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

Judge denies dirty DA’s request for gag order

This morning Judge H.D. Black denied Robertson County District Attorney John Paschall’s request for a restraining order to keep me from talking about Marsha Gilbert and John Gilbert vs. John Paschall.

You may recall that Paschall is fighting tooth and nail to keep anyone from learning what he did with the estate of Marium Oscar, the last survivor of Calvert’s Jewish community. If you haven’t watched this news story from KAGS in Bryan about the lawsuit, take a look and you’ll see Paschall acting like… Paschall. [more…]

Judge Black explained some basic First Amendment principles this morning to Paschall and his attorney, Bryan F. “Rusty” Russ, Jr., which they apparently failed to comprehend.  Rusty got really combative with the judge, and at one point threatened to start a website about me and “the court” (i.e., the judge) if the judge did not restrain me from talking about Gilbert v. Paschall.

I had a three-word response to that threat, which I’ll share with you here: bring it on. Here is what I wrote back on October 7:

… I invite Paschall to tell his side of the story. If he wants to explain why his office has not tried a felony case in 21 months, I’ll be glad to post it here and on RedFacedDrunk.com. In fact, if Paschall wants to respond to anything I’ve written about him, e.g., the Marium Oscar case, I’ll be glad to post it here.

Rusty repeatedly called me a “liar” in court today, so I’ll repeat the challenge that I made this morning: tell me exactly what I am lying about. Rusty won’t have to start his own website, because I’ll post it right here. Here’s something else I wrote back on October 7:

None of [Paschall’s cronies] — not one — has denied that he refers to black people as “niggers” (and they can’t, because too many witnesses have already testified in Regina Kelly, et al. v. John Paschall, et al. about his use of that word).

None of his supporters have denied that he’s a drunk. None of his supporters have offered an explanation for what happened to the Marium Oscar estate. None of his supporters have denied that he is currently under indictment for a felony. None of his supporters have denied that he was arrested for public intoxication in 2005. None of his supporters have denied that he threatened Steve Stokely, a detective who was investigating Paschall’s brother-in-law for murder.

In court, I even taunted Paschall to file a defamation suit against me (he knows better, because truth is the ultimate defense to a defamation suit).

Here are a few more odds and ends:

* Paschall’s face was unusually red this morning, which leads me to the naming of RedFacedDrunk.com. Aside from the 2005 arrest for public intoxication, there’s plenty more evidence that Paschall has a severe alcohol problem.  In my observation, Paschall usually arrives at the courthouse in middle to late morning, and his face is usually red and his eyes are usually bloodshot. His ex-wife told me he used to drink a 12-pack every evening, and that would have been back in the 90s. About a month ago, one of my clients observed him sitting in a local drinking establishment with one of the constables.  (They were strategizing about how to round up votes in the Hispanic community).  My client walked in after Paschall and reported that Paschall drank at least seven beers before getting in his truck and driving home. (Incidentally, the constable had at least two beers before leaving in his patrol car, according to my source.)  That sort of stuff may shock some of you on the outside, but it’s common knowledge in Booger County.

* I’ve heard indirectly from some generally law-abiding people in Robertson County (including some Republicans) who plan to vote for Paschall because they know they can easily get out of DWIs and misdemeanor marijuana charges by directing cash to the right places.  So never mind all the murders, rapes, drug dealing, child molesting, etc. And you wonder why so much of your county is an arm pit?

* Judge Robert M. Stem of the 82nd District Court has to be wondering whether he will get a website before the 2014 elections. He may not have to wait that long. I’m planning to write about the key players in the Booger County Democrat Machine who need a “useful idiot” (i.e., Paschall) in the DA’s office, and why they need him.

Coach cancels interview with investigator

After postponing two previously scheduled meetings with investigators looking into allegations that Coach Steve Mulkey sexually abused female students at Union Grove ISD, Mulkey’s attorney cancelled today’s meeting and said Mulkey would only respond to the investigation in writing,  according to an investigator for the Texas State Board for Educator Certification.

[more…]

Scott Byrum said the case against Mulkey likely will be forwarded to SBEC’s legal division next week, and from there to an administrative judge. If Mulkey does not surrender his teaching certificate before then, the case against Mulkey likely will be heard some time next year.

Six female students testified that Mulkey engaged in sexual misconduct in the 1980s, ranging from sexual harassment to the forcible rape of a 14-year-old girl. Mulkey resigned from Union Grove in September, and the SBEC will determine whether he loses his teacher certification.

Is John Paschall the laziest DA in Texas?

Walter David Sanders

According to the Robertson County District Clerk’s Office, District Attorney John C. Paschall and his staff have tried only one felony case out of 769 that were filed between October 4, 2009 and October 4, 2012. That lone case was tried in January of 2010, which means the DA’s office has not tried a felony case in 21 months.

Paschall has two full-time assistant DAs, plus two secretaries and several investigators. I am awaiting information from the county clerk’s office, but my courthouse sources say Paschall’s office tries perhaps 2 or 3 misdemeanor cases per year.

