Opinion ID: 75971
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: the finding of civil contempt and modification of the injunction

Text: 19 Approximately four months after the injunction was entered prohibiting Riccard from filing any new actions against Prudential without leave of the court, Riccard, acting through attorney Rasch, filed what he styled Complaints against Prudential with the NASD, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance, the United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida, and the Florida Department of Agriculture, with copies to various newspapers. Those complaints included packages containing copies of court orders, transcript excerpts, letters, pleadings, and affidavits, for a total of two-hundred pages of exhibits, and they complained about Prudential's alleged criminal activity, including what Riccard said was Prudential's fraud in misrepresenting its NASD membership status to courts and the resulting obstruction of justice. Riccard and Rasch also filed ethical grievances with the Florida and New York State Bar Associations against attorneys representing Prudential. 20 In response to these filings, which were made without leave of court, Prudential filed a motion to hold Riccard in contempt for violating the injunction the district court had entered against him. After conducting a show cause hearing, the district court held Riccard in civil contempt for filing the complaints and grievances against Prudential and its attorneys, and it ordered him to withdraw the offending complaints (with the exception of the ones sent to the newspapers) by sending the organizations withdrawal letters. The court also found that Prudential was entitled to an award of attorney's fees in connection with the contempt proceedings and awarded it $33,357.00, entering judgment against Riccard for that amount. 21 Shortly after the district court granted Prudential's contempt motion and in response to an invitation by the court, Prudential filed a motion to modify the injunction to include a prohibition against Riccard filing claims in any kind of forum against not only Prudential, but any of Prudential's past, present, or future attorneys or agents. The court modified the injunction to broaden it in that way. 22 Riccard has appealed all of the district court's orders in connection with the proceedings relating to the civil contempt motion, the injunction, and the related judgment.