Will Devon Anderson vote for Patricia “Trisha” Pollard?

Judge Devon Anderson swears in Patricia Pollard to the Texas State University System Board of Regents

Notorious grand jury foreman Patricia “Trisha” Pollard is seeking office in the City of Bellaire. She recently sent an intermediary to ask that I not tell the truth about her; but, I owe it to the people of Bellaire to tell this story.

Some people ask, “How do you know that Trisha Pollard is bad?” Well, the answer is simple. Do you remember what happened to the BAT van controversy? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Trisha Pollard and her merry band of misfits used this fake scandal to get the now deceased Mike Anderson elected meanwhile using lies to besmirch the character of good people.

May 2003 Grand Jury Foreman 262nd District Court – Mike Anderson
August 2005 Grand Jury Foreman 262nd District Court – Mike Anderson
February 2007 Grand Jury Foreman 177th District Court – Devon Anderson
November 2009 Grand Jury Foreman 262nd District Court – Mike Anderson
August 2011 Grand Jury Foreman 185th District Court – Susan Brown
2013 Grand Jury Assistant Foreman 179th District Court – Kristin Guiney

For many years, Pollard was the gold star grand jury foreman for the Andersons. She contributed to their campaign efforts and loyally served on at least six grand juries. Pollard openly bragged about her grand jury service and claimed that she led a grand jury that handled “the greatest number of cases in history.” A rather interesting sense of justice.

The whole BAT van falsehood was fabricated by a group of entitled courthouse folks who did not like Pat Lykos. Specifically, this group reveled in the idea of control and was upset by the fact that Harris County justice was no longer “just us.” To bring it back to the “just us” days, this group created a fake scandal to throw shade on Lykos and many other very good people. While it may have cost Lykos the election, this group has now been forced to ponder an interesting question – Is Devon Anderson “worse” than their mortal enemy, Pat Lykos? That is another story for another time.

We now know that Pollard was the foreman of the grand jury that indicted Alfred Dewayne Brown who was recently released from custody after ten years on death row. Brown was convicted of capital murder in 2005 for the death of Houston Police Department Officer Charles Clark and check cashing clerk Alfredia Jones during an attempted robbery.

Houston Chronicle columnist Lisa Falkenberg won a Pulitzer Prize for her series on Alfred Brown. Falkenberg primarily wrote about the grand jury that brow beat and jailed Brown’s girlfriend in an attempt to change her story about Brown’s alibi, which overshadowed the fact that a rubber stamp grand jury was used to indict Brown. Public sentiment over the Brown case and “professional” grand jurors like Pollard led to this year’s statewide grand jury reform.trisha-pollard-hpd-helicopter-facebook-june-4-2013

A review of Pollard’s grand jury service is disturbing. In 2011 and 2012, she misused her position as grand jury foreman to create a scandal and make inaccurate public statements to get Mike Anderson elected. Following her service on the 185th grand jury, Pollard, along with Jim Mount and Chip Lewis, made a public statement (filled with erroneous statements) about the grand jury in violation of grand jury secrecy laws and common sense. If Pollard was just a regular citizen, these facts would be bad. Come to find out, she is a lawyer. Did Pollard violate the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct by engaging in “conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation?”

Pollard has a history of making things up and all anyone has to do is look at her testimony in the Texas Senate when she alleged there was some elaborate healthcare fraud in Texas. Following Pollard’s 2005 service, she wrote a letter to Governor Rick Perry and all members of the Texas Legislature claiming that she had discovered massive Medicaid fraud during her tenure on the grand jury. In her letter, Pollard alleged a “widespread, massive, and repeated” fraud.

After legislators received her letter, Pollard was asked to testify before the Senate Finance Committee on January 18, 2006. During the hearing, several senators pushed her on the “widespread, massive, and repeated” fraud allegation. Ultimately, Pollard conceded that she had no evidence to substantiate her allegation. Watch it, and judge for yourself if this is what you want on the Bellaire City Council.

Importantly, as stated during the hearing, Mike Anderson was aware of Pollard’s letter; so, he knew that she was loose cannon as early as 2005 – 2006. He knew that Pollard fabricated wild, unsubstantiated allegations.

