I I C o l l i n s ^0| 10

accordance with the order of April 15, 1987 anddismisses some modifictfion petitions. That's the

posture of the pleadings as T see it at this time.Judge ,

the COURT; Thank you, !h: . Frost,

HR, FROST: Your Honor, it is Collins'position, first, that Th:. Warner did not have subject matter jurisdiction of this proceeding. It istrue that we do allege that the office of hearing

examiner is In degradation of Mr, Collins' rightsunder the New York State Constitution to have mat

ters decided by a duly elected Family Court Judge,But I don't think we have to go that far, your

Honor, to reach a holding that Mr, Warner was without subject matter jurisdiction, Mr. Warner was

appointed hearing examiner for Schenectady CountyFamily Court. He was not appointed hearing examiner

to hear natters in Saratoga County, Furthermore,

there is no order, and I ask the Court, you know,to search the file and to take judicial notice

that there is no order assigning Mr. Warner to

hear the facts of this case in the support, insofaias concerning the issues of support. There being

no order, your Honor, referring the matters to him,he is totally without subject matter jurisdiction.

1 1 C o l l i n s (pi ,11

And really the matter ought to end right here upont h a t b e i n g s o ^ I t i s t r u e —

THE COURTt Didn^t Judge James order Mr.

Wa r n e r t o h e a r t h a t ?

>m. HORSILLO: He did, your Honor.

MR. FROST: I know of no order.

MR, MORSILLO: It's in the order.

MR. FROST: And furthermore, Judge James hasno authority to make such an order. The authority

would lie, your Honor, in that case with the Administitive Judge, who, of the Fourth Judicial District,who is Judge Amyot. And Judge Amyot has issued noorder, I ask the Court again to search the fileand in the record and it will find that that is so.

Furthermore, in the decision by Mr. Warner,who by the way is a nonjudicial employee of theOffice of Court Administration, He is not a judge.The statute creating him, section 439 of the FamiljCourt Act, refers to him as a nonjudicial enployce,fie had before him at that liearin& the compliance

hearing back in September, a modification petitionfiled by ?!r. Collins. That modification petition,your Honor, was in essence a petition in part undexsection 455 of the Family Court Act requesting that

Mr. -Collins be relieved of the commitment order and

I ^

S S B B B

I ' . y ' g w g y f ^ ^

C o l l i n s

v a s r e d u c e d s o i t n o v a m o u n t s t o $ 7 2 5 a m o n t h . B u t

M r . C o l l i n s i s u n d e r a n o r d e r t o p a y t h a t . H e ' s

u n d e r a n o r d e r t o p a y u t i l i t i e s a n d u n d e r a n o r d e r

to pay $80 a veek . I t amoun ts t o , and a l so unde r an

o r d e r t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n t h e p a y m e n t o f m e d i c a l s . T h

monetary payments, the mortgage, the $80 a veek and

t h e u t i l i t i e s c o m e o u t t o a l i t t l e o v e r $ 1 , 2 0 0 a m o n

your Honor. And i t i s s imp ly financ ia l l y imposs ib le

f o r M r . C o l l i n s t o d o i t . H i s e a r n i n g c a p a c i t y i s

and has a lvays been no more than approx imate ly $20,0

p e r y e a r .

T H E C O U R T; W h e n d i d h e l o s e h i s j o b ?

M R . F R O S T: J u l y l O t h o f 1 9 8 7 , y o u r H o n o r. T h e

man's earning capacity has never been more than $20,

per year. At this moment there is no great demand

in t h i s a rea f o r peop le t ha t a re , who have done wha t

h e ^ « d o n e , w h i c h i s b a s i c a l l y s u p e r v i s e c o n v e n i e n t -

- bype €ood stores# manage'convenient-type food stores

M e ^ ' ^ a s ^ v o b u s i n e s s e s h i m s e l f w h e r e h e o w n e d t h o s

* b o t h o f t h e m f a i l e d . S o h i s ,

^ ^ $ h e * ' * d t e s h « e c a n ' d o u n d e r a n y c i r c u m s t a n c e s i s t o

V. ■^'^ro^'^a^pfoximately $20, 000 a year, net $15,000.

w h e r e t h e b e s t h e c a n t a k e h o m e

3 0 0 a m o n t h , t h e r e i s n o v a y h e

d y e W a r n e r ' s d e c i s i o n . H e i s t o t a j l l }

- T i f . . '

he should produce the writing.

the COURT: I don't think it's necessary^ AndI still consider it just preliminary material.

