Roy Morales takes on Big Jolly – and loses

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So the Downtown Houston Pachyderm Club held its weekly meeting yesterday. The program featured candidates in various runoffs around Harris County and it really didn’t interest me enough to bring my recorder and camera to write about it. Woulda, coulda, shoulda, because I was attacked by Lt. Col. Roy Morales (Ret.).

What happened was audience members could submit questions to the candidates on note cards. Club President Sophia Mafrige would then ask the questions of the candidates. She read off a question directed to Roy that went something like this (sorry, no recorder!): Mr. Morales, why did you hire an attorney to represent you that has been disbarred and is not eligible to practice law in Texas? 

Ol’ Roy then proceeds to attack me, saying that he’s tired of bloggers putting out false information and that even Ed Emmett has warned people about bloggers putting out false information. And in no uncertain terms, his lawyer has been reinstated to practice law in Washington County, and that a certain blogger should take the time to find out the truth. And then he talked about his integrity and how he always tells the truth. Um, yeah, we’ll get to that.

Well then. Obviously, since I was the only person that bothered to cover Roy’s attempt to get Michael Kubosh off the ballot, ol’ Roy is talking about me. So after the meeting, I found Roy and told him that his “lawyer” is definitely not able to practice law in Texas. Roy told me that I was wrong because Bishop had personally told him that he had been reinstated.

I’ve already put a link to George M. Bishop III’s State Bar page showing that he is not eligible to practice law. But since Roy attacked me in front of my favorite club, I called the State Bar to inquire about Mr. Bishop. Perhaps Roy was correct and the State had simply failed to update its website. You never know and if I’m wrong, I want to correct the record. I’ll put my accuracy up against anyone.

So I called the State Bar at 512-427-1463 and after scrolling through a few menu items talked to a clerk in the membership department. I gave her the name George M. Bishop III and his bar number 02353000. After looking it up, the clerk came back on the line and said that Mr. Bishop was not eligible to practice. I asked her if that was it and she then said, wait, there are some notes on his file that she wanted to read. After a minute or two, she came back on and said that I needed to talk to her supervisor. I was transferred to Sandy Gavin, who asked me if I was an attorney or opposing counsel. No, I’m just trying to find out if he is eligible. Ms. Gavin said, no, he isn’t eligible. He passed the bar in July and the Board of Law Examiners was currently waiting for him to provide more information. After that, he would have to comply with the requirements of the State Bar, so he has a couple of steps left before he is eligible.

At that point, I thought perhaps we were talking about the wrong person. So I asked Ms. Gavin about that, saying that the George M. Bishop III I was asking about had passed the bar in the ’60’s. Ms. Gavin confirmed that we were talking about the same person and that he was disbarred on July 18, 2003 and that you have to wait a certain amount of time before you can reapply. And part of reapplying is that you have to pass the bar exam again. So he reapplied this year and has passed the bar exam but he has other requirements that he needs to fulfill before he is eligible to practice.

So there you have it. Mr. Bishop is not eligible to practice law in the State of Texas, regardless of what he told Roy. I won’t say that Roy lied when he attacked me in front of the DHPC because perhaps he was misled. But bottom line is that I was right, Roy was wrong. And yes, I recorded my conversation with the State Bar of Texas. Fool me once and all that.

Now let’s take a look at another falsehood Roy is putting out there. My friend Karen Townsend over at her Pondering Penguin blog (another accurate blogger) published a press release from Roy about his lawsuit. Here is a key line:

However, today Mr. Kubosh removed his homestead exemption from his Cypress address and paid the back taxes.

That line caused Karen to write this:

Kubosh paid the back taxes. I have to ask – if everything was ok, why did he do that?

Problem is that once again, Roy is spreading a falsehood. I called Michael this morning to ask about that press release and his tax payment. Basically, Michael needed something to give the court to prove that he no longer had a homestead exemption in Cypress, so he went and paid his 2014 taxes early. So no, Michael Kubosh did not “correct” anything nor did he pay “back taxes”. His homestead exemption was good for last year’s taxes (paid previously) because he lived in Cypress until he moved into Houston in October 2012. Thing is, Roy has copies of that document and knows that his press release is false.

Two days after Roy Morales filed his lawsuit seeking to steal an election he could not win, Judge Randy Wilson brought Morales’ suit to an end by signing a directed verdict.

• November 18, 2013: Morales files a T.R.O. lawsuit. in the 157th. TRO’s go to whomever the Ancillary Judge is that week.
• November 19, 2013: Mike Kubosh defeats Morales’ T.R.O. in front of Judge Michael Landrum in the 113th.
• November 20, 2013: Mike Kubosh’s defeats Morales’ Temporary Injunction Claim in front of Judge Randy Wilson in the 157th.

Clearly, Michael Kubosh was a legal resident of Houston at least one year prior to the election. Two different judges have now said so.

Clearly Roy Morales was wrong when he attacked me in front of the DHPC.

Clearly Roy Morales sent out a false press release knowing the truth.

Please vote for Michael Kubosh for Houston City Council At-Large 3 and put a man with integrity in the office.