Beware… Elmer Beckworth wants his old job back

 


Lock up your daughters and lock up your wives. He's back.

Angelina County Assistant DA and lifetime Democrat Elmer Beckworth (D) announced several months ago he was switching to the Republican Party after remaining a registered Democrat for over 30 years - all the way through two elections of Barrack Obama that didn't change his mind. Elmer's flip-flop comes after losing the 2012 Cherokee County District Attorney’s race to his own younger savvier Assistant DA who ran as a Republican. Beckworth had stayed in office three terms, with only 2% of the Cherokee County vote, by running unchallenged and not facing any competition. (Source: Jacksonville Progress) With the help of the Good Ol' Boy and Biddy Network, he's hoping to run unchallenged again. Are we to believe Elmer Beckworth is so feckless as to forget he owes his entire career to the Cherokee County Democrats Club? The same people who along with him caucused for Wendy Davis and against the values of every single Republican in the county?

Which begs the question if the current Cherokee County Republican Party will greet with open arms the candidate who has shit smeared them and his potential rivals for decades, in both public and private practice. Will the Chairman be forced to commit suicide over sexual innuendo and blackmail? Will life insurance payouts be divvied up for billboards and television ads as they were for Elmer Beckworth's predecessors? The fact is Beckworth cannot win an election without the ingrained Rusk/Jacksonville law firms, also devoted lifetime Democrats, trickling votes and money away from a viable opponent. And they can't run against an honest candidate.

Is Cherokee County still rife enough with corruption to oust their first female district attorney who took to task District Judge Bascom Bentley’s falsified signature on sex offender Orders? With Beckworth still in office, County Judge Craig Fletcher would not have been exposed for his own shenanigans between Rusk sex offenders and Bentley’s office. (Source: Daily Progress)  Hundreds of thousands of dollars would still be wasted on Robert Fox’s tirades and appealing his overturned conviction in the 6th Court of Appeals, Texarkana. (Again Source: Daily Progress) Every dumb lie coming out of Elmer’s mouth could be in publication in the Jacksonville newspaper and his hometown Rusk Cherokeean for generations to come. 

Local pedophiles serve on juries as insurance to keep district court cases from being overturned.

 

Will the honest County Commissioners be threatened yet again with Elmer Beckworth's stacked grand jury, or will the Rusk Hunting Club continue paving their roads with taxpayer dollars? Come this March Primary, businesses in the area will see if Cherokee County puts the target back on them, their business calls, and personal email. Voters can choose between who Sheriff James Campbell and the local papers endorse, and those they will drum out of town (see Ben Tinsley, et al). Such exciting times for the astute Cherokee County voter. But watch out, Elmer's confidential informants are ready to come out of retirement from the methadone clinics to murder their wives.


 

Michael Harris endorses Elmer Beckworth

After all, the Old Wives Family Affair may not have to drive all the way to Lufkin to sit on Elmer’s current bosses' juries. The Good Ol’ Boys may get their man back in their pockets. Nonetheless, family members of Cherokee County sex offenders are anxiously awaiting to cast their votes for the guy who gave them probation in the first place. If Elmer Beckworth gets his old job back in his hometown of Rusk, the county will be flooded with the likes of extradited child rapist and accused murderer Tommy Stricklen. (Source: Jacksonville Progress) Guess who got the bigger ticker tape parade in Cherokee County newspapers and raised more money through donations: Beckworth running for reelection or a local sex offender with a handicapped daughter?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tommy Stricklen

 

Thanks to Elmer Beckworth and his supporters, every single learning institution in Cherokee County has hired child molesters, some who have sat on his juries repeatedly for decades; some who have been exalted in the local newspapers for decades until being caught. (Fast forward to Cherokee County Probation Director Carl Phillips.) Look no further than the sheltered hallways of nearby private Christian academy, The Brook Hill School, quietly scrubbing all records of their recently arrested girls' volleyball Head Coach. Ricky Eugene Clements, 61,was busted this month for texting a 16-year old female student to "spend the night with him" and driving her off school property without the school's knowledge or parental consent. (Source: KETK) These too are the people who claim to be Christian Conservatives.

 
Ricky Clements, Brook Hill Lady Guard head coach (Courtesy: Smith County)  

Dedicated to Bert Neal Tucker, Sr. (1929 - 1998)

In March 1998, Cherokee County newspapers refused to report the suicide of their elected Democrat Party County Chairman to protect the people responsible. Three years later, they also neglected to publish the death of his son, a court appointed Cherokee County attorney who died in alcohol treatment.

You cannot rely on the small town newspapers to do their job and cover the facts surrounding their kinfolks' ingrained corruption, hence the creation of The Official Site. In this month’s last and final posting, we dedicate this amateur blog to a man of impeccable character. We could all only hope to be as honorable and steadfast in our faith. The inspiration to research local corruption began from something he once said: “somebody needs to write a book about these sorry SOB’s…”


B.N. Tucker, Sr. was born in California and lived in Jacksonville, TX his entire life. He was the Chairman of the Cherokee County Democratic Party when he committed suicide on March 6, 1998. He was an active member of his church and community, including sitting on the county commissioners’ Salary Grievance Committee. Cherokee County officials pretend his public service never existed. As in Constable Randy Thompson's case, they've been told never to speak of him and to deflect and lie when his name is mentioned. Not one of them before or since could hold a candle to this man. Cherokee County wanted him gone as soon as he promised a more honest and open public forum, even though he ran unopposed as County Chairman in the March 1996 Democratic primary. They knew he would be a problem for then Assistant District Attorney Elmer Beckworth moving unchallenged into the seat of outgoing DA James Cromwell. Sound familiar?

After months of sexual harassment from the Cherokee County District Attorney’s office and their collaborators, this loving grandfather put a gun to his head and killed himself in the prime of his family's precious lives. He never got to enjoy another quiet sunset or see his granddaughter grow up. Why? Simply for expressing his opinion to his neighbors regarding what he perceived to be the ongoing and growing corruption in his hometown. Because B.N. Tucker, Sr. privately talked about the criminal nature of Cherokee County politics on his home phone, he was personally targeted with concocted ‘love’ letters and explicit glamour shots of the Cherokee County Wives and Girlfriends Club, sent to blackmail and shut him up.


The women involved were the friendly spouses of those associated with the district attorney's election efforts. Their open 'invitations' were a not-so-veiled attempted threat to ruin his reputation at his church and as a warning to what they would do to his family. They got their wish. This kind and harmless man was silenced. His complaints to higher federal authorities in Tyler were obviously ignored, despite providing handwriting samples and actual pictures.  He made inquiries with the US Attorney's office, the Tyler FBI, and the Texas Rangers. At one point he was told they couldn't do anything about the ongoing harassment because "he brought all the evidence to them" and that they would need a nonexistent court order to investigate. Imagine expecting birthday cards in the mail from your grandchildren, only to receive homemade sex videos and filthy letters composed by political opponents in your own party. Instead of enjoying his retirement, that is what this 69-year old gentleman faced going to the Post Office courtesy of the Cherokee County District Attorney office and investigator.

