Section 45-1561

Citation: Section 45-1561
Parent Document: Habib v. Thurston, 517 A.2d 1 (1986)
Jurisdiction: DC (municipal)
Effective Date: 1986-10-30
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1995493/habib-v-thurston/ ↗

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Given that the Landlord and Tenant Branch cannot order final disbursement of funds from the court registry without an evidentiary hearing when the tenant timely has asserted a Javins defense, and further given the right to a jury at that McNeal hearing, we face an inescapable conclusion. We hold that, if the tenant or the landlord makes a timely jury demand, the Constitution requires that the disbursement proceeding must either (1) be certified to the Civil Assignment Office for an expedited jury trial, see Super.Ct. L & T R. 1, 6, or (2) be tried initially in the Landlord and Tenant Branch, while preserving the tenant's or landlord's right to appeal the court's ruling to the Civil Division for a jury trial de novo, Capital Traction, 174 U.S. at 45, 19 S.Ct. at 597, with the protective order still in effect pending Civil Division resolution. We leave it to the Superior Court to decide which alternative is preferable.

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