“Abuse Of Power”; Federal Judge Orders Black Judge to Jail for Tribal Court Duty

Federal Magistrate Judge is questioned by Tribal Court Judge on legal rights to jail a black Judge for doing his job (Judging) (See original story at https://tinyurl.com/101022b )

Last Friday, The United States District Court for the Northern District of California denied the release of an African American Muslim man, known from an earlier news report to be a Tribal Court Judge of an Indian Tribal Community near the Bay Area. The court’s reason for denying the release from jail was the same as why he was initially arrested and jailed in September-There were court orders issued by the Tribal Court Judge that ‘involve fraud and are an abuse of judicial power.’

Among the five court hearings in this criminal action, United States Magistrate Judge Nathaniel Cousins declared it to be “extraordinary,” resulting in several hours of cross-examination of a DOJ official who filed a complaint against Peterson in September. A federal probation officer, Anthony Cardenas, told the court that the reason why he filed the criminal complaint on the Costanoan Tribal Court Chief Justice, Cary Lee Peterson, was because he felt that there was something suspicious about someone who had been a probation-client of his, to be employed as a judge and chief counsel for an Indian Tribal Government.

Flawed Testimony from DOJ Official

Peterson’s defense attorney, Jesse Ortiz, debriefed Cardenas over two days. Ortiz questioned Cardenas about particular charges concerning Peterson’s work at the Costanoan-Chualar Indian Tribal Community of Indian Canyon. More than less, Cardenas’s answers during his testimony contradicted the claims he had previously made against Peterson in his complaint. Additionally, the U.S. attorney conceded that much of the complaint was “hyperbole,” but his initial concern was that Peterson ‘was acting as the law on behalf of an Indian Tribe.’

In one instance, attorney Ortiz went in so far as to tell Cardenas that his claim of receiving a particular court document from San Benito’s County district attorney was “impossible” due to the fact that the time stamps of the court exhibit were dated and filed with the court two weeks after Cardenas stated in his complaint, and earlier testimony, that he had received the information from San Benito County officials.

In other instances, Cardenas told the court that his investigation confirmed court records and a related civil action heard by U.S. District Court Judge, Edward J. Davila (Sayers-Roods, et al. v. Machado, CAND-22-cv-03092-EJD, Doc. No. 52 at 2) (https://bit.ly/3pGd4wF ). These court papers include affidavits that were certified by the Costanoan-Chuluar Tribal Government President Kanyon Sayers-Roods, that Peterson did in fact work for the Indian Tribal Court and Tribal Council. However, Cardenas told the court that he did not believe that Peterson should be making so much money, working for an Indian tribe, be allowed to serve as a tribal court judge, have a right to consolidate an old student loan (in order to attend law studies at Harvard), or contact the local police to report a break-in at his San Jose home or trespassing violations of non-Indian at the Indian reservation where Peterson works.

After the U.S. probation officer, Cardenas, left the witness stand, Peterson’s attorney asked the court to release Peterson from the federal custody hold at Santa Rita Jail in Alameda County, where Peterson has been jailed without bail since September. Judge Cousins denied this motion for release, stating that Cardenas’s evidence and testimony concerning Peterson’s ‘judicial abuse,’ among other things in Nexus to a work-related arrest and search warrant issued by the Superior Court of San Benito County – Two warrants that never resulted in criminal charges filed by the county district attorney, but are said to remain under investigation.

Federal Judge vs. Tribal Judge

Tribal Court Justice Peterson told U.S. Magistrate Judge Cousins that he had been dropped from his law courses at Harvard due to being “unlawfully jailed” for the past 45 days, which caused Peterson to miss several classes.

Peterson further confronted Judge Cousins on his abuse of discretion, on the fact that Judge Cousins did not have the power to sanction, prohibit, detain, or remove another Judge for conducting his duties in an official capacity for an Indian tribal government. The confrontation between Judge Cousins and Judge Peterson began after Judge Cousins repeatedly mentioned that there was an ‘abuse of judicial power’ when Peterson issued an arrest warrant from a Tribal Court, being the primary reason why he demanded Peterson remain in jail under federal custody. Presently, nowhere in the court record does such a complaint, citation, or indictment, exist; nor was there any legal action taken by the judiciary ethics board concerning Peterson’s judgeship.