Despite his countless contributions to the Jacksonville, TX community and county at large, and after decades of service to his friends and neighbors, the local newspapers did not run B.N. Tucker, Sr.’s obituary. No paper in the area reported the passing of their elected official, the Chairman of the Cherokee County Democrats. Notice of his death to this day has been covered up by the Cherokee County Bar Association and district court that employed his son, a local attorney also now deceased. B.N. “Tuck” Tucker, Jr. passed away 3 years later in 2001 at the age of 45 after reoccurring alcohol related illnesses. Bert Tucker, Jr. made his living in the 90's as a court appointed Rusk, TX attorney while simultaneously under medical observation in drug and alcohol treatment. After years of missed court dates, the State Bar eventually intervened and Tucker, Jr. was quietly ordered into rehab in March 1998. There was no mention of his passing in the papers either, despite working for nearly 10 years in the Cherokee County courthouse. Of course the district judges who repeatedly appointed him as counsel and filed for re-election with his father would pretend to have never known either.

B.N. Tucker, Sr. didn't want to just shake the proverbial tree; he simply wanted more honesty out of the county's chosen leaders. He became dismayed about what his beloved community had turned into by people pretending to be good Christians. He was privy then to the waste and fraud at Lon Morris College, within walking distance of his home. He was aware of the communal retreats disguised as “Christmas” parties attended by judges, prosecutors, lawyers on the take and their willing spouses. Mr. Tucker lived long enough to see the place he loved turn into a revolving door brothel. In shame, he took his own life on the day his son the local lawyer was committed to drug rehab in Austin by the State Bar. He was no longer proud of his son’s profession, or the company he kept at the Rusk, TX courthouse. It wasn't the sorry nature of small town politicking that made him give up on life; it was the fact that criminal behavior was encouraged by other agencies that should have moved in to quell it. Like so many others filing federal complaints against Cherokee County, he was told to go home and wait to die. Even after sustaining injuries in a car wreck caused by his son, the Cherokee County Bar refused to hold a competency hearing, even though both were bedridden, and contributed to both of their deaths. Mr. Tucker refused to convalesce while those trying to ruin his reputation continued to cover for his son. And publicly cover for Mr. Tucker's young attorney son they did, while simultaneously harassing an honorable and decent old man to death.

These people are proud of the blood on their hands. Their entire careers are based on it. This is why there is no accountability when Jacksonville, TX women are raped and go missing, or pepper sprayed and beaten up. This is how the district attorney's office and sheriff department gets their hands on insurance payouts while diverting attention away from themselves. If you talk about their infidelities, then they'll attempt to pull you down to their level. Jacksonville Police Chief Reece Daniel experienced this first hand in 2009 with emails concocted by the Sheriff's chief detective Chris White and sent to news agencies alleging sexual harassment. (Source: KLTV) In fact it was the Sheriff's Department facing sexual harassment settlements from former female employees; Chief Daniel was supposed to keep quiet about it. You are either with them balls deep, or you are against them.

You were right Mr. Tucker. Someone did need to say something about how things are allowed to operate in Cherokee County and to the detriment of our fragile democracy, more people don't. It isn't very hard to spend 15 minutes putting pen to paper to our Congressmen and State representatives. And everything is in plain sight just like you said 15 years ago. It just takes a little bit of effort to put it into words and get the message out. Thank you for shining the light for the first time. Thank you for having the courage and wherewithal you showed others, despite the pain you were put you through. You are with our Lord as you always have been, and you will always be remembered by those honored to have known you as the true pillar of the community you served. Your words of wisdom were well-received and never forgotten. Those who live their lives in the light of our Savior like you will be rewarded in this life and the next. May God bless and watch over your family for eternity.

This is just the beginning.

A County consortium

Polk County Judge texting prosecution to aid during trial.

According to accounts last August 2012, Polk County Judge Elizabeth Coker and then assistant prosecutor Kaycee Jones (now a district judge) engaged in text messaging strategies during a felony injury to a child trial. The defendant was acquitted. The improper collusion during trial by the district attorney’s office and the seated judge is being investigated by the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct and the Texas Defense Lawyers Association. (Source: Houston Chronicle)

The only significance in this situation, out of millions of other similar episodes, is that a district attorney investigator came forward and reported it. A neighboring colleague caught red-handed means nothing for smaller venues such as Cherokee County where prosecutors, investigators and judges practically live together during trial to wine and dine jury pools. Here they just blackmail each other with love letters and sex tapes. They share each other’s wives and DNA. It begins in both civil and criminal trials, with juries being handpicked for their involvement in the cases. On taxpayer time, judges and all interested parties are coached to respond to questioning out-of-town lawyers and prying eyes. In Cherokee/Anderson Counties' 369th District Court, the sitting judge openly discusses his preferences throughout proceedings. Court reporters are trained to ignore his outbursts and hand-wringing to avoid them showing up on the record. His staff is openly affectionate to their counsel of choice in the courtroom, in front of juries. That is until news cameras catch them in the act showing their open bias. In March 2011, a complaint against District Judge Bascom Bentley was filed with the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct for his biased comments in the courtroom immediately after a defendant was found not guilty in a child homicide case. The video of Bentley’s rant was subpoenaed. (Source: KLTV)

This behavior is nothing new to those who happen to come to this particular courtroom and apparently in other small East Texas towns. It is a systemic pattern of absolute disregard of judicial and prosecutorial ethics that has been championed in this area for decades. The reason they cannot keep their mouths shut during proceedings is because they have a vested interest in the outcome. They are all related to each other. In Cherokee County cases, the outcome is designed to pump money over to family members who make a living billing for subsidized programs such as drug and alcohol counseling, non-existent protective services, and other fruitless means of bilking the system. Hence the enormity of probated child sex offenders and violent criminals who continue to reside and spend their own government assistance here.

 Anderson County Deputy Clerk indicted on 918 counts of theft, pleads to two charges.

County Clerk Bridgette Franklin recently pleaded guilty to two 3rd degree felony counts of theft of public funds, for a total of $32,261. Money for public records paid at the Anderson County courthouse had been “misappropriated” into Franklin’s pockets 918 times beginning in 2006 according to investigators. (Source: Tyler Paper) There are several identical Cherokee County cases that have either been dismissed, buried, or other arrangements satisfied to keep them out of court. The mentality of locals who do this is that their family owns the county and should have any and all access to the courthouse money jar.

 Former Lon Morris president sued by Sam Houston State University for draining $1.3 million Long Endowment.

Within the melee’ of the Lon Morris bankruptcy and estate liquidation, fingers have pointed and tears shed, while deals have simultaneously been made to keep any criminal investigations off the table. Nonetheless, the latest conclusion by the AG office is that Dr. Miles McCall illegally transferred restricted funds from the million dollar James Long Endowment into CDs and had his staff covertly cashed them to allocate the funds elsewhere. Which means the LMC upper echelons and the bank moved beyond their scope as benefactor and financial manager to distribute monies as they saw fit. Where did the money go? We won’t hold our breath to find out. The LMC auction has been fast-tracked to keep all questions and actual fact finding proceedings to a minimum. Sam Houston State University filed a petition during bankruptcy proceedings to recover assets supposed to revert to them as beneficiary, if LMC dissolved. The university is also suing Dr. Miles McCall in the Rusk, TX civil court. Let the hand-wringing begin.

Reference:  SAM HOUSTON STATE UNIVERSITY vs MCCALL, MILES, Civil Docket Case 2012120933; filed 12/27/2012 in the 2nd District Court, Cherokee County, TX.

The Texas Methodist Foundation lawsuit regarding the remaining endowments is also on the back burner until the estate property is divvied up. (Source: Tyler Paper)

 


Out of Towners:  kiss goodbye all your donations and effort you spent keeping LMC afloat for the last several decades. According to auction results, the locals now have their hands on it.