>!R. MORSTIXO; Very good, your Honor.

0 I^ose lai^er prepared that separation agreement?A My ex-wife, Arlene's>

MR. MORSTLLO! I object to that as being

i m m a t e r i a l .

THE COURT: Overruled,

0 Were you represented at the time. Sir?A N o I w a s n o t ,

O Were you employed at the time?

A Y e s I w a s .

0 How much were you earning at the time. Sir?A Approximately $15,000 a year.

MR. MORSILLO: I'd like the record to reflecta continuing objection to the relevancy of this

.who le l i ne o f I n t e r roga t i on ,

THE COURT; Overruled,

■O Was your wife employed at the time?A N o s h e w a s n o t ,

0 What was the nature of vour employment at that

t ime , Mr, Co l l i ns?

A I was working at Alpert's Furniture in Albany,

Q I n ^ a t c a p a c i t y ?

C . C o l l i n s - D i r e c t

0 A t the t ime o f Judge James ' dec is ion?

A A b o u t t h e s a m e .

Q Okay» XJhat were your earnings at the time of Judg<James* decision, gross and net?

A Judge James, I was earing S21,000 a year, about

$1,700 a month or $400 a week,

0 O k a y , I s t h a t g r o s s ?

A Y e s ,

0 Okay, Net , what were you mak ing?

A $400 a week, my take home was $293 and change.

Okay, And how much did that amount to a month.S i r ?

A I t c o m e s o u t a b o u t S I , 2 5 0 a m o n t h ,■ f

O Now, do you know whether or not your former wifewas employed at the time of Judge, Mr, Warner's decision?

A Y e s s h e w a s ,

Q How much was she making a year?

A A b o u t $ 1 6 , 0 0 0 .

O Was she still employed at rhe time of Judge James*d e c i s i o n ?

Y e s ,

O A t t h e t i m e o f l ! r, Wa r n e r ' s d e c i s i o n i n Te b r u a r y

of 1987, considering the requirements and amount of requirements of that obligation and your earnings and your living

expenses, were :̂ tt financially ables t© comply with Mr, Wamei

C . C o l l i n s - D i r e c t

A $ 1 6 , 0 0 0 . L i t t l e o v e r $ 1 6 , 0 0 0 .

R E S P O N D E N T ' S A M A R K E D F O R I D E N T I F I C AT I O N .

Q M r. C o l l i n s , I s h o v y o u a d o c u m e n t m a r k e d R e s p o n d e n

A f o r i d e n t i fi c a t i o n . D o y o u r e c o g n i z e t h a t . S i r ?

A Y e s I d o .

t h e b o t t o m o f t h a t p a g e ?

A P a g e t h r e e .

Q P a g e t h r e e , o k a y

Y e s .

Q W h o s e s i g n a t u r e i s t h a t ?

A M i n e

Q W h a t i s t h a t d o c u m e n t . S i r ?

A F i n a n c i a l s t a t e m e n t

Q F i n a n c i a l d i s c l o s u r e s t a t e m e n t ?

A Y e s i t i s .

Q W h a t d a y i s i t d a t e d ?

A T h e 7 t h o f J a n u a r y .

T H E C O U R T: W h a t y e a r ?

T H E W I T N E S S : 1 9 8 7 .

' - Q s o r r y * D i d y o n s i g n t h a t t h i s d o m i n g ?

A Y e s I d i d .

Q W o u l d y o u c o r r e c t t h e d a t e ?