A list of judicial, legal and prosecutorial misconduct and ethics and civil rights violations experienced by Mark Conboy in Rhode Island courts.

See 2008 response from Nelson Brinckerhoff, Esquire.

Complaint One:  My name is Mark Conboy and this is my formal complaint about the family court system in Rhode Island.  3 parties involved to conspire against me in case #96-1329. The names are as follows:

1. Danielle Conboy - my ex-wife
2. James P. Howe - my ex-wife's attorney
3. Judge Haiganush R. Bedrosian - family court judge

Also see my complaints regarding ineffective assistance of council by my Atty. Nelson Brinckerhoff

Said parties have acted in an unconstitutional manner violating my and my children's civil rights without due process. Conduct by these parties amounted to ethics violations.  Here is a short background:

On 5/27/96 wife asks me to leave the house and I refused. Wife then calls her family and friends to come into the family home and remove herself, our 1 year old daughter and the family possessions of her choosing transferring them into her parents home. On 6/19/96 I received divorce papers and a restraining order on mere accusations without trial as a evil tactic in a custody battle without committing any wrongdoing.

I fought to remain an important part of my kids life. I believe that children have the right to keep both parents in their life equally barring physical evidence contrary. I spent more money than I had to no avail because Judge Bedrosian routinely grants sole custody to mothers. My wife made every possible move to avoid a shared parenting plan for two main reasons:

1. Total control and
2. To maximize her child support award to the fullest.

My wife was never interested in what is best for our children but rather what is best for herself. She had hired the most unethical lawyer I have ever seen and Judge Bedrosian is the perfect judge to execute the state's "parental cleansing" plan of fathers from the family while giving her a convenient cash-cow wallet. This did not surprise me one bit since my ex-wife's family is closely connected with convicted criminal and ex-lawyer "Mayor Brian Sarault" who served time for extortion and racketeering.

I figured the courts would be fair and I will have my day in court but I was terribly mistaken. I was vilified before Judge Bedrosian's courtroom as she threw out all key evidence stating contrary for no good reason. Since I am a male there was 2 different standards followed based upon gender alone in Judge Bedrosian's kangaroo courtroom:

1. Male = guilty until proven innocent.
2. Female = innocent until proven guilty.

Given these conditions, my case was a losing one before I ever stepped foot into the courtroom based on my gender. It was impossible to prove a negative because there is no evidence involved. Also most of the negotiations were done in secretly or in private with the judge in chambers making it impossible for me to refute any charges that Judge Bedrosian later denied. This is how the family court system operates, with the likes of organized crime.

Judge Bedrosian said that my case was decided "IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE CHILDREN", a vague and meaningless term for the courts do not define this term with any clarity. The term is more accurately translated to the "BEST INTERESTS OF THE STATE" for there is no irrefutable research to backup any of the state's claims in the interest of my children.

Judge Bedrosian is a very biased and "anti-father". I had realized this to no avail for a parent cannot change judges. Judge Bedrosian had no evidence against me other than hearsay and yet ruled upon this false evidence to the fullest extent. I had even submitted irrefutable evidence which proved my wife had perjured herself with conflicting, slanderous accusations and total lies. Judge Bedrosian simply ignored the evidence I presented because it fit her beliefs as women are always the victim and all divorced men are evil.

I had done a bit of research on Judge Bedrosian and her background confirms her anti-male views. First I questioned other males that had cases before her. Second, I questioned the Sheriff who had repeatedly served me with the many frivolous charges filed by my ex's attorney. Everyone stated Judge Bedrosian is anti-male. I then looked up Judge Bedrosian's background on the State's web site.

I found an interesting piece of information stating Judge Bedrosian is active member of the largest anti-father bashing group "The National Organization for Women" (NOW). Make no mistake about it, NOW is openly anti-father and Judge Bedrosian has mirrored NOW's beliefs. Samples of NOW's and Judge Bedrosian's radical anti-father/anti-family views can be read at the following NOW links:

http://www.now.org/organiza/conferen/1996/resoluti.html#alert

http://www.now.org/organiza/conferen/1996/resoluti.html#fairness

http://www.now.org/nnt/03-97/father.html

http://www.now.org/nnt/winter-99/courtwt.html

There were also many instances in my divorce trial in which Attorney James P. Howe acted unfairly and unethically. Furthermore Attorney Howe had filed countless frivolous contempt charges against me while he padded his wallet billing his client for unnecessary charges. I was also forced to pay an attorney to defend myself against these actions without being awarded compensation in lawyer's fees.

On October of 1996 Attorney Howe interfered with my ability to make a living. The office of David Gardner & Associates, Inc. (401-738-3200) which I had been working for received a phone call from a client stating that a major job was taken away from us. When we asked why this happened we were told that Attorney James Howe instructed this decision. My attorney Nelson Brinkerhoff (401-884-1962) wrote Attorney Howe a warning on this unethical behavior but Attorney Howe denied this calling it slanderous.

This was only the beginning. I tried to deal with Attorney Howe fairly. We discussed my future parental involvement with my children. The answer I received from Attorney Howe was pay us a high extortion fee and we will allow joint legal custody. This just goes to show money was a main motive against me and my ex-wife was more than willing to sacrifice our children on the battlefield to get her way. Her use of our children as pawns was deplorable and the courts allow this. I had refused this type of deal for I would not settle for anything less than 50/50 shared parenting.

Many countless appearances in court lead to many heated disputes between my lawyer and Attorney Howe. On one occasion Mr. Howe threatened my attorney with physical violence in the family court building.

