Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Judge Hanen orders ethics probe after lawyer’s acquittal in Judge Abel Limas court corruption case

US Judge Hanen
Judge Hanen orders ethics probe
Valley Morning Star
By EMMA PEREZ-TREVINO
August 19, 2013


U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen has issued an order focusing on unresolved ethical and factual issues following a jury’s acquittal of attorney Eduardo "Eddie" Lucio Tuesday on racketeering, conspiracy and extortion charges.

Hanen expressed concerns about possible violations on the part of Lucio and others of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct arising from the testimony in Lucio’s trial regarding alleged forging of documents, the settlement and distribution of funds surrounding the case of murderer Amit Livingston, and legal and criminal action that was taken relative to the seizure of $901,000 from a truck.

The Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct govern the conduct of attorneys.

Hanen directed the government in an order filed for the public record Friday to provide all information regarding three cases that surfaced in Lucio’s trial to the proper authorities at the State Bar of Texas.

"The court does not have a preference as to which government attorneys comply with this order as long as it complies as soon as practical," Hanen ordered.

Lucio defense attorney Luis M. Avila said after the trial that he was not surprised that Hanen directed the government to provide information to the State Bar of Texas, noting that Hanen had given the same directive regarding other attorneys.

A Corpus Christi jury on Tuesday found Lucio not guilty of paying kickbacks to his former law partner, ex-Cameron County District Attorney Armando R. Villalobos, and former 404th state District Judge Abel C. Limas in exchange for prosecutorial and judicial favors. Villalobos, found guilty by a Brownsville jury for racketeering and other crimes is an attorney and Limas, who has pleaded guilty to racketeering, already has lost his license to practice law.

Lucio had been charged with five counts of racketeering, conspiracy and three counts of aiding extortion.

"The government just didn’t put a solid case," Avila said following the verdict. Avila, together with defense co-counsel Rigoberto Flores Jr., stressed reasonable doubt during their closing statements to the jury.

The five-count indictment that a federal grand jury returned against Lucio charged him with violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act by giving an $80,000 kickback to Villalobos in two $40,000 payments from the $200,000 he received in attorney fees in the civil lawsuit against convicted murderer Amit Livingston; giving $1,000 to Limas so that he would keep quiet regarding the Livingston case; and a $5,000 bribe to Villalobos relative to $901,000 seized from a truck, of which $42,000 went to Lucio.

The government’s case also included testimony of a confidential informant (CI) involving the controlled-seizure by Villalobos’ Special Operations Group of $145,000 from the CI who was working in an undercover capacity.

Hanen noted in his order that he is not prejudging any particular fact situation. "This order should not be taken by the State Bar or any other investigative body as to what its ultimate conclusion should or should not be," Hanen wrote.

"This court never saw a complete file in any of the above instances and never heard an explanation by the attorneys involved," he added.

"Further, the ‘not guilty’ verdict . . . should also not be taken as deciding any ethical or factual issues regarding the concerns raised by the court," Hanen added.

"The jury was never presented with all the relevant information and was never asked to resolve any of the ethical issues raised. Finally, this order should not be taken as an order to any ethical investigation agency as to what it should investigate or as a limitation as to what it may investigate," Hanen said.

"The purpose of this order is solely to ensure that the government provides what information it has already gathered and to raise a suggestion of topics that need to be addressed based solely upon what little evidence this court saw during the trial," the judge stated.

Insofar as the case involving the CI, Hanen said that there had been testimony in the trial that certain contracts and affidavits were forged as were certain settlement checks resulting from a lawsuit. "If true, and if a lawyer participated in this fraudulent conduct, there were violations of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct," Hanen wrote.

Insofar as the Livingston case, where his $500,000 bond on a murder charge was attached in a civil wrongful death suit filed by Lucio on behalf of the victim’s family of which $200,000 went to him and $300,000 to the family, Hanen said: "The entire settlement and distribution of settlement funds should be reviewed in a setting where the privilege against self incrimination is not applicable."

Hanen wrote that "particular attention should be paid" as to whether there were any violations of Texas law regarding a state statute. The statute he listed addresses the payment of referral fees to a prosecutor.

Hanen wrote that payments in violation of this statute would also be in violation of disciplinary rules.

Hanen also pointed out that the evidence presented at trial indicated that Lucio represented a defendant, Rafael Sanchez, in a criminal money laundering case while at the same time, he, Lucio was pursuing the same funds at issue in a civil forfeiture case, despite the fact that Sanchez had disclaimed any interest in the money.

"This scenario suggests two problems. First, how can a lawyer in good faith pursue funds in a case in which his client has disclaimed an interest?" Hanen asks.

"More importantly the client had allegedly assigned all the proceeds of the forfeiture action to the attorney in exchange for his representation in both the civil and criminal cases. The attorney’s pursuit of the funds at issue in the civil case, the recovery of which only benefits the attorney, and from which only the attorney profits, obviously indicates his client’s interest in the money, thus harming the client in the criminal case," Hanen pointed out.

"If true, this is a classic conflict situation, and continued representation under these alleged circumstances would undoubtedly have violated (disciplinary rules)," the judge added. Read more

Related story ABA Journal: Ethics probe ordered after lawyer’s acquittal in court corruption case

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Trial begins for final lawyer charged in judicial bribery scheme; convicted ex-judge is star witness

Judge Abel Limas
Trial begins for final lawyer charged in judicial bribery scheme; convicted ex-judge is star witness
ABA Journal Law News Now
By Martha Neil
August 7, 2013

A convicted former South Texas judge testified Wednesday in federal court against an Austin attorney accused of participating, with his former law partner, who was then the Cameron County district attorney, in a "cash for court favors" scheme.

Eduardo "Eddie" Lucio, who is charged with extortion and racketeering, is the 12th defendant in the case to have his day in court. His case is being tried in Corpus Christi, rather than Brownsville, because he requested a change of venue. In opening statements Tuesday, the prosecution portrayed Lucio as a "figure man and straw man" whose "strings" were "pulled" by former Cameron County District Attorney Armando R. Villalobos. The defense said evidence was lacking, according to the Brownsville Herald and KGBT.

On Wednesday morning, former 404th District Court Judge Abel Limas, who has admittedly taken bribes, began testifying against Lucio., reports KGBT.

Lucio is not related to two state lawmakers from Brownsville with similar names.

Villalobos was convicted in a related case earlier this year. Accused of operating the DA's office as a criminal racketeering enterprise, Villalobos argued that he had acted within his prosecutorial discretion. However, with Limas as a star witness against him, the former DA was convicted in May of racketeering conspiracy and five counts of extortion, the Valley Morning Star reported. He was acquitted on two extortion counts.

Lucio is accused of funneling $80,000 to Villalobos, for referring a murder victim's family to him to file a civil lawsuit. The convicted murderer, Amit Livingston, jumped bond after being released by Limas on a 60-day pass, and the money for the DA came from a $500,000 bond forfeiture, according to the Brownsville Herald and the station. Read more

The Brownsville Herald: Judge Abel Limas pleads guilty to racketeering charge

Zimbabwe Chief Justice Deplores Corruption & Election Violence

Shun Corruption and Violence...Chidyausiku
Zimbabwe Chief Justice Deplores Corruption & Election Violence
By Chris Tongogara
January 15, 2013


The Chief Justice of Zimbabwe, Godfrey Chidyausiku, has taken a swipe at high level corruption within the government structures that include the police, prisons and justice system. He appealed for a commonly-engaging platform with realistic solutions to end the problem corruption bug.

Addressing the legal services folks who included lawyers, bench members and courts personnel at the official launch of the 2013 legal year at the Harare High Court on Monday, Chidyausiku reiterated the need for concerted efforts among stakeholders and citizens at large in taming the wild horse of corruption that stood to weaken the foundations of efficiency and trust in public service.

He also noted that it would be ideal to explore practical solutions rather than play the blame game in labeling others as more corrupt in government. As an example he stated that neither lawyers nor prison guards or police should be quick to blame judges or vice versa because no one was perfect in ethics.

Chidyausiku mainly bewailed the debilitating effect of corruption on the justice delivery system where justice could be abandoned as dollars changed hands. Resultantly, courts were not giving out a 100% output.

"One corrupt official in the justice delivery chain taints the entire system," said Chidyausiku.

While the problem was rampant, some measures were being implemented to bring culprits to book. Also an electronic case-tracking system in the Civil Registry department could prevent backdating of pleadings, case records being "lost", or taken before judges deemed more lenient or given first priority in place of the deserving ones. Read more

When Good Courts Go Bad: The Iowa Supreme Court Issues an Absurd Decision on Sexual Jealousy and Employment

When Good Courts Go Bad: The Iowa Supreme Court Issues an Absurd Decision on Sexual Jealousy and Employment
Justia.com
by Joanna L. Grossman
January 8, 2013


In 2009, the Iowa Supreme Court made national news for its surprising and unanimous decision in Varnum v. Brien, in which it held that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage violated the state constitution’s guarantee of equal protection.  Iowa was not the first state to legalize same-sex marriage—Massachusetts came first in 2004, followed by a handful of others in 2008—but it was the first to do so outside of the liberal confines of the Northeast.

Iowa’s high court made headlines again in 2010, when three of the justices who joined the Varnum opinion were recalled from the bench because of the decision.  The three included the court’s only woman; all three vacancies were filled by men.

Now the court is back in the news—or at least, it should be—for an illogical decision that misinterprets governing civil rights statutes and reaches a preposterous result.  In this ruling, in Nelson v. Knight, the court held that a male dentist did not violate a law banning sex discrimination when he fired his very competent female dental assistant because he found her to be an "irresistible attraction" whose very presence might incite him to commit sexual harassment and, perhaps ultimately, cost him his marriage.

In this column, I’ll explain why this ruling hearkens back to mistakes of the 1970s, when courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, struggled to figure out just exactly what "sex discrimination" is.  But forty years of anti-discrimination law later, we know it when we see it.  And this is definitely it. The Iowa court has done women’s workplace equality a colossal injustice by allowing men’s inability to control themselves to define women’s employment rights.

A Day in the Life of Dr. Knight’s Dental Office


In 1999, dentist James Knight hired Melissa Nelson to be a dental assistant in his office.  She was 20 years old and had just received a two-year college degree.  She worked in that position for over ten years and was, according to Dr. Knight, a "good assistant."  She, in turn, said he was a person of "high integrity" and that he generally treated her in a respectful manner.  Both Knight and Nelson were both married with children.

The tenor in the office seemed to change in the last year-and-a-half of Nelson’s employment.  (The opinion does not reveal Knight’s age, but a mid-life crisis jumps out as one possible explanation.)  Knight began to comment to Nelson that her clothing was "distracting," too tight, or too revealing.  Nelson denied that her clothing was inappropriate, but did put on a lab coat whenever he complained.  (Nelson states in a video interview with CNN, given after the verdict, that she wore t-shirts and scrubs to work.)

At some point, Knight and Nelson began texting each other about both work and personal matters.  Some of these matters were innocuous—such as updates on their respective children’s activities—and others were more intimate.  According to the available evidence, the in-person comments and texts of a sexual nature seemed to emanate exclusively from Dr. Knight.  Knight admits that he once told Nelson if she saw his pants "bulging" then she would know she was dressed in too sexy a manner.  He texted her once to complain that the shirt she wore that day was too tight.  Nelson replied that she thought his complaint was unfair.  His surreply? He told her it was a good thing she did not wear tight pants too, because then he would get it coming and going. Read more

Are businesses and individuals giving up on the courts? Yes, and it’s ‘a disaster,’ judge says

Are businesses and individuals giving up on the courts? Yes, and it’s ‘a disaster,’ judge says
ABA Journal Law News Now
By James Podgers
August 8, 2013


As the funding crisis for justice services continues to grind on, state courts are facing the need—some might say they have the opportunity—to reassess their efforts to provide access to the widest possible range of individuals and businesses seeking to resolve legal disputes.

The interplay between funding shortfalls and access issues was the focus of a program held Thursday morning in San Francisco as the 2013 ABA Annual Meeting began. The meeting is being held at the Moscone Convention Center and numerous other locations around San Francisco through Tuesday.

Even before state legislatures began cutting budgets in response to the recent recession—including funding for the courts and related justice services—questions were being raised about whether more businesses were turning to private dispute resolution services as a more efficient alternative to the courts and whether more individuals were simply avoiding the courts because they couldn't afford legal and filing fees. But the recession only intensified those concerns.

