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I want to thank the lawyers and judges of Texas who keep providing the material for Texas Lawyer 's annual Tongue-in-Cheek Awards. Without them, this column could not be written year after year.
As in years past, 2008 brought attention to new faces and a few familiar ones in the Texas legal community whose actions make them worthy of this dubious recognition. The 2008 winners are as follows:
The Lame Duck Crying Foul Award goes to outgoing Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra, who obtained grand jury indictments in November against Vice President Dick Cheney, former U.S. Attorney Alberto Gonzales, state Sen. Eddie Lucio, D-Brownsville, and others. After the grand jury "with great sadness" indicted Cheney and Gonzales for allegedly "engaging in organized criminal activity" in connection with privately operated federal prisons in Willacy County, the story made headlines nationwide. However, Judge Manuel Banales of the 5th Administrative Judicial Region dismissed all of the indictments on Dec. 1. Now, Willacy County faces the potential of paying legal bills for county officials named in those indictments. Gilbert Lozano, the Willacy County district clerk and one of those named in the indictments, says that on Dec. 8, he presented the county commissioners court a bill for $10,000 to pay his criminal-defense attorney, Brownsville solo John Blaylock. Lozano says the commissioners court likely will receive more bills for legal fees stemming from the indictments.
The winner of the Candidate's Cut the Fat Award is Sugar Land tax attorney Dean Hrbacek of Hrbacek & Associates. Hrbacek, one of 10 Republican candidates for the 22nd Congressional District seat, sent potential voters campaign materials featuring Hrbacek's head shot on someone else's body — a thinner body. Scott Broschart, Hrbacek's campaign manager, said at the time Hrbacek did not have time to pose for a photo, because "he was too busy knocking on doors." Despite the svelte image depicted in the campaign literature, Hrbacek had not lost pounds, but he lost his bid for the congressional seat in the March GOP primary.
Austin criminal-defense solo Adam Reposa is the winner of the Big Whoopsy! Award — and a 90-day jail sentence. During a March 11 hearing in Travis County Court-at-Law No. 6 Judge Jan Breland's courtroom, Reposa made a gesture simulating masturbation at a prosecutor while standing before the judge with a client. Breland held Reposa in contempt. Senior Judge Paul Davis, sitting by assignment, presided over Reposa's April trial on the contempt charge and sentenced him to 90 days in the Travis County jail. Randy Leavitt, first assistant in the Travis County Attorney's Office, presented evidence at trial that Whoopsy!, a magazine distributed in Austin clubs, had published an "apparently satirical ad" for an attorney identified as "Bulletproof, the DWI Stud" and engaged in a sexual act. The prosecutor alleged that the ad showed Reposa's lack of respect for the court, but Reposa contends he never requested or paid for the ad. Reposa, who identifies himself as Adam "Bulletproof" Reposa on the State Bar of Texas Web site, challenged his conviction and sentence in an application for writ of habeas corpus filed June 2 in the Court of Criminal Appeals. It remains to be seen just how bulletproof Reposa is. On Oct. 10, the State Bar's Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel received a Bar-initiated grievance against Reposa, alleging that his conduct in Breland's court on March 11 led to delays in a number of cases.
The Pro Bono Can Be Costly Award goes to Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht. On Dec. 4, the Texas Ethics Commission fined Hecht $29,000 for violating state election laws by accepting and not reporting as a political contribution more than $100,000 in discounted legal fees. Charles "Chip" Babcock, a partner in Jackson Walker in Houston and Dallas, represented Hecht in a challenge of the public admonition that the State Commission on Judicial Conduct issued to Hecht in 2006 for Hecht's public support of Harriet Miers' nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2005. Miers, now a partner in Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell is Dallas, withdrew her name from consideration, and Hecht has been wrestling with problems that began with his support of Miers ever since. Represented by Babcock before a special court of review, Hecht successfully challenged the judicial conduct commission's admonishment. In December 2006, Jackson Walker sent Hecht a bill for about $470,000, which the firm reduced by 15 percent because of an agreement with Hecht. But the firm also decided that it would provide about 25 percent of its legal services to Hecht on a pro bono basis, which, according to the ethics commission, violated the Texas Election Code's $5,000 per-individual limit on campaign contributions to a judicial candidate. Under Texas election laws, a firm can contribute, in the aggregate, up to $30,000 to a candidate for a judicial post. Alex Winslow, executive director of government watchdog group Texas Watch, filed the complaint against Hecht at the ethics commission and also filed similar complaints with the judicial conduct commission and the Public Integrity Unit in the Travis County District Attorney's Office. Hecht's woes might not be over yet.
The winner of the It's Déjà Vu All Over Again Award is former 272nd District Judge Richard W.B. "Rick" Davis. On Nov. 7, the judicial conduct commission issued its second public reprimand of Davis, now a Bryan solo. The irony is the conduct that led the commission to reprimand Davis a second time stemmed from his long-running disagreements with the Brazos County District Attorney's Office, which were the cause of the first reprimand in March 2002. "To the extent Respondent's [Davis'] conduct was in furtherance of the grudges and retaliation that were the subject of the prior public reprimand, it constitutes both willful and persistent misconduct," the commission concluded in its most recent reprimand of Davis. Davis had appealed the first 2002 reprimand to a special court of review, but he was unsuccessful in his challenge of the disciplinary action.
Dallas criminal-defense attorney George Milner Jr., a partner in Milner & Finn, wins the I'm Not Guilty Award. On Nov. 11, Milner was defending Marc Needham, who was charged with misdemeanor assault. Both Milner and Needham are older men. Under cross-examination by Brian Poe, an assistant district attorney in Dallas County, a witness identified Milner as the man who had accosted her with a gun. Before beginning his cross-examination, Milner told Dallas County Criminal Court No. 6 Judge Angela King, "First of all, your honor, let me enter a plea of not guilty." Poe informed the witness that Milner, the man she had identified as her assailant, was a prominent defense attorney who was representing Needham. It's no surprise that the jury found Needham not guilty.
