Sunday, February 2, 2020

Court Goes Haywire for David Rucki et al

Things have seemed to turn for David Rucki in court.

Specifically, recently, a judge, Jerome Abrams, seemed to have a bit of a hissy fit while writing a January 2020 order.


In that order, Judge Abrams begins in a most bizarre manner, by stating, "The court has been left in an unusual posture since the decision of Deirdre Evavold to "quit" participating as a defendant in this case."

Evavold is one of several defendants being sued by David Rucki. A previous filing from the suit, which lists all plaintiffs and defendants, along with a summary of the case, is below.

Evavold withdrew as a defendant, meaning she would lose by default, previously. Somehow, Judge Abrams claims this made things more complicated.

Evavold is not the only litigant who the judge admonished in his order. He also admonished State Farm, drawn in because they provide homeowner's insurance coverage to Evavold.

While they may have been drawn in, State Farm then proceeded to demand they be able to depose, Evavold and her husband, even though her husband wasn't even being sued; they even wanted for Lisa Elliott, David Rucki's attorney, to be able to depose her on the same day.

The judge continued, "State Farm takes the position, in an unhelpful response to the court, that it should enter a finding of no coverage," meaning State Farm shouldn't be forced to pay whatever damages David Rucki proves.

Judge Abrams then noted that on November 1, 2019, he ordered the parties to agree on terms to dispose of the case or to draft all the issues which were still unsettled.

State Farm, as Evavold's insurer, was still left, but Evavold was not.

There was no agreement, and this also seemed to irritate Judge Abrams.

"Again, not surprisingly, the parties formally set forth what they disagreed about in correspondence, in response to this court's order.

"As a consequence of these divergent viewpoints, the Court is left without the ability to formulate a plan, as the parties cannot agree on the issues which remain in these cases, the timing of any future events, nor a process under which these matters can be directed to a fair and orderly resolution."

There was a February 3, 2020, trial date scheduled but that was postponed until at least June, however, Abrams also requires agreement on numerous issues which there is no agreement yet as well.

The History

 On April 19, 2013, David and Sandra Grazzini-Rucki's two oldest daughters- Samantha and Gianna- ran and disappeared.

They were found in November 2015 and because David Rucki had a custody order giving him sole custody; Sandra Grazzini-Rucki and others were charged with crimes.

In 2016, all those charged with crimes were either convicted or plead guilty.

Doug and Gina Dahlen, with whom the two girls stayed willingly, plead guilty; SGR and Evavold, who recommended the Dahlen's to SGR, were found guilty in trials.

David Rucki, the courts, and the media all claimed that SGR was "alienating" him from his kids and that's why all five of his kids rejected him and why the two girls ran.

SGR and all her kids, at various times, all said David was abusive, as in this audio recording made by his daughter, Samantha, where she said he choked her mother with an organ leg, choked her sister on a couch, and made comments about Samantha's breasts and ran his hands up her leg. (Starting at 4:51 until 7:10)

Below are 99 pages of incidents of violence by David Rucki.
Despite that, as I said, there were convictions or guilty pleas; as such, David Rucki has since been systematically approaching those considered by the law perpetrators against him and demanding civil settlements as well.

He, I was told, approached the Dahlen's and settled, in a conveniently sealed settlement, for six figures.

This lawsuit in which Judge Abrams now has a hissy fit in was presumably the next step.

Everything was moving nicely along. On May 10, 2019, according to the docket, which is below, a judgment was entered.
 Then, on September 27, 2019, he issued a "Findings of Fact, Conclusion of Law, and Order."

That order is here.

While there was a judgment, a summary judgment in fact, it was still not entirely clear who needed to pay, particularly State Farm or Evavold.

Also, while Judge Abrams issued a summary judgment, this was only on most of the case, he left one part undecided, the issue of whether or not Evavold falsely imprisoned the two girls.

The audio previously referenced was made shortly after Samantha ran. It is below, again, you decide if she ran willingly or was falsely being imprisoned.

 The dispute over whether the girls were falsely imprisoned should not have caused, in my opinion, as much confusion as it has.

Since that May 10 judgment, things have slowly deteriorated, but especially, since I had a conversation with LeHoan Pham, an attorney who represents State Farm in this, in September.

I wanted to know why he was desperately trying to depose his insurance company's client; if State Farm represented Evavold, it didn't seem like a good look that the insurance company would try and depose her.

