Post by tex on Dec 21, 2005 12:57:12 GMT -5
Dec. 21, 2005 - Judge Randy Michel left a colleague's courtroom Tuesday morning flanked by his own attorneys, stripped of his office and with a Class A misdemeanor on his record.
The longtime County Court at Law No. 1 judge pleaded guilty to abuse of official capacity and agreed to pay a $4,000 fine as part of a plea agreement involving a series of illegal e-mails he exchanged in 2004 with a lawyer practicing in his courtroom.
That lawyer, Patricia Bonilla Harrison, pleaded guilty to improper influence - also a Class A misdemeanor - in a separate hearing that took place minutes before Michel was summoned to the bench.
In addition, the two were ordered to jointly pay $13,840 in restitution to another local lawyer. Second Administrative Region Judge Olen Underwood traveled to Brazos County on Tuesday to preside over the hearing, which took place in the 85th District Courtroom.
Michel was conducting hearings in his own courtroom, down the hall from the 85th, as recently as this week. But he has known since last Thursday that his fall from office was imminent, prosecutors said after the judgment, outlining how he was confronted with e-mails that had been quietly subpoenaed by the District Attorney's Office a month earlier.
During that meeting, Michel was given until Monday to accept a plea agreement, according to assistant district attorney Shane Phelps. In the meantime, a special grand jury was scheduled to come in Monday to review the issue in case Michel opted not to take the plea, he said.
Class A misdemeanors can carry a potential punishment of up to one year in jail. Michel and Harrison both were assessed the maximum allowable fine.
The District Attorney's Office appears to have obtained the e-mails from Michel's work account around the same time last month that The Eagle began asking for similar documents from each of the area's five elected trial court judges. In the open records request, the paper asked for all non-work-related e-mails dating back to 2001 between Harrison and each of the officials.
The request came during the same month the judges unanimously voted to appoint Harrison as the county's juvenile referee over six other candidates, despite her history of alcohol-related arrests. Harrison announced she would not take the job two days after the open records request was filed.
All but one of the judges have jointly hired an attorney to fight The Eagle's request. So far, the paper has appealed Michel's refusal to officials in Austin and anticipates filing similar appeals for the other judges in the future.
In the initial appeal, filed last week, attorneys for The Eagle said the request could shed light on a possible "personal relationship" between Michel and Harrison.
Michel refused to answer reporters' questions as he left the courtroom following the Tuesday hearings. In a written statement released later in the day, he said he will not seek re-election as previously anticipated. He declined to comment on "the facts that led to my decision."
"I have violated the public trust, and I therefore must withdraw from the race - because it is the right thing to do, because I wish no more harm to befall the integrity of the judiciary and because all judges must be held to ... the highest standards of conduct ..." he wrote.
Ending the note, he wrote, "I am so sorry."
Harrison also declined to answer reporters' questions as she left the courthouse but later released a statement through Joe Bailey, her Houston-based attorney.
"Be assured that no malice was ever intended toward anyone," Bailey wrote. "... She has accepted responsibility for her conduct and is ready to put this very painful experience behind her. Her wish is that others will do the same and let a healing process begin."
Illegal conversations
According to rules governing the Texas judiciary and attorneys, a judge cannot have private conversations with one attorney regarding a case in his or her courtroom without the opposing attorney's knowledge.
When the conversations end up damaging the opposing attorney, they also can be considered a violation of state law, Phelps explained.
"That's the foundation of these charges," he said. "[Michel] doesn't get to have a secret e-mail correspondence with one of the parties when the other doesn't know that's going on. That's just not fair."
The e-mails stem from a series of civil suits involving a 2002 car accident that severely injured a 13-year-old passenger. When a juvenile is involved in such cases, the presiding judge can appoint a "guardian ad litem" - an attorney whose job it is to look after the child's best interests.
Bryan attorney Chad Jones, who will be the recipient of the ordered restitution, originally was appointed to be the guardian ad litem in the case. But after negotiating a settlement, he was hired by the teen's mother to file suits against other drivers involved in the accident. After Jones' role changed, the court then needed to appoint a new guardian ad litem.
Although Jones suggested another attorney who had previous experience with personal injury work, Michel instead decided to appoint Harrison, Jones recalled during recent interviews with The Eagle.
By summer 2004, Harrison had filed a motion in Michel's courtroom accusing Jones and another attorney associated with the case of "a conspiracy to circumvent the court's authority" and perpetrating "fraud upon the court." The two also were attempting to avoid paying her guardian ad litem fees, she contended.
That's when the illegal e-mails began, Phelps said Tuesday.
"[Michel's] telling her how to object, which cases are important, what witnesses to bring, what witnesses should say," he said.
"You're supposed to go before a judge with both sides walking onto a level playing field," he added. "This is a complete corruption of the way the process in a Texas courtroom is supposed to take place."
