Attorney Files Motion Against Postponing Green Removal Trial

In a motion filed Friday, the attorney who will prosecute the removal trial against Louisville Metro Councilwoman Judy Green, D-1, argues her request to delay the hearing should be denied because there is no evidence of her illness.Earlier this week, defense attorney Derwin Webb, Green's legal counsel, filed a motion seeking to delay the trial by at least 30 days due to an undisclosed illness. In several interviews, Webb acknowledges he hasn't spoken to his client directly in over a week, but was given information about her condition by Green's husband.Webb told WFPL in a telephone interview that the councilwoman is under a doctor's care.However, attorney Gregg Hovious, who represents the five member Charging Committee that impeached Green, argues Webb's motion is not supported by any documentation."(Councilwoman) Green has failed to support her motion with any evidence of what procedure she has undergone much less any evidence to show that her condition is so severe that she will be incapacitated for the next sixty days—which is the effective contention of her motion," says Hovious. "Indeed, according to his statements made in an August 18 interview with the local Fox News network, her own counsel has acknowledged that even he has no understanding as to the specific of Green's condition. In short, there is no proof that shows any need for delay."Hovious argues any further delays would be a "disservice to the Louisville Metro community" and that Green has had ample time to prepare a defense. Last month, the council approved Green's first request for a continuance over the objection of some city lawmakers.Councilman Kelly Downard, R-16, chairman of the Metro Council Court, which presides over the hearing, says members will meet next Thursday to decide by a majority vote on whether to postpone Green’s trial.In response, Webb has called Hovious' motion "gamesmanship" and said the charging panel is more interested in removing Green from office than her personal health. However, he said he will do whatever is necessary to "prove that she does have some medical issues."Green faces a removal trial after the Metro Ethics Commission ruled she deliberately violated the city’s code of ethics in two separate complaints. In the first case, the panel recommended her ouster from office and delivered a stinging letter of censure and public reprimand against her.Green has appealed both of those decision in Jefferson Circuit Court.The removal trial is scheduled for September 12.