There are times in politics where you shake your head and there are times when you try to twist your head off it is spinning so much. This is a spinning off time. I suppose that I need to set the stage for those of you that aren’t involved in Harris County Republican Party politics or the mess that we call the Harris County Family Courts.
Attorney Greg Enos has been fighting for reform in the Harris County Family Court system for a couple of years, at least. Without his efforts, it is likely that disgraced former Judge Denise Pratt would still be on the bench. Mr. Enos has continued his efforts to reform the system by looking at the billing practices of Judge Alicia Franklin (the replacement for Judge Pratt) and by HCRP influencer Gary Polland. I have no doubt that he will name others in the future.
As for Gary Polland, he is one of the “big 3” “endorsement machines” that have dominated the HCRP since the late 1990’s. Although he is the weakest link, he still exhibits enormous power in selecting judges in Harris County.
Mr. Enos has documented the enormous amount of money the Mr. Polland has taken from the taxpayers through judicial appointments by the very judges he endorses. I really like what Ed Hubbard had to say in this post about that practice.
Mr. Enos also filed a criminal complaint about Mr. Polland’s billing practices (along with Judge Franklin’s) with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. As you probably know, Devon Anderson is the current Harris County District Attorney.
Okay, so that is a tiny bit about the background. Clearly there is a lot more and I would encourage you to search Google and read up on this issue.
What irked me today and made me join the call for a special prosecutor in this case is Mr. Polland’s words in his Texas Conservative Review newsletter. Trust me, it is a very influential newsletter and I could only hope that I had that many people on my mailing list.
Here is what Mr. Polland had to say today about Harris County DA Devon Anderson:
A Star Is Born: Devon Anderson, Conservative Reformer
The newly elected Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson is an emerging star in the constellation of Texas elected officials.
In office a little over a year ago, she has taken the lead in organizing a diversion program for first time marijuana users designed to get them help and reduce jail overcrowding.
Most recently, she quickly put together all the key players for a body camera program for police officers and found the funding for it.
So, while President Obama and others talk about things he has no say so on, Devon Anderson acts decisively.
Oh my. Since this isn’t about Mrs. Anderson, I’ll refrain from commenting too much on the substance of that nonsense other than to say that rather being a reformer, Mrs. Anderson was pushed and cajoled into stating a few policy changes by her Democratic opponent in the November election. Reformer? Goodness.
But with a criminal complaint already filed against him, and Mr. Enos publicly calling for Mrs. Anderson to recuse herself in this case, for Gary Polland to send this missive to his vast mailing list is a blatant attempt to influence a DA that we already know from past experience (see her deal with former Judge Denise Pratt) is easily influenced by the political process! It is almost bizarre that Gary would do this!
The Harris County DA has been sitting on Enos’ information for months, doing NOTHING with it. It is past time for her to either do something with the information or go the preferred route and let a special prosecutor look into the billing practices of Mr. Polland. His apparent attempt to influence the DA must be ignored. And while the special prosecutor is at it, she should have a look at Judge Alicia Franklin.
Truther1 says
Let’s get a few things correct – for a change. You state “see the deal with Denise Pratt”. Yes, let’s see it. Oh, there’s not one? And the D.A. first said there was no deal made, and then when attacked by her opponent, changed it to “there was a deal” which, by the end of the November election, was modified to the D.A. “insisted” Pratt resign. So Harris County elected a dishonest D.A. And how about Franklin? She claimed Pratt was absent on at least 6 trial dockets. Hmmmm….I checked. Wasn’t too hard – Pratt signed court orders on every trial docket date, except the ONE she was absent. – August 2012. And Franklin said she would “work hard”. Like being in Europe within a month after being appointed? And again before Thanksgiving? Missing multiple trial dockets. Can you spell h y p o c r i t? So Harris County elected a dishonest person for the 311th. How about her big Republican supporter Robert S. Clark? Honest? He claimed there was no police report regarding Pratt’s house being shot up and her dog gutted the day before Pratt resigned. But I’m looking at the police report for that very day, and the supplemental police report. Clark, the one that put on Facebook that there’s never a good excuse for violence, but ok for him to physically assault Pratt’s supporters at Downtown Pachyderm Club meeting, and shove another into the wall in the courthouse. Do you know where he gets over half of his clients? (Not a club of integrity.) And how about Greg Enos, who started all the lies about Pratt, and sent out secret emails to people like Franklin’s fiance …… isn’t he being investigated for witness tampering in Galveston County? And for identity theft in Harris County? Not to mention that he promised the Houston Chronicle reporter a nomination for an award if she would simply print what he wrote, without investigating any of it. And how about Franklin’s fiance? You know, the one that bragged at the courthouse the Monday after the shooting at Pratt’s place, that he could find anyone’s home, even if they were a public official. There’s a reason the courthouse call Franklin and her supporters the ‘mafia’. If we add in that people, like you Dave, that wrote all kinds of incorrect and libelous things about Pratt without ever even interviewing or talking to her, I’d say the picture of dishonest criminals that wanted an honest judge gone is complete. Incidentally, you did notice that Pratt got the most votes in the primary, despite not being endorsed by the very people you say we should get rid of: Polland and Terry Lowry. The people YOU claim are DISHONEST were against Pratt. That SHOULD have told people like you and Ed Hubbard something. Isn’t it amazing that Pratt is still getting so many judicial endorsements on LinkedIn? And is being pursued and paid handsomely by so many firms to bring integrity to their law practices, while increasing their profit? YOU stood with Gary Polland to help Franklin and her band of dishonest friends get there. Why are you complaining now?
