What started as $4300 (or something) was now close to $7,000. I added in other costs like the subpoenas and the cost of filing and the cost of postage and printing and just stuff I had to spend money on because they were fighting a fight that they were absolutely wrong on. The judge started by saying we couldn’t record, and then said something that almost sounded in passing, that we could only sue for what we already listed in damages.

Well, damn.

So, I caved and part of it was that I thought circuit court gave us a bigger stage and would get more attention, which is what battles like this needs. We need the public to see it. And when damages get high and there are punitive damages, other officials start to notice and think about their own actions.

So, 5 months of nonsense gamesmanship from AL, and the cost of the filing and 2 subpoenas since AL dragged this out, and the hundreds of hours for me in research and writing and printing… and it was never gonna be heard in that court.

However, I looked at the chapter again and I do believe it should have been heard in that court. It’s a tort.

The Saddleback Road District Board had and has a legal obligation to provide a certain amount of carefulness. They are a taxing entity. They were incompetent or negligent or just outright lied, which is what I believe based on the nonsense in their motions. Their carelessness caused me harm. It cost me money. It doesn’t say “bodily harm” – just “harm.” That is a tort. That’s how I read that. Maybe I should have asked for a few minutes to pull out the papers and read and then argue that point.

It’s possible this implies bodily injury. That’s not how I read it. And when I look up ‘harm’ in the statutes, it appears to me there is a difference between harms. It lists bodily harm and pecuniary and non-pecuniary harm.

I think we were right.

Here’s the thing. IMO- if I was right, then the judge didn’t want to hear it. And I don’t think I want to be in front of a judge that does not want to listen to me. That seems to want nothing to do with this case. And she may have good reasons. She may have recognized the can of worms this case is for the county and possibly the state. I had hoped that a judge would simply want justice.

However, other opinions of people in the room are that the judge was very carefully asking me questions concerning the limits of the case and basically saying without saying, that the argument must stay within the bounds.This was not an issue in my mind, however it would have been very easy for AL to jump rails and get it dismissed for jurisdiction after it started. The people with this thought are of the opinion that the Judge saved me from an investment of more time.

I’m not throwing shade on the judge. I have no idea what her reasons were, but I did get the feeling that she wanted to dismiss the case and I didn’t feel I really had a say. If I had brought up the tort argument and the harm and pecuniary harm discussion… I may have argued convincingly and we would have had the hearing… in front of a judge I have now just annoyed, or with AL who would know exactly how to derail the proceedings.

We won this case on the merits. And AL knows it. That was never in question. We knew and said from the very beginning that if we lose, it will be on a technicality, not the merits. And we didn’t lose, it was dismissed. And not with prejudice.

So, we can file again, in circuit court, which is where it belongs, and it would be heard. That doesn’t mean we will win. Again, if it comes down to just the law, we have it. But procedure is a bear. And it’s been trying to kick my ass.

AND… it’s the same judge. I don’t think that if the judge did not want to hear the case that it was for personal reasons. At least, I don’t think that right now. I think if she had reasons, they were bigger than just not wanting to deal with a pro se or whatever. And I could be reading too much into this. But now that I have the statutes in front of me and definitions, I remember why I thought this was the correct court.

I have two messages out to lawyers who might be willing to be hired as consultants.

However… this is exhausting. This may need to sit a bit and we can wait on some of the other things that we started. We have a few legal issues going right now, and I’m just not excited about adding another big one. I’d really love to move the numerous piles of papers out of my living room… maybe wash some dishes. Clean the dashboard in the car.

It can sit a minute while I take a breath and determine what the next step would be.

For you, dear reader- this is not giving up. Trust the universe. I needed to take a breath, and there might be a time that you do, too. It’s ok. This case was not dismissed on the merits. We are still correct in the law. Again, you need to read the nonsense he has filed which seems now to be apparently only for the possibility that I would slip up or just to keep the channels busy, as they were utter bullshit. I also want to publish my argument, but a few folks who really want to go to circuit court are suggesting I keep my arguments quiet for now.

I’m going to let this sit a bit. I need for the others to hear me out and see if they still want to proceed. It can sit a bit. I’d like a break where I can think about other things.

Looking back on this experience, we are seeing this as a win on the whole. Even this dismissal was a win. I am not sure I would feel the same had I not received all the motions of nonsense from AL. His ‘arguments’ have convinced me (us) that they had absolutely no defense and they were throwing the kitchen sink at it.

It’s a win for us, just not in court. It’s clear we were right. I’m gonna let the ‘court case’ sit a bit. I’ve got enough other stuff to take my attention in all this.

Have I made the point that this can sit a bit? 🙂

Take a break when you need to.