A long-running legal dispute between attorney Bryan Eastin and the Defendant’s family raises questions about the use of procedural motions and the role of scheduling orders in court. In the legal battle for the Defendant’s home, the truth wasn’t just suppressed; it was systematically engineered out of existence. By weaponizing a technical “limbo” in the scheduling order and practicing a calculated silence before four subsequent judicial officers, attorney Bryan Eastin ensured the Defendant’s were forced into a trial effectively blindfolded.
The “Open Loop” Strategy
The obstruction began with a tactical maneuver in August 2018. Bryan Eastin filed a motion to extend scheduling order deadlines. On August 18, 2018, Judge Bruce Cohen granted the request, but with a mandatory condition: an amended scheduling order had to be put in place. That amended order was never filed. Legally, this meant the discovery deadlines were suspended, not terminated. They were waiting for a new calendar that Eastin purposefully withheld from the court. This “Open Loop” allowed Eastin to maintain the illusion of a finished case whenever it suited his goal of blocking the Defendant’s.
The Deliberate Omission
As the case was passed like a baton through the judicial rotation, from Judge Cohen to Judges Flores, Duncan, Blanchard, and Commissioner Mulleneaux, Eastin utilized the “Rotation Gap” to commit a fraud upon the court. Knowing that discovery was legally “open” (because the amended order was never filed), Eastin: Withheld the status of the 2018 suspension from every new judge. Allowed the belief to persist those deadlines had long since passed. Blocked every request for documents, depositions, and subpoenas by claiming they were “untimely” under a schedule that technically no longer existed.
The Recorded Deception: January 27, 2021
Things reached its peak during a secret hearing held on January 27, 2021, a day earlier than the six written notices sent to the Defendant’s. In their absence, Eastin had an “Ex Parte” environment to finish the job.
When Judge Duncan asked if the Quiet Title claim had been resolved, Eastin, knowing Judge Cohen had already issued a signed minute entry on April 8, 2019, denying that claim under the Statute of Frauds, directly misled the court. Later, presenting a precluded claim to Commissioner Mulleneaux, Eastin by passed the ‘Law of the Case’ doctrine, simultaneously ensuring the Defendant’s remained blocked from the discovery needed to defeat it. Eastin used unilateral adjudication to breathe life into resurrected meritless claims.
The Toll of the Blackout
By the time the case reached trial, the Casavellis had been under a discovery “blackout” for over seven years. The Vexatious Litigant designation effectively stopped the Defendant’s from filing into their case. They were forced to face their accusers with:
Zero Depositions to impeach the testimony of Donna Johanson Stricken Subpoenas for the records that would have proven the LLC Fraud $32,000 in Premature Fees awarded during the secret January hearing.
A Systemic Ambush Judge Bruce Cohen rotated out of the case in June, and a new incoming Judge took his place. Bryan Eastin, knowing that the deadlines were suspended. He blocked every request, document, deposition and Subpoena of the opposing party, the Defendant’s. Eastin filed numerous Motions to Strike, Motions for Protective Orders, to block any discovery request of the Defendant’s. Bryan Eastin neglected to inform each new incoming Judge that there was never an Amended Scheduling Order. This happened each June. As a result, the judges assumed that deadlines were past the time for discovery. This effectively resulted in the Defendant’s having no discovery other than one deposition for Gary T. Johanson early on in the case.
Bryan Eastin used a discovery tool to take away the Scheduling Order Deadline’s, so he had free reign to obtain all the discovery he needed, while stifling the Defendant’s discovery. Eastin did this for 7+ years, while the Court looked the other way. This is Discovery Abuse, and a Violation of Due Process, under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
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