Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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by the courtto properlyphrasehis questions; 7) defendant'scontinuallyaccusingthe court
ofdenyinghimthe rightorabilityto askquestionsand tellingthecourtto "give me a listof
.questionsyou wantme to ask;" 8) defendant's suggestingthatthecourt"tell me what
would makeyouhappy; " 9) defendant's lying to the courtin response to directquestions
posedby thecourtwithregard to his recordingthe proceedings; and 10) defendant 'sfailing
andrefusingto propeI:,ly examinethewitness, despite numerousadmonitionsby thecourtto
stoprepeatingquestions, misstatinganswers, injectingirrelevantmaterial,arguingwith the
witnessandmischaracterizingthe testimony.
Thecourt finds thatthe defendant'sactions were intentional and donein utterdisregard
andcontemptfor thecourt,andin the presenceofthe court, forpurposesofdisruptingand
delayingthe proceedingsand dishonoring the rule oflawand this court, and constitute the
misdemeanorofcriminalcontempt, aviolationof RS 22.0IO.Goodcauseappearing
therefore, the following sanctionsare imposed:
IT IS ORDERED, pursuantto NRS 22.100, that the defendantbe incarceratedat the
WashoeCountyRegional Detention Facility for the termoffive (5) days, from the time he
wastakeninto custodyonthis court'sorderon February27,2012,andthatsentenceshall not
be reduced for anyreason.In thealternative, the defendant maypaya fine of$500to the
Reno Municipal Court.
Dated this28th day ofFebruary,2012.
~ ~ ~ 0
Reno Municipal Judge
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Reno MUnicIpal Coun
Doro Nash Helmet,
J',dge
o () ;>ox '100
'ef'O V
,775)
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
Pursuant to NRCP 5(b) , I certify that I am an employee of the Reno Municipal
Court, Reno,Nevada, that Iam overthe age of18years and notapartyto the above
action,and thaton thisdate, served atrue and correctcopy ofthe attached document
to the following as setforth below:
AllisonOrmaas
DeputyCityAttorney
PO Box1900
Reno NV89505
ZacharyBarkerCoughlin,Esq.
121 RiverRock
Reno NV89509
said documentin asealed envelopeand placedforcollecting and
mailing by UnitesStatesmail in Reno,Nevada, postageprepaid following ordinary
businesspractices.
WashoeCountyJail
CourtServices
Facsimile (FFAX)
ElectronicMail(E-mail)
Inner-officemailfollowing ordinarybusinesspractices
Personal Delivery.
DATED: February28,2012.
rtmentThree
EXHIBIT 5
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Case No. 11 TR 26800 21
Dept. No.3
IN THE MUNICIPALCOURTOFTHECITYOF RENO
COUNTYOF WASHOE STATEOFNEVADA
CITY OF RE 0,
Plaintiff, ORDER
vs.
ZACHARY BARKERCOUGHLIN,
Defendant.
________________________1
March 12,2012 was the time set for the resumptionofthe traffic citation trial of
DefendantZACHARYBARKERCOUGHLIN who, as memberNo.9473 ofthe evada Bar,
is anattorney representing himself, the defendant. The trial was continuedon Febmary27,
2012, when, aft erapproximatelyan hourandahalf, the defendantwas held in criminal
contempt by thecourt for his antics and misconductduring that trial. His behavioris noted in
detail in the court' s Orderentered on February 27, 2010.
Today, Mr.Coughlin fa iled to appear tocomplet e th is tria l. He has notcontacted this
court to explain orc.cllse his abse nce.DeputyCity Attorney .'\ IisonOrmaas <Ippcared ,!nO
\Vas prcpared to proceed. She intormed the COll rt thatshe had no contac twith Mr. Cllughlin
ot herthan receiving voluminous fa xed docliments (rom him at the Reno City,\ ttomey' s
Onicc. rhe defendant's failure to appearwa no cd on (he record.