Jones vigorously denied Harrison's accusations, which have been documented in court filings. But in November 2004, Michel ordered him to pay Harrison nearly $12,000 in fees for her guardian ad litem work, even though the child was only receiving a $3,750 settlement.
He also ordered Jones to repay part of the settlement, which the child's mother already had begun spending.
In addition to those expenses, Jones said he had to spend an additional $12,000 to hire his own attorney after Michel filed a complaint against him regarding the case with the State Bar. The judge's complaint later was found to be without merit.
While the other money will be recoverable through the restitution, Jones said he was told by prosecutors there was no way to recover the money he had to set aside for his legal defense.
Jones offered a stinging rebuke of the judge Tuesday morning when asked if he wanted to read a victim's impact statement in court.
"Randy Michel, while in a position of power - a judge - acted deceitful, dishonest, dishonorable and abused his power to treat me unjustly," he said while reading from a brief prepared statement. "He then attempted to cover up his actions with efforts to discredit me.
"Randy Michel's behavior is a stain on the judiciary and a stain on our judicial system. It undermines the public's faith in our legal system."
Prosecutors would not reveal Tuesday how the District Attorney's Office found out about the e-mails. "We received credible information about their existence," Phelps said, declining further comment on the matter.
Phelps also would not say how many e-mails between Michel and Harrison they sifted through to find the roughly 20 to 30 messages relating to their convictions.
The prosecutor also declined to reveal the nature of the additional e-mails. He did say, however, that the District Attorney's Office was "willing to forego other matters" in exchange for the immediate plea agreement.
It was important to address the violation quickly, Phelps said, because if Michel opted to fight the case, prosecutors would have to file a search warrant to obtain the e-mails again. In the meantime, he said, evidence was vulnerable to deletion from the county's computer system.
"I respect him for standing up in court and taking his medicine," said Phelps, who was assigned the case partly due to District Attorney Bill Turner's friendship with the judge. "While it was a terribly difficult thing for us to do, the moral of this story is nobody is above the law in this county."
Vacant bench
Michel, who has presided over County Court at Law No. 1 for seven years, announced plans to run for his third term two weeks ago - on the same day he and his colleagues rejected The Eagle's request to review e-mail documents.
While state law mandates that a judge must be expelled from office once convicted of abuse of official capacity, it doesn't bar Michel from running again.
But expressing "profound regrets for the actions on my part which precipitate this announcement," Michel said Tuesday that following through with the campaign would not be an option for him. So far, only one opponent - an assistant county attorney who had applied for the juvenile referee position later given to Harrison - has stepped up to challenge Michel.
While Michel hasn't indicated what the next step in his career might be, it's possible he could have to defend his privilege to practice law. In most cases, the State Bar of Texas Chief Disciplinary Council looks into such violations if they are specifically brought to the organization's attention, spokeswoman Kim Davey said Tuesday.
If the case is reviewed, however, sanctions for Michel and Harrison could range from a private reprimand to disbarment - considered the most severe punishment. State Bar officials would not say if complaints have been filed against the two.
As for Michel's replacement, it will be the job of the Brazos County Commissioners Court to appoint somebody to the bench for the year remaining before the next elected judge takes office. County Judge Randy Sims said Tuesday afternoon that he had not yet received official notice that the judge had been expelled from office.
Once he does receive word, however, Sims said commissioners will begin putting together a short list of candidates and hopefully will have a selection made within the next two weeks.
"We can't keep that court vacant very long," he said, explaining that the county's misdemeanor caseload is known for stacking up.
Mortification, anguish
The 85th District Courtroom, usually occupied by Judge J.D. Langley, reflected a somber tone Tuesday morning as more than 50 lawyers, community leaders and other residents filed in to watch the brief proceedings.
Langley and fellow District Judge Steve Smith waited in Langley's adjoining office as the visiting judge took the bench.
In addition to his work on the bench, Michel, 56, has been a longtime member of the legal community who spent much of his career practicing civil law with the Bryan law firm Bruchez, Goss, Thornton, Merenoff, Michel & Hawthorne.
He was president of the Brazos County Bar Association from 1996 to 1997 and served on the grievance committee for the State Bar of Texas from 1997 to 2000.
Married with two children, he also has been known for his work with Grace Bible Church in College Station, where he previously served as an elder. Michel also has authored a book contemplating the trial of Jesus Christ.
In his written statement Tuesday, he asked for forgiveness from his family, his staff and his church.
"Words are not adequate to describe the mortification I feel for the anguish I have caused anyone and everyone directly or indirectly involved in ... my failure to live up to the highest standards of conduct," he wrote.
Outside the presence of the courtroom where he delivered his victim's impact statement earlier in the day, Chad Jones expressed similar sentiments. While he's happy to finally be vindicated in the public's eye, the situation has been tiring and difficult for himself and many others, he said.
