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In Booger County, it pays to play dirty

This afternoon Judge H.D. Black, Jr. dismissed the lawsuit accusing former Robertson County District Attorney John C. Paschall of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the estate of Marium Oscar after the Texas Attorney General’s Office failed to show up for a hearing.  Judge Black also referred the still-pending probate case back to Robertson County Judge Jan Roe, who happens to be a political ally of Paschall and his attorney as well as a client of that attorney, Bryan F. “Rusty” Russ, III.

Jan RoeConflict of interest? There ain’t no such thing in Booger County. As I reported last week, Rusty asked Judge Black to transfer the case from district court back to county court, even though the case originated in county court and Paschall was responsible for transferring it to district court in the first place. We now have a pattern: every time a judge realizes that Paschall has swindled the estate, Paschall requests a transfer to a new judge who happens to be a political crony.

You may recall that Judge Black ordered Paschall to deposit more than $86,000 of estate funds in the registry of the court, and Paschall brought the money to the district clerk in a brown paper bag.  To this day, Paschall refuses to disclose the source of the cash. You may also recall that I represented the Calvert Historical Foundation in the lawsuit against Paschall until Rusty’s and Paschall’s allies took over the organization, ousted its president, and fired me (even though I was representing the foundation for free).  … Read more

John Paschall is shopping for a new judge

This afternoon I learned that the Calvert Historical Foundation dismissed its lawsuit against former Robertson County District Attorney John C. Paschall, walking away from more than $86,000.00 in cash sitting in the registry of the court. I also learned that Paschall is trying to get the case transferred to another court.

Until July, you may recall, I represented the foundation in the lawsuit that accused Paschall of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the estate of Marium Oscar. I represented the foundation at no charge, but the foundation fired me after a sudden influx of new members ousted the president of the organization.  Then Paschall’s lawyers tried to frame me for barratry (for the second time), only to have  it blow up in their faces (again).

Rusty.249111858_stdYou have to give those crooks credit for one thing: they never give up. Prior to my termination, I had repeatedly heard rumors that Paschall and his attorney, Bryan F. “Rusty” Russ, Jr., were trying to get their cronies to join the foundation as members, then sabotage the lawsuit. And now that the FBI, the Texas Rangers, and the State Bar of Texas are investigating, they are trying really hard to shut down the civil case against Paschall.

Apparently Rusty has asked Senior District Judge H.D. Black, Jr., the visiting judge who is presiding over the Marium Oscar probate proceeding, to transfer the case back to county court. This is a nefarious request. Like all probate cases, the Marium Oscar case originally was filed in county court. The county judge at the time grew very suspicious of Paschall, however, because time and again Paschall failed to file the statutorily-mandated inventory of the estate’s assets. Eventually, the county judge removed Paschall as executor.

Paschall’s drinking buddy and attorney at the time, T. Wayne Brimhall (who is also the husband of County Clerk Kathryn Brimhall), immediately asked the county judge to transfer the case to district court, supposedly because the estate owned some bond certificates that needed to be interpreted by the district court. The request was a ruse, because to this day Paschall has never asked the district court to interpret any bond certificates.  … Read more

Rick Perry’s indictment should produce a political backlash, and it’s long overdue

Rick PerryFirst, the perfunctory disclaimer: I am not a fan of Rick Perry, although I have voted for him in past general elections. That said, nobody deserves to be threatened with 99 years in prison because of a political disagreement. And yesterday’s indictment of the governor appears to be just that: an attempt to criminalize a political disagreement.

As I understand the indictment, Perry is charged with one third-degree felony and one first-degree felony (i.e., the equivalent of a murder charge in Texas) because he threatened to veto funding for the public integrity unit at the Travis County District Attorney’s Office unless District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg resigned.

Lehmberg, you may recall, had been arrested for drunk driving. She was videotaped kicking her cell door in the Travis County Jail, yelling at jailers, and demanding special treatment, and she ultimately had to be restrained because of her resistance. Afterwards, she steadfastly refused to resign, and Perry made good on his threat by vetoing $7.5 million in funds for her office. According to Michael McCrum, the special prosecutor who sought Perry’s indictment, the governor was within his rights to veto funding, but he committed a felony by threatening to veto funding unless Lehmberg resigned.  … Read more

Woohoo! I just got fired!

