WASHINGTON -- Ralph Nader took his six-year fight over petition signatures in Pennsylvania to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals today, claiming he wasn't given a fair hearing in Pennsylvania.

Mr. Nader's case, in which he was ordered to pay $81,102 in legal fees to Pittsburgh-based Reed Smith LLP after he was booted from the 2004 presidential ballot, is also entwined in the Bonusgate investigation of state employees misusing taxpayer funds.

The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, in a then-unprecedented ruling, ordered Mr. Nader to pay the costs for the petition challenge in 2004, nd he's been fighting the ruling ever since. The case shifted to D.C. because Mr. Nader's bank accounts are in Washington.

Mr. Nader's attorney, Oliver Hall, told a three-judge panel today that Pennsylvania courts did not adequately hear out new evidence that emerged from the Bonusgate hearings, including testimony that Reed Smith attorney Efrem Grail knew the petition-challenge effort the attorney led included state employees.

Mr. Hall included this testimony in his final appeal to the state Supreme Court, which struck it down with a one-sentence motion.

Mr. Hall also claimed that the Supreme Court justices' ties to Reed Smith give the "appearance of impropriety."

The firm represented former Chief Justice Ralph Cappy in ethics matters, at one time employed current Chief Justice Ronald Castille, and gave campaign contributions to other justices.

Reed Smith's Nathan Fennessey argued that the case has been amply litigated in Pennsylvania and there is no reason for the D.C. court to overturn rulings from another state. Also, he noted, there have been no criminal charges filed against Mr. Grail.

Court of Appeals Judges Vanessa Ruiz, Stephen H. Glickman and Phyllis D. Thompson will issue a ruling at an undetermined later date.

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