tazogurl says
You got one thing right. Pratt is a former sitting judge. She is certainly not disgraced. She has done and is still doing more than you ever thought about doing for the betterment of local communities. Remember the Cypress Tea Party straw poll? Though Rob Clark and other high-dollar attorney plants attended the Cypress Tea Party meeting to try to convince people to go against Pratt, after all the 311th candidates had spoken, Pratt won the straw poll. After that, in another of Enos’ private emails to democratic attorneys and Rob Clark and Franklin’s fiance, Enos claimed that they needed to ramp up their dishonest behavior because Pratt had become a gifted speaker. Not true. Pratt was not a gifted speaker. Pratt was an honest speaker, that didn’t make deals with anyone – not attorneys, not litigants, not Polland, not Lowry, and not the D.A. Did you notice that the people you claim are dishonest and whose endorsements should not be followed endorsed Franklin? Gee, wonder where the deals were made. Isn’t it amazing that the Appellate Court sustained Pratt’s ruling on all cases of hers that were appealed, except one? No other family judge has that record. The one case the Appellate Court sent back for reconsideration was about child support. Enos wrote about it in his publication this month. Did he mention the more than 20 cases the Appellate Court affirmed Pratt on? Um…..no. He only spoke about the one regarding child support. (Bet I can guess how Franklin will rule on it .) Remember the ‘petition’ that was put out by ‘attorneys in Pratt’s court’ that wanted her to resign? There were maybe 6 attorneys on it that had actually been in her court. The other 20-25 had not: about 4 were under suspension from the bar (one had lost the right to practice in 2 jurisdictions). Another 6-8 were from the same 4 large, high-dollar law firms. And the rest didn’t even practice family law. Who started that petition? Oh yea, Enos. Remember the affidavit of a woman who claimed Pratt stated from the bench that she was backdating an order? The affidavit that Rob Clark prepared for her? That woman has over 6 convictions for all types of dishonesty: forgery, theft by check, theft by credit card, etc.; she actually had a warrant out for her arrest on the day Clark had her signed the falsified affidavit against Pratt. You do know that the previous judge of the 311th (Doug Warne) was hauled before the grand jury for his illegal activity, right? Why didn’t Enos write about that? Why didn’t the 3 attorneys Pratt wouldn’t cater to go on the radio about that judge? Could it be because he played ball with them? Gave them the rulings and attorney’s fees they wanted? With very little investigation, I learned that he plays poker every week with that attorney group that runs the family courthouse. If the Republican party had done what it should have done, and spit Enos out, along with Sharon Hemphill, who sent out emails flat lying about a case she had in Pratt’s court, we would still have an honest judge. Why didn’t anyone investigate and ask the other attorneys on Hemphill’s case? The other attorneys on the case provided people like Norma Jeter and Valerie Swanson with the truth of the cases. And yet Republican leaders attended meetings set up by the founder of the Cherry Tree Republicans to give Rob Clark a pulpit to lie about Pratt. Of course, no one had Pratt or any of her supporters attend to counter. (That would have messed up everything.) Shouldn’t have been hard to find supporters – Pratt received more election donations that all four of her opponents together just two months before the primary. And Enos had people calling Pratt’s supporters to harass them about the support. And is it any wonder that Ed Emmett had his staff try to force another of Pratt’s supporters to stop writing about her? Ed Emmett hired Bill Henderson, former judge of the 311th as an attorney in his office, though Henderson was indicted and convicted, Your tax money pays him. I will admit that the smear campaign was very effective but why after Pratt was no-billed was Enos quoted by the Houston Chronicle as saying he ‘was glad she didn’t get it trouble – he just wanted her gone’? Could it be because he knew she was not guilty? Duh. Are you even aware the all the things he complained about in his publication about her were not illegal things, but things she was SUPPOSED to be doing? If you had ever asked Pratt, you would know that she didn’t rule on cases slowly; she denied agreements that were great for the lawyers and parents and horrible for the children. Big difference. There are many more things done illegally and dishonestly by a small group to get this judge out. Don’t think for a second that Alicia Franklin wasn’t part of it. She was guaranteed by this group of degenerates that they would get rid of Pratt – that’s why she moved from running for the 247th to the 311th at the 11th hour. The Republican Party and it’s leaders were magnanimously duped by a group of lying thugs. You have no idea how many, many, many cards, letters, emails, facebook posts, have gone to Judge Pratt about how wrong it was to not stand up to one Democrat with a pen. No, it is not Judge Denise Pratt that’s disgraced. Not at all.