 

Uncle RemusThe Bryan-College Station Eagle reported today that I was fired by the Calvert Historical Foundation, and that I will no longer be representing the foundation (for free) against former Robertson County District Attorney John C. Paschall. It appears that Bryan F. “Rusty” Russ, Jr., the attorney representing Mr. Paschall, engineered a hostile takeover of the foundation.

Click here to see the letter to Judge H.D. Black, Jr. that is referenced in The Eagle. Rusty has tried every stunt imaginable over the last three years in order to force me off the case, and I’m sure Rusty thought he was sticking a knife in me. Instead, he has done me a big favor. As I explained in the letter, I am planning to move to New York, and I was worried about finding someone to take over the case. That is no longer my problem, and I feel like Br’er Rabbit getting thrown into the briar patch.

… Read more

How much money did John Paschall steal, and why won’t Greg Abbott do anything about it?

For more than two years now, I have urged Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to intervene in a lawsuit against a district attorney (now former district attorney) who allegedly stole a small fortune from an elderly lady and her estate. John Paschall was the colorful (i.e., racist, alcoholic, obnoxious, and derelict) district attorney of Robertson County until he was defeated in 2012, and he still serves as executor of the estate of Marium Oscar, who was the last survivor of the Jewish community in Calvert when she died in 2004. You may recall that Paschall asked a judge for a restraining order to keep me blogging about the Oscar estate during his reelection campaign (the judge refused the request).

John C. Paschall

John C. Paschall

A lot has happened since then, including a recent decision by the Texas Rangers to open a criminal investigation of Paschall’s handling of the Oscar estate. But none of that is any thanks to Abbott. According to the Texas Supreme Court, “it is the certain duty of the Attorney General to invoke the powers inherent in our courts to prevent an abuse of a charitable trust…” Lokey v. Texas Methodist Foundation, 479 S.W.2d 260, 265 (Tex. 1972), but for two years Abbott has done nothing.

Ms. Oscar’s will bequeathed her entire estate to a trust, and in a July 5, 2011 letter to Abbott, I warned of my suspicion that Ms. Oscar’s trust was a charitable trust. I could not confirm that at the time, however, because Paschall refused to release a copy of the trust agreement.

My clients and I fought Paschall all the way to the Court of Appeals, and a February 7, 2013 opinion from that court finally forced him to release a copy of the trust agreement. Sure enough, Ms. Oscar’s trust was a charitable trust. According to the trust agreement, Ms. Oscar’s money and property were to be used to create a museum in a building that Ms. Oscar owned in downtown Calvert. One problem was immediately obvious: Paschall had already sold the building, and he did not (and does not) want to explain what he did with the money.  … Read more

Is George P. Bush padding his resume?

In his campaign for Texas Land Commissioner, George P. Bush (son of Jeb, nephew of George W., and grandson of George H.W.) claims that he is a businessman, touting the fact that he is a founder of St. Augustine Partners in Fort Worth. But what, exactly, is St. Augustine Partners?

Bush business addressAccording to the certificate of formation filed with the Texas Secretary of State, St. Augustine Partners is a limited liability company that was formed in 2007. As of a May 13, 2013 change-of-address report filed with the secretary of state, its business address is East 4th Street, Suite 201, Fort Worth, Texas. On the left is a photograph of the office directory posted in the lobby of 604 East 4th Street. As you can see, Penrose Group and Rosenthal Investments are located in Suite 201, but the directory says nothing about St. Augustine Partners.

Prior to May 13, 2013, company filings listed 4062 Bunting Avenue, Fort Worth, Texas as the “business” address. I found a picture (right) of that address on Zillow.com, and it appears to be someone’s home, perhaps Bush’s 4062 Bunting Avenuehome. [UPDATE@4:30p.m. on 12/2/13: My cousin and fellow muckraker Don Mullins got on the Tarrant Appraisal District website and found this appraisal record confirming that it is George P. Bush’s home]. Better yet is the company website, which basically says nothing: name, address, phone number, and e-mail. That’s it. I’ve attached a frozen copy of it here, lest someone rush to change it. Based on the publicly available evidence, St. Augustine Partners looks like a shell company created on paper to make it appear that Bush (1) has a job and (2) has business experience.

