Some have wondered what the Jerry Cox case has to do with our issues as advocates for men’s rights, especially our continued efforts which have to do with what appear to be a million dollar-plus land grab orchestrated by Mariposa County, California government officials, law enforcement officers, several attorneys and at least one judge.
These coldblooded sharks could not have foreseen the perseverance of our NCFM member paralegals, investigators and attorneys who to this day have been committed to making Mr. Cox whole and holding accountable those individuals responsible for his downfall.
We have maintained throughout this saga that false accusations of rape were used to defame, bankrupt and cripple Mr. Cox so he could not legally withstand the onslaught of their malevolent schemes, especially grabbing his land.
For example, NCFM Vice President Marc Angelucci, Esq. represented Mr. Cox in a recent related restraining order petition hearing filed by Ashley Harris, in which, after an all-day hearing, a female San Luis Obispo County Superior Court Judge found Ashley Harris not credible, denied the restraining order and issued a blistering written decision. You can read the transcript here: TRANSCRIPT (REDACTED) OF 7-26-19 HEARING_Redacted
This seemingly small victory was huge for Mr. Cox, because it legitimized many of our assertions about Ashley Harris, which in turn strengthened Mr. Cox’s civil cases against those who were determined to destroy him, strip him of his property, and run him out of Mariposa County.
Judge F. Dana Walton is the principle judge in Mr. Cox ‘s Mariposa County cases. Built in 1854, the two-judge courthouse is the oldest courthouse west of the Mississippi . The sparsely populated gold and timber County has a history of political corruption, drug running and nefarious dealings. Mariposa is also a major money-making touristy gateway to Yosemite National Park. When Mr. Angelucci, our investigator and I visited Mariposa last year, we were told by one longtime resident that several officials involved in Mr. Cox’s affairs regularly discussed Mr. Cox over lunch at a local café, which is to be expected in such a provincial area.
Moreover, neat and trim as a Stepford Wives house, the town of Mariposa is surrealistically unnerving. Hence, in this wealthy everyone-knows-everyone county, protecting one’s own is also to be expected. Mr. Cox was a successful, but unwelcome outsider. Not one of the boys or founding families. The Stepford overseers wanted him gone. Lifelong Mariposa County resident Judge Walton is undoubtedly close, if not closely affiliated, with involved government officials, attorneys and others who discuss Mr. Cox over lunch.
Except for a few minor exceptions, Judge Walton has sided with the County ever since the issuance of what we believe is an illegal civil search warrant of Mr. Cox’s ranch, business records and personal property. Moreover, the warrant was based in significant part on Harris’s false accusations.
Judge Walton refused to allow Mr. Cox a trial or even an evidentiary hearing with expert testimony before ejecting Mr. Cox from his property and appointing a receivership. Judge Walton also denied numerous motions, witnesses, cross-examination of the County’s version of events, and requests for discovery. Each unfavorable ruling seemingly another warning for Mr. Cox, Mr. Angelucci and NCFM to get out of Mariposa County. Judge Walton has repeatedly threatened Mr. Angelucci with sanctions and will sanction him in due time. Regardless, Mr. Cox has several pending appeals concerning Judge Walton’s highly questionable, if not outright corrupt rulings.
Moreover, Judge Walton rubber-stamped papers filed by law firms retained by the County, Silver & Wright and the California Receivership Group, including Mark Adams, CRG’s President. It appears such groups collude in taking people’s property by claiming they violate minor building and safety codes, like having chickens or not having a smoke alarm, and exaggerating them in order to get a receivership order. They then rack up receivership fees beyond the proper owner’s ability to pay, then get an order to sell the property for a profit and pay the attorneys who brought the action on behalf of the city, even after all alleged “violations” are fixed. None of which could happen without the support of local public officials, including judges.
In Mr. Cox’s case, they took his over 400 plus-acre ranch, improvements, and personal property, then CRG billed him for no less than $250,000, which later turned into over $700,000, not to mention the County’s exaggerated fees. So sure of success, such court awards are marketable. Here, CRG was able to borrow against it before final legal disposition of funds still to be derived from the sale of the property, coincidentally $700,000.
How the proceeds from the sale of Mr. Cox’s property will be divided amongst the victorious is unknown, although we doubt very much Mr. Cox will receive much of or any of it. In fact, the court could order Mr. Cox to pay thousands more with money he no longer has, since he is now homeless and poverty-stricken. Adding insult to proverbial injury, prior to sale of his property, Mr. Cox corrected all code violations for under $9,000.