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:-\ Rer he served his live-day Contempt of Court sanction imposed by this cOLIn on
F\!bruary 27, 2012, Mr. Coughlin fax-filed to this court
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a 224-page document entitled "Notice
of /\ppeal of Summary Contempt Order; Motion to Return Personal Property Confiscated by
Reno Municipal Court and Its Marshals; Motion for ew Trial and to Alter or Amend
Summary Contempt Order." The document purported to appeal this court's Order holding
him in direct criminal contempt. It contained a portion of one sentence on page 4 seeking a
continuance of today's hearing. but no further discussion of that topic . It also mentioned
being a "tolling" motion in an apparent afterthought. It did not address most of the other
topics listed in the caption, Instead, the document contained rambling references to his
personal life and this court's; his father's football career in college; dozens of pages of string
citations taken off the internet; documents from a prisoner online site; an article about a
"police state;" an anicle about Discovery; a website printout showing a police officer's salary;
and copy of court documents from a District of Columbia case.
It was a disjointed regurgitation of case law citations from a legal research on line si te
with little reference to, or argument about, the facts of his instant " l3oule vard Stop" traffic
case. The document was an incoherent and pathetic demonstration of what might once have
been legal and academic prowess that appears to now be greatly damaged. Mr. Coughlin 1'ax-
filed another document in which he apparently took a Motion to Proceed Informa Pauperis
(sic] in another case and typed over it "Request fo r Audio Recording of Feb n.l .lI)' 27
lh
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rl-ial ,\IlJ I'or ,\prt ['jic] and to Waive Fi ling Fee .:md fr ;:mscrirt Fee i'l)r ,\ pre;11 Cnlll1-;cl. " l k
I ad tl at likJ in the instant case on \-1arch 7,2012, cvcn though it was dared 22 ,
II .
\V lCf("lS \1r. (\)llghlin's drort s [0 conJuct his u \l,.n dtkn"c in hi" trar'lic l ' l ;!ll\ l ll I r i
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February 27, 20 12 disrupted Department 3 of this court and caused distress to this court and
its statT and marshals, as well as the prosecutor and the witness, and resulted in Mr. Coughlin
being held in contempt of court, his faxing and tiling of these documents greatly Jisrupted the
operation of the entire Reno Municipal Court system, including the clerk's office and the
other departments, and necessitated that action be taken by the Court Administrator and
Administrative Judge.
Apparently beginning on March 9, 2012 at 12 :3 8 p.m., Mr. Coughlin again undertook
another massive fax-filing to Reno Municipal Court. This time it was a document that was
file-stamped by the clerk on March 12, 2012 at 8: 12 a.m. This second 218-page GOCW11ent
purported to be yet another motion in this case entitled "Motion to Return Cell Phones;
Motion to Set Aside Summary Contempt Order; and Notice of Appeal of Summary Contempt
Order. " With scant discussion of, or relevance to, the above-captioned matter, saiJ document
mostly argues against Judge Howard in a Department 4 case and again contains more than
200 pages of string legal citations; lyrics to rocks songs; Mr. Coughlin's personal family
history; discussion of an eviction case and another contempt case; disjointed legal citations,
and other nonsensical matters that have no apparent relevance to his traffic citation case.
80th documents were massive and took up a great deal of time because the court had to
review them to look for some connection to the case. This court has the inherent authority to
maintain respect, order and decorum in the court, and to refuse to al low the court to be useJ
as a \chick I"or the deranged rantings ofa litigant.
rhe conduct of Coughl in has been inappropr iate, bizarre, di shonest, irra ti onal . lllL!
dis rupti vt.:, to say the least. IIe has not pract iced 13\V in th is case in J manner thil t
rc<; hi, prorcs ionali<;l11, prcrant iol1, cOI1-.;idcra li on li lr the court. Ihe
il
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:lppearorexplain his absence to the court. fnasmuch us the cotll1 has at least four different
aJdrcsses for him, it is unable to ascertain his exact whereabouts.He showssignsofmental
instability, ifnotserious mental illness.
