In February of last year, I got a call from my sister that my mom had landed in the hospital. And that the doctor told her that she might die within the next week. My entire family marshalled up flight plans and hotels and headed to where mom was seriously ill. Covid was around then but only just beginning to be spoken of. On flights home, all of us going to our various locations were cautious, one member wore a bandana around his face, and I remember being highly aware of a man coughing his hea
Frivolous lawsuit of State of Texas ex rel Darrell Best v Paul Harper OVER: Somervell County and Darrell Best PAID
Somervell County County Commissioners (Glen Rose, Texas) voted 5/0 on August 31, 2020 to pay Harper $165,000 in settlement. Darrell Best has separate settlement agreement to pay Harper $45,000.
Why?
Darrell Best, local Glen Rose resident, with Ronald D Hankins (former Somervell County Attorney and current Somervell County Hospital District board member) writing the
One sleepy, hot day in August 2014, a friend of mine called me to ask why Darrell Best was suing my husband. Both my friend and I had known Darrell Best for years. My friend is one that conscientiously reads public filings included in a monthly newsletter and saw this before Paul had even been served. I couldn''''t imagine for what reason a suit was filed. Paul was a public figure because he had been elected to serve on the Somervell County Hospital District board as of May 2014. I knew there we
'Can a citizen remove an elected official without the State being involved? Nope
About a month after the original petition had been filed, Andy Lucas officially took on the petition to remove Harper, with styling "State of Texas ex rel George Darrell Best v Paul Harper". This means that for all purposes, the lawsuit was now being driven by Andy Lucas, who acted/acts as a representative of the State of Texas. Again, this is because George Darrell Best had no ability to pursue the case he bro
First Removal Hearing - Oct 20 2014 Darrell Best Testimony
Darrell Best’s testimony
Q. And what were the allegations you made in that petition?
A. Well, there was two allegations to start with. The first allegation had to do with the proposal
to set the tax rate at zero, and the second had to do with the 501a, what they call slush fund, and
accusing the CFO and CEO of performing criminal acts relative to the 501a.
Q. And subsequent to filing that petition, you made some open records re
District Judge dismissed Anti-SLAPP; Harper appeals
the District judge had dismissed the anti-slapp motion. Lucas was supposed to have presented his evidence with clear and specific evidence; he did not.
Harper and his attorneys filed a notice of accelerated appeal on March 29 2015 with the 10th Court of Appeals in
Waco. Specifically
What is a SLAPP Suit and an Anti-SLAPP action?
From Wikipedia- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic ... ticipation
See also A Primer
Lucas and Hankins attempted a TRO (Temporary Restraining Order) to keep Harper from attending meeting
Andy Lucas, Somervell County attorney, operating as the State of Texas, attempted to prevent Harper from attending the a meeting with an Application for a Restraining Order. Ron Hankins, one of the other Somervell County Hospital District members, supplied an affidavit. The judge denied that application. On 3/11/2015 the judge signed the order denying Paul’s anti‐slapp motion to dismiss.Not
'Briefs Filed from Both Sides with the 10th Court of Appeals
Briefs were filed from both sides and on November 4, 2015, oral arguments were heard by the justices on the appeals court.
Harper''s brief
Andy Lucas as the State of Texas brief
Lucas, as the State of Texas, essentially argued that Removal Actions are exempt from the TCPA, that the TCPA was not intended to apply to a removal action, and that the State established a clear and specific case for removal.
As have mention
State of Texas (Andy Lucas) Appeals Defeat to the Texas Supreme Court
Paul Harper won 3 times, Andy Lucas lost 3 times. The judgement on the Anti‐Slapp Motion to Dismiss was against the State of Texas. For whatever reason, Lucas wanted to continue to press his case. One factor may have been that he was able to use taxpayer money to pay for not only his own filings but the outside advice he got from more presumably experienced attorneys.
Lucas wasn’t quite ready to make it an official bri
'Andy Lucas, bizarrely, puts in an answer to the original Anti-Slapp motion.
Darrell Best was told by Andy Lucas, when the Texas Supreme Court ruled against the State of Texas, that the next step was going to be coming back down to district court to determine fees and sanctions. NOT to try the entire case over again from scratch.
Judge Weeks Rules for Judgment Against State of Texas and Darrell Best
As part of the hearing in August 2019, Chip Harrison testif
Why Did George Darrell Best, Ron Hankins and Andy Lucas Do This?
Theory of what they may have thought would happen
This next part is my personal theory about what the heck happened. When you decide to sue someone, you have to weigh the possible outcomes. When Andy Lucas decided to take on Darrell Best’s petition, he may have thought *Paul will quit because he doesn’t want to spend, or doesn’t have, the money for an attorney *If Paul doesn’t quit but doesn’t hire an attorney, we’l