2012: Mission Accomplished

Crunching the numbers last year, this blog had over 25,000 unique visitors in 2012.

The busiest day of the year was April 26th with 241 views.

This site had visitors from 98 countries in 2012, most from the US with the UK and Canada not far behind. Buckingham Palace, the Royal Saudis, and the Vatican read this blog, as well as over 250 US law firms, lawmakers in Austin and Washington DC; and law enforcement agencies throughout the State, including multiple daily hits from our biggest fan, the Cherokee County Sheriff's Department.



2013:

Your friendly neighborhood blog will be ending this March and will remain online for research updates and commentary in perpetuity. Thanks to contributors, whistle blowers  and regular visitors. A dedication to the gentleman who inspired the creation of  "the Official Site on Corruption" 15 years ago will be made in the coming weeks. An effort to clean house in Cherokee County, Texas was proposed in the mid 1990’s.  However, the county's planned nepotism is still intact. The incidence of corruption in the area will also continue into perpetuity as long as the local taxpayer allows it. Missing women, a gunned down DPS trooper, a constable making a meth lab, money stolen out of City Hall, murder for hire; and property destruction for insurance payoffs are the result.

The good people there still have a lot of work to do.

Fox sentenced to 1 year minus time served

Update: Robert Fox's felony conviction (Case # 06-13-0056-CR) for "tampering with a government record" was reversed and he was acquitted of all charges in the 6th Court of Appeals, Texarkana on 12/4/13. Fox remains in dentention following ICE deportation hearings after serving the entirety of his sentence while wating on his appeal.

Rusk, TX:
 After 8 months of postponements and two trials including a mistrial, Robert Fox was sentenced to 1 year state jail time on December 18, 2012.  Fox was found guilty of "tampering with a government document" back in April 2012. (Source: Tyler Paper) This can be considered a bittersweet victory for outgoing district attorney Elmer Beckworth who won't be facing Fox's litany of appeals. From what was front page news of the House of Israel's "terrorist" leanings, to being called "scofflaws" and "parasites," the local media has gone silent on the unprecedented postponement of sentencing in the 2nd Judicial District court. There are no reports of the countless waste of taxpayer time and money spent to justify the multiple open-ended raids on the House of Israel. Raids that resulted in not only Not Guilty verdicts and dismissals, but the impetus for Robert Fox to file his tort claim against the City of Jacksonville Risk Management. This piece of paper was presented to Cherokee County juries as a "tampered government document," even though it was printed on plain white paper with no official letterhead and Fox is not a government employee. Falsely accused of being a fugitive, Fox had spent 146 days in Cherokee County jail, unable to make his excessive bail before his trials. Other than for health reasons, he has made all of his court appearances, and in some cases has successfully represented himself. If not beaten and broke, Robert Fox will have the next 230 + days to ruminate over his next Federal lawsuit against Cherokee County and possibly publish another account of judicial terrorism. Fox is reported to be facing expedited deportation proceedings to quash his attempts at appeal.

 Lessons learned: do not set up shop in downtown Jacksonville, TX unless you enjoy being harassed and your business calls intercepted by local law enforcement; if you file a lawsuit against the county, then do so from elsewhere under the advice of an attorney; and most importantly, do not stay in the area after filing your civil rights complaints or you will face a media willing to perpetuate perverse lies designed to justify the county's systemic corruption. Cherokee County is the first place in the country to sentence a "lightning rod for terrorism" as they called him, to 12 months for a piece of paper that could have been thrown in the trash. Except for the fact they all did answer Fox's complaint in federal court, including the judge and prosecutor who convicted and sentenced him. (Source: Fox vs. City of Jacksonville, et al Case no. 2:2010cv00158)

As a footnote, Robert James Fox is incarcerated in the Bradshaw Unit, one mile north of Henderson in Rusk County, Texas. His projected release date is 7/30/2013 according to TDCJ online inmate search records.

District Attorney runs Assistant DA as opponent; Attorney General investigates missing $1.3 million Lon Morris endowment

Rusk, TX:

 'Tis the season to fool everybody, and political ads have run simultaneously in local newspapers pretending not to know of the incestuous politicking of the Cherokee County district attorney's office. Cherokee County District Attorney Elmer Beckworth (Democrat) is being "challenged" by his assistant district attorney Rachel Patton Rogers, running as a Republican, in the ONLY so-called "contested" race in the county. Beckworth has won praise from his mentor former DA and retired Court of Criminal Appeals Justice Charles Holcomb, who also related to the majority of those at the courthouse, Rusk State Hospital, and remaining county government employees. (Source: Tyler Paper, Nov. 4, 2012)  Family ties go beyond political affiliations, hence public servants' blatant nepotism for the last 40 years goes unreported during the electoral process. The only party lines in Cherokee County, Texas are the ones used to illegally eavesdrop on each other. So much for small town elections.

 Do we really get a choice when one candidate's only purpose is to keep viable challengers out of the primaries?

It is a common in-your-face tactic of Cherokee County shoring up the election, that is the hedging of votes against potential challengers. Both candidates pretend to be in competition by championing a horrible record of local child molestation cases they shared; over 300+ reported probated child sex offenders during Elmer Beckworth's 20 year tenure alone. God only knows what the docket doesn't show. Child molesters and recidivists who are offered probation per Beckworth's office, and then fail their community service requirements is not a record to run on, but to be ashamed of. Nonetheless, the current district attorney's further endorsements come from his published jury pools and the former Cherokee County sheriff - now part of a local cattlemen's association. As long as familial and personal vendettas are played out in their small time political games, no child is safe in Cherokee County. No one is safe.

 Ask the parents of molested children in Rusk and Jacksonville forced to live nextdoor to offenders who make sweet deals with the district court. Ask the loved ones slain by Cherokee County drug informants released after repeated bail violations. Asked those pepper sprayed and beaten up by Cherokee County law enforcement during high school events. Ask the sexual assault victims, battered wives and families of missing women who have to sue the county in Federal Court to get their rapes on the record.  Ask the district judge who's own bailiff is sitting in federal prison for selling crystal meth.

 As Assistant District Attorney for 20 years, Elmer Beckworth's job has been to run interference for his predecessors' judicial remands. Endorsee Charles Holcomb's last case as Cherokee County district attorney resulted in the overturning of an innocent man's so-called "murder for remuneration" conviction that resulted in a commuted life sentence. Even though all evidence pointed elsewhere, then assistant prosecutor Beckworth continued the facade of a bonafide investigation into the murder of Alto, TX feed store owner Jackie Hicks. As a district attorney Beckworth has continued that pattern of lying all the way to the state legislature in Austin.



Daily Progess, June 3, 1993



















Rusk Cherokeean Herald, Feb 22, 1996

As Elmer Beckworth's lead assistant prosecutor, Rachel Patton Rogers worked side-by-side with Beckworth and his investigators. Hence the cycle continues. Beckworth, a life long Democrat, sensed earlier in 2010 the political tides would swing overwhelmingly Republican during this county election cycle. Hence his "first assistant attorney" was quietly shuffled out last year and over onto the local Republican ticket. Are voters actually to believe that both Beckworth and his recruited assistant are vying for the job as Cherokee County's top prosecutor simply because they appear in opposite political parties? The local newspapers would have their readers believe so. Her job has been to make sure the DA office stays "in the family." Meanwhile, bogus political ads have been run simultaneously with articles on the Texas Attorney General's investigation of missing endowment money at the former Lon Morris College. Over $1 million in a restrictive trust fund deposit according to the Rusk Cherokeean is not "missing" at all:

There is no missing money at Lon Morris College. “Contrary to recent news reports, we know where the money went...” (Source: front page Rusk Cherokeean, "No Missing Funds at Lon Morris," Oct. 31, 2012)

All other legitimate news agencies are reporting the missing Dr. James Long endowment to Lon Morris College, now valued at $1.3 million. (Source: KLTV) By law, college endowment funds are restrictive, in that the principal (the $1 million gift) cannot be spent all at once, only accrued interest per the donation.