"I'm sad everybody had to go through all this," he said. "This has been tough on everybody."
The longtime County Court at Law No. 1 judge pleaded guilty to abuse of official capacity and agreed to pay a $4,000 fine as part of a plea agreement involving a series of illegal e-mails he exchanged in 2004 with a lawyer practicing in his courtroom.
That lawyer, Patricia Bonilla Harrison, pleaded guilty to improper influence - also a Class A misdemeanor - in a separate hearing that took place minutes before Michel was summoned to the bench.
In addition, the two were ordered to jointly pay $13,840 in restitution to another local lawyer. Second Administrative Region Judge Olen Underwood traveled to Brazos County on Tuesday to preside over the hearing, which took place in the 85th District Courtroom.
Michel was conducting hearings in his own courtroom, down the hall from the 85th, as recently as this week. But he has known since last Thursday that his fall from office was imminent, prosecutors said after the judgment, outlining how he was confronted with e-mails that had been quietly subpoenaed by the District Attorney's Office a month earlier.
During that meeting, Michel was given until Monday to accept a plea agreement, according to assistant district attorney Shane Phelps. In the meantime, a special grand jury was scheduled to come in Monday to review the issue in case Michel opted not to take the plea, he said.
Class A misdemeanors can carry a potential punishment of up to one year in jail. Michel and Harrison both were assessed the maximum allowable fine.
The District Attorney's Office appears to have obtained the e-mails from Michel's work account around the same time last month that The Eagle began asking for similar documents from each of the area's five elected trial court judges. In the open records request, the paper asked for all non-work-related e-mails dating back to 2001 between Harrison and each of the officials.
The request came during the same month the judges unanimously voted to appoint Harrison as the county's juvenile referee over six other candidates, despite her history of alcohol-related arrests. Harrison announced she would not take the job two days after the open records request was filed.
All but one of the judges have jointly hired an attorney to fight The Eagle's request. So far, the paper has appealed Michel's refusal to officials in Austin and anticipates filing similar appeals for the other judges in the future.
In the initial appeal, filed last week, attorneys for The Eagle said the request could shed light on a possible "personal relationship" between Michel and Harrison.
Michel refused to answer reporters' questions as he left the courtroom following the Tuesday hearings. In a written statement released later in the day, he said he will not seek re-election as previously anticipated. He declined to comment on "the facts that led to my decision."
"I have violated the public trust, and I therefore must withdraw from the race - because it is the right thing to do, because I wish no more harm to befall the integrity of the judiciary and because all judges must be held to ... the highest standards of conduct ..." he wrote.
Ending the note, he wrote, "I am so sorry."
Harrison also declined to answer reporters' questions as she left the courthouse but later released a statement through Joe Bailey, her Houston-based attorney.
"Be assured that no malice was ever intended toward anyone," Bailey wrote. "... She has accepted responsibility for her conduct and is ready to put this very painful experience behind her. Her wish is that others will do the same and let a healing process begin."
Illegal conversations
According to rules governing the Texas judiciary and attorneys, a judge cannot have private conversations with one attorney regarding a case in his or her courtroom without the opposing attorney's knowledge.
When the conversations end up damaging the opposing attorney, they also can be considered a violation of state law, Phelps explained.
"That's the foundation of these charges," he said. "[Michel] doesn't get to have a secret e-mail correspondence with one of the parties when the other doesn't know that's going on. That's just not fair."
The e-mails stem from a series of civil suits involving a 2002 car accident that severely injured a 13-year-old passenger. When a juvenile is involved in such cases, the presiding judge can appoint a "guardian ad litem" - an attorney whose job it is to look after the child's best interests.
Bryan attorney Chad Jones, who will be the recipient of the ordered restitution, originally was appointed to be the guardian ad litem in the case. But after negotiating a settlement, he was hired by the teen's mother to file suits against other drivers involved in the accident. After Jones' role changed, the court then needed to appoint a new guardian ad litem.
Although Jones suggested another attorney who had previous experience with personal injury work, Michel instead decided to appoint Harrison, Jones recalled during recent interviews with The Eagle.
By summer 2004, Harrison had filed a motion in Michel's courtroom accusing Jones and another attorney associated with the case of "a conspiracy to circumvent the court's authority" and perpetrating "fraud upon the court." The two also were attempting to avoid paying her guardian ad litem fees, she contended.
That's when the illegal e-mails began, Phelps said Tuesday.
"[Michel's] telling her how to object, which cases are important, what witnesses to bring, what witnesses should say," he said.
"You're supposed to go before a judge with both sides walking onto a level playing field," he added. "This is a complete corruption of the way the process in a Texas courtroom is supposed to take place."
