Embattled lawyer spurs DA's inquiry
Posted on 01/18/2003 3:17:06 PM PST by MeekOneGOP
Embattled lawyer spurs DA's inquiry
01/19/2003
A controversial lawyer, already at battle with a state bar disciplinary commission, is also under scrutiny by prosecutors over a sworn statement she made to government authorities.
At the center of the new inquiry by the Dallas County district attorney's office is an affidavit that criminal defense lawyer Catherine Mehaffey Shelton made in late 2001 to the sheriff's department to guarantee a client's $25,000 bail bond.
Ms. Shelton swore in the document that there were no judgments pending against her. At the time, however, Ms. Shelton faced judgments that totaled nearly $15,000, according to county clerk records compiled by The Dallas Morning News. Five of the claims against her, in fact, are by the Dallas County Sheriff's Department for bail bonds she previously had guaranteed, but which had been defaulted on.
The News provided copies of the court documents to the Dallas County district attorney's office for comment. A prosecutor said they were circulated to the district attorney's public integrity, bond and trial units for their evaluations.
"We're definitely going to investigate," said Mike Carnes, first assistant district attorney. "We're reviewing your [information] and getting the proper authorities involved."
Swearing to a false statement under oath is perjury, according to the Texas penal code. Depending on the circumstances, it can be a misdemeanor or felony. A conviction can lead to a lawyer's disbarment if the violation is deemed to be a crime of "moral turpitude."
Attorney James M. Murphy, who represents Ms. Shelton, informed The News that any allegation that she committed perjury in connection with the affidavit would be false. "There are no inconsistencies on the bail bond form and the purported liens and judgments," he said. Ms. Shelton, who has filed suit against The News over an earlier story, has declined interview requests.
The $25,000 bond that Ms. Shelton guaranteed in November 2001 has since been forfeited, too, according to sheriff's department records. She currently has $35,125 in forfeited unpaid bonds, the records show.
Ms. Shelton has been barred since August from posting new bonds with the sheriff's department because of the unpaid forfeitures, which indicate that her clients didn't show up for trial or violated some other terms of their bonds.
Meanwhile, she faces a February trial on a civil lawsuit filed by State Bar of Texas regulators who accuse her of overcharging clients for certain legal work that they say she is not qualified to perform. Ms. Shelton, whose law license has twice been suspended, has denied the allegations.
Mr. Murphy, her lawyer, said the relevant portion of the bail bond affidavit is Ms. Shelton's statement about her worth after payments of all outstanding legal obligations against her. The affidavit, Mr. Murphy said, "has to be read in its total context."
Ms. Shelton swore in the document that she was "worth at least the sum of $50,000, after deducting from my property all that which is exempt ... and after satisfying all encumbrances on my property. ..."
"We're confident that Ms. Shelton's worth is at least what she says it is," the lawyer said.
However, the affidavit also says: "I further swear that there are no outstanding judgments in Dallas County, Texas or elsewhere against the affiant. ..." There were several judgments on file in the clerk's office at the time and another - for $11,500 - that had been awarded by a district judge. Altogether, the awards against her totaled more than $26,000.
The News filed an open-records request in late December to examine Ms. Shelton's bail bond file. However, specifics of the collateral she posted with the sheriff's bond unit are not available, according to Lt. Kent Blanch, because Ms. Shelton's original bond application is missing from the file.
"It's highly unusual, and I have no idea why it is not in the file," said Lt. Blanch, who was appointed last year to oversee the unit. Notes in the file indicate that Ms. Shelton has had authority to post bonds on behalf of clients since at least 1994.
Applications itemize the specific cash deposits or property that lawyers put up for collateral in order to guarantee bail bonds. Though Texas law allows attorneys to post bonds for their clients, most don't. Instead, clients use bail bond firms, which charge a 10 percent fee for insuring the bonds.
There is no public record that requires a listing of an individual's entire assets and debts. But records for the Dallas Central Appraisal District show that Ms. Shelton's real estate holdings in the county are an unimproved lot and her residence in North Dallas, just southeast of Northwest Highway and the Dallas North Tollway. The house was appraised last year at $254,350; its tax value, after the homestead exemption, was listed at $179,080. The vacant lot was appraised at $1,050.
Records in the county clerk's office also show that Ms. Shelton's residence has been tied up in federal and state tax liens totaling $56,704.02, not including interest and penalties. Two IRS liens against Ms. Shelton and her husband, Clint, for unpaid income taxes from 1993 and 1994 account for more than $52,000 of that total.
Mr. Shelton, a one-time jailer and deputy constable, was convicted of wounding Marisa Hierro, Ms. Shelton's former office manager, and killing Ms. Hierro's husband, Michael, in a shotgun ambush three years ago outside the Hierros' home in Rowlett. He is serving a life sentence in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Allred Unit near Wichita Falls.
Ms. Hierro, who had helped some of Ms. Shelton's former clients file grievances against Ms. Shelton with the State Bar, identified Ms. Shelton as the second masked attacker in the assault, telling investigators that she recognized her former employer's voice, a wisp of blonde hair peeking from beneath the mask and her manicured nails.
Ms. Shelton, who has steadfastly denied any involvement, has not been arrested or indicted in the Hierro shootings.