JACKSONVILLE, TX (KLTV) - Months after the oldest two-year university in the state closed its doors, a serious investigation into its finances has been opened. The Texas Attorney General's office and Lon Morris college are looking for $1.3 Million in missing endowment funds.  

A Rusk man left the money to the school, but explicitly stated in his will that the money would be transferred to Sam Houston State University if Lon Morris College ever closed its doors. 

In 2009, a little more than $1 Million was willed to the school by Lon Morris graduate, Dr. James D. Long. Because of interest, that endowment would now be worth about $1.3 Million. 

The AG's investigators are demanding a long list of documents, including emails, bank records and minutes from board meetings. They're looking for anything that leads their office to who was managing the funds that should have been deferred to Sam Houston State University. 

The Attorney General's Office says the missing endowment funds were brought to their attention after a lawyer for the Long Estate contacted the Texas State University System. (Source: KLTV, "Attorneys question if Lon Morris College honored donor's will," Oct. 25, 2012)

Attorney General questions if Lon Morris College honored donor's will.

Lon Morris College: altered transcripts to bankruptcy auction

As a footnote to the original article, the Texas Attorney General's office is now questioning former Lon Morris president Dr. Miles McCall regarding over $1.3 million in missing endowment monies.

JACKSONVILLE — The former president of Lon Morris College is at the center of a Texas Attorney General investigation into a missing $1.3 million. The money comes from an endowment that should have reverted to Sam Houston State University after LMC declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July. Dr. Miles McCall — who was college president from July 2005 until he resigned May 24 — was questioned in Arlington this week regarding management of the endowment, according to officials and court documents. He had been ordered by a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge to comply with the questioning.

(Source: Jacksonville Daily Progress, "Texas Attorney General investigates missing $1.3 million in endowment money, former Lon Morris College president questioned," Oct.24, 2012)

How the local media lies, covers up, and buries stories.

Jacksonville, TX:

Lon Morris College is being auctioned to pay off the $30 million debt it has accumulated. They lied to us that the junior college was financial stable, despite employees being paid late repeatedly in violation of federal labor laws. (Source: CNN, May 24, 2012) They lied to us that the oldest two year college in the State of Texas was not going to bankruptcy court, when in fact Chapter 11 measures were in place to petition the US Eastern District to keep creditors at bay. (Source: KLTV, July 5, 2012) They lied to enrolling students that their financial aid was not in jeopardy, after holding federal loan disbursements longer than allowable -- then being placed on probation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) commission. (Source: Tyler Paper, Dec. 22, 2011) They told high school graduates that Fall classes were in full swing and recruited students to apply for scholarships and financial aid, knowing the school was permanently closing its doors this Fall. (KETK, Aug. 24, 2012)

They knew the risks of enrollment during Chapter 11 bankruptcy, furloughing their entire teaching staff, and the Department of Education cutting off financial aid, yet they continued to actively recruit students. Colleges that have entered bankruptcy are debarred from participating in Federal Student Assistance (FSA) Title IV programs. They masked their last ditch capital raising efforts in the cloak of fake Christianity, community solidarity, and blind loyalty. Their cult mentality shined through with a faculty willing to work for free, month after month, and obediently keeping their mouths shut when asked about it.

“Earlier reports of Lon Morris Junior College entering Texas bankruptcy courts suggested students planning to attend this fall would be safe for the semester as debt resolution efforts played out.  However, an announcement was made last week that the fall semester would not carry on as planned and, instead, will have classes suspended.” (Source: "Lon Morris College Files for Bankruptcy" Sept. 4, 2012)

This type of behavior and consorted effort to bury their collective ingrained corruption is nothing new. Locals forget how previous LMC president Clifford M. Lee told registrars to change the failing grades of his enrolled son, resulting in the resignation of Board of Trustees members. (Source: Texas City Sun, Oct. 8, 1997) That incident of fixing transcripts by the college president was also spun by local reporters when the facts surfaced and were picked up by the Associated Press.

“Lon Morris College president investigated for having son's grade changed" JACKSONVILLE, Texas (AP) – The president of Lon Morris College ordered a failing mark on his son's transcript at the school to be upgraded, the Jacksonville Daily Progress reported Sunday. In a copyright story, the newspaper reported that Clifford Lee has been investigated for directing the school registrar to change a 1995 math score from an "F" to a "C" on his son Craig's transcript this summer.” (Source: Texas News, Sept. 29. 1997)

Events surrounding child porn charges against Lon Morris head golf coach Barry Griffin and his subsequent 4 1/2 year federal prison sentence were reported belatedly and as matter-of-fact. (Source: "Ex-Lon Morris Head Golf Coach Gets 4 1/2 Years For Child Porn," Tyler Paper, June 10, 2009) Reports on out of town and overnight tournaments accompanied by Coach Griffin and students ceased only after other media outlets reported his arrest. Now, the local media refuses to print the bankruptcy sale and piece meal auction of the Lon Morris property and school's assets. It is bad enough for a trusted institution facing $30 million in federal debt litigation to leave so many students and faculty in limbo. But to actively recruit naïve high school graduates with the help of the local media lying about the severity of Lon Morris’ financial problems goes beyond the pale. Even as Lon Morris was being divided, sold, and reverting back to original owners under Chapter 11 bankruptcy litigation, they told parents and students otherwise.

The carrot of a 'free education' was beguiling to lower income families, paid by the Pell Grants the junior college needed to stay out of the red.  They knew that student enrollment alone would not cover the school's accumulated debt of $30 million. But with 98% of the student body on financial aid, the goal was always to increase enrollment. This is why Lon Morris held student loans longer than the 14 days past disbursement per the US Department of Education. (Source: Daily Progress, "LMC violates federal aid regulation" May18, 2011) This is why they kept their doors open for enrollment after laying off their entire teaching faculty and a posted foreclosure.

No financial aid checks to draw interest off of, no school.

Out of town parents oblivious to the level of corruption permeating every institution in this county should use this as their wake up call. These institutions are the advertisers for the “News” outlets whose purpose is to paint the rosiest picture of the stinking corruption that keeps this place afloat. The worse it gets, the thicker they pile it on. When their associates are caught and sent to prison, they pretend their crimes never took place, ignoring the years of accolades spread by false reporting and word-of-mouth. If you want the facts surrounding the everyday affairs of Cherokee County, you’ll have to read about it in newspapers a hundred miles away, if it ever gets reported at all. The truth rarely sees the light of day here.

Welcome to Cherokee County, Texas.  Spend your money wisely. Spend it elsewhere.