Jones vigorously denied Harrison's accusations, which have been documented in court filings. But in November 2004, Michel ordered him to pay Harrison nearly $12,000 in fees for her guardian ad litem work, even though the child was only receiving a $3,750 settlement.
He also ordered Jones to repay part of the settlement, which the child's mother already had begun spending.
In addition to those expenses, Jones said he had to spend an additional $12,000 to hire his own attorney after Michel filed a complaint against him regarding the case with the State Bar. The judge's complaint later was found to be without merit.
While the other money will be recoverable through the restitution, Jones said he was told by prosecutors there was no way to recover the money he had to set aside for his legal defense.
Jones offered a stinging rebuke of the judge Tuesday morning when asked if he wanted to read a victim's impact statement in court.
"Randy Michel, while in a position of power - a judge - acted deceitful, dishonest, dishonorable and abused his power to treat me unjustly," he said while reading from a brief prepared statement. "He then attempted to cover up his actions with efforts to discredit me.
"Randy Michel's behavior is a stain on the judiciary and a stain on our judicial system. It undermines the public's faith in our legal system."
Prosecutors would not reveal Tuesday how the District Attorney's Office found out about the e-mails. "We received credible information about their existence," Phelps said, declining further comment on the matter.
Phelps also would not say how many e-mails between Michel and Harrison they sifted through to find the roughly 20 to 30 messages relating to their convictions.
The prosecutor also declined to reveal the nature of the additional e-mails. He did say, however, that the District Attorney's Office was "willing to forego other matters" in exchange for the immediate plea agreement.
It was important to address the violation quickly, Phelps said, because if Michel opted to fight the case, prosecutors would have to file a search warrant to obtain the e-mails again. In the meantime, he said, evidence was vulnerable to deletion from the county's computer system.
"I respect him for standing up in court and taking his medicine," said Phelps, who was assigned the case partly due to District Attorney Bill Turner's friendship with the judge. "While it was a terribly difficult thing for us to do, the moral of this story is nobody is above the law in this county."
Vacant bench
Michel, who has presided over County Court at Law No. 1 for seven years, announced plans to run for his third term two weeks ago - on the same day he and his colleagues rejected The Eagle's request to review e-mail documents.
While state law mandates that a judge must be expelled from office once convicted of abuse of official capacity, it doesn't bar Michel from running again.
But expressing "profound regrets for the actions on my part which precipitate this announcement," Michel said Tuesday that following through with the campaign would not be an option for him. So far, only one opponent - an assistant county attorney who had applied for the juvenile referee position later given to Harrison - has stepped up to challenge Michel.
While Michel hasn't indicated what the next step in his career might be, it's possible he could have to defend his privilege to practice law. In most cases, the State Bar of Texas Chief Disciplinary Council looks into such violations if they are specifically brought to the organization's attention, spokeswoman Kim Davey said Tuesday.
If the case is reviewed, however, sanctions for Michel and Harrison could range from a private reprimand to disbarment - considered the most severe punishment. State Bar officials would not say if complaints have been filed against the two.
As for Michel's replacement, it will be the job of the Brazos County Commissioners Court to appoint somebody to the bench for the year remaining before the next elected judge takes office. County Judge Randy Sims said Tuesday afternoon that he had not yet received official notice that the judge had been expelled from office.
Once he does receive word, however, Sims said commissioners will begin putting together a short list of candidates and hopefully will have a selection made within the next two weeks.
"We can't keep that court vacant very long," he said, explaining that the county's misdemeanor caseload is known for stacking up.
Mortification, anguish
The 85th District Courtroom, usually occupied by Judge J.D. Langley, reflected a somber tone Tuesday morning as more than 50 lawyers, community leaders and other residents filed in to watch the brief proceedings.
Langley and fellow District Judge Steve Smith waited in Langley's adjoining office as the visiting judge took the bench.
In addition to his work on the bench, Michel, 56, has been a longtime member of the legal community who spent much of his career practicing civil law with the Bryan law firm Bruchez, Goss, Thornton, Merenoff, Michel & Hawthorne.
He was president of the Brazos County Bar Association from 1996 to 1997 and served on the grievance committee for the State Bar of Texas from 1997 to 2000.
Married with two children, he also has been known for his work with Grace Bible Church in College Station, where he previously served as an elder. Michel also has authored a book contemplating the trial of Jesus Christ.
In his written statement Tuesday, he asked for forgiveness from his family, his staff and his church.
"Words are not adequate to describe the mortification I feel for the anguish I have caused anyone and everyone directly or indirectly involved in ... my failure to live up to the highest standards of conduct," he wrote.
Outside the presence of the courtroom where he delivered his victim's impact statement earlier in the day, Chad Jones expressed similar sentiments. While he's happy to finally be vindicated in the public's eye, the situation has been tiring and difficult for himself and many others, he said.
"I'm sad everybody had to go through all this," he said. "This has been tough on everybody."