Even worse, Pham filed a "joinder motion" with Lisa Elliott, David Rucki's attorney. Here is the motion

I wrote more about the situation with Pham here.

Since that conversation, all hell has broken loose in this case.

Pham continued to try to have Evavold and her husband deposed.
Evavold blew off that deposition and when Pham tried to have Judge Abrams force Evavold to sit for a deposition, Abrams did not take him up on his offer, instead ordering the terse order below, which he issued on November 1, 2019.
In the order above, Abrams asked all parties to reach an agreement or submit their lists of items on which they disagree.

I wrote more about it here.

When there was still disagreement, he threw the hissy fit.

Evavold is out, there's no agreement, and there is now only a tentative timeline to finish this case.

Evavold Criminal Charges Thrown Out

 Meanwhile, long simmering criminal charges against Dede Evavold were also recently dropped.

Below is a correspondence from the prosecutor.
This is a case I have reported on previously.

Originally, someone took a photo of Michael Brodkorb's wife. That photo wound up on Twitter, where it remained. It's below.
Even though Twitter finds nothing wrong it, Brodkorb was able to get a protective order against Evavold, and others, but particularly Evavold.

Brodkorb is David Rucki's smear merchant and propagandist. He publishes the website Missing in Minnesota, where he dedicates himself to smearing SGR and anyone who supports her.

He mentioned Evavold's fracas with him on the site.
A judge in Dakota County scheduled Dede Evavold’s criminal trial for March 23, 2020, on a criminal charge of violating a Harassment Restraining Order (HRO) filed against her by Michael Brodkorb. Evavold was charged in May after she attempted to contact Brodkorb for assistance in restarting her blog after WordPress suspended it for violating their terms of service.
Evavold’s criminal trial was scheduled during a hearing today at the Dakota County Northern Service Center in West St. Paul, Minnesota. An evidentiary hearing was also scheduled for February 28, 2020.  
Brodkorb was granted an HRO against Evavold last year for her involvement in surreptitiously obtaining and later distributing a photograph of Brodkorb’s wife and minor children online.

This is despite the fact that Evavold was only shown to have received a copy of the photo. That order is here.

Then, Evavold contacted Brodkorb's attorney, which Brodkorb claimed violated the harassment order.

Initially, prosecutors agreed.

Here is an email from Elliott Knetsch from June 26, 2019, Ms. Evavold-

We are in receipt of your correspondence below.  Please be advised that anything you say or send to us may be used against you in court.  You may wish to consult with an attorney before sending us any further correspondence.

After careful consideration, we will not be dismissing the charges at this time.  

That same Knetsch on January 22, 2020, told Brodkorb in the above letter, "I have reviewed the above referenced police report and after serious consideration, I have decided not to file criminal charges against Mrs. Evavold for this incident."

Remarkable. 

Judge Karen Asphaug Out
(Judge Karen Asphaug)

Here is an item which flew under the radar for a while. 

As of October 31, 2019, Judge Karen Asphaug has announced her intention to retire. 

Who is Judge Karen Asphaug?

She presided over the criminal trials of SGR, Dede Evavold, and the two Dahlen's.

She has materialized in David Rucki's world many times. 

In this article, David Rucki screamed uncontrollably and swore at two and three year olds. Then, when his neighbors threatened to call the police, he said, "If any of you assholes ever call the police on me again, I'll raise holy hell," according to the police report. 

Judge Asphaug was the presiding the judge, who dismissed the case inexplicably for a lack of probable cause, though there were several witnesses who gave police statements, on the eve of trial in February 2010. 

She also recently granted David Rucki a fifty year harassment order against Evavold. That protective order is below. That order was signed on September 9, 2019.




Extended HRO by mikekvolpe on Scribd
  As such that that order expires in 2069. It forbids Evavold from saying David Rucki and his children's names anywhere publicly, particularly not on social media.

I described Asphaug's role in David Rucki's corruption in more detail in the video below, starting at 41:15.

 Now, she is out as a judge. Here is from the announcement, "The vacancies will occur upon the retirements of the Honorable Lawrence Clark and the Honorable Karen Asphaug. The position created by Judge Clark’s retirement will be chambered at Red Wing in Goodhue County. The position created by Judge Asphaug’s retirement will be chambered at Hastings in Dakota County."

 That announcement was made on October 31, 2019. 

 It seems one of David Rucki's favorite judges will not be around to do him more favors. 
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