Sources:

• “Closed Lon Morris College Prepares for Piecemeal Auction,” Katy Stech, Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Sept. 27, 2012.
• Stephens, Angela. "Texas College President Ordered Alteration To Son's Transcript," Community College Week 10.7 (1997): 2. MasterFlLE Premier. Web. 28 May 2012.
• “No intentional wrongdoing at Lon Morris” Rusk Cherokeean/Herald, Oct. 9, 1997.
• "Lon Morris President meets with employees after talk of bankruptcy," KETK, April 6, 2011.
• "Lon Morris College: Bankruptcy a step forward," Tyler Paper, July 4, 2012.
• "Lon Morris: Open for business," KLTV, July 19, 2012.

Restrained woman jumps from moving ambulance, so they say.

A moving ambulance is not a Japanese bullet train; it does have brakes, door locks and restraints. Unless it kills a woman in Cherokee County, Texas.

Troup, TX: 

Media coverage in Cherokee County is a mixture of bald-face lies, propaganda, innuendo, and illogical fiction. A politically polished article highlights the tragedy of a 36-year old alleged "mentally disturbed" woman from Troup, TX who died several weeks ago while being transported for observation. Cherokee County sheriff deputies were dispatched along with ETMC. It took a few days for them to get their stories straight, but here's the one they are running with. The article "Troup woman dies after jumping from ambulance" is the perfect example of deliberate misdirection used to hide unlikely storylines. They even bury the obvious facts that would shed light on Cherokee County EMS transport procedures during non-life threatening situations and non-emergencies.
 and


(Courtesy: Tyler Paper)

According to the Tyler Paper, Crystal Delaune died on August 19, 2012 after jumping from a moving ETMC ambulance and landing in the middle of US 69 south of Jacksonville, TX.  (Source: Tyler Paper, August 28, 2012) Delaune had reportedly shown signs of delusion and was being transported by stretcher to Mother Frances Jacksonville. In route, she removed her restraints, unlocked the doors, and jumped according to Cherokee County paramedics. She had attempted to flee the ambulance at the scene so the story goes; CCSO dispatch was notified, then told to disregard. On the final attempt, Delaune jumped from her stretcher and exited through the rear door and fell out onto the highway at 60mph. (Source: CBS 19)

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Paramedics described how they tried to grab her before she jumped from the moving vehicle; apparently the brakes were stuck and the power locks inaccessible. It would be ridiculous for EMTs to pull off on the side of the highway and gain control of a 120 lbs. woman. Instead the collective story for public consumption is akin to a scene from the Runaway Train movie "Unstoppable"- both as realistic and well-acted as the other. Apparently it does not occur to Cherokee County readers that an ambulance is capable of driving slowly on the shoulder instead of throwing patients out the back door. Lesson of the day: ETMC ambulances in Cherokee County don't have locks on their doors to keep patients tied to a gurney from being rolled out under an 18 wheeler.

That's their story and they're sticking to it. Cut and print.
 

Monitoring the county for more than drugs; Improprieties belay Fox sentencing

Unathorized interception at the telecom companies and illegal party lines.

Podunk law enforcement and prosecutors share the limelight with Federal investigators during politically timed drug raids. The only investigative skill required to bust local drug dealers and small town gangbangers is the illegal interception of phone conversations. Problem is, the spying has been going on for so many decades with the blessing of partnered East Texas agencies, that the monitoring goes beyond the local meth house. These agencies don't ask for disclosure or sources, but they do offer a carrot to counties willing to intercept people's phone calls. No warrants are needed either to eavesdrop on political opponents and the lay population. The criminal activity is justified in their over-inflated drug busts portrayed as something significant.



Drug dealers are caught in Cherokee County because they talk about it on the phone. Local gas stations, hotels, rest areas, places and persons of interest are hard wired for county law enforcements' listening pleasure. For long term monitoring, they recruit their family and friends to spy on their neighbors. Investigators move in and out of retirement providing dirt for political rivals' personal vendettas. Cherokee County has been caught several times in the past per court documents, remands and injuctions, but under their jurisdictional policing agreements, the bottom of the totem pole is required to initiate the illegal phone taps. It may be a good way to clear out the rural drug dealers operating in East Texas, but the interception of regular folks' business calls, personal emails, and private conversations is the real gold mine to these corrupt agencies. And make no mistake about it; FBI agents who get their tips from a Cherokee County lawman knows exactly where it is coming from. They are too lazy to do their own leg work, or follow up on what the counties tape record. They call it "cooperation."



How do they get away with it?

As blatant Cherokee County corruption is discussed on the Internet news feeds, radio talk shows, and by concerned citizens, this underlying question is bantered about. How can Cherokee County prosecutors repeat in open court the information they obtained from a private phone conversaton? Those in Cherokee County's crosshairs such as Robert Fox, formerly of Jacksonville, TX, and Randall Kelton of Austin's Rule of Law radio have experienced it first hand, while outsiders are left to speculate. The answer is as relevant today as it was 30 and 40 years ago because the same Good Ol' Boy "investigative" network is in place operating at full steam, even in the age of cell phones and WIFI. They get away with violating constitutional privacy laws because when the issue is raised in the appellate and federal courts, homegrown judges kill the complaints before they see the light of day. Tyler's 12th Court of Appeals labels the concern of illegal wire taps as a "non argument," by skirting the issue as a federal question. Federal justices in turn summarily dismiss basic constitutional privacy questions in their own jurisdictions. That is the reason why the local postal services are compromised and mail is rifled through by the Sheriff departments, while personal phone calls are played for district attorneys, judges and the law firms they work for. It goes on at every level of Cherokee County's daily operations and as a function of their job security. If the local media started reporting about hometown corruption going on under our noses, their own personal dirty laundry would be aired by county officials.

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In April 2012, Robert Fox of the House of Israel was found guilty of "tampering with a government record." (Source: Daily Progress, April 27, 2012) A previous mistrial was declared in June 2011 (Source: Daily Progress, June 2, 2011) and earlier this spring Cherokee County prosecutors moved quietly forward for a retrial after answering Fox's federal complaints. Fox's sentencing has been delayed while administrative judges in the region hear his Motions to overturn this year's legal debacle. Four months have passed since a Cherokee County jury of kissin' cousins decided a letter Fox mailed to the City of Jacksonville Risk Management was a State felony offense, for threatening to sue them all in court for the multiple illegal raids on his property. Not to mention keeping him in the Rusk, TX jail for 146 days without bail on meritless charges, eight of which were eventually dismissed and one resulting in a Not Guilty verdict. (Source: Daily Progress, July 31, 2009)

District Attorney Elmer Beckworth has decided that he alone has jurisdiction over what documents are presented and their content in Cherokee County. (Source: Tyler Paper, April 28, 2012) Especially when Beckworth, the City of Jacksonville, and Sheriff Department were forced to answer Robert Fox's claims in federal court. (Source: Fox vs. City of Jacksonville, et al Case no. 2:2010cv00158) In any other county this official retaliation would be grounds for immediate disbarment.

The impetus of Robert Fox's latest legal quandary is the fact that presiding 2nd Judicial District Judge Dwight Phifer officiated a wedding held for a 'no show' witness who Cherokee County refused to subpoena. The same witness was made available when a traveling judge from Longview held court in the 2nd Judicial District. Regional administrative judges will be deciding if a fixed jury, lying prosecutor, and district judge who refuses to recuse himself is grounds for remand. Fox's next scheduled hearing on the matter is on Tuesday, August 21, 2012 at the Rusk, TX courthouse.