Markedly, the citizens of Mariposa County and State of California have been bilked for tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars from the County’s shameful scheme to destroy Mr. Cox. Mariposa County officials, including Judge Walton, had to know of the perverse operations of Silver & Wright and CRG, as there are numerous articles in various other counties about them (Palm Springs, Indio, and Orange, to name a few). Regardless, they contractually engaged Silver & Wright after considerable public derision in other jurisdictions that caused the State of California to legislatively curb their abuses. In effect, this cabal maliciously bludgeoned Mr. Cox with the color of law.
Believing Mr. Cox would not get justice in Judge Walton’s court, Mr. Angelucci and our legal team prepared a 90-page federal lawsuit against Mariposa County, Harris, and various involved officials, which was filed in the Eastern District Court of California.
The case raises issues concerning the violation of Mr. Cox’s civil rights under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983. The Civil Rights Act of 1871 is a federal statute, codified in 42 U.S.C. § 1983, that allows people to sue the government for civil rights violations. It applies when someone, including a local government acting under color of law, deprives a person protection under federal statutes or the Constitution. It was intended for former slaves, but now applies to those fighting for their basic freedoms and liberties, which include freedom from government oppression and the weaponization of laws that destroy innocent people because of groundless accusations — precisely what happened to Mr. Cox.
Mariposa County then filed a Federal anti-SLAPP motion against Mr. Cox’s lawsuit, seeking to dismiss the state law claims. As we expected that motion was denied. An anti-SLAPP motion seeks to end a lawsuit because of certain government activity or free speech. The federal court denied the County’s motion and questioned the County’s version of events, stating:
The foregoing facts make it hard to credit the County Defendants’ statement that “the County’s only interest in the [] Property has been, at all times, to ensure that the violations of law upon it are remedied to protect the health and safety of the occupants, the neighbors, and the surrounding community.” The relatively sparse inspection history described in the Warrant declarations seems to contradict the assertion that the Property had been “the focus” of code enforcement efforts “since at least 2008” and raises obvious questions about the expansive scope of the Warrant (which included not just buildings but also all “vehicles … compartments, drawers, cabinets, papers, and electronic files located on the [] Property”). The notion that Cox could have repaired all 101 “dangerous violations” set forth in the N&O in a 30-day period that included Christmas and New Year’s Day strains credulity, particularly since the County’s expert receiver was still collecting bids 10 months after the Receivership commenced and was apparently still working on repairs well into the first quarter of 2019. And it is unsettling, to say the least, that the aggressive code enforcement activity evidenced by the record in this action coincided with the County’s failed criminal case against Cox.
The Federal Judge’s ruling is a huge victory for Mr. Cox. Finally, after years of fighting, we were able to get a higher court to recognize many of the wrongs that occurred. While unstated, the Federal Judge’s decision lends itself to the belief that there was and is some sort of orchestrated effort to subvert Mr. Cox’s constitutional rights. You can read the Court’s order denying the anti-SLAPP here: ORDER 5-1-20 DENYING COUNTY’S ANTI-SLAPP
The rulings in the restraining order and anti-SLAPP cases, in my opinion, validate many of Mr. Cox’s claims and strengthen any future lawsuits against those involved in violating a lengthy list of Mr. Cox’s constitutional rights.
Recall, the above stems from NCFM helping an NCFM Member with false accusations filed against him, in this case accusations by Harris against Mr. Cox. Still, neither District Attorney in Mariposa County nor San Louis Obispo County have filed charges against Harris.
Our legal system’s refusal to prosecute such women is horrific. Here, Harris’s false accusations facilitated the scandalous efforts against Mr. Cox by public officials and their cronies. It is the false accusations against one of our members that got us involved. And, false accusations against men are a major men’s rights issue, especially since such false accusers are rarely held accountable by our legal system. Every day, we fight to change that…
Harry Crouch
President, NCFM
I told you silver & wright and california receivership group are corrupt and snakes. The FBI and the IRS will have many arrested including city officials, general contractors, and fake lenders. Too dam easy to find the dirt.
I told you, silver & wright and mark s adams are idiot who will end up doing hard time in federal prison. IRS and the FBI will have so many to arrest including general contractor, city mayor’s, and fake lenders.