NORTH OF AUSTIN - Chapter Thirteen



An Honest Judge

 

Chapter thirteen

Why is it when you think you have everything under control something else pops up?

I received notice that Jeanie Ann was being sued by someone from back east. They claimed they were the rightful heirs to the property we just won in the court case against the man who molested Jeanie Ann.

The next day three people and their battery of lawyers showed up and a few days later we found ourselves in court for a preliminary hearing.

Abby’s dad read over the suit and said this is a bogus attempt to take the property from Jeanie Ann.  Go and tell Abner not to do anything for he will just get into trouble if he takes matters in his own hands. When he said that an image of a sinkhole I knew of came into my mind with several new inhabitants.

I did as I was told and Abner finally agreed not to do anything for now.  From the way he looked and talked I knew these people would never live to enjoy any of their ill-gotten goods should they prevail in the suit.

Three days later Abby’s father said I just received a wire from the detective agency I hired to completely check out these people and we are ready to go.

The rest of the afternoon we spent laying out our strategy.

The opposing legal teams spent the morning setting forth their legal position and then turned it over to us. Abner and half of his hands were sitting in the front with their weapons with them.

I thought no matter what the ruling was these people had already lost. If they win they are dead and if they lose they may get away with their lives. It was up to me to start the defense so I started by asking many questions about who the people were and where did they live.

In the first ten minutes they told fifteen lies and then I reminded them the penalty for lying under oath. Then I asked if they wanted to change any of their answers and they looked at each other and become very nervous.

I asked the judge to excuse the one I was questioning and called the private detective to the stand. I got by his qualifications and him being licensed by the state where he was living. I asked him if the people who were suing were telling the truth in their testimony and he said no they were lying. He then took out his notes and went down a list he had copied.

The judge asked him a few questions about his testimony and then he called all three of the plaintiffs to stand before him and asked if they lied when I asked my questions and they said yes and then the whole story came out.

As it happened another attorney in our town had followed the proceedings and how Jeanie Ann had come to own the disputed property. He then contacted the eastern attorney’s and they set the whole thing up. They got some actors to pretend to be heirs and now their plot had fallen apart.

We had filed a countersuit and the judge said he would hear that as soon as he passed judgment.  The three plaintiffs received fifteen years and a large fine. The legal team were given one year and lost their license to practice law plus a fine of twenty five thousand dollars.

The judge said that he ruled for us on the countersuit and set the settlement at fifty thousand dollars. That was more than the plaintiffs and their lawyers could pay so the judge made them pay what they had and gave us a judgment on the rest.

They kept shouting that this wasn’t the way it was done in their jurisdiction but the judge gaveled them down. He then said to the attorneys I want the name of the attorney who concocted this whole fraudulent scheme.

At first the lead attorney hesitated but when the judge threatened a contempt charge against them with more time in jail he gave him the man’s name. The Judge told the bailiff to see to it the lawyer was arrested and brought before him. 

The bailiff wasted no time in looking for the lawyer but he was nowhere to be seen. A week later still no lawyer in fact he was never found. Most believe he took a cattle train as far as it went and then he took a passenger train on to the west.

 

The judge saw to it that the lawyer's license was revoked but he said if he went to the northwest he will probably end up as a judge.

TO BE CONTINUED