Recent media reports included a description of the latest special prosecutor as a “Runaway Prosecutor” in reference to Larry Eastepp’s questionable work with July 2012 term Liberty County grand jury. According to jurors, appointed pro-tem DA Eastepp only met with the jury twice and one of those times he was uninvited, but his lack of frequency did not mean there was a lack of effort and intensity on his part. Apparently from local reports Eastepp stopped the grand jury from even hearing any evidence related to some high profile cases via his Machiavellian moves.
The first time the jury set eyes on pro-tem Eastepp he was rude, arrogant and lied to jurors according to all accounts. When Eastepp came in he immediately extinguished everything the jury had done under the previous special prosecutor. By all accounts Eastepp acted like ‘the defender of those the grand jury wanted to investigate and a prosecutor of grand jurors’.
At the second meeting with the grand jury Eastepp showed up uninvited and rather than pursue the matters that concerned the grand jury, he emptied the room of everyone except the foreman, Dr. James Smith, and the alternate foreman. Eastepp then laid out a phoney bologna case for the removal of foreman Dr. Smith. Eastepp was told his facts were wrong and that all twelve of the jurors would be witnesses and that he should drop the issue. At issue was a false allegation initiated by Eastepp that Dr. Smith had a “personal” case before the grand jury, which was a complete fabrication.
Eventually Dr. Smith looked at the rules and practices governing grand juries and decided Eastepp was illegally overstepping his boundaries, all jurors agreed. Dr. Smith was re-instated and the grand jury called Judge Gists and he agreed to remove Eastepp. The collective jury told Judge Gist: “Eastepp’s services are no longer needed.”
But Eastepp did not leave quietly… He told Judge Gists something contrived that persuaded the judge to seal everything and dismiss the grand jury. Liberty Dispatch has been unable to find anyone in the legal community who has ever observed actions like these by Eastepp.
We can all speculate about why Larry Eastepp did not want the grand jury to look into certain high profile cases and why he was so rude. And we can only speculate about Eastepp’s relationship to any of the players in certain high profile cases. Whatever answers readers arrive at, one thing is for sure... Eastepp’s behavior is not typical in any Texas grand jury history.
Liberty Dispatch has uncovered other odd behavior by Larry Eastepp – almost six weeks after his dismissal, Larry Eastepp has not billed Liberty County one red cent. LD asked Liberty County Auditor Harold Seay about any request for payment from Eastepp, Seay stated: “I have never received a bill from Eastepp”.
Eastepp has redefined what it means for a grand jury to “no bill”. Maybe his lack of concern for being paid ought to concern us all. Is he just a poor businessman and way behind on his billing or is he doing someone a favor?
Whichever option you believe, it appears Eastepp overstepped his authority and tried to bully a Liberty grand jury into submission. It also appears the end result was just what Eastepp and whoever he is working with wanted. The grand jury was sent home and multiple serious high profile cases continue to languish.
Who was Eastepp really taking his orders from to block indictments of multiple public officials? We have our suspicions, time will tell and the conspirators will be revealed.
The first time the jury set eyes on pro-tem Eastepp he was rude, arrogant and lied to jurors according to all accounts. When Eastepp came in he immediately extinguished everything the jury had done under the previous special prosecutor. By all accounts Eastepp acted like ‘the defender of those the grand jury wanted to investigate and a prosecutor of grand jurors’.
At the second meeting with the grand jury Eastepp showed up uninvited and rather than pursue the matters that concerned the grand jury, he emptied the room of everyone except the foreman, Dr. James Smith, and the alternate foreman. Eastepp then laid out a phoney bologna case for the removal of foreman Dr. Smith. Eastepp was told his facts were wrong and that all twelve of the jurors would be witnesses and that he should drop the issue. At issue was a false allegation initiated by Eastepp that Dr. Smith had a “personal” case before the grand jury, which was a complete fabrication.
Eventually Dr. Smith looked at the rules and practices governing grand juries and decided Eastepp was illegally overstepping his boundaries, all jurors agreed. Dr. Smith was re-instated and the grand jury called Judge Gists and he agreed to remove Eastepp. The collective jury told Judge Gist: “Eastepp’s services are no longer needed.”
But Eastepp did not leave quietly… He told Judge Gists something contrived that persuaded the judge to seal everything and dismiss the grand jury. Liberty Dispatch has been unable to find anyone in the legal community who has ever observed actions like these by Eastepp.
We can all speculate about why Larry Eastepp did not want the grand jury to look into certain high profile cases and why he was so rude. And we can only speculate about Eastepp’s relationship to any of the players in certain high profile cases. Whatever answers readers arrive at, one thing is for sure... Eastepp’s behavior is not typical in any Texas grand jury history.
Liberty Dispatch has uncovered other odd behavior by Larry Eastepp – almost six weeks after his dismissal, Larry Eastepp has not billed Liberty County one red cent. LD asked Liberty County Auditor Harold Seay about any request for payment from Eastepp, Seay stated: “I have never received a bill from Eastepp”.
Eastepp has redefined what it means for a grand jury to “no bill”. Maybe his lack of concern for being paid ought to concern us all. Is he just a poor businessman and way behind on his billing or is he doing someone a favor?
Whichever option you believe, it appears Eastepp overstepped his authority and tried to bully a Liberty grand jury into submission. It also appears the end result was just what Eastepp and whoever he is working with wanted. The grand jury was sent home and multiple serious high profile cases continue to languish.
Who was Eastepp really taking his orders from to block indictments of multiple public officials? We have our suspicions, time will tell and the conspirators will be revealed.
8 comments:
Its hard to get past these low life gate keepers who keep protecting the corrupt good ole boys.
I will believe something being done about this when I see it.
I heard Larry Eastepp lives over in Montrose.
I'm familiar with Dr. Smith and his family, I'm incensed by what was done to him and if Dr. Smith is on this we are with him.
Larry Eastepp the mystery meat, pink slime of Liberty County
You have heard the old saying, Money Talks. I believe that is what has happened here. Some of these people that were trying to cover up for the Liberty County mafia, has paid to get the investigations halted. No end to the corrurtion in liberty County.
I hope Im not out of line by asking this but... The other news media in Harris and Liberty County seem to have a lot more details about what happened with this obvious corruption the last Grand Jury was investigating. My question is why hasn't Liberty Dispatch weighed in on more of the details of what happened in those Grand Jury proceedings instead of just paraphrasing what the other news in Liberty and Harris county have found?
We just received your comment and would like to explain. We appreciate your concern and comment. The answer to your question is this- We wish to stay out of the details the other news media is competently investigating of this matter. They have worked hard to produce some pretty good stories related to this matter and the associated details. For more information stay tuned to the Cleveland Advocate and KSHN 99.9 in Liberty County.
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