Attorney Howe would use anything and everything to win. On 3/10/97 at noontime, Attorney Howe left the Providence Family Court for lunch. Judge Bedrosian had also left for lunch. Many people stayed in the courtroom waiting for Judge Bedrosian to return. My attorney filed important paperwork in Judge Bedrosian's bin. As soon as my attorney and myself left for lunch, Attorney Howe sneaked back into the Judge Bedrosian's courtroom and sifted through all her paperwork in her bin. Attorney Howe found the paperwork we had filed and took it upon himself to STEAL the paperwork to put me in contempt.

We returned from lunch a little early while the judge is still at lunch. My attorney searched for the paperwork that he had filed in the judge's bin to no avail. My attorney announced displeasure for not finding these papers. Someone in the courtroom shouts out that Attorney Howe took the papers! I asked if anyone else saw this unethical crime in progress. Almost the entire group of around 20 people in the courtroom saw this happen. I took down witness names and phone numbers, all of whom I never knew before this day. An example of my witnesses are Terry Fitta and Carolyn Burns.

This lead to my attorney filing a complaint against Attorney Howe with the Bar Association. Attorney Howe fought back by filing more frivolous charges against me trying to take away what little visitation I was allowed with my children.

I had less than nothing left financially. I could no longer afford to pay my attorney and he would not adequately represent me for this reason. My attorney repeatedly filed to be dismissed from the case. The stress effected my work and health. I was forced to take a leave of absence from work. I filed for a temporary reduction of child support based upon condition, actual income and doctor's orders. I was paying over 50% of my income towards child support while disabled which was more than the child support limits established by Federal Law, 15 USC 1673(b)(2). I also filed for a tax exemption for one of my two children since I had asked this at trial and it went unopposed at the time and the judge never ruled. Judge Bedrosian then refused to give me the tax exemption I requested even though my original income was about twice that of my wife's. I was the one paying most of the child support, if not all since my share covered more than the total expenses.

My child support payments were ordered to be raised illegally despite Federal Law, 15 USC 1673(b)(2) as per Attorney Howe's wishes. I was faced to make a lump some extortion payment by the family court or face instant incarceration even though I was left less than penniless. Read Divorced Dads: Shattering the Myths by Dr. Sanford L. Braver Ph.D.

I have since tried contacting the media, ACLU and others about this case. They all seem to have one thing in common, they are not interested unless I was a mom. A visit to the ACLU's website reveals the many gender specific issues they are interested in. Every one of these gender specific issues is for females only, I have yet to find one specifically for men.  Sincerely, Mark Conboy

Response by Attorney Nelson Brinckerhoff, Esquire. Jan. 10, 2008

I am responding to the charges made unilaterally against me many years ago on this site by Mr. Conboy. Mr. Conboy made many poor decisions, ignoring my advice, in this divorce. I had negotiated a settlement in his presence with his wife's lawyer that would have given him an even property split, minus $1000 extra for her that she insisted on and equal rights with his children. I did not like the extra thousand especially but I told him, that due to the animosity between Mr. and Mrs. Conboy it would be cheaper to pay the $1000 to her than pay me for a trial. He refused. After a lengthy difficult trial he got less than half of the marital property due to fault found by the Judge against him. She also got full custody of the kids due to the Judge seeing that the children would be ill served by fighting parents. My settlement would have given him joint custody, but he chose to risk it all. The trial was frustrating due to its protracted nature. His case was fully presented.

My fees, as he was warned, consumed his share of the house proceeds. They were not exorbitant. I did not lie to him. The house was co-owned by husband and wife and by law is marital property of which she was awarded 60 percent of the minimal equity. My fees were not completely covered by his 40% and I have never been fully paid, as Mark Conboy disappeared after the trial.

To my understanding, Mr. Conboy chose not to pay court ordered child support, quit his job and basically seemed to have gone underground and over the deep end after the trial. Because the verdict based on the facts of their troubled marriage did not go the way he wanted, his additional inappropriate reaction to the outcome was to slander his lawyer. He could have saved himself, money, fees, and his children if only he had listened to my advice. I always tell my clients that "it is usually better to agree if possible to the deal you know, than be surprised by a judge's ruling that you don't know."

I take great pride in my professionalism and integrity. I resent the title "a list of reported ethical violations of Nelson F. Brinckerhoff." Since this site has published his slanderous comments without ever seeking input from me and has entitled the article about me so unfairly, I have only now years later with this slander out there found out that I can respond. There was never even a complaint made to the RI Disciplinary Counsel to my knowledge, so please change the listing of "disciplined from "unknown" to "no."

I have never had any qualms about my representation of Mr. Conboy. Husband, wife and wife's lawyer were all very difficult to deal with. I have always thought I handled the case properly. I frequently cite its scenario anonymously to my clients in regard to the pitfalls of being as unreasonable as Mr. Conboy turned out to be. The reason you hire a lawyer is to get unemotional advice and professional representation, both of which he got, but frequently ignored.

Mr. Conboy needs to apologize to me. I could say other things about him, but I only wish to protect my name. I would appreciate it if you would remove Mr. Conboy's fiction from your site as it creates a very harmful impression in just its title or to those who don't read my response or don't read between the lines of his "blame everyone else diatribe". I would hope your site values the integrity of its presentations. Being a lawyer is an honorable profession. We deserve a bilateral investigation before stones are thrown at us. This was not done here.
Nelson Brinckerhoff, Esquire. Jan. 10, 2008

Caught.net Note: For over 13 years Caught.net has highlighted on the main page that valid rebuttals will be published.  We tried the first several years to get lawyers to cooperate with this public forum and they all refused, threatened us, usually with extreme profanity and still to this day will avoid us like the plague. They threaten their clients if their clients mention us.  We will not change "unknown" to "none" as requested above by Atty. Brinckerhoff because we have no way of finding out if any complaints have been filed against him - that is kept secret by the disciplinary council.