Greg Enos says
Most of what these two anonymous fruitcakes say in their comments are completely untrue. Judge Pratt WAS the worst judge in recent memory and she resigned to avoid indictment, something DA Anderson confirmed (after first not telling the truth about it). These two comments have nothing to do with the FACTS I have uncovered and presented to the District Attorney about Gary Polland and Alicia Franklin nor do these comments really address the need for an independent prosecutor to investigate those two rather than Devon Anderson. I submit this comment using my own name and I will be happy to share a ton of document facts with anyone who is interested. Greg Enos
david jennings says
Greg Enos,
It’s times like these that make me want to revisit the anonymous comment policy. Guys like “Truther1” go around hiding and making wild accusations. I trust that people see them for what they are and give them the credibility that being anonymous deserves.
DJ
Truther1 says
Lol Greg Enos. Now how do you know which time the D.A. was lying? And haven’t you already published all ‘your facts’? If you’re so proud of using your name, why didn’t you put it on the multitude of campaign literature you disseminated against Judge Pratt? Because everyone would have known that it was you behind all of it? Nevermind that you violated campaign ethics rules, as well as governmental laws regarding political literature at the courthouse, and state laws against defacing state property. It’s common knowledge that dishonest people run politics, and truly honorable people get run out of politics.
David M. Wilson says
Typical response from opposition who don’t have any facts to support their position, they resort to attacking the accusers. For those of you who have not looked at the evidence that Greg Enos has compiled, I can attest that appears that Mr. Polland has filed payment vouchers for reimbursement from the taxpayers that cannot be supported in any practical sense.
I stand with Greg Enos and David Jennings in calling for a special prosecutor in this matter. Mr. Polland’s influence with the DA cannot be ignored.
David M. Wilson
Director, Cypress Texas Tea Party
PS: You were correct about the Cypress Texas Tea Party straw poll, however, I would say that was relatively early in the race and I think opinions changed significantly as more information came to light. I thought the tactics used by Judge Pratt’s opposition were disgraceful. At the Cypress Texas Tea Party we encourage dialog and exchange of ideas and then want informed citizens to make their own decisions.
Robert S. Clark says
Wow! Burt (Truther 1) is back! The comments in this BJP article are funnier than the comic strips! I would be very interested to learn who I physically assaulted at the Downtown Pachyderm Club, or who I shoved into the wall at the Courthouse. Do you have imaginary police and medical reports on these incidents like the one you supposedly have on Denise Pratt’s house being sprayed with bullets from people shooting automatic weapons? Do you have an imaginary incident report from the Texas Rangers, who are tasked with the safety of any elected judge that might be threatened in any way? I am mildly curious as to where it is that you think I get “over half of [my] clients” or as to what affidavit you are referring to that I supposedly prepared for a client. But by far, the most far fetched allegation made by one of the two fruitcakes (good descriptive word Mr. Enos!) that commented above is that Denise Prat “is being pursued and paid handsomely by so many firms to bring integrity to their law practices.” I would love to see a list of these law firms that believe a disgraced, unethical, former judge, who was the subject of a scathing public reprimand from the State Judicial Conduct Commission, can bring integrity and profitability to their practices. That is almost as funny as accusing retired Judge Doug Warne of criminal mischief.
