Opinion ID: 2259440
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Fleming's Involvement

Text: Ms. Fleming likewise maintains that her involvement in the fraudulent activities was minimal, and that she therefore should not have been sanctioned. She asserts, for example, that she had nothing to do with the selection of Mr. Mundy as counsel for the suit that was filed in the District of Columbia. While it is quite possible that Fleming may not have made the final selection, the evidence showed that she was actively involved in choosing the venue for the suit and in finding Mr. Mundy. She was in direct contact with Mundy's office from the beginning, consulting about jurisdiction and TRO standards. After the TRO was obtained, there were numerous phone calls between Mundy's office and Fleming's office. Fleming also contends that the evidence failed to show that she participated in the drafting of the complaint and the TRO application. She cites Mr. Mundy's statement that there were several calls back and forth to myself and Ms. Fleming in which I was trying to identify who the members of the Election Committee were. Mundy went on to say that this wasn't for the purpose of filing. [It was for] setting forth the grievances and asking for official action by the National Baptist Convention. The trial court could properly infer, as it did, that while there was no direct proof that Fleming participated in the drafting of the legal papers, the repeated calls and faxes between Fleming and Mundy showed that Fleming at least had some role in their preparation. Finally, Fleming asserts that she had no knowledge that fraudulent affidavits were being collected or that any affidavits were to be submitted with the complaint and the TRO application. She states that Rev. Lewis and Rev. Kimber conceived the idea of affidavits, prepared them, and provided them to Mr. Mundy. Ms. Fleming, however, admitted preparing the single affidavit signed and submitted by Rev. Kimber. As the trial court noted, all of the affidavits are significantly similar in form, in format, and even in typeface to the Kimber affidavit. Furthermore, the Kimber affidavit had to have been prepared by someone with knowledge of the other affidavits. All of these facts support the court's finding that Ms. Fleming was involved in filing a collusive and fraudulent lawsuit.