A trial on the civil lawsuit filed by the State Bar's Commission for Lawyer Discipline is scheduled for Feb. 11. The lawsuit accuses Ms. Shelton of taking more than $30,000 in legal fees to resolve immigration problems for 19 clients. According to the lawsuit, Ms. Shelton, who advertised widely in Spanish-language publications, charged "unconscionable fees" and was not competent to practice immigration law.
Ms. Shelton has denied the commission's allegations.
According to state bar records, Ms. Shelton's law license has been suspended twice before.
The first time was in 1983, after she pleaded guilty in Houston to aggravated assault, admitting that she shot former boyfriend Gary Taylor twice. Under a plea bargain, which reduced the charge from attempted murder, she was placed on 10 years' probation. Her law license was automatically suspended. It was restored in June 1988 when she won early release from probation.
In January 1999, her license was suspended for six months for professional misconduct, although she was allowed to continue practicing law while on probation. That discipline stemmed from grievances filed by three former clients who, according to court records, said that Ms. Shelton, after taking retainers from them, didn't inform them about their cases and refused to respond to their repeated phone calls.
One of those clients, Jessie Hill, and his wife, June, also filed a lawsuit against Ms. Shelton, accusing her of negligence in representing him in a probation hearing and on an appeal. Court records show that Judge Merrill Hartman twice ordered the case to mediation, and each time Ms. Shelton failed to appear. She also failed to appear when the case was set for trial in August 2000, according to court records.
The judge awarded the Hills an $11,500 default judgment against Ms. Shelton, but it was not recorded in the county clerk's office, so there is no record of whether it has been paid. The Hills could not be found for comment.
The attorney who represented them, Warren Hays, said he did not believe that the $11,500 award has been paid.
E-mail hswindle@dallasnews.com
At the center of the new inquiry by the Dallas County district attorney's office is an affidavit that criminal defense lawyer Catherine Mehaffey Shelton made in late 2001 to the sheriff's department to guarantee a client's $25,000 bail bond.
Ms. Shelton swore in the document that there were no judgments pending against her. At the time, however, Ms. Shelton faced judgments that totaled nearly $15,000, according to county clerk records compiled by The Dallas Morning News. Five of the claims against her, in fact, are by the Dallas County Sheriff's Department for bail bonds she previously had guaranteed, but which had been defaulted on.
< snip >
Mr. Shelton, a one-time jailer and deputy constable, was convicted of wounding Marisa Hierro, Ms. Shelton's former office manager, and killing Ms. Hierro's husband, Michael, in a shotgun ambush three years ago outside the Hierros' home in Rowlett. He is serving a life sentence in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Allred Unit near Wichita Falls.
Ms. Hierro, who had helped some of Ms. Shelton's former clients file grievances against Ms. Shelton with the State Bar, identified Ms. Shelton as the second masked attacker in the assault, telling investigators that she recognized her former employer's voice, a wisp of blonde hair peeking from beneath the mask and her manicured nails.
Ms. Shelton, who has steadfastly denied any involvement, has not been arrested or indicted in the Hierro shootings.
< snip >
According to state bar records, Ms. Shelton's law license has been suspended twice before.
The first time was in 1983, after she pleaded guilty in Houston to aggravated assault, admitting that she shot former boyfriend Gary Taylor twice. Under a plea bargain, which reduced the charge from attempted murder, she was placed on 10 years' probation. Her law license was automatically suspended. It was restored in June 1988 when she won early release from probation.
In January 1999, her license was suspended for six months for professional misconduct, although she was allowed to continue practicing law while on probation. That discipline stemmed from grievances filed by three former clients who, according to court records, said that Ms. Shelton, after taking retainers from them, didn't inform them about their cases and refused to respond to their repeated phone calls.
One of those clients, Jessie Hill, and his wife, June, also filed a lawsuit against Ms. Shelton, accusing her of negligence in representing him in a probation hearing and on an appeal. Court records show that Judge Merrill Hartman twice ordered the case to mediation, and each time Ms. Shelton failed to appear. She also failed to appear when the case was set for trial in August 2000, according to court records.
The judge awarded the Hills an $11,500 default judgment against Ms. Shelton, but it was not recorded in the county clerk's office, so there is no record of whether it has been paid. The Hills could not be found for comment.
The attorney who represented them, Warren Hays, said he did not believe that the $11,500 award has been paid.
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Why has this monster kept on with her evil activities? NO Attorney regulation by the corrupt bar associations.
Solution? A total disempowerment of the bar associations. Lawyer discipline by true consumer control agencies. Regulated by an open governmental process, with all complaints against lawyers open for public inspection. Like any other industry. Government has, even for the most libertarian of tastes, basic functions to protect the nation. And the lawyer industry is a grave threat to our freedoms and democracy, make no mistake. Complaint would be handled by the "Texas Lawyer Consumer Control Board," its website listing all complaints against attorneys and disciplinary actions, etc. Look to regulation of any other industry for models.
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The advice:
Be sure it is your client who goes to jail.
Solution? A total disempowerment of the bar associations. Lawyer discipline by true consumer control agencies.
Too complex.
Let's just kill all the lawyers.
A return to Judicial Combat would provide a system no more random than today's Trial by Lawyer. And it would eliminate the need for an apeals system or prisons.
So9
But how to do this efficiently?
Make sure all the ambulances have good brakes and the drivers stamp down on them fast and hard.
Good one. I was thinking of using lots of sewer bait to exterminate all those big, fat, slimey 'rats.
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