Over twenty-five years ago two young men were just getting their start in Liberty County. Young and idealistic and wanting to make a difference no doubt, former Liberty County Judge Phil Fitzgerald and District Attorney Mike Little were being sworn into office for the first time over a quarter of a century ago. Little vowed that day to run the district attorney’s office like “no man is above the law and no man is below it.” No doubt Fitzgerald had the same high standards foremost in his mind in the beginning.
Little was only 29 years old and had only been in private practice for a few short years. After working for Taylor and Norwood from 1978 to 1983, Little was appointed by Democratic Governor Mark White to serve as district attorney for Liberty and Chambers counties. Fitzgerald’s career was similar in that he received a great deal of power and responsibility while in his twenties, but his route to becoming Liberty County Judge was after spending years as the Justice of the Peace.
Both men built up an empire through the years. Currently, Mike Little has four assistant district attorneys and several investigators working for a district attorneys’ office that was much smaller under predecessor District Attorney W.G. Woods. His budget has increased exponentially. Fitzgerald’s empire and influence was growing at the same time. He acquired land and private businesses on the side, while becoming the heir apparent to former Liberty County Judge Lloyd Kirkham.
The parallels do not end there. At the top of their game, 2008 saw both of them head toward their Waterloo. In 2008 one of the two neighboring counties that have shared the district attorney’s office for years worked very hard to free themselves from Mike Little. After years of people in Chambers County suffering separately, people got together in Chambers County and pushed Mike Little out of their lives. In the same time frame Fitzgerald who by then was Liberty County Judge started to have people converge and ask questions about the way he was using his power. The courts forced him to pay both sides legal fees, over $100,000, as he was no longer allowed to oversee the Jessica Vickery Trust after trying to contract to sell lumber off of her land and claim it was his. Fitzgerald’s troubles were compounded by the infamous FEMA scheme where Fitzgerald was indicted for trying to cover a money trail of over $600,000 of FEMA by using friends and family.
Over 25 years ago they began building the empires we see crumbling today. Both men would have told you then the same things we read about them saying now. They say they were motivated by a desire to serve the public and a desire to see that justice was done. Little even is quoted as saying recently that “it’s just as important to see that the innocent are not prosecuted as it is to see that the guilty ones are.” Both men have honed their ability to speak and charm the public but comments like this ring hollow amidst multiple allegations of Little’s selective prosecution and recent revelations of allegations in the Michael Lynn Blue case of homosexual misconduct on the part of Mike Little. Both men publicly claiming their dependence on God almost seems harmful to those who want to believe in a God but do not. Words and titles like “deacon” almost make their falls from grace worse rather than some idea of innocence they may hope to create with the public.
The Fitzgerald trial is in the near future and Liberty County’s problems with Mike Little will no doubt be dealt with in coming months, but in the meantime citizens can take comfort that we have a new county judge. We can take some comfort in knowing at least that the majority of the cases Little personally prosecutes are political cases and his ADAs handle the rest of the caseload. But the Liberty County DA’s Office sees around 50-75 indictments per month and Mike Little has recently been quoted in the media as having said, “Becoming personal with a case is a good thing. It makes it hard to sleep at night until it is finished” - a scary thought from someone accused of selective prosecution and official oppression.
And a not so scary thought for those who are friends of this District Attorney like Phil Fitzgerald. The two Democrats integrity and their view of the good ole boy system seems to be most evident when reading about Mike Little’s decision to push evidence back across the table and tell investigators not to pursue the evidence they brought to him of Fitzgerald’s misappropriation of FEMA’s emergency equipment. Evidence of a place and time when these two men’s spiraling downward coincided exactly.
19 comments:
This article by Liberty Dispatch helps sum much of why Mike Little should resign and get out of the public limelight just like Phil Fitzgerald is out of office. There is plenty more to report that sounds like it is damned up now but will come out like a flood at some point (like happens with many politicians).
There is another Wes Hinch connection. Little workrd for Norwood and Hinch is appointing Norwood to a case that WE THE PEOPLE already have an expert lawyer PAID FOR and ready to represent us far better than Norwood.
Could it be Little has influenced Hinch to give Norwood this case and the cash that goes with it because Little will be rejoining the Norwood firm shortly?
That is a great guess! It makes sense of what appears to be just raw stupidity on the part of Hinch.
It should be no surprise Little is knee deep in it with notorious mouthy Democrats like Norwood, but how does Hinch justify getting linked up consistently with Democrats and in opposition to elected local Republicans?
Another pile of poop former Democratic Governor Mark White put on Liberty County ........ Mike Little
Remember seeing Little falling all over himself, drooling when Ann Richards landed her helicopter here years ago? It makes me sick to hear Hinch thinks he can sell the public on the idea Little is now a conservative. Governor Ann Richards was the most antagonistic mean-spirited Democrat I remember.
Little,Hinch, and Associates? I like the sound of that. There is room in this county for a Laurel and Hardy type of law firm.
You left out Little's love for AlGore.
Little, Norwood,and Hinch maybe - the new Larry, Curly, and Moe.
When is the Fitzgerald/Groce trial? When is the Little/Blue trial?
Another Fitzgerald/Little connection you people at Liberty Dispatch surely are experts on: LD goes after Fitzgerald and the Democrats, then Democrat Mike Little goes after one of two people connected with LD.
Rumor has it that Mike Little is not even going to sign up to run for re-election. What a good thing that would be. Get rid of him and his sidekick Joe Warren. Now only if Royce Wheeler and Melvin Hunt will see the handwriting on the wall and not sign up Liberty county will be a better place to call home.
I NEVER depend on Mike Little doing the right thing. It all depends on what he has at stake personally.
A word or two for Ray and Eddie regarding Mike Little and others wrong doings towards both of them. Please understand the cases listed below involve child support, however, the ruling made by the Supremes are towards public officials misuse of their office and power.
The US Supreme Court has ruled in Tumey v. Ohio, Ward v. Monroeville,
Gibson v. Berryhill, et al. that when judges and public officials have a financial interest in the outcomes of cases, where they can use their contempt powers arbitrarily & maliciously, to jail unsuspecting taxpayers & voters for extortion purposes, it is an unconstitutional conflict-of-interest. The Supreme Court held that judges and state employees (including politicians) who are involved in the child support
> enforcement scheme must disqualify themselves from such cases, because their orders are null & void, and it constitutes felony Official Misconduct since public officials took an Oath to uphold, defend & support the US & respective state constitutions and are violating them for profit and gain.
Please note that this leads to numerous violations of state judicial
codes of conduct or Judicial EThics codes, as well as state statutes on
bribery.
Interesting do tell more....
Just heard a new law passed in the State of Texas yesterday. It says anyone who is suing someone and looses, will pay court cost and lawyer fees of the defendants.
So, Little worked for crooked old Judge Taylor--that certainly explains a whole lot.
Twin Dems? One wida woman thing, one with a both way thing.
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