Now, Pollard is walking the streets of Bellaire to campaign for city council. Trisha Pollard, a woman who was a strong reason behind the need for grand jury reform in the state of Texas, is seeking to bring that destructive force to the City of Bellaire.

Bellaire residents have an excellent opportunity to openly reject Pollard’s bad behavior. Pollard’s duplicity and corruption will no doubt follow her to the Bellaire City council. No one will be safe in Bellaire with Pollard on council and voters there should think long and hard about this election and the potential legal liability of electing such an individual.

Kelly Siegler and the Jiggery-Pokery Gang

Kelly Siegler DA Announcement Photo

On Thursday, Judge Larry Gist issued 36 findings of prosecutorial misconduct against Kelly Siegler in the David Temple murder case. I wanted to give you a little background on Ms. Siegler so the Big Jolly readers can remain the most knowledgeable folks on Harris County criminal justice issues.

Kelly and the Jiggery-Pokery Gang united for Kelly’s unsuccessful DA bid in 2008. The gang existed in many forms long before 2008; but, Kelly’s 2008 campaign announcement provided the first opportunity for a public group photo. The gang photo clarifies their unification to the outside viewer.

Like all gangs, there is a hierarchy. Ms. Siegler is the central figure and, generally, close proximity to the leader in the photo denotes a higher rank; although, a few things have changed since 2008. The judiciary members are not as obvious; but, they are certainly a very important part of this gang. Some judges, like Susan Brown, act as capos within the organization. The group also acts to protect other gang members or affiliates, not unlike most street gangs.

The gang’s name has changed over the years. More recently, I renamed the group the Jiggery-Pokey Gang after reading Justice Scalia’s Obamacare dissent. I think the term fittingly describes this group and their operations.

Jiggery-pokery: Dishonest or suspicious activity.

David Temple is a difficult case because so many have prejudged his guilt David Temple Murder Trialbased on Kelly’s facts. Heck, he was already convicted and sentenced. He was cheating on his pregnant wife and later married his mistress. It is easy to hate his behavior. But, the current issue is not about David Temple’s innocence. It is about fundamental fairness and justice. A rigged game is not justice.

When the wrong man is convicted, we are all to blame. It is the responsibility of every citizen, voter, and human being to learn about our criminal justice system and make sure that justice for all actually means something.

We, as Harris County citizens, need to take very seriously who we elect as DA and misdemeanor and felony judges. It cannot be a popularity contest foisted on the precinct chairs by the political consultants. The Jiggery-Pokery Gang has a history. Their affiliates have a history. And certain political consultants, like Allen Blakemore and Mary Jane Smith, are the promoters of these gang members.

Why is the gang designation important? It is crucial for citizens, particularly those outside of the criminal justice system, to understand that Kelly Siegler’s actions are not an isolated incident. Kelly intentionally and purposefully withheld exculpatory evidence in a criminal prosecution. Craig Goodhart, Kelly’s assistant on the Temple trial, has been accused of similar impropriety in the Linda Carty case.  Retired DEA Special Agent Charles Mathis alleges that Connie Spence threatened to question him about a fictional affair with Linda Carty.  Lance Long and Murray Newman, Kelly disciples, were accused of pressuring witnesses to lie in the Antonio Williams case.

“Mr. Long and the investigators pressured me to testify that Antonio was at the scene and was the shooter. They stated to me that if I helped them out, they would help out.”

Excerpt from an affidavit by Sharonda Cooper, a neighbor who testified against Antonio Williams.

This is just a sampling of the prosecutorial misconduct developed and perpetrated by the gang.

The Jiggery-Pokery Gang furthers their agenda in a number of ways. Remember, for the most part, these are lawyers and highly educated people operating in and around the DA’s office. Like all gangs, they use tools common to their surroundings. Here, the gang uses the grand jury system, media, courts, and certain judges to further their agenda.

The DA’s office is very similar to junior high or high school; so, it is very simple for the inner circle to use their popularity and cunning ways to get their way. The group treats Kelly like a deity or party-animal homecoming queen.

Nothing that has come out concerning Siegler’s prosecution of David Temple is new. Siegler employed the exact same methods used by Ken Anderson on Michael Morton, an innocent man wrongly convicted of murdering his wife in Williamson County. In the Morton case, the prosecutor lost his law license and went to jail.

The media is culpable in the gang’s rise to power. So often, the media relies on information used in their stories provided by gang members. This is an important fact because it allows the gang members to assert their narrative. Siegler carefully uses her minions to plant stories in the media, which are used to build her image and television career. Think about how often Chip Lewis, a Kelly crony, is quoted by reporters. It is a game and justice is not the goal.

The win-at-all-costs mentality flourished during the Rosenthal administration. Chuck Rosenthal allowed Kelly and others to run amok.

Devon Anderson promised to return the DA’s office back to the old days, which is code to the gang members for win-at-all-costs. Many members of Kelly’s crew also roll with Devon. The Lykos administration threatened to out this group and their misdeeds; so, they only had one choice: to destroy reputations. That is why, when Kelly ran for DA in 2008, Murray Newman, Kelly’s Minister of Propaganda, created a blog to perpetuate the Kelly myth.

It is high time for people to know the truth about injustice in Harris County. David Temple’s lawyers have asked that an attorney pro tem or special prosecutor be appointed. This would be a start; but, as in the Michael Morton case involving Ken Anderson and the Anthony Graves case, a Court of Inquiry was formed to investigate the misdeeds on a much broader level. If you have been a reader of this blog for any length of time, you are aware of lots of misdeeds reported here involving the District Attorney’s office. It is time for the Republican Party to join with others and lead the charge to clean up the courthouse and the District Attorney’s office.

Part One

Amanda, thank you for your deposit of $85,000!

Amanda,

Sorry I have been remiss in posting about your and Chip’s misdeeds. I did want to thank you for placing your $85,000 into the Lynn Hughes’ court registry for Rachel. Now please understand we are adding the additional legal fees incurred by you for your completely bogus and laughable response to our response. Not that you ever had a discernible case for anything but a frivolous suit but your latest filing takes the cake! We all laughed and are betting you wrote it because no competent lawyer would send that to the 5th circuit.

Now we need all your money so keep up the good work. Watch what the 5th circuit does with our request for additional fees for your continued stupidity. Consider this a teachable moment for your law career and hey who knew you could be the law of the land and the case on point for the Citizen’s Participation Act. Elected officials everywhere thank you, well except Devon Anderson who this will turn out worse for her then you. I thank you and Chip for the opportunity, and yes I am having fun putting you in the poor house!

You need to go back and read these posts, pretty uncanny how I predicted your demise. You are a fool and soon be parted from all your money!

Thanks for playing!

Don Hooper

Federal Judge Lynn Hughes issues opinion on the dismissal

I know David Jennings is writing about this so I am just posting the opinion here for informational purposes and thanking a few folks who really deserve to be called out. Judge Hughes issued this opinion yesterday afternoon, on 9-11. Once again, hat-tip to Kate David and Mike Stafford, unquestionably two of the best lawyers in the City of Houston. These two lawyers, who I might add, won the Early to Rise litigation a few days ago. They are on a roll.

I also would like to thank Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan, Robert Soard, and Mary Baker from the Harris County Attorney’s Office who provided Rachel such wonderful counsel. We are deeply in your gratitude. This goes double to the members of Harris County Commissioners Court. To all, thank you!

Hughes Opinion on Dismissal

 

Slapped hard, Dr. Karpen’s Lawyer Taken to the Cleaners!

Chip Lewis, Dr. Karpen’s lawyer, you now owe us a great deal of money.All White Party Photo

Amanda and Jorge, I would sue Chip Lewis for leading you to believe you had a cause of action. I hope your lawyers explain to you that you must now pay everyone’s legal fees under the anti-slapp law.

Just so you know we are are talking 500K for Rachel alone. You will also owe for Judge Lykos and the County. You can of course sue Chip Lewis, Dr. Karpen’s lawyer, and the Cooks to get them to pay your share. The Cooks will have mal-practice insurance to off set their losses, Chip will have sanctions too. I can make a referral if you need. The good thing is that the Cooks will have been understood to have expertise in their field of employment law and will be held to greater scrutiny. Scott, it will get worse for you, think about Rachel’s deposition. Gentleman thank you for playing and I am betting Chip is not answering your calls.  I would pass the hat starting with Judge Brown and Allen, just pay up, what is a million for the trade off.

So why does Chip Lewis sue two pro-life prosecutors right before Anderson takes office?

Amanda and Jorge, I have already spoken to several lawyers who will take your case, educated smart lawyers.

First time a public official has ever been granted a slap motion.

Amanda and Jorge, you will be famous in the legal world.

Thank you Mike Stafford and Kate David, the best!

IMG_8237

 

 

 

 

Appeal this!

Patricia Pollard, God is good!

He also does not liked to be mocked.

Jim Leitner

Friday, October 19, 2012. Jim Leitner’s last day as First Assistant District Attorney at the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.

Jim is board certified in criminal law with three decades of experience as a prosecutor, defense lawyer, and appellate attorney. After serving as a Harris County Assistant District Attorney, Jim served as the First Assistant District Attorney in Bell and Lampasas counties. Additionally, Jim retired as a Commander with the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves after 26 years of service. He was activated during Operation Desert Shield/Storm.

This is the resume of the man who has led the Harris County District Attorney’s Office over the last four years. What this resume does not say is the fact that Jim Leitner is an honorable, genuine, and good human being and lawyer.

During the demise of Chuck Rosenthal in 2007 – 2008, multiple prosecutors and “leaders” at the Harris County District Attorney’s Office begged Jim to run for District Attorney. “Please run – you are our only chance,” said many of them. After prayer and consideration, Leitner made the decision to seek the office of Harris County District Attorney. Quickly afterwards, the majority of the prosecutors abandoned Leitner’s campaign and placed their support behind their gal, Kelly Siegler. After Pat Lykos defeated Siegler, the prosecutors began begging Leitner to serve as First Assistant in a Lykos administration because they saw that as their “only way.”

Again, after prayer and consideration, Leitner abandoned a very successful criminal defense practice and took the position of First Assistant. Within days, the same prosecutors who begged him to run for District Attorney and serve as First Assistant turned on him. Of course, the leader of that group was Louis Murat “Murray” Newman IV, an individual who was twice fired from the office. After Lykos was elected, Leitner told Newman and approximately fifteen other staff members that they would not be retained in a Lykos administration. Newman responded by posting this [as posted – no grammatical corrections made]:

On the 12 Days of Christmas, Pat Lykos gave to the Harris County Assistant DAs:

12 jurors chosen witout a preemptive strike used by the state;

11 free “crooked cop passes” from Mr. Police Integrity himself……Clint Greenwood;

10 internal memos re: unprofessionalism of reading toxic, antiregime blogs at work;

9 new ashtrays for the 6th floor smoking lounge;

8 days of Lykos Hell every single week;

7 insulted yarmulka-wearing witnesses;

6 emails from my family wanting an explanation for why I won’t be visiting as planned for New Years;

5 new pantsuits;

4 free tickets for a reception on January 1, 2009 that I’m forced to attend;

3 washed out judges;

2 Leitner balls; and

A little troll from a spider hole….

Following this post, Ken Magidson, the interim District Attorney, fired Newman. So, from that moment forward, Newman began posting grotesque untruths about Lykos, Leitner, and anyone perceived to be affiliated with the Lykos administration. This included multiple posts about Leitner’s genitals and even cruel posts about his wonderful wife and family.

It is now clear that, from the beginning, the same prosecutors who begged Leitner to run and serve as First Assistant worked against him and every “friend” of the Lykos administration. Even individuals working as “leaders” within the office have steadily worked against Leitner simply to prove the point that they run the courthouse. Within minutes of a meeting inside the office, the certain specific details would be published on Newman’s blog. This occurred time and time again – even with sensitive data.

At this point, a reader with no link to the courthouse may think that this is simply a “he said, she said” and choose to not “take sides.” Let me offer this piece of evidence that, I believe, will make you change your mind.

On Sunday, July 26, 2009, at 11:00 a.m., someone from inside of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office accessed Leitner’s computer and served him with a warning.

So, someone who is tasked with providing justice to our community accessed Leitner’s computer and told him that the “war” over the courthouse was not over. If this sounds too ridiculous to be true, I agree with you that it is ridiculous; but, unfortunately, this political war over the courthouse is real. Now, maybe you can understand that the use of the 185th Grand Jury as a political weapon was true as well.

It is important to me that the public has access to the truth about Leitner and the other honest leaders within the Lykos administration. Newman and many bad actors within the office have worked to bring dishonor based upon lies to many good people and, unfortunately, Jim is just one example.

The people of Harris County lose with his exit from the office. The people who have systematically spread lies and undermined his leadership, including Mike Anderson and Murray Newman, owe Harris County citizens and Jim Leitner an apology. Certain members of the media, including Ted Oberg, owe Jim Leitner and our citizens an apology for serving as surrogates of these individuals.

I wish Jim the very best.

(Updated) Murray Newman,Special Prosecutors, and Motion for new trial! (Updated)

185th Blogger and Anderson supporter

After all of Murray Newman’s misdeeds, Newman now dares to accuse the DA’s office of misconduct in the appointment of a special prosecutor following the revelation of evidence pointing to a defendant’s innocence. Secret grand jury information out of the 185th regularly appeared on his blog, you would have thought he was on the grand jury.

In all of Murray’s diatribes, he failed to mentioned the cozy relationship between Trisha Pollard, the grand juryforeman of the 185th, to Mike Anderson and his wife Devon Anderson. Murray never mentioned Stephen St. Martin’s large financial contribution to Kelly Siegler’s campaign. Judge Susan Brown’s payment of $3,000 to Devon Anderson. Stephen St. Martin and Jim Mount’s roles in the 185th grand jury will go down as one of the most disgusting occurrences in Harris County history. The 185th Grand Jury was nothing more than a photo op for the Mike Anderson campaign and the results of this grand jury speak for themselves.

The filing states that Kelly, in the least, failed to provide the defense with exculpatory evidence.The more important question is for Murray’s clients: Does your lawyer believe in prosecutors withholding exculpatory evidence? Judges you may want to think this through before appointing this fool.

(Updated)

Kelly and Paul playing make believe

So now we have all the players on the field and it seems the witness has representation, Paul Doyle. You may remember Paul Doyle as the straddlee from the first Susan Wright trial. Riley Joe Sanders has a lawyer too, Chip Lewis. Now, how is it that the witness and the stoned neighbor end up with these fine lawyers? Did Riley Joe have a lawyer at the trial? Did the witness see the People magazine article about Paul and Kelly, figure out that Paul is now a defense lawyer, and give him a call?Did Riley see Chip on Kelly’s campaign finance report and think to give him a call? I do agree with Paul on one thing, something certainly stinks and it isn’t Dick DeGuerin.  Stay tuned…………………………..

Legal Fees

Defending yourself from political corruption can be expensive. It is entirely dependent on the nature and motivation of your adversary.

We now know that some very desperate people were willing to create a completely bogus grand jury “investigation” to unseat Judge Lykos and get their guy-of-the-moment, Mike Anderson, elected. Naturally, an evil plot produces victims and Steve Morris was certainly a victim.

It is outrageous that a public servant does not have legal protection from this sort of illegal activity. For some reason, prosecutors are not protected from legal expenses incurred while performing job duties.

Steve Morris absolutely has the right to recover his legal expenses from the unethical activities surrounding the 185th grand jury. The contempt allegation was completely false. The sole purpose of that grand jury was to provide photo ops for the Anderson campaign. This is similar to the single purpose of Ted Oberg’s reporting: to provide clips for Anderson’s commercials.

As the supervisors over the grand jury division, Steve Morris and Carl Hobbs were on the front line of the battle against grand jury corruption. There was never any truth to the allegation that Carl Hobbs or Steve Morris did anything wrong. Susan Brown knew this too and recused herself to save the embarrassment of Randy Schaeffer revealing the bogus show cause motion and contempt filing. The fact that Brown recused herself and a special prosecutor was appointed gave Murray and the morons another opportunity to fuss about a special prosecutor. God bless Steve Morris and all of the victims of the 185th smear job.

For some unknown reason, Chip “Taliban” Lewis appeared before Commissioners Court last week to protest reimbursement to Morris. Lewis claimed that “Mike Anderson’s money” should never be given to Morris because the contempt was dismissed and that certainly did not mean innocent. Lewis clients on the go forward your guilty unless a jury says your innocent. That is an awfully big opinion from someone who is not registered to vote in Harris County. As a non-voter, maybe Lewis does not understand that a general election will be held in November.

Of course, only one local news channel covered the request for reimbursement. Can you guess which one? I will give you a hint and you can guess the number 1-13 and 1-12 don’t count.

The “folks” who orchestrated the illegal grand jury investigation, along with Oberg, should pay the legal fees incurred by all of the victims.

Mike Anderson PR consultant

Steve Morris and Carl Hobbs, case dismissed insufficient evidence, where is the justice!



Carl Hobbs showed my wife his dismissal for his contempt proceeding in the 185th.  Checked off on the dismissal was insufficient evidence as the reason, to bad there is not a category for no evidence.  I know Carl, and he is a great guy and no one had their reputations dragged through the mud more than he and Steve Morris.  When this happened it was on the front page of the paper and Ted Oberg was insinuating Carl and Steve were the Watergate burglars based on his coverage.  The facts are that it was a completely bogus show cause order written by a very politically biased Judge.  And, now you have to ask yourself why was this done and it brings us back full circle on the runaway 185th Grand Jury.

Carl and Steve desperately tried to protect the integrity of the grand jury.  These men tried to stop the corruption of what was about to take place.  See to make Anderson’s smear job work Judge Susan Brown, Judge Marc Brown and Mike Anderson had to remove the prosecutors from the room.  There was simply no other way they could perpetuate the corruption with honest men present.  I have always found it more than coincidental that Judge Marc Brown appeared before his own wife’s Grand Jury, and Shazam Stephen St. Martin and Jim Mount were appointed the special prosecutors for the 185th grand jury.  You have to include Billy Belk in the scheme.  He was the investigator hired by St. Martin and Mount. Belk works out of Rusty Hardin’s office.  Yes, that guy who was on the host committee for Mike Anderson’s fundraiser.  Now we know the whole thing was bogus from the get go.  Carl and Steve were entirely correct in their actions and so you are left with the purpose of the 185th Grand Jury or lack thereof.   These men tried to protect my wife, the residents of Harris County, and the DA’s office from the corruption that is Mike Anderson’s campaign.

Judge Susan Brown sought to recuse herself from this hearing after the problems were pointed out to her concerning the show cause order, smart.  I found it ironic that time was of the essence to get a Judge appointed to hear Rachel’s recusal, it was done within a couple of hours.  Carl and Steve had to wait months and the timing fell on the day before super Tuesday.  It is funny and I kept kidding Carl that he would never have his hearing and if he did it would be after the election, Murray write that down, Don was wrong.  Mike Anderson will always blame his loss on the delayed primary, thank you redistricting and a few Judges in San Antonio.   So the question remains will the Judicial Conduct Review Committee hold Judge Susan Brown accoutable for her actions. There was nothing in the show cause order that she wrote that was correct or true, well she may have gotten her court right?  Brad Beers represented the court reporters, Randy Schaffer represented Steve Morris and, Bill Hawkins represented Carl Hobbs.  All the lawyers staunchly defended the innocence of their clients and would not be bullied by Susan Brown.  All demanded a hearing for their clients.  Funny how God does not ugly or corruption.  Congratulations to all four and thank you for trying to protect Rachel.  You all are good honorable people who every day go to the Harris County Criminal Court House and give it your all.  Carl and Steve are part of the crowd at the DA’s office who lose sleep over the thought they may put an innocent person in jail.  Mike Anderson, Stephen St. Martin, Jim Mount, Billy Belk, Murray Newman, Luci Davidson, Brad Hart, and Kristen Guinney do not fall into the category and are sleeping like babies with innocent people going to jail.

I can’t decide which photo I like better of Mike Anderson, with or without the mustache.  Please let me know which one you think is best.  I kind of like the RosenthaI as I call it that I used in the last post, but I have noticed quite of few Anderson supporters have shaved theirs?