Trial Judge's Treatment of 'Invisible' Man Was Wrong, Appeals Court Says
When David Battah showed up without a lawyer at the Superior Court of Justice in Canada last year, “it was as if he suddenly became invisible,” a newspaper recounts.
Battah had lined up an attorney to help him protest a $463,000 payment being sought from an aunt’s estate, but his counsel couldn’t attend the hearing that day. So the 50-year-old Rod Stewart impersonator came to the hearing without him, and requested an adjournment, the Star reports. Although it would have been the first adjournment in the case, his request was denied by Justice Kenneth Langdon.
The hearing began immediately, and Langdon authorized both the payment and an additional $50,000 in legal costs without giving Battah a chance to say anything.
“After five minutes, [Battah] had lost more than $500,000 without being permitted to say a single word,” says the Ontario Court of Appeal in a written opinion. “This was a complete denial of natural justice.”
It sent the case back for a new hearing. The article doesn’t say whether it is expected to be held before the same judge.