Based upon the total circumstancesofthis case, the in-court performanceofthe
defendant, as observedby this court, the written documents faxed to the court for tiling by
this defendant, the statementsand behaviorofthis defendantand his overall conduct herein,
this court finds, by clearand convincingevidence, that Zachary BarkerCoughlin,an att orney
licensedto practice law in the StateofNevada, has committed numerousacts ofattorney
misconduct, including, but not limited to, violating the following Rules ofProfessional
Conduct:
8.4(c)--eng3gingin dishonesty, fraud, deceit ormisrepresentation;
8.4 (d)--engaging in conductthat is prejudicial to the administrationofju tice;
3.3(a)-lack ofcandorto the court by knowingly making false statements to atribunal;
3. 1--defending in a proceeding by assertingorcontrovertingan issue wi thout abasis in
fact and with matters that are known to be frivolous;
3.2-failure to make reasonableefforts to expedite litigation, and, in fact, taking
extreme me3sures to delay litigation;
3A(e)-beingunfair to opposingcounsel by continuallyalluding to matters the Imvye r
docs notrca onably believeare relevant orsuppor1ed by admissible evidence;
1.3-fui lingto actwith reasonablediligence and promptness; and
I.I - lac kofcompetence inhi s practice,llld 'lppeurances before this court.
III ;lJ ilion,L.lci ary BdfkefCuughli n, likely.llSll vi obkd, c.:vaoa SupremeCourt I{uk
229,."l'c ri on2(b), :I S amended by ADKT 4.+9 on/\ ugu 1 I, _0 11, by 'iurn:ptitiuusiy n.: cortiin}
the! lrar"ticci talio ntriJI off l'brualY 27, 2012 "..ithout the aov,1nc rcnni ssion I) f;i1 is court ,11 0
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Whetherornot there are medical reasons to explain Mr. Coughlin'sacti ons is not tor
this court to decide. He has become nothing less than avexatious litigant to Reno Municipal
Court due to his unorthodox. disruptive, bizarre and irrational methods and practices that go
beyond the pale ofanything that is civil. ethical, professional orcompetent. Good cause
appearing therefore, the courtordersas follows:
IT IS ORDERED that this matteris continued,and all proceedingsrelating thereto are
tolled. until further orderofthis court, while the matterofartomeyZachary BarkerCoughlin
is referred to the State BarofNevada;
IT IS ORDERED that no further action shall be taken by the Reno City Attorney's
Office, or the clerksorstaffofReno Municipal Court, in the above-entitledcase, pending
further orderofthis court;
IT IS ORDERED that Zachary BarkerCoughlin is barred and forbidden from faxing,
emaili ng, delivering, havingdelivered. serving. presenting for tiling, personallyorotherwi se.
any motion ordocument to Reno Municipal Court, in the above-entitledcase. pending further
orderofthis court.
Dated this 12th day ofMarch. 2012.
The Han.DoJ00yNash Holmes
Reno MuniCi pal Judge
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. '''01.4 ' .- ; !l l C'Jl.. rt
' - I / ~ ' h J- T ... ,
I )
. , '" '.... ,
, I ... '. 2
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
Pursuant to NRCP 5(b) , I certify that I am an employee of the Reno Municipal
Court, Reno, Nevada, that Iam overthe age of18 years and notaparty to the above
action, and that on this date, served.true and correctcopyofthe attached document
to thefoll owing as setforth below:
AllisonOrmaas
DeputyCityAttorney
PO Box1900
RenoNV89505
ZacharyBarkerCough"",Esq.
1422 E. gth Street*2
Reno NV89512
X Placing said documentin asealed envelopeand placed forcollect ingand
mailing byUnites Statesmail inReno, Nevada,postage prepaid following ordinary
businesspractices.
WashoeCountyJail
CourtServices
Facsimile (FFAX)
Electronic Mail (E-mail)
Inner-officemailfollowing ordinarybusinesspractices
Personal Del ivery.
