Gloucester 40 get court date with Virginia Supreme Court

By Matt Sabo, Daily Press – 12/15/2010

The “Gloucester 40 “are scheduled to appear in Virginia Supreme Court on Jan. 11 to appeal the $80,000 in sanctions levied against them. Steve Emmert, the Virginia Beach appellate attorney who is representing the 40 Gloucester citizens, confirmed the court date this afternoon. The Gloucester 40 were sanctioned $2,000 apiece two years ago for what Judge Westbrook J. Parker termed was an abuse of the judicial system.

The 40 Gloucester residents had filed petitions in Gloucester County Circuit Court seeking the removal from office of supervisors Teresa Altemus, Bobby Crewe, Michelle Ressler and Gregory Woodard. The petitions were later thrown out on technicalities and Gloucester taxpayers ended up footing bills of around $233,000 to pay the attorneys hired by the four supervisors to defend against the petitions and criminal charges that were ultimately dismissed.

Emmert said the Supreme Court docket begins at 9 a.m. Each case generally gets 30 minutes, divided equally between the parties. The Gloucester 40 case is the sixth on the docket and a short break occurs after the fourth case. Emmert expects to be called to the lectern shortly before noon, he said.