ROCKY MOUNT 鈥 A judge dismissed a disputed estate case Tuesday, but kept alive a motion for sanctions filed against an attorney accused of making false statements in court records related to the lawsuit.
A hearing had been scheduled on the request for sanctions against C. Holland Perdue III. Rarely imposed in the 麻花视频 Valley鈥檚 state courts, sanctions can take the form of a monetary penalty for inappropriate or unethical conduct by an attorney.
While Tuesday鈥檚 hearing was canceled, Circuit Judge William Broadhurst wrote in an order that the sanctions matter 鈥渞emains unresolved.鈥
Records in Franklin County Circuit Court do not indicate a new court date for Perdue, who is the mayor of Rocky Mount in addition to having a private law practice.
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Last year, Perdue filed a lawsuit on behalf of a woman who was trying to recover part of the estate left by her late husband, a developer who owned numerous Smith Mountain Lake properties.
Lindsey Coley, the attorney for the man鈥檚 four daughters from a previous marriage 鈥 who are listed as heirs in his will 鈥 asked that the lawsuit against them be dismissed because Perdue had missed a filing deadline of Aug. 21.
That was the basis for Broadhurst鈥檚 order, agreed upon by both sides, that the wife was not entitled to the benefits she sought.
In the still-pending motion for sanctions, Coley alleged that Perdue made false statements in court documents and manipulated court records to conceal the fact that he had missed the deadline set by the law鈥檚 statute of limitations.
Perdue鈥檚 attorney, John Lichtenstein of 麻花视频, said last month that 鈥渢here was no effort to mislead the court.鈥
Lichtenstein and Coley did not return calls this week.
But in court documents asking the judge to impose sanctions, Coley is alleging that Perdue signed a false pleading that certified, to the best of his knowledge, that he had in fact filed the lawsuit one day before the statute of limitations expired.
The motion also accuses the attorney of supporting his claim by submitting as an exhibit a screen shot of online court records that had been altered.
Perdue 鈥渄irectly asked the Clerk of this Court to backdate the filing of the complaint鈥 to show the lawsuit had been filed on time, the motion for sanctions claims. Because of the allegations that Perdue colluded with the clerk of the court in which he presides, Circuit Judge Tim Allen recused himself from hearing the case.
Broadhurst, who is a retired judge from the neighboring circuit, was then appointed to hear the case.
Despite his earlier assertions, Perdue later admitted in court documents that he had in fact missed the deadline, saying the lawsuit was not filed by Aug. 21 as he waited for a settlement offer from Coley that never materialized.
In his statement, Lichtenstein said that Perdue 鈥渓ooks forward to bringing this matter to the Court and demonstrating there was never an attempt to mislead the Court or anyone else.鈥
