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Collier refuses to put Moncier's suspension on hold - A judge who ordered a prominent Knoxville defense attorney suspended from practicing federal law has issued a fresh round of criticism, accusing the lawyer of unethical behavior and outright lying.Chief U.S. District Judge Curtis L. Collier on Friday issued a sternly worded ruling in which he refuses to put on hold a seven-year suspension of Herbert S. Moncier's right to practice federal law in East Tennessee pending Moncier's appeal.In that ruling, Collier accuses Moncier of legal misconduct, unethical behavior and even lying - after Collier put down his April 29 order...

Chief U.S. District Judge Curtis Collier today issued a ruling barring Knoxville attorney Herbert S. Moncier from practicing law in any federal court in the Eastern District of Tennessee. Collier also reprimanded Moncier for remarks made about "opposing counsel." Moncier's courtroom opponent, in the case before U.S. District Judge Ronnie Greer that landed him in front of Collier, is Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Smith, but it was not immediately clear if it was Smith to whom Collier was referring. Collier issued an 80-page ruling setting out his reasoning. The order states that Moncier will be under "active suspension" for five...

CHATTANOOGA - A prominent Knoxville defense lawyer who fought to shed light on back-door governmental deal-making has since January been fending off a secret move to bar him from practicing law in federal courts, the News Sentinel learned Thursday. U.S. District Chief Judge Curtis L. Collier in January filed under seal proceedings to strip attorney Herbert S. Moncier of his right to practice law in federal courts in the Eastern District of Tennessee, a move that if successful likely would take from him the ability to handle federal cases nationwide. Collier, who presides in Chattanooga, ordered every document filed in...

GREENEVILLE — Prominent Knoxville defense attorney Herbert S. Moncier could have spared himself a criminal contempt conviction, a federal judge said, with two words: I’m sorry. “I frankly never thought this matter would come to a sentencing hearing,” U.S. District Judge Ronnie Greer said Monday. “A simple statement of ‘I’m sorry’ would have concluded this matter a long time ago.” Moncier stayed mum, however, during his sentencing hearing on a contempt conviction meted out by Greer after Moncier asked to speak to his client at a November hearing when the judge already had ordered the attorney to keep quiet. His...

NASHVILLE — A state commission has rejected an effort to strip former Knox County Sheriff Tim Hutchison of his certification as a law enforcement officer, but a lawyer says the decision will be challenged in court. Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission voted last Friday to dismiss a complaint filed against Hutchison and “rescinded the decertification” imposed temporarily by a judge earlier, said Brian Grisham, executive director of the panel. Grisham said today the action means that, as far as the POST Commission is concerned, the matter has been put to rest. But Knoxville attorney Herbert S. Moncier, who...

NASHVILLE — Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle today ordered former Knox County Sheriff Tim Hutchison’s status as a certified law enforcement officer suspended immediately. Lyle said the suspension will remain in effect pending the outcome of an Aug. 16 hearing on Hutchison’s certification before the Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) Commission. “Considering that thousands of tax dollars may be irrevocably and wrongfully committed if this court does not act immediately, that an aborted inquiry and investigation by the POST Commission harms the public perception of the certification process in the state of Tennessee, and considering that counsel for...

NASHVILLE - A judge Tuesday closed one door in legal attempts to deny expanded pension benefits to former Knox County Sheriff Tim Hutchison but left another open. Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle dismissed motions by Knoxville attorney Herbert S. Moncier seeking to revoke Hutchison's certification as a law enforcement officer. She based the dismissal on legal procedural rules without addressing the merits of Moncier's arguments, declaring he was trying to "resurrect" a lawsuit that is already dead in her court. At the same time, however, the chancellor noted in a five-page order that Moncier filed a second lawsuit last...

NASHVILLE — The Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission decided this morning to refer the possible decertification of former Knox County Sheriff Tim Hutchison until August. In doing so, the commission rejected a request from Knoxville attorney Herbert S. Moncier that the panel act immediately and block Hutchison’s pension benefits scheduled to begin July 1. Hutchison, now a chief deputy in the sheriff’s office, was convicted of criminal contempt in an open records case. Moncier, who arrived at least a half hour late to this morning’s hearing, told the panel it had acted contrary to the instructions of Davidson County...

A prominent Knoxville defense lawyer whose behavior at a recent court hearing has been deemed by a federal judge in Greeneville as criminally contemptuous is fighting back. Attorney Herbert S. Moncier, through his defense team of Ralph Harwell and John T. Rogers, is asking U.S. District Judge Ronnie Greer to reconsider his decision earlier this week to find Moncier in criminal contempt of court. But that's not all. The attorney also wants Greer booted off the bench and into the witness chair. He is asking that U.S. Attorney Russ Dedrick's staff be barred from the prosecution table and, if all...

A federal judge today found a prominent Knoxville defense attorney guilty of contempt of his court. Greeneville U.S. District Judge Ronnie Greer issued a 28-page written opinion, deeming attorney Herbert S. Moncier guilty of contemptuous behavior during a Nov. 17, 2006, hearing. Moncier is expected to file motions later today asking Greer, among other things, to reconsider and remove himself from the bench. Moncier could face up to six months in jail and lose his law license. Greer's decision comes after a court hearing in April. At the time, Greer was going to rule but took under advisement proof from...

They sound, at times, like two jousting lovers. You're mad at me, one says. You're paranoid, the other responds. Pretty soon, patience wanes, tempers flare. One winds up in a jail cell. Will this pair kiss and make up? Or will veteran defense attorney Herbert S. Moncier wind up back behind bars for his allegedly contemptuous encounter with Greeneville U.S. District Court Judge Ronnie Greer? The answer should come April 24, the day Greer has, after months of delay, settled on to decide if Moncier should be found in contempt of court in connection with a January closed-door hearing. It's...

A federal judge today briefly ordered Knoxville attorney Herbert S. Moncier jailed for an allegation of contempt of court in Greeneville. U.S. District Judge Ronnie Greer ordered deputy U.S. marshals to take Moncier into custody on what’s known as a summary contempt charge after the prominent defense attorney allegedly disrupted a hearing by repeatedly interrupting the judge, speaking loudly in an attempt to silence the judge and being, in the judge’s view, overly argumentative. By leveling a summary contempt charge, the judge essentially opined that no other course of action would restore order in his court. The move came during...

Knox County Chancellor John Weaver has angrily slammed lawyer Herbert S. Moncier in connection with the many term limits-related legal actions Moncier has pending. In a ruling issued late Wednesday, Weaver said that Moncier has filed pleadings that contain "false" statements and are a "gross violation of the Tennessee Rules of Civil Procedure." "Mr. Moncier has shown an egregious disregard and disrespect for this court and the judicial system," Weaver said. Those comments - and more - are contained in Weaver's ruling, filed late Wednesday, that states Moncier cannot get involved in a lawsuit filed last week by five incumbent...