The timing of Fox's Conflict of Interest motions (and legal diatribes) have been repeatedly postponed while his case remains in unprecedented limbo. Local media has been invited to cover the circus, however it is doubtful they would report a decision to throw out a case of official repression they have been cheerleading.

When Cherokee County institutions fail and go under (such as Lon Morris College's recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy), the reality of the situation is buried by the local media and replaced with rose colored stories of how wonderful their little community is. When drug informants kill their spouses and DPS troopers under the district attorney fund; when teachers are caught with child porn and black people profiled and beaten; when attorneys get DWIs and veteran employees are caught embezzling; when commissioners bulldoze their private property and police rape and kill- well, those news stories don't seem to make it to the Letters to the Editor section. Blatant criminal activity of their officials is justified by piling on the shit smear campaigns; it makes the blatant violation of the US Constitution more palatable.

Translation: "We violate the law in order to do what is best for our little communities, our families, and ourselves."

Cherokee County's willingness to illegally intercept private communications keeps it on the map and an asset to corrupt neighboring law enforcement vying for the trickle of federal drug enforcement monies. These areas have a Zero Tolerance for privacy and even less for the rule of law.



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Smith County judge declares Cherokee County "corrupt"

Smith County Judge: Dallas County Incompetent, Cherokee County Corrupt

By: Matthew Bailey - Wednesday, June 27th, 2012 .


 Tyler, Texas - Smith County Judge the Honorable Randall Lee Rogers made statements [while] on the courts bench while in session that two counties in the North/East Texas area are incompetent and/or corrupt. Although the good judge didn’t go into much detail to the reasons to why he felt this way, by listening to his expression on the matter, you could tell he had a knowledge of something that would make him say that about another county. Judge Roger however gave an explanation that he would not do business with Dallas or Cherokee counties from with-in his jurisdiction/court on legal issues. 


 Dallas and Cherokee may have corruption and incompetency issue that should be resolved and it is brave for Judge Rogers to even make statements about it. Coming from a Judge that could arrest and jail anyone for lying, you can pretty much bet when he says something it is true. So if Mr. Rogers says Dallas County is incompetent and Cherokee County is corrupt, it is believable. 


 Why is [it] good that the Honorable Randall Lee Rogers said something? Maybe in some way it will blow the whistle on some bad stuff that goes on in those counties. Of course it may just be his opinion that these two counties are in such shape but what would make the Judge react toward them in this manner? Past experiences perhaps.
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Tylerites, or Smith Countyites should feel proud to know that their judge holds values enough to speak up when he sees something going on wrong. [Too]  many times [do] we hear about [a] someone who does something wrong and never one who is the fight for right. Thanks for looking out for us Judge, however you do it. 
 [courtesy Newsspoiler.com]

District Judge officiates wedding for Robert Fox witness

Sentencing delayed in Robert Fox "tampering with a government record" re-trial.

Robert Fox and his defense attorney have filed a motion to remove 2nd Judicial District Judge Dwight Phifer due to conflicts of interest. Judge Phifer officiated the wedding for the son of one of Fox's witnesses, who the district court and Cherokee County Sheriff's Department refused to subpoena. The April 2011 marriage ceremony took place in a Jacksonville restaurant owned by the individual Fox claims was the impetus for the multiple SWAT-style raids on the House of Israel. During his original trial in 2011, Fox had made multiple attempts to serve the Jacksonville resident named in his Civil Tort Action, but was told she was "unavailable" by the district court. He attempted again this year to call her to the re-trial, only to have his requests denied. Now we know why.

Carie Leigh Roland and Owen Michael Stanfill, both of Tyler, were married at twilight July 10, 2010 on the Veranda at Larissa House in Jacksonville.
The Honorable Judge Dwight Phifer, officiated the twilight ceremony below an oak tree, decorated in fresh flowers and satin ribbons. (Source: Jacksonville Progress)

Fox was found guilty of state tampering at his April 2012 re-trial. (Source: Daily Progress) His sentencing has been postponed as Administrative Judge John Ovard reviews his Motion to Recuse. Cherokee County's ingrained pattern of duplicitous behavior by judges and prosecutors is only the tip of the iceberg of the absolute familial corruption running the place. The Cherokee County District Attorney, Sheriff and District Judges have worked together to hide Robert Fox's key witnesses in attempts to keep their collective involvement off the record.

Robert Fox and his attorneys had made multiple requests to call local witnesses, only to be stifled by Cherokee County law enforcement who refused to serve subpoenas.

Barratry and bilge.

Robert Fox was arrested three times in 2008 after multiple raids on the House of Israel property in downtown Jacksonville, TX. He was charged with possession of control substances and two counts of barratry (litigation for harassment) in escalating attempts to incarcerate him after he filed an Intent to Sue against the Jacksonville Police Department. Jacksonville detective Jason Price, who headed the multiple raids and press conferences, told those willing to listen that Fox was a dangerous fugitive with ties to Timothy McVeigh and the Taliban.

“During the last few months we have been continuing the investigation, shoring up the case against him and getting it ready for prosecution. I’m confident that we have a grade-A case against him at this point, with some teeth and a lot of meat to it,” Price said. (Source: Jacksonville Daily Progress, Dec. 29, 2008)

All alleged barratry charges against Fox were dismissed by the same administrative judge hearing his latest Motions, and Fox was found Not Guilty of possession of expired dental products. Despite the waste of taxpayer time, money and effort to frame Fox, the Cherokee County District Attorney charged him with "tampering with a government record" for filing a Civil Complaint heard on the federal US Eastern District docket -- a complaint that the District Attorney and others were forced to answer to. As they have collectively dragged out for years these bogus cases against Robert Fox, they have all mingled with local witnesses and planted the jury panels with their in-laws.

That is your tax dollars hard at work, Cherokee County.

Incumbent District Attorney gets less than 2% of vote in primary

Cherokee County, TX election officials and newspapers hide primary election results going back to 2010. (Source: Cherokee County election department)  They don't want the public to know, for example, that voters distrust their district attorney Elmer Beckworth so much that less than 500 people out of 26,552 registered voters actually vote for him during election cycles. Beckworth is running unopposed on the Democrat ticket for his 4th term and received 496 total votes. Elected officials such as the Cherokee County district attorney rely on horrible voter turnout and disenfranchised constituents to stay in office. It only takes a handful of supporters to discourage challengers through threat of small town exposition. They spend their time getting the dirt on one another, and holding it over their heads. Their own allies pretend to challenge them during elections to siphon votes from viable candidates and keep the status quo intact.  Cherokee County voters are to believe that Beckworth's former assistant prosecutor on the Republican side is actually challenging him in the Fall with the intent to replace the status quo.

 
The Klan of Cherokee County Democrats have dwindling numbers this year.

The official results are in, and a paltry 2% of the county's voters cast ballots in the Democratic primary. Whereas other counties report and post primary results immediately, Cherokee County's embarrassing election turnout is kept from public scrutiny. They focus on run offs, the general election, and results from elsewhere in the newspapers. They don't publish actual election night returns.