More and more people are giving up on the courts, "and that is a disaster," said Wallace B. Jefferson, chief justice of the Supreme Court of Texas. "If we don't help people protect their rights, no one else will do it."

The program, titled Are Courts Dying? The Decline of Open and Public Adjudication, was co-sponsored by the ABA Standing Committees on Federal Judicial Improvements and Judicial Independence.

Increasingly, judges, lawyers and court administrators are thinking about the ramifications if fewer parties use the courts, said Tani Cantil-Sakauye, chief justice of the California Supreme Court. In part, these discussions have been prompted by the fiscal crisis, she said, but they also need to go on regardless of financial conditions. "We're overdue for change," she said.

In California, for instance, there was "a brief discussion" about permitting nonlawyers to assist low-income litigants bring their cases to court, Cantil-Sakauye said. "It raised a can of worms about who will license and regulate these people. And besides, why should it be the poor who have to rely on nonlawyer providers?" (In Washington state, a program has been in place for about 30 years that licenses nonlawyers to engage in limited legal practice. Responsibility for operating the program was recently transferred by the legislature to the state bar association.)

Cantil-Sakauye said courts shouldn't start thinking about their future operations on the assumption that funding cuts in recent years will become a permanent fact of life. She said 2013 is the first year since the start of the recession in which state revenues are higher than projected, and similar upticks are occurring in some other states, as well. Officials of the other government branches "recognize the need to rebuild the courts," she said, but those efforts will require a partnership among all the branches that also recognizes the need to bolster other programs that saw their budgets slashed.

"We have hit bottom, and we're starting to climb," Cantil-Sakauye said, "but it will be a slow climb." Read more

Friday, August 9, 2013

Tampa police chief launches investigation of DUI unit; mayor weighs in

Tampa police chief launches investigation of DUI unit; mayor weighs in
Tampa Bay Times
By Jessica Vander Velde and
Sue Carlton, Times Staff Writers
August 6, 2013


TAMPA — In an effort to restore public confidence in a police department rocked by a DUI scandal, Tampa police Chief Jane Castor on Tuesday announced a team of "experts" to review drunken driving arrests.

A six-person panel, including retired Circuit Judge Barbara Fleischer and Nick Cox, the Florida attorney general's statewide prosecutor, will look at all open cases involving Sgt. Ray Fernandez and Officer Tim McGinnis. The team will then review a random sample of about 50 other DUI cases.

Fernandez and McGinnis were the officers involved in the controversial Jan. 23 arrest of lawyer C. Philip Campbell, which prosecutors last week concluded was a setup involving a rival law firm. Also, in February, Fernandez was involved in the arrest of Cuban trade advocate Al Fox, 69, on a DUI charge that did not stick. Fox had a 0.000 blood-alcohol level. Read more

Lawyer’s claimed mid-trial DUI arrest set-up by opposing counsel leads to panel review of many cases


Melissa Personius, paralegal

Lawyer’s claimed mid-trial DUI arrest set-up by opposing counsel leads to panel review of many cases
ABA Journal Law News Now
By Martha Neil
August 8, 2013


A six-person team including a retired Florida judge and a lawyer from the state attorney general's office will review all open drunken-driving cases involving two Tampa police officers accused of setting up a lawyer for a driving-under-the-influence arrest with the help of his opposing counsel at a then-ongoing civil trial.

The panel will also review a random sampling of all DUI cases being pursued by the Tampa police department, its police chief announced this week. Prosecutors in Hillsborough County also recently sent a copy of a blistering review by the state's attorney's office, which led to the dismissal of the DUI case against lawyer C. Philip Campbell, to 24 defense lawyers in cases in which one of the two police officers is a witness, reports the Tampa Bay Times.

A lawyer for Campbell called the plan "a baby step" toward the accountability which he and his client are seeking.

Attorney John Fitzgibbons said retired Circuit Judge Barbara Fleischer and prosecutor Nick Cox of the AG's office are "very distinguished members of the legal community," adding that he hopes they are given "a broad mandate to look at anything and everything they want."

A Tampa Tribune article provides additional details. Read more

SA Bernie McCabe-Nolle Prosequi DUI-Charles P Campbell Jr by Neil Gillespie