On May 9, 2012 I was once again at the Pekin Court house for the “Bench Trial.” I wasn’t sure what was going to transpire since I had requested a jury trial. Were we going to proceed with a jury trial and that morning begin the process of selecting a jury? Would the request for a jury trial be rejected and we proceed immediately into the bench trial?
Since I didn’t know the process, I was prepared to proceed immediately into a bench trial if that was the case. This time the lobby on this floor seemed to be almost deserted. We were inside the court room and beginning the process before the 10AM start time.
It didn’t take long. The judge said I had followed the procedure that he had previously explained that I was to follow and granted the request for a jury trial. The lawyer for the new Trustee attempted to argue otherwise. However, the judge quickly cut him off and asserted that the request for a jury trial was affirmed.
Therefore, the case was to move from his court room on the second floor to another judge and another court room located on the first floor. The attorney and I proceeded to the first floor to establish a date and time for a hearing on my motion to dismiss the case with prejudice. Speaking to the clerk of the judge, the lawyer also said he was going to object to the request for a jury trial.
A date and a time had to be established. The attorney attempted numerous times to reach his office by cell phone to determine what day and time was available based upon his current calendar. For whatever reason, he could not make contact with the office. He therefore agreed to a date that was over a month and a half into the future. The Motion Hearing was set for June 27, 2012 at 3:30PM.
