County of Ventura dba People of California,

plaintiff

v

Douglas Palaschak,

defendant.

Case #2001 554 887 I A

Motion to Continue.

Declaration of Douglas Palaschak in support of Motion to Continue.

Proof of Service.

Date: Thursday 6 September 2001

Time: 9 a.m.

Courtroom: #14. Judge Campbell. Notice of Motion for Continuance.

To Ventura District Attorney: Please note that at the venue listed above, Defendant Palaschak, who worked only 3 days in August, will ask for a continuance so that he may take advantage of an opportunity to work so that he will not lose his right to sleep in a room which he acquired 5 weeks ago.

Motion for Continuance

Douglas Palaschak asks to continue this case 4 weeks until Thursday 4 October 2001 at 1:30 pm. Defendant makes this request because he has an opportunity to work on 6 October having worked only 3 days in August. There is no police officer scheduled to appear today, 6 September. Palaschak was last in court on August 16^th at which he sat throughout the entire morning calendar and was told that his papers were not in the file - even though he timely filed them 2 weeks before that 16 August court appearance. (After court Palaschak helped the court clerks find the missing papers; they were on a stack waiting to be filed.)

If the court decides not to grant this continuance, perhaps the court would consider trailing this matter and holding any warrant until this job opportunity finishes - which might be Monday 10 September but we won't know until the end of work Friday September 7 - and therefore Tuesday 11 September might be a better date if the court prefers to keep this case on a short leash.

Declaration of Douglas Palaschak

I am struggling financially. I have not had a law office since 1992 - nearly a decade. I have a case (my own personal case) in federal court - which is why I returned to California. This case is about sleeping in my car. Five weeks ago I found room in which to sleep at night but my landlord is threatening to kick me out if I cannot pay him $400 this week. If I can work on the 6^th and on 10 other days then I can continue to sleep in a room.

At my last appearance - on 16 August, I spent the entire morning here - only to be told that my papers were not in the file. After court I helped the court clerks find the papers and put them back in the file. I spent time in August writing an amended complaint in federal court - which is why I did not work. Now I am behind in my rent - and I have not paid an electric deposit nor a phone bill - nor my internet bill. Bottom Line: It is an extreme hardship for me to forego a day's work to come to court - especially if - as last time - nothing will happen. Generally I spend half the week days of the month laboring for cash and half the days working on my personal legal matters. Generally I am free to come to court half of the week days of the month - but I desperately need to work this week on this job.

I am confident that this court does not want a previously homeless person to miss work and risk becoming homeless again.

Why I did not file this earlier

I did not expect to find this plum work assignment for this week. And I only found out today that there is work for me thru Friday 7 September - and maybe beyond, if we don't finish the job by Friday.

My phone card is dead - and my work hours preclude me from coming to court to file this paper.

That is why I mail this continuance - and that is why I may or may not be able to call the court. I fear that a coin call from where I am working will be expensive. I arise at 5:15, begin work at 7, and return to Ventura at 6 pm.

I spent 2 hours writing this. I will only get 5.5 hours sleep tonight after working 11 hours today.

___________________ Tuesday 4 September 2001 - the day after Labor Day.

Douglas Palaschak

Proof of Service

I Douglas Palaschak, declare the following under penalty of perjury:

At 11:30 pm on the night of Tuesday 4 September 2001, the day after Labor Day, I personally deposited a copy of this motion in the drop box at the Post Office across from the park in Ventura California. I mailed this particular copy with first class postage affixed to:

District Attorney

Hall of Justice, 3^rd Floor

800 S. Victoria Ave.

Ventura CA 93003

I also mailed a courtesy copy to Judge Campbell in Court 14 due to the lateness of this motion.

I so declare under penalty of perjury.

_________________ 4 September 2001.

Douglas Palaschak