Is Paschall really that incapacitated by his alcohol problems? Or is he just lazy? And what are he and his assistant DAs doing all day? Clearly, some of his employees have too much time on their hands. You may recall that in 2009, local business owners in Hearne accused one of Paschall’s investigators of trying to intimidate them into removing signs about American Violet, a movie that was embarrassing Paschall.

With three full-time attorneys, Paschall’s office should be trying multiple felonies per year and multiple misdemeanors per month. In all fairness, many of the 769 felony cases were plea bargained, and that’s not inherently bad. But the plea bargaining process only works if the defense attorneys know that the DA’s office is willing (and able) to take a case to trial.

Shortly after I started taking criminal defense appointments in Robertson County in 2007, other local attorneys told me that Paschall never wanted to try a case, therefore you could always get easy plea bargains out of him. And they were right. Every criminal defense attorney within 50 miles of Robertson County knows that Paschall won’t try cases. [more…]

What are the consequences of Paschall’s unwillingness / inability to prosecute cases? My sources tell me the Robertson County News will break a big story on that subject on Wednesday. Meanwhile, I invite Paschall to tell his side of the story. If he wants to explain why his office has not tried a felony case in 21 months, I’ll be glad to post it here and on RedFacedDrunk.com. In fact, if Paschall wants to respond to anything I’ve written about him, e.g., the Marium Oscar case, I’ll be glad to post it here. Or I suppose he could try to get another gag order to shut me up.

Either way, the ball is in Paschall’s court. As one of my friends recently observed, Paschall’s supporters (including his daughter) have called me a lot of names on Facebook, but they’ve not yet called me a liar. None of them — not one — has denied that he refers to black people as “niggers” (and they can’t, because too many witnesses have already testified in Regina Kelly, et al. v. John Paschall, et al. about his use of that word).

None of his supporters have denied that he’s a drunk. None of his supporters have offered an explanation for what happened to the Marium Oscar estate. None of his supporters have denied that he is currently under indictment for a felony. None of his supporters have denied that he was arrested for public intoxication in 2005. None of his supporters have denied that he threatened Steve Stokely, a detective who was investigating Paschall’s brother-in-law for murder.

No, all the Paschall stooges are too busy calling me names, which is fine. I wonder when they’ll figure out that my name is not on the ballot.

UPDATE (1:25 p.m., October 8, 2012): I’ve learned that the Robertson County News story about Walter David Sanders has been postponed until October 17, 2012.  After the first story broke on September 26, 2012, Paschall claimed the victims recanted. But was that true? Dennis Phillips, publisher of the News, decided to find out for himself.

UPDATE (4:00 p.m., October 17, 2012): Robertson County News will not be running a story on October 17, 2012 about Walter David Sanders.

The lawsuit that John Paschall doesn’t want anybody talking about

I think I’ve finally found something that Robertson County DA John Paschall hates more than black people, and that’s the First Amendment. Paschall is really upset about the new website I built for him, RedFacedDrunk.com, so he asked a judge for a “gag order” yesterday. I kid you not. Click right here and read it for yourself.

What is Paschall so worried about? He doesn’t want me talking about Marsha Gilbert and John Gilbert v. John Paschall, a lawsuit that accuses him of swindling money from the estate of Marium Jeanette Oscar. So what am I going to do? Well, I’m going to talk about it, of course. [more…]

Before her death in 2004 at age 95, Ms. Oscar was the last survivor of a once-thriving Jewish community in Calvert, Texas.  If you want a great introduction to her story, click on this news video by Steven Romo of KAGS.  The second installment in Romo’s series is even better, because Paschall did what he does best — run his mouth — without realizing he was being recorded.

According to Gilbert v. Paschall, Paschall got himself appointed executor of Ms. Oscar’s will in 1992, and he obtained a power of attorney in 1996 to handle Ms. Oscar’s affairs. As I previously explained on RedFacedDrunk.com, Paschall was indicted in 1987 for stealing money from the hot check fund that his office oversaw. Here’s a little more detail: a couple of years earlier, the IRS placed several liens on Paschall’s property for failure to pay his income taxes, and he was also sued for failure to pay a school loan. Clearly, Paschall was having serious money problems.

Flash forward to 1997, the year after Paschall obtained control over Ms. Oscar’s affairs, and Paschall had paid off every last one of his tax liens. Things got even more suspicious after Ms. Oscar’s death in 2004.  Here’s an excerpt from the lawsuit:

On November 22, 2004, Mr. Paschall filed Ms. Oscar’s will with the Robertson County Clerk to be probated.  In 2006, the county judge removed Mr. Paschall as executor because he failed to file an inventory of the estate as required by law.  However, even though Mr. Paschall no longer had standing as executor, his attorney immediately asked the county judge to transfer the case to the district court, ostensibly because there were issues of stock and real estate ownership that might require a declaratory judgment.  After the case was transferred to district court, Judge Robert M. Stem immediately reappointed Mr. Paschall as executor.  To date, Mr. Paschall has never sought a declaratory judgment regarding any of the estate properties.