I agree with David’s comment above, that people that make such ridiculous allegations under the cloak of an anonymous screen name should be regarded with great skepticism, so as always I will use my full name. You have my address and phone number Mr. Levine, so come chat with me anytime you would like about truth, facts, our judicial system, etc…. Warning though, I’m an upfront sort of guy, so you might not be very comfortable debating someone out in the open who isn’t gonna let you hide your identity as Truther 1 or any other ridiculous name. Oh, and bring the rest of your Pratt-loving buddies as well. I do like to be efficient! Have a nice day…..
Tom Zakes says
To start with, Greg Enos has NOT filed a criminal complaint with the DA.
A criminal complaint is a legal term of art, and it is a document filed BY the DA, with the Court.
What Enos has done is the legal equivalent of writing a letter to the editor.
Second, Enos has targeted Republicans only in his attacks. Maybe that’s because that’s all that is left in Harris and Galveston County family Courts, or it could be because he’s a self-described liberal democrat with an ax to grind.
Special prosecutors (and their expense) should be reserved for going against people who actually present a conflict of interest in going after them. Examples would be the ADA who was arrested for possession of cocaine about 15 years ago, or someone who was previously defended by a lawyer who is now an ADA. It should not be used to go after someone who supported the DA in an election, or wrote a glow piece about them in a newsletter afterwards.
Third, if there was a problem with attorney billing in CPS cases, the family court judges (newly appointed Alicia Franklin among them) unanimously voted to change the manner in which attorneys are to submit vouchers. The new rule includes a requirement that the attorney make clear if they did not do work that they are charging for, who in their firm did.
Fourth, there is a simple way to deal with anonymous comments on a blog: Look at the top of the comment. If it says it is posted by “Guitarguy”, or “Truther” or “Texaslady”, scroll down to the next comment and don’t waste your time reading it.
But if the County is awash in funds to pay for special prosecutors, maybe they should also send some deputies out to patrol the streets around the courthouse. I see people jaywalking there regularly.
I’m Tom Zakes and I approve this message
david jennings says
Tom,
So a citizen cannot file a criminal complaint? News to me, since I filed one earlier this year and not only was it not treated as a “Letter to the Editor”, the DA recused her department and sent it to the Texas Rangers for investigation. Yeah, that happened and although I wasn’t happy with the results of the investigation, I accepted it because of the office’s recusal and the fact that a Ranger contacted me during the investigation. But hey, you’re Tom Zakes and you approved your message.
Clearly there has been a problem in billing, otherwise why would the judges decide to change the process?
The question is “have there been illegalities in the billing?” Mr. Enos has provided ample documentation that previous billing practices by both Franklin and Polland were not in accordance with the law. Is the “everyone does it” defense acceptable? Perhaps, especially given that most of the judges knew full well that attorneys were submitting bills for work done by associates, not by the attorneys themselves. But the current Harris County DA is not the right person to investigate these charges because of her close relationship with both parties and her prior actions to make decisions based upon politics.
I’m David Jennings and I approve this message.
Truther1 says
The entire thing was a bullying tactic to remove a judge that about 25 high-dollar attorneys couldn’t control. Now they have a judge they control. And I agree with you about Polland – I believe he is dishonest and untrustworthy – which is why he endorsed Franklin against Pratt. Regarding the Commission’s inept opinion, if you look at the basis of their decision, you will see they did no independent research and based it only on Houston Chronicle articles, and fear from the many, many, many, many calls they reported they received from Greg Enos. Hard to believe they are judges really. And just to let you know, the firms Pratt works with now would be happy to come forward; it’s Pratt that suggested they don’t in an effort to protect them from the Mafia-McCarthy methods used by this small group of attorneys (who physically assaulted Pratt supporters, harassed them with phone calls, and carried out illegal and unethical activities). Everything about Pratt’s situation reeks of a smear campaign with no substance, including the outcome. And as soon as Dave Jennings stops referring to Judge Pratt in articles he claims are about Polland and Franklin, I will stop responding about Pratt. P.S. And of course ‘everyone does it’ is not an acceptable defense to any criminal (or other inappropriate) activity, but where does Jennings get his proof that the judges knew attorneys were submitting bills for work done by associates? It’s that type of irresponsible comment that makes all media suspect.
tazogurl says
Looks like we know a few things for sure. D.A. lies. Polland and Franklin are dirty. And the one judge that stood up against them all is gone. What’s wrong with this picture?