Only 560 people, including early voters, voted in the March 29, 2012 Democratic primary, or about 2% of registered Cherokee County voters. The Republican primaries had a 21% turnout in reporting precincts. (Source: Secretary of State of Texas)

Cherokee County, TX election ballot results by Party

26,552 registered voters/ 26 precincts 

Democrat: 528/560 +/- actual votes 1.98 to 2.07% turnout

Republican: 4.415/5,672 +/- actual votes 14.15% to 21.35% turnout

(Source: Secretary of State Texas, official March 29, 2012 election night returns)

Why hasn't the county election administrators posted the last two years of results? Because unopposed incumbents lose to even uncommitted categories within their constituent ballots. Yet by law and under zero moral authority these losers stay in office and continue to draw public salaries. This why blackmail and official oppression is so common and in your face. To remain unopposed and re-elected with a handful votes, incumbents and their enablers target their opposition in the court systems before the elections. They shit smear them in the newspapers and threaten them in front of their hand-picked grand juries. This is how some of the lowest forms of human debris remain in office for ten to twenty years or more. They spend their time going after challengers by threat or by court order, and in Cherokee County's judicial system, they let child molesters and jail-house snitches do their dirty work.

Voters have to look no further than Elmer Beckworth's solicitation of an incarcerated parole violator's testimony against death row inmate Richard Cobb, in exchange for dropping felony possession of a gun charges. And what amounts to letters of accommodations to the felon's Rusk, TX parole officer. (Source: US Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, case no. 11-70003)

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: 

Re: Wiliam Thomsen

Please be advised that this office will not seek prosecution of the above individual for the offense of Unlawful Possession of Firearm by Felon. If anything further is needed please contact this office. 

Sincerely, Elmer C. Beckworth, Jr. 

(Source: letter dated January 10, 2003 admitted the day before closing arguments in the Richard Cobb capital murder trial; Cause No. 15054 in the 2nd District Court Cherokee County; US Fifth Circuit.)

Back woods and back pocket Justice: when judges, prosecutors and jurors act in collusion

Terry Allan Watkins vs. the State of Texas - a lesson in the Kerry Max Cook exoneration.

Good Ol’ Boys always pat each other on the back when they get away with murder. They have been doing it for decades. Almost identical examples are Smith County’s Kerry Max Cook case revisited and Cherokee County’s Terry Watkins murder trial, circa 1978 and 1992 respectively. Both cases had investigators lying under oath, the fabrication of criminal intent, a locally tainted jury, and eager assistant prosecutors lying to the appeals courts year after year to cover the tracks of the real perpetrators working in their stead. Both cases had innocent men sitting in prison while administrative judges worked out deals for their release and to keep lying prosecutors in office. It is recently come to light that Kerry Max Cook evidence that would have exonerated him in the 70's was destroyed by prosecutors; the alleged murder weapon was kept as souvenir.

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Kerry Max Cook (Courtesy KLTV)

As an agreement to his release, Cook had to consent to enter a No-Contest plea with the Smith County district court  to gain his freedom after being framed by local law enforcement. Cook, a resident of Jacksonville, TX, was originally convicted in 1978 for the murder of a Tyler woman and sentenced to death. He was retried twice and in 1994 convicted a second time until it was reversed and remanded because prosecutorial misconduct. The district attorney’s office hid evidence and fabricated fingerprint forensics to gain a conviction.  (Kerry Max Cook, Appellant v. The State of Texas, Appellee Court of Criminal Appeals 940 S.W.2d 623 (1996))

Terry Alan Watkins of Nacogdoches had his original capital murder conviction remanded to the 2nd Judicial District and also had to agree to time served in order to get out of prison. Watkins spent 5 years of a life sentence in TDCJ until his conviction was overturned. He was accused of "murder for remuneration" after the wife of the deceased cashed in a $650K life insurance policy.  (Watkins v. State 883 S.W.2d 377 (1994) Terry Alan Watkins, Appellant, v. The STATE of Texas, Appellee.No. 12-93-00291-CR. Court of Appeals of Texas, Tyler. August 22, 1994)

Both of these cases show the extent of the “taint of prosecutors’ misconduct,” but State attorneys alone can’t do it without a willing East Texas judge and jury. How were these innocent men convicted? By a corrupted pool of local and non-resident jurors who were coached by prosecutors to lie in order to be seated.

The 1994 Smith County grand jury that re-indicted Kerry Max Cook was headed by Judge Cynthia Kent's law partner and former Smith County prosecutor. Terry Watkin's 1992 Cherokee County jury was wined and dined by the State prosecutor and his investigator throughout the trial. In fact, the Cherokee County district attorney accepted money from the deceased's family to hire an outside "investigator."

 

 

 Daily Progress Aug1990



Daily Progress p.2 Aug, 1990

 

Kerry Max Cook and his attorneys are pushing to move his latest DNA hearing out of Smith County. That request has currently been denied.

Now, Cook is seeking additional DNA testing to legally clear his name, but he argues he doesn't stand a fighting chance if his case remains in Smith County, where the courts have found that prosecutors committed misconduct in the past. (Source: The Texas Tribune, May 15, 2012)

Law firms that have business in rural East Texas, and namely Rusk, TX, should do themselves a favor and do a thorough background check on every juror called upon. They are facing an illegally rigged jury system and complacent courthouse. Judges, opposing parties, and prosecutors are all bedfellows of the jury and witnesses. Even when prosecutors are caught red-handed tampering with evidence, they are given free reign to call as many tainted juries as it takes to get what they want. The jury system is a weapon for a rogue criminal justice system. Don't expect any better when the judges are intimately involved with State witnesses.


Jury Tampering 101

East Texas juries are stacked by the district and county courts with absolutely zero oversight or vetting by defense attorneys. These people are coached to perjure themselves in order to be impaneled. It is a back water con game orchestrated in complete solidarity with the higher courts. It has been going on since the day these people took office. Like their corrupt neighbors surrounding them, Cherokee County, TX juries are for sale. A small favor or some Glamour Shots of your wife are all that is needed.

 Don’t have a voter ID and live somewhere else? Are your in-laws being sued in Cherokee County and you want to get the SOB filing the complaint? Do you live two counties over and just want to hang out on with the judges and sit on a jury for kicks? Even though you vote three or four times in another county? Do you want to cash in on a Slip-and-Fall claim on a big city employer and pretend you don’t know the Plaintiff?

Do you hide your married name on your juror questionnaire and deliberately misspell your true name, in hopes of sneaking on to a Cherokee County trial?

Are you a professional East Texas juror, roaming back and forth in between visits to your probation officer and the Food Stamp line?

Can Cherokee County prosecutors win criminal cases without the help of the County Clerk’s office calling on people from out of the county to sit on their juries? Are people from out of the county illegally summoned to sit on Cherokee County juries? Can the Cherokee County district attorney rely on homegrown residents to vote a verdict in his favor; or instead rely on illegally pooled people from other counties to sit on the jury?

These are the questions local media outlets should be asking, if in fact they weren't part of the problem. How long should we hold our breath before we ever read about it in the local classified section?

Attention all out of town law firms! Back woods courthouse seats ineligible non-resident jurors in open violation of Texas law.

Judicial terrorism

When the court systems are used to cover up and frame someone for the homicides their public servant employees commit, they are essentially ordering the murder of innocent people. The injustices in the Cook and Watkins cases alone are staggering and should shed light on exactly the type of criminal justice operating in the region. Judges with conflicts of interest, aided and abetted by corrupt law enforcement and prosecutors, are free to condemn innocent people to death. They can accept money and wind up on the Court of Appeals, or hide evidence and join the Attorney General's office. Not one official has ever been held accountable for the homegrown corrupt-to-the-core judicial apparatus.