Judge Cousin’s provided no responses to Peterson’s challenge on the cognizable interest of the U.S. District Court sanctioning a Tribal Government’s Court, to the effect of Judge Davila’s court orders issued this past summer that acknowledged the existence (of both), the “Costanoan Tribal Court” and the “Costanoan-Chualar Indian Tribal Government of Indian Canyon.”

October 27, Tribal Chief Justice Cary Peterson, in federal custody for abuse of judicial power to ‘commit fraud and abuse of judicial power,’ attempted to file a [“Rule 24 b2”] special motion that legally allows a Tribal Government official to intervene in a court case. But Judge Cousins denied the Tribal Government’s filing saying that such an intervention will not be allowed.

Future Court Dates

This case is scheduled for a hearing before United States District Court Judge Beth L. Freeman at the U.S. Courthouse in San Jose on November 15, 2022.

The U.S. Attorney’s Remarks

Attempts to contact the office of Bay Area U.S. Attorney Stephanie Hinds to obtain answers to questions about this unusual case and Cardenas’s contradicting testimony were unsuccessful. U.S. attorney Hinds is someone Petersen sued last year in a civil action heard by Judge Cousins.

In last Friday’s court hearing the assistant U.S. attorney stated that the fact that Peterson hired licensed and armed security guards on behalf of the Tribal Community to patrol the Indian Reservation Road, Peterson should be considered a threat of harm to the community and refused bail, primarily because Peterson is “Acting like he’s the law… and that’s a big problem.”

In September, the U.S. attorney told the court that ‘this complicated issue boils down to the fact that Peterson is acting as the chief of law and order for an Indian Tribe.’

Supporting Media Sources

Court Transcript (U.S. v. Peterson, US-CAND-22-CR-0338-BLF, OCT. 24, 2022)   (https://tinyurl.com/56936z6d )

Court Order – Nathanael Cousins- U.S.D.C NDC (United States of America vs Cary Lee Peterson, Case No. 22-cr-0338 BLF) (https://bit.ly/3RMKSUG )

Bay Area Judge Release 2 White Murder Defendants & Deny Bail For 2 Non-Violent Black Defendants (https://emwnews.com/bay-area-judges-release-2-white-murder-defendants-deny-bail-for-2-non-violent-black-defendants )

Federal Judge in California Passes Baton to Costanoan-Chualar Tribal Government in Lawsuit Against Non-Indian Offender (https://bit.ly/3RHDGch ).

Federal Subpoena – San Benito County Counsel Barbara Thompson (Sayers-Roods, et al. v. Machado, Case No. 22-cv-03092-EJD, Doc. No. 45, Aug.4, 2022) (https://bit.ly/3AHfEJa)

Ishita Sharma
Robert Peterson & Fields Associates PC
+1 213-986-4414

Keywords: Systemic Racism, Racial Inequality, Racial Injustice, Abuse of Power, Judge Nathaniel Cousins, Judge Beth Freeman, Judge Edward Davila, Justice Cary Lee Peterson, Black Judge, Cary Peterson, Stephanie M. Hinds, Cary Peterson Judge, Muslim Judge, The Northern District of California, Costanoan Tribal Court, Costanoan Chualar Indian Tribal Government, Indian Canyon, Kanyon Sayers-Roods, Anthony Cardenas, African American Judge, Abuse of Discretion, Judicial Abuse, Malicious Prosecution, San Benito County District Attorney, Superior Court of San Benito County, San Benito County Council Barbara Thompson, San Benito County Sheriff, Judge Beth L. Freeman, Bay Area U.S. Attorney Stephanie Hinds, U.S. Attorney Stephanie Hinds, Stephanie Hinds,

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