In Re the Goodall Trust Appeal No. A137189

The court felt that the appeal from the May 16, 2012 was untimely. However, Petitioner contends that this is not correct because Petitioner was prevented by the actions of opposing counsel and actions of the judge which made it impossible for him to file the appeal any sooner than he did. Indeed, Petitioner waited in the court room for the San Francisco Judge to sign his final order in this case so he could go down to the filing room to file this notice of appeal. In view of the actions of the San Francisco Probate Judge in making this case "Appeal Proof" by among other things waiting a full two months before signing the order denying the petition for rehearing the judge prevented an earlier appeal. The order was submitted to the judge for signing on July 27, 2012. The judge did not sign it until September 26, 2012. More than that, actions by Bank of America and Guide Dogs for the Blind unethically made it impossible for Petitioner to retain new counsel. They did this by repeatedly filing motions for sanctions against existing counsel. Their first motion for sanctions which demanded attorneys fees between $13,000 and $16,000 against both the Administrator of the Goodall Estate and his counsel was filed on June 29, 2012. That motion was denied by Judge Busch on June 19, 2012. However, on the very next day, July 20, 2012, Bank of America filed a second motion for sanctions even though nothing had changed overnight since the first denial. A Third Motion for Sanctions was filed by Bank of America on August 14, 2012.