  
Larry Pugh and missing Terri Reyes

Nine women who were terrorized and raped by Jacksonville, TX police officer Larry Pugh lived to file a civil tort against him and the city. Other victims went missing and their remains discovered in neighboring counties. After previous complaints by thirty different women, only one resulted in his prosecution and incarceration.

The body of Terri Renee Troublefield Reyes, 38, of Athens, was found by hunters on or near a Texas Forest Service road recently. She had been missing since May 21, 2006. The sheriff's department would not confirm what condition the body was in when it was found. Reyes was a witness in a rape investigation involving former Jacksonville Police Department officer [Larry] Pugh. She and another woman, Shunte Coleman, disappeared while he was out on bond from federal court. Coleman remains missing. (Source: Daily Progress June 15, 2007 "Missing woman's body said found")

Mother and 11-year old daughter pepper sprayed at Mudstock ATV event

In the Eastern District of Texas, United States District Court

Case 6:12-cv-00071, Janette Vaught and H.Y. a minor v. Cherokee County, Texas, Deputy Donald Williams, Unknown Sheriff’s Deputy, Sheriff James Campbell; and Townsquare Media, LLC

Jacksonville, TX:

The US Eastern District will be considering another civil rights complaint filed by a Smith County resident who attended Jacksonville’s Mudcreek Off-Road Park event in September 2010. Janette Vaught and her 11-year old daughter were pulled from a moving 4-wheeler driven by a third person, and all three kicked and maced by Cherokee County Sheriff Deputies working security at the annual Mudstock event. Participants in the pageant were pre-assigned drivers who paraded couples and family members around the arena. The driver of Ms. Vaught and her daughter’s ATV was David Barlow of Rusk, TX.  Barlow was charged with resisting arrest after the pepper spraying, and recently accepted a deferred adjudication agreement. As Barlow drove around the arena, he apparently failed to quickly respond to the command of Deputy Don Williams as the ATV carrying Ms. Vaught and her daughter approached the event center stage. As a result, Barlow was hauled off to jail that evening and mother and daughter were sent home bruised up with a belly full of mace. Ms. Vaught and her daughter reside in Tyler, TX, the child with relatives.

David Barlow is apparently no stranger to the Cherokee County criminal justice system. With a pending civil rights complaint against them, Barlow could have faced a courtroom of ineligible jurors in their back pockets, or have the district judge sentence him in hopes of quelling his passengers'  civil complaint. The fact is Cherokee County law enforcement knows they can lose their cool and there will be no repercussions for roughing up innocent bystanders and pepper spraying children in the process. Sheriff James Campbell does not reprimand his employees for violating the law and the higher courts will not hold that bunch accountable without a federal jury trial. Hence the US Eastern District's pattern of summarily dismissing civil rights cases across their jurisdiction, before a vetted federal jury can even consider the complaints.

In her complaint, Ms. Vaught is seeking punitive damages against the Cherokee County sheriff department and the radio station that organized of the off-road event. She claims the lack screening of drivers and security, as well as Sheriff James Campbell's departmental policies, lead to her and her daughter's injuries.

As the driver of the all-terrain vehicle approached a stage, police officers grabbed his [Barlow’s] arm and used Mace on the driver and on Vaught and her daughter.

Ms.Vaught further states that she attempted to file a written report with the sheriff regarding the incident but a proper investigation was not conducted.

She claims she was told to contact the FBI.

On behalf of the minor, the plaintiff is seeking damages for emotional trauma, loss of sleep, anxiety, loss of appetite and fear. (Source: Southeast Texas Record, Feb. 27, 2012 Radio station sued after police Mace child at Mudstock event)

Every spectator, vendor and contestant at the event witnessed the arrest of David Barlow and assault of his passengers, but only one media outlet located in Beaumont, TX reported the assaults and original Civil Tort Claim.

Count One: the violation of Ms. Vaught and her daughter’s constitutional right by the reckless behavior of the Cherokee County deputies and their policy in place of pretending that the pepper spraying and kicking of three compliant individuals, including a child, didn’t take place. Even though every single spectator at the stage level eye-witnessed the mother and daughter thrown from the 4-wheeler by deputies kicking David Barlow’s ass. Has any Cherokee County official in recent memory, other than County Attorney Craig Caldwell, ever issued a formal apology for making a mistake? (Source: KETK Jan. 19, 2012, “County Attorney apologizes to KETK”)

By their conduct and the ensuing lack of investigation or disciplinary actions, the Sheriff’s Department obviously endorsed an unwritten policy, practice, and/or custom of indifference to the rights and safety of by standers during arrests and demanding instant compliance despite the fact that the vehicle was still running. The target of the arrest had no weapons, and had apparently done nothing more than, at most, fail to immediately follow the instructions of Deputy Williams. Any reasonable deputy would have made sure the bystanders were safe before undertaking violent actions against someone in such close proximity in a public place.

In Count Two, Ms. Vaught spells out in her complaint the trauma her daughter suffered from a getting a lung full of pepper spray and the child’s loss of appetite and nightmares.

Although Plaintiffs’ injuries to their eyes and respiratory systems were temporary, the same were extremely painful and the effects lingered for several days. Psychologically, the injures were more profound. Plaintiff Vaught sought to hold the Defendant Deputies responsible or at least secure an apology and assurance that this type of behavior would be punished. Instead, she met with official indifference to the assault she and her minor daughter suffered. Having lost her voice, she suffered, and still suffers from physical manifestations of her emotional distress including loss of appetite, loss of sleep, anxiety and stress. Similarly, H.Y. suffered from painful irritation to her eyes, nose, throat, and lungs in addition to headaches. More importantly, she suffered severe emotional trauma and now has a fear/distrust of males in general, and law enforcement and authority figures in particular. Her schoolwork suffered and she experienced loss of sleep, anxiety, and loss of appetite among other psychological symptoms.”

Count Three addresses the Cherokee County deputies’ unlawful assault and battery that in itself was reckless with absolutely no regard to other’s safety or welfare. Such disregard for human life is apparent in the County’s and Sheriff’s policymaking, therefore Ms. Vaught’s complaint shows the deputies’ actions that day meet the approval of Sheriff James Campbell. The fact is the Cherokee County sheriff never apologizes for anything his deputies engage in, whether it is beating those in custody, or his lead investigator caught red handed emailing lies about the Jacksonville police chief. Campbell’s policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” has been in effect since the days he and convicted child pornographer Harold 'Bo' Scallon stood watch over the Rusk Youth Center. (Source: Cherokeean Herald, March 3, 1983) The word “accountability” does not exist in Cherokee County lingo.

Count Four holds the Townsquare media organization negligent for hiring incompetent security who put the entire event at risk, as was done during the 2004 Tomato Bowl riot. The city of Jacksonville was forced to settle with those sustaining injuries in that preventable Homecoming football game melee. The Jacksonville Police Department was present during the Mudstock event and offered no assistance according to Janette Vaught’s tort claim. However, she is not suing the city, only members of the Sheriff Department and ATV pageant organizers.

We shall see if the US Eastern District again refuses to hold Cherokee County accountable for its documented and ongoing civil rights violations. We shall see if these homegrown judges find another battered woman and her minor daughter to be Cherokee County’s throw away collateral damage, since an underpaid deputy’s apology is out of the question.

(Source: Case 6:12-cv-00071, Janette Vaught and H.Y. a minor v. Cherokee County, Texas, Deputy Donald Williams, Unknown Sheriff’s Deputy, Sheriff James Campbell, and Townsquare Media, LLC)