’06: Talk About ‘Negative Campaign Tactics’

County/District Attorney Joe Grubbs and 40th District Judge Gene Knize‘s official journalistic callgirl JoAnn Livingston had the sheer nerve to call The Ellis County Press coverage of the 2008 GOP primary (Grubbs vs. Ramsey) “negative campaign tactics.”

Her own articles in 2006 were beyond the pale for such an award-winning journalist. She’s got a paper trail (literally) of damage control pieces for these filthy political sickos.

But here are two examples:

Of course, The Ellis County Press covered the real issues:

So Sad, So True

DA probates hundreds of sex offenders. Click here for the full version of this paper

Gene Knize: Bully on the Bench

The Dallas Observer contacted me inquiring about a story in which Judge Gene Knize dismissed a seated jury – without cause – a first in the history of Texas jurisprudence.

I replied back with a mountain of names, numbers, cases, summaries, story archives of people who have had their run-ins with the criminal justice system in Ellis County.

This five-page feature in Dallas’ alternative weekly newspaper was the culmination:

Click the image to read the feature. It’s worth every word to learn about why Knize is the Bully on the Bench.

Gene Knize Archives

We’ve compiled a list of archives online for the Judge Gene Knize corruption.

Take your pick:

[[[Google Search: Judge Gene Knize]]]

[[[Google Search: Gene Knize Rudy Kos]]]

[[[Google Search: Gene Knize Sex Offenders]]]

[[[Ellis County Observer Archives: Gene Knize]]]

Who Supported Knize in ’06?

Who Supports Knize? And Who Contributed?
Given the fact that the entire DFW Metroplex knows about how corrupt 40th District Judge Gene Knize is — it’s been that way for the past 30+ years — thanks to the Dallas Observer feature article this week, it is important to show folks out in the Observer world (this blog gets its name from our much-looked-up-to Dallas counterparts) who supported this crook of a judge in last year’s GOP primary.

Some will surprise you. Some of the same lawyers who contributed to Knize’s campaign were off the record talking to the Dallas Observer. Maybe some of these lawyers who contributed feared that if they didn’t, they would be punished somehow. We now know that Knize accepted applications for the indigent defense “wheel” several weeks later than normal so that – the theory goes — he could find out who was supporting whom.

Well here you are, folks. Here are – to be fair – both financial report sites for Knize and his first-time-in-19-years primary challenger Dan Altman.

Click Here for Financial Contributions to Judge Gene Knize, R-Ennis

Click Here for Financial Contributions to Dan Altman, R-Midlothian

Waxahachie Mayor Pro-Tem and “lifelong Republican” Ron Wilkinson, who recently was interviewed for the court at law No. 1 position, contributed $500 to Knize.

Waxahachie Councilman Joe Gallo, a defense lawyer, contributed $1,000.

Just look at all of the names of those who publicly support a crooked and dishonest judge. Who knows, maybe they contributed out of fear, but the main point is, they helped Knize big-time.

They basically paid him to keep doing what the Dallas Observer exposed Knize for doing.

Rudy Kos | Gene Knize’s Best Friend?

Speaking of Child Rapist Rudy Kos…
How come – since Kos was head of St. John’s in Ennis – our prosecutors here in Ellis County didn’t prosecute? Could it be that our district judge, Gene Knize, is a member of that church, and perhaps as a favor of some sort, County Attorney Joe Grubbs would agree not to prosecute – after all, it’s only a matter of public record that Kos abused many victims sexually. Hmm. There’s a trend developing in this county when it comes to child rapists – well, except if you are a political opponent, and then you get taken care of.

In fact, a fieldtrip to the district clerk’s office will show just how bad it is for victims of these violent sexual crimes. Grubbs and his child rapist-loving assistant Patrick M. Wilson have signed off on at least 50 plea bargains that kept sex offenders on the streets – not off. Sure, they got their much-coveted “conviction” in the bag, but predators are running loose on the streets because prosecutors aren’t doing their jobs. They are a complete disgrace to this entire county as far as we’re concerned. Anyway…just some things to think about…

Lawyers & the 40th District Trough

Lawyers in Ellis County are being polled right now: 36% of the one-vote-per-IP-address population that has participated on The ECO Poll rates our lawyers in a not-so-nice way (see the right-hand sidebar).

The big issue of last year’s GOP primary between Judge Gene Knize and Dan Altman centered a lot on this indigent defense wheel list. Knize has now served as 40th District court judge for 20 years.

Here’s a partial list of Ellis County lawyers from the last fiscal year – and how much Ellis County taxpayers are paying them ($565,000 budget; $27,270.25 was in the available balance at the end of the year):

Knize’s Pet Journalist: JoAnn Livingston

Paul Richard Strange has pummeled Waxahachie Daily Light managing editor JoAnn Livingston for her Swiss-cheese article on the Rodney Ramsey campaign treasurer “controversy.”

The e-mails that JoAnn quoted were only a partial list. The Ellis County Press will publish the rest — the stuff that JoAnn didn’t want readers of her biased establishment paper to read.

Ennis Police Department Cover-Ups

There were several federal grand jury indictments into the Castillo family, but those who are reading today’s Waxahachie Daily Light will be happy to know that sources both inside and outside of Ennis Police Department detailed a laundry list of drug-dealing that many allege the EPD not only knew about, but covered up.

You be the judge:

Ennis Cover Ups

* Ennis PD’s Dave Smith Fired
* 1: Ennis PD Corruption
* 2: Ennis PD Corruption
* 3: Ennis PD Corruption
* EPD Corruption & Gene Knize
* Ennis Crack-Down
* EPD Corruption

Where Was Ennis PD on Rudy Kos Case?

When now-prison inmate Father Rudy Kos of St. John Catholic School in Ennis was molesting and assaulting numerous boys, where was the Ennis Police Department?

I faintly remember the news coverage from the Dallas area on this guy in the early 90s — and then the heat this blog got in 2006 for posting all of the controversies surrounding Kos and a letter 40th District Judge Gene Knize, also an Ennis Catholic, wrote on behalf of Kos two weeks before the public was hit with all the sordid details of the molestation.

It was a major controversy in the ’06 election – Knize’s first challenge since 1993– but my questions are spurred mainly by the recent troubles St. John is having to go through – threats to shut it down, etc.

Who was the chief/marshal in the early 90s for Ennis?

Why wasn’t Kos prosecuted in Ellis County?

How did the case get moved to Dallas County?

Where was the Ennis PD on the investigations, the report-taking, etc.?

Why did Knize not get reprimanded for signing off on an endorsement letter for Kos using his official title, a violation of judicial ethics?

Filing Lawsuits in Ellis County | Myths & Facts

Every year I have to remind the public about our judicