Dear Liberty Dispatch:
My name is John E. Stockton and I am a resident of San Jacinto County, Texas. I would like to tell you of my experience with Judge C.T. (Rusty) Hight and his 75th District Court of Liberty County, Texas.
In September 2003 I was sued in the 75th District Court in Liberty County by the law firm of Cotton, Bledsoe, Tighe and Dawson, with Judge C.T. Hight presiding. Before the trial Judge Hight said he was considering recusing himself from the trial because of his relationship with E.R. (Ed) Norwood, one of the lawyers for the firm. Unfortunately for me Judge Hight did not recuse himself. He and Ed Norwood are life-long friends, having attended the same grade school, high school and college. During the trial a lawyer in the courtroom asked Judge Hight how he likes being judge. Judge Hight replied, I was two or three years away from being ready but I ran for judge to get it before some Republican got appointed.
I was sued for not paying attorney fees from a law suit in which I was the plaintiff and Ed Norwood was my attorney. In that suit I was quoted a fee of $25,000 t0 $30,000 by Ed Norwood for representation by his firm. After the trial I was billed for approximately $400,000, more than ten times what I was quoted. The judge, C.T., E.R. Norwood and other lawyers involved knew that I was in my seventies, living on social security and had very little cash. In a hearing before the trial Judge Hight took away my rights by not allowing me to ask for attorney fees or seek damages, such as deceptive trade practice, for having been charged many times the fee quoted by Ed Norwood.
Although I live in San Jacinto County, Judge Hight would not allow the trial to be in my home county. If he had allowed the trial to be in San Jacinto County, taxpayers in Liberty County would have saved a lot of money, but he would not have been able to help his friend, Ed Norwood. In a hearing before the trial Judge Hight said, “I believe in a lawyer getting all he’s got coming”.
During the trial it was brought out that I had been illegally charged over $62,000 for the services of David Ripkowski, a paralegal for the firm Cotton, Bledsoe, Tighe and Dawson. The firm was paying Mr. Ripkowski around $20 per hour for his services but charging me $90 an hour for his services-more than three times the cost. When it was determined in trial this could not be allowed, Judge Hight told Ed Norwood, “Don’t worry Ed; I’ll see that you get your money”. And he did.
Cotton, Bledsoe, Tighe and Dawson hired another lawyer named Mike Johnston, for a fee of $325 an hour, who also attended the same grade school, high school and law school as Judge Hight and Ed Norwood. Mr. Johnson, E.R. Norwood, Michael Sanders and Scott Camp all were untruthful during the trial and misled the jury. (Martha Stewart went to jail for being untruthful) Judge C.T. Hight knew these lawyers were not telling the truth and yet he did nothing about it. (Perjury)
E.R. Norwood told me before he could get anything he wanted in the 75th District court, saying that it was his “turf”. The jury did NOT award Cotton, Bledsoe, Tighe and Dawson what they sought in the trial. Approximately two weeks after the trial Judge C. T. Hight overturned the jury’s decision and awarded the firm many thousands of dollars-money that I did not have. Being in my 70’s and living on Social Security, I had to sell my best cows and the best part of my ranch to pay over $300,000 to Cotton, Bledsoe, Tighe and Dawson even though they had quoted me $25,000 to $30,000. It is no wonder judges and lawyers are concerned about their safety.
Cotton, Bledsoe, Tighe and Dawson charged thousands of dollars to my bill for Ed Norwood attending a board of directors meeting the firm held in Midland, TX. This certainly was not discussed with me nor approved by me, but I still had to pay for it because Judge C. T. Hight believes a lawyer should get everything he’s got coming. It is my experience and my opinion that some judges and the Texas Bar Association protect greedy, dishonest lawyers and assist them in taking from the honest and the elderly. If I lived in Liberty County I would not serve jury duty in a courtroom over which Judge C.T. Hight presided.
As of now, October 2010, I have not collect one cent on what Ed Norwood and Cotton, Bledsoe, Tighe and Dawson claim they won in trial for me, yet I have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in lawyer fees for it.
If Judge Hight and his cronies will bamboozle a senior citizen like me what will they do to you? You need to think about this before casting your vote.
John E. Stockton
"All it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing."
18 comments:
Another Liberty County Mafia scam to rob someone of their hard earned money. Mr. Stockton, these crooks probably knew you had land and cattle, thats why they robbed you. It wouldn't suprise me if they now own some of the ranch land and cattle you had to sell in order to pay these crooks.
I despise Judge Hight as much as the next person but anyone from Cleveland knows Mr. Stockton isn't some poor senior citizen. Just ask Gayle Carter about doing business with John Stockton.
welcome to 'Liberty'..if you want a screwing just walk into the courthouse. Unless you are a Liberty insider, you are gonna get piucked up by your ankles and shaken for every loose dollar you have.
all the insiders in Liberty play the game. they even screw each other. . they can't help it. Its genetic. I left in the late 80's so I don't know who is who now except that nothing chnages. The bankers sell out info on their customers, the cops are for sale, the lawyers are licking their chops- they win either way.
I won't even drive thru the county anymore. From Beaumont I take I 10 altho I travel to Humble monthly. I won't take a chance on even buying a lottery ticket there.
Come on now. When you hired your attorney you signed a contract which set out the fees in a way that covered whether the case was settled or was tried, even if the judgment was appealed. Crying over the results just because the other side did not roll over for you just shows your selfishness. If you did a lot of work but the employer decided he did not want to pay the bill how would you feel, deadbeat. Do you really think it is fair for one side to unilaterally change the deal after the other side did the work?
We should vote every judge out until we finally here about one that does not arrange to have "certain" cases in their court and doesn't have their gumba lawyer friends mopping up in their court. I can not tell you how many times I have heard you don't want to get Judge So and So mad. These men should be slow to anger. They need clear heads. Vote em all out! None of them are defensible.
Mr. Stockton won his case and the thieving Fairchilds have not been made to return what they stole.
You guys still haven't posted the case where my family got screwed in Hight's court. If it is too long let me know and I will do a summary.I will e-mail the docs after work.
You are probably safer bypassing Liberty County on I-10. If the law gets you, then they throw you to the courts here in Liberty, for your final fleecing.
You buy a lottery ticket in Liberty County, you might be charged with organized crime.
You should probably do what that CRAZY judge taylor does, send someone to Louisana to buy your lotto tickets.
Hight can blame his coming campaign loss on Mike Little, Grover Huff, Joe Warren, Michael Mark, John Fason and Bruce Mintz.
Is Rusty going to go lay in a car with John Fason and show his little peanut to coeds jogging by at UofH?
No, when Hight loses he is going to go put a gun to his head in his bathroom and threaten to blow his head off again. Rader, please dont stop Hight this time.
Will LD please follow up on the story where one of the defendants who recently came before Hight claimed she has oral sex with Hight? Inquiring minds want to know, election or no election.
You left out a few names like Chip, Russell and Terry Fairchild.
Dunnessa's top story is bats at the cleveland advocate. Story should say, bats in dunnessa's belfry. She should learn how to be a more responsible parent.
confused and dazed bat's radar goes bonkers, homes in on dingbats!
Wait a minute! You get to have oral sex when you are a judge? Should have been a lawyer!
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