Mr. Paschall finally filed an estate inventory on November 17, 2006.  Numerous items, however, are missing from the inventory.  Several properties listed on the inventory already had been sold by Mr. Paschall, including a 109-acre tract of land that he sold to DonMichael L. Triolo of Bryan on April 8, 2005.  On the other hand, Mr. Paschall failed to list another tract of roughly 100 acres that the estate still owned.  And he failed to notify the court that he had sold the mineral estate belonging to the latter tract to Virginia Jackson on February 2, 2005, even though he had retained the surface estate.  It is not clear what Mr. Paschall did with the proceeds of the sale of the mineral estate.

According to a former member of the Calvert city council, Ms. Oscar asked that her estate proceeds be used to build a Jewish museum in Calvert, and that some of her family’s antique furniture be displayed in the museum.  No proceeds have been used for a museum, and most of the antique furniture has since been destroyed as a result of neglect.  Ms. Oscar made only one specific request in her will, namely, that “my body shall be buried in a Mausoleum, above ground, in a proper and decent manner.”  Mr. Paschall had Ms. Oscar buried beneath ground in what one witness described as the cheapest casket that the funeral home had to offer.  In fact, Ms. Oscar’s body would have been embalmed – a grave violation of Jewish burial customs – but for the fact that two of her Gentile friends intervened to prevent it.

You can read the entire lawsuit by clicking here. (Oops, I guess it’s too late for a gag order to prevent me from doing that). According to Ms. Oscar’s will, the money from her estate was supposed to go into a trust.  Naturally, Paschall had himself named as executor of the trust. But who are the beneficiaries? And does the trust even exist? If not, the money should go to my clients, who are Ms. Oscar’s cousins.

For more than a year, Paschall has refused to produce any documents or answer any questions about the estate or the purported trust. Instead, he has fought tooth and nail to keep anyone from seeing the documents.  On what basis?  His attorney, Bryan F. “Rusty” Russ, Jr., has repeatedly argued in writing and in open court that the court cannot disclose the trust documents, because if the names of the beneficiaries were revealed, that nasty old Ty Clevenger might recruit the named beneficiaries to sue Paschall.  Seriously, that’s his argument.

Obviously, this begs a question. If Paschall hasn’t done anything wrong with the money of the estate / trust, why is he so worried about the beneficiaries suing him? I’ve worked as a cop, a newspaper reporter, and a lawyer, and it’s been my experience that people with nothing to hide don’t try to hide nothing. Paschall claims the trust is real and that it has real beneficiaries (though I’m not sure that either is true*), yet he obviously does not want the purported beneficiaries to know that they are beneficiaries.

On August 17, 2012, Judge H.D. Black, a retired judge from neighboring Limestone County who was assigned to hear the case, ordered Paschall to provide the trust documents to me or file a petition for a writ of mandamus to the court of appeals within 31 days. Naturally, Paschall waited until the last day and then filed his petition with the court of appeals. My response is due on October 10, 2012. In all likelihood, nobody will see anything until after election day, and that was exactly what Paschall intended.

In Paschall’s motion for the “gag order”, Rusty Russ claimed I had threatened to shoot Paschall. Obviously, those boys are wearing their panties a little too tight.  On May 23, 2012, in front of about 15 people in the Robertson County Clerk’s Office, Paschall observed me in the room and started insulting me (“homo,” drug addict, mentally ill, etc.). I told him he was going to be out of a job after the election, and he responded, “I guess I’ll have to come down to Bryan and kick your ass.”

Now that is a threat. I responded on RedFacedDrunk.com as follows: “Please don’t try that. It’s not that I mind shooting you, but I really don’t want to deal with another grand jury investigation.”  That is not a threat — it is an explanation of the rules of engagement. Lest there be any confusion, I will clarify:  If Paschall and his goons put on their white sheets and pointy hats and show up in my yard for a cross burning, I will probably point a gun at them. If they give me reason to believe that anyone (e.g., me) is in danger of serious bodily harm, I will pull the trigger. After all, I don’t plan to end up like Charles Workman or Hank Johnson.

Now Rusty, you can print this out and go running to the judge with another motion if you want, but I’d suggest your client man up and quit acting like a crybaby and a tattletale.  And I’d suggest both of spend a little more time studying the First Amendment.

———————————————————

* I suspect the beneficiary is non-existent, therefore the trust is void, therefore my clients inherit the money. But that’s awfully hard to determine when you can’t see the trust documents.

UPDATE (Oct. 3, 2012): The comments “counter” has listed as many as 60 comments below, but there actually have been only three. One of them keep posting again and again, but it only appeared once. GoDaddy tells me that’s called a “trackback,” so I have deleted that one comment, and hopefully that will solve the problem. Nobody is being censored (i.e., no “gag order” here), so post as much as you like.