After the Fort Worth Star-Telegram ran a puff piece on June 26, 2013 about George P., I sent the reporter and an editor a copy of the lobby photograph (above), but I never got a response. (I don’t know the reporter, Anna Tinsley, but her story reads like a campaign press release.) I’ve since sent the photograph to several journalists, but thus far nobody is asking any questions. Why not? Would it really be that hard for a reporter to call the number on the website and ask what St. Augustine does, how many employees it has, who its customers are, or how much business it does annually? Is it a real business, or is it just a holding company for the Bush family’s assets? … Read more

The picture that cost Ricky Scaman the sheriff’s race…

Several months ago, I told you about the story of Ricky Scaman, the Republican candidate for sheriff of Falls County, Texas. Ricky the Scandal-man is the one grinning like a possum in the picture to your left, and that picture probably led to his defeat by a mere 14-vote margin.

Earlier in the year, my clients made that picture famous at their own website, i.e., FallsCountySheriff.com. Falls County Republicans nonetheless chose Scandal-man in the primary, but apparently many of those Republicans were unwilling to vote for Scandal-man in November.

Sheriff Ben Kirk, a Democrat, held his job even though Mitt Romney won 62 percent of the vote in Falls County. Hopefully that brings some small comfort to Kirk, whose brother was murdered near Forth Worth on Monday.

CORRECTION (11/7/2012): I mistakenly wrote that my “clients” created FallsCountySheriff.com. Only one of my clients, i.e., Trent Pamplin, created the website.

John Paschall voted out!!!

Robertson County District Attorney John Paschall was defeated by a 52-48 margin, with 3,767 of 7,242 votes cast in favor of Republican challenger Coty Siegert. Siegert is one of the first Republicans elected to county-wide office in Robertson County since Reconstruction.

John C. Paschall

John C. Paschall

The Robertson County Democratic machine has to be worried, not just because a Republican won, but because Paschall will not be around to cover up for them. Congratulations to the decent people of Robertson County. All the criminals — including the ones who’ve been running the county — are going to have a hard road ahead of them.

District Judge Robert M. Stem, take a look at my last post. It’s time to announce that retirement, sooner rather than later.

The end of one campaign, the beginning of another?

John C. Paschall

I had planned to write more about Robertson County DA John Paschall before today’s election, but a couple of my friends made a really good observation: if people still supported Paschall after what already had been revealed on this website and RedFacedDrunk.com, then nothing else could change their minds.

Most of the old Booger County Democratic political machine will remain in place, regardless of who becomes DA, although it will be weakened tremendously if Paschall is defeated. Without a compromised and incompetent alcoholic as DA, it will be a lot harder to cover up the crime and corruption in the courthouse.

Either way, District Judge Robert M. Stem will face an election in 2014 (unless he resigns or retires). Judge Stem has long been the string puppet for Palmos, Russ, McCullough, & Russ, PLLC, and for at least two generations, that law firm has been at the center of most of the dirty politics and corruption in Robertson County. [more…]

In 2009, I filed a motion outlining the improper relationship between Judge Stem and the law firm, as well as other evidence of Judge Stem’s misconduct, and you can read that by clicking here (As you can see in those documents, I also represented Judge Stem’s own mother against him). Thus far, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct has protected Judge Stem, as have his fellow judges. But they can’t protect him from the voters.

So, should I keep RedFacedDrunk.com running and use it for Judge Stem and the rest of the Booger County machine, or should I pick another website? Suggestions are welcome.

Was the DA too lazy or too drunk to prosecute a child molester?

Walter David Sanders

Robertson County DA John Paschall apparently lied earlier this month when he claimed that the alleged victims of accused child molester Walter David Sanders had refused to testify against him.

This morning I spoke with one of the alleged victims (whom I’ll call “Jane Doe”), as well as her mother, and both told me that they were willing to testify against Sanders. According to them, neither Paschall nor his investigators ever contacted them about the case, and they were not aware of the plea deal until after the fact.

The 2011 indictment of Sanders accused him of penetrating the “sexual organs” of his victims.  According to Jane Doe, the abuse began when she was nine years old and continued for approximately six years.  Jane Doe will be 17 years old later this month.

You may recall that Paschall and his minions got all bent out of shape last month when the Robertson County News reported that Sanders got an easy plea deal from Paschall.  Under the terms of the plea deal, Sanders plead guilty to a reduced charge of “Enticing a Child,” a misdemeanor offense that typically is used to prosecute non-custodial parents who convince their child to flee from the custodial parent.

That charge did not require Sanders to register as a sex offender.  He served no jail time and was granted deferred adjudication, which meant that the charge would disappear completely if he successfully completed probation. The following week, Paschall told the Robertson County News that the plea deal was the best he could get, because the victims had recanted.

But now we know that wasn’t true.  … Read more