Reprinted from the August 26, 2014 Mongoose newsletter. Gary Polland is a very busy man. He barely has time for his political work, all of his court appearances, home visits I am so sure he personally performs, meetings with investment bankers, etc. So, I sent Polland a fax that should make it easier for him to reply to my questions quickly and accurately, so that his side of the story can be shared with you: Mr. Polland, I know you are a very busy man and perhaps you lack the time to respond to my questions about the work you have done as an appointed attorney ad litem in CPS cases. I am therefore providing you the following answers to my questions so that you can take just a few seconds to check the appropriate responses and fax your answers back to me. I truly do want to be fair to you and deal with facts instead of rumor or supposition. I know there are almost always two sides to every story and I really want to get your side of this story and share it with my many ... Read More >
Judge Alicia Franklin: Please Provide an Explanation!
Reprinted from August 26, 2014 Mongoose newsletter. I take a fair airing of facts about Judge Alicia Franklin and her work as an appointed CPS attorney very seriously. I played a significant role in the chain of events that resulted in Franklin becoming a judge and I genuinely like her. I have helped Franklin in ways no other lawyer could and I contributed financially to her campaign when she was running against Denise Pratt. I also know and really like the Democrat running against Franklin, Sherri Cothrun. Cothrun provided me most of the information described below, but I have done my own home work as well. I write below about facts I have verified, not partisan attacks from the opposing candidate. I now have a box of copies of every fee invoice Ms. Franklin ever submitted to the county and I have someone doing my own independent, non-political analysis of those vouchers. I really hope to announce soon that I have found a sterling example of how ad litem attorneys should do ... Read More >
Ted Cruz and the Gary Polland Scandal
It was a dark, but not a stormy night. Toni and I were up late, enjoying a Dr. Who view-a-thon, and my phone was on vibrate, so I missed the text message from Senator Ted Cruz. During commercials, I picked my phone up off the bedside table so I could Google to confirm the name of the 4th Dr. Who (Tom Baker) when the phone started vibrating. It was Ted calling. 11:41 p.m. in Houston meant it was way past Teddy's usual bed time in D.C. "Enos, you up watching some Hubert Humphrey documentary?"the Senator growled. I could hear the clink of ice in a glass and thought I heard a female giggle in the background. "Ted, it's late, I am kinda busy here,"I grumbled back. Toni paused the DVR and shot me one of her typical "I ain't putting up with late night calls from high ranking federal officials" looks. "Look, Enos, you simply gotta keep me out of this Polland mess," Senator Cruz said to me on the phone. "The fine Republicans in Iowa and New Hampshire think tax dollars should ... Read More >
The Crime of Tampering With a Government Record
Texas Penal Code Sec. 37.10 states in part: 37.10. TAMPERING WITH GOVERNMENTAL RECORD. (a) A person commits an offense if he: (1) knowingly makes a false entry in, or false alteration of, a governmental record; (2) makes, presents, or uses any record, document, or thing with knowledge of its falsity and with intent that it be taken as a genuine governmental record;.... Sec. 37.01(2) defines a "government record" to mean: (A) anything belonging to, received by, or kept by government for information, including a court record; This is the law former Judge Denise Pratt is alleged to have violated when she apparently back-dated court orders. One example of how attorneys can run afoul of this law arose in San Antonio recently: Former defense attorney Hilda Valadez, who pleaded guilty to charges of forging judges' signatures and double billing the county for indigent defense work, was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison. .... Valadez, 52, was once regarded as the ... Read More >
The Polland Problem, Part 2
Reprinted from the August 21, 2014 Mongoose. Most Republican judges and party leaders, to their credit, realize that the brewing scandal involving court appointments and their former party chair, Gary Polland, has the potential to effect the November elections. They also realize that the current system just is not right. They point out to me that Democratic politicians, such as legislators who are also attorneys, are getting lucrative appointments from Democratic civil judges. The solution is very simple: a commitment by judges to appoint attorneys based on merit only and transparency of information. All judges of both parties should simply stop using court appointments as political patronage and ALL appointments and fees should be reported and made available to the public. Currently, the system hides appointment fees and makes it very difficult to determine accurately how much various attorneys are being paid. The County Auditor website is a great example of sharing ... Read More >
The Top 22: Who Got Paid the Most Since 2010 for Court Appointments
Reprinted from the August 13, 2014 Mongoose. Click here to see a list from the County Auditor showing everyone who has been paid by the County for court appointments since January 1, 2010. This report has a slightly different total for Mr. Polland than the other report I received, even though it covers the same time period. Here are the top 22 recipients of county funds for court appointments out of 1,574 payees according to this report: Oliver Sprott Jr $1,682, 655 Gary Polland $1,676,194 Jerome Godinich $1,161,871 R.P. Cornelius $1,619,476 Ricardo Gonzales $1,596,910 National Screening Center $1,297.398 Danny Easterling $1,036,530 Alvin Nunnery $1,031,498 George Clevenger $1,001,987 Donna Everson $981,361 William Thursland973,759 Angela Phea $973,650 Michael Trent 965,053 Hattie Shannon $950,180 Geraldo Acosta $917,927 The Griffin Law Firm $910,299 Sylvia Escobedo $901,981 Bonnie Fitch $852,952 Jimmy Ortiz $843,672 John Maisel ... Read More >
How to Make Millions from Abused Children & Taxpayers
Reprinted from the August 13, 2014 Mongoose. There can be no doubt: Gary Polland is a smart, successful lawyer who knows how to make a lot of money from the practice of law. Polland is politically powerful and able to influence and profit from every Republican primary election. Polland should be your hero and role model if high income and political influence are your goals in life. I asked a bunch of attorneys with experience in CPS cases how much they guessed Gary Polland had been paid in four and a half years for court appointments. Their guesses ranged from $300,000 - $700,000. They were totally floored to hear that Polland had been paid $1.9 million by Harris County since January 1, 2010 for court appointments. Just to be very clear, that is taxpayer dollars being paid to this one man for government court appointments only. It does not count the many cases where Polland was appointed by judges but paid by private parties. My investigation into this incredible situation ... Read More >