New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Disbarred Hamden attorney ordered into custody
A former Connecticut attorney — disbarred earlier this year after accusing a judge of favoring Jewish people — has been ordered to be taken into custody after failing to turn over all of the requested documents related to her disbarment.
Former Hamden attorney Nickola Cunha was disbarred in January after Judge Thomas Moukawsher ruled she had made “empty and malicious claims” alleging another judge was engaged in a Judaism-based conspiracy and protected child sexual abuse as part of her representation of a Glastonbury woman engaged in a dissolution of marriage case.
In late April, as part of the ruling, Moukawsher ordered Cunha to turn over her clients’ contact information, along with active and pending files to a court-appointed trustee. Moukawsher noted at the time that a recent withdrawal of $30,000 from a client’s account may have been illegal and required an audit.
Mouskawsher ordered a rearrest warrant for Cunha on May 11 after she failed to turn over the records in question.
This would not be a criminal arrest, a court official noted at the time. The rearrest warrant was extended several times.
On Friday, Cunha provided North Haven attorney Corrine A. Boni-Vendola, appointed as the trustee in the case, files for three clients, Boni-Vendola wrote in a Monday filing.
However, Cunha did not provide information for six clients or documentation concerning outstanding billing or financial accounts she maintained on behalf of those she represented, BoniVendola said.
Mouskawsher ordered the rearrest warrant be executed by a Connecticut state marshal on Tuesday.
After her disbarment, Cunha said in a statement that Moukawsher was “engaged in a mission to destroy my credibility and protect another judge.” She said that she had provided five examples of cases in which Judge Gerald Adelman allegedly demonstrated bias.”
“What should be questioned is why I was targeted for going public with the truth,” Cunha said.
In his disbarment order, Mouskawsher said Cunha had alleged that she had evidence, including a list of cases in which Adelman had inappropriately favored Jewish people, but, when asked at a hearing, failed to produce any such information and admitted she did not have such a list.