Payne Challenge Over Removal from Senate Paused by Judge

A scheduled hearing in the ongoing civil case filed by ousted Senator-at-Large Steven Payne was called off Thursday morning. It was the first hearing set by Superior Court Judge Renee Gumbs Carty since the legal team representing the Legislature was threatened with sanctions for challenging the judge’s right to preside over the case.

The continuance of Thursday’s hearing in Payne’s challenge to his removal from office is the subject of a bench trial with a March start date. No date for future hearings appeared in the court action, said defense attorney Treston Moore.

At the same time, Gumbs Carty allowed Payne’s lawyer to file their portion of a joint final pretrial order. The parties currently have a March 14 bench trial date.

Since the time of that declaration, legislative outside counsel Joseph Arellano petitioned the V.I. Supreme Court to allow him to transfer the matter to the high court. The attorney for the Legislature, in a previous court hearing, claimed Gumbs Carty’s term had expired, and she no longer had authority to preside over the case.

Payne claims he was illegally kicked out of office by a vote of the 34th Legislature when the body’s founding document had no rules that allowed for his removal. Fourteen members of the 34th Legislature voted to expel him after a legislative staffer said he sexually harassed her. Payne was the lone nay vote.