DATED: March 12,2012 .
artment Three
EXHIBIT 6
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EXHIBIT 7
Affidavit
liON. JAY D. DILWORTH
c. \ SANDRA J .\ C KSO/'l
Department I
Coun Admi nistrator
110 . WILLlAM L. G,\RDNER
Jl 'STI'" ROPER
D.:pllrtment 2
Chi ef Marshal - Department
of t\ lt .:mative Sentencing
liON. DOROTHY NASH 1I0Ut ES
Depart me nt J
liON. KE:-.l NETII R. HOWARD
Department 4
To: Nevada State Bar
Re: Zach Coughlin
I, Scott Coppa ,Marshal of Reno Municipal Court, a court oflaw organized,
incorporated or existing under the laws of the City of Reno,
and with its principal business located at: 1 South Sierra Street, Reno. NY 89501.
Being duly sworn, do depose and say:
On March 22, 2012, approximately 1055 hrs, I (Marshal Scott Coppa) was notified
by central control to respond to Donna Ballard desk in reference to a Defendant
Zachary Coughlin.
Both Marshal Thompson and I met with Miss Ballard at her desk. She informed us
Coughlin has been at Daniel Casillas window #8 for approximately 15 minutes and
was becoming argumentative with court staff. Miss Ballard further stated the Staff
has answered all his questions as he was now becomi ng repetit ive with his
questions . At one point Coughlin demanded to have Casillas read the docket to hi m
word for word and that he was going to "depose" Miss Ballard.
Marshal Thompson and I approached Coughli n in the publi c hallway. As I
approached Coughlin I noticed that he was wearing red smi ley fa ce fl annel paj ama
bottoms and a white tee shi rt. Underneath the tee shi rt Coughli n al so had on a
dress tie and a dress shirt. I informed Coughlin all hi s quest ions have been
answered by court staff and it was time for him t o leave. Coughlin asked me " did
they tell you to tell me to leave." Coughl in then turned t o Casillas and asked if he
could talk t o him. Both Marshal Thompson and I again asked Coughl i n to leave.
Coughlin asked for our names, gathered his it ems from the counter and left the
Court.
Bot h Marshal Thompson and I made a recording of thi s event.
PO. Bri t 1') 00, Reno." I 'outh ' iur "treet, Reno. ''' . <)SO I
rdephonc: 7-; 3.$-12,)0 . Fn 5imtle: 24
Signature Date
ss
J
Subscribed and sworn to before me this day of-L..l-J
LLI
'--_ 'J012- ,
My commi ssion expires: ___
(Notary stamp, ifapplicable)
l.. ".."...... "' ....'''''' '' .. ...... .... ,
; '- Nolary Public - SialeofNevad !
. n , . ' J\jJpOllilmenl RecordlldinWashOe Coun
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r.o. 110'( 1900. Ihoo.:'\V 9505- 1')00 . 1 o uth Sit:rra S t ree t. Reno ..,." 8950 1
Tdephune: 7;5-334-2190 . F (' imile: r5-JJ4-J 824
" rtnOm un ;c lplt !c Qurl.co m
EXHIBIT 8
1
OS/23/2012 10 :22 CLERKS OFFICE 2JDC PAGE 01/01
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2S
FILED
Electronically
05-09-2012:05: 17: 16 PM
Joey Orduna Hastings
C DE 29 6 8 Clerk of the Court
Transaction # 2943750
IN THE S COND J"DIC_AL DISTRICT OF HE STATE OF NEVADA,
IN AND FOK THE COUNTY Or WASSOE
THE STATE Or EVA A,
Plaintiff , Cas e 0 _ CR12-0376
v. Dept. l o. :0
ZACHARY 3ARKER COUGHLIN,
Defendant.
/
ORDER OF COMPETENCY AND RETURNI NG MATTER TO JUSTICE COURT
The havi ng reviewed the repo rts of Dr_ Richard T.
Bisset and Dr. Mary R_ Viet h who examined the Def endant,
af:er counsel f or both sides to pr e s e nt
evidence on t he issue of the De fendants compet ence pursuant to
NRS 78 .42 :
hereby er.ters a :hat DEFENDANT IS
CM?ETSNT T PROC EED, and
IT IS : EREBY ORDE?ED t hat this matter oe returned to t:'1 e
Rer.o ,jus': i.ce Cou rt fo::: furt .er proceedings.
DA E thi s
q
day of
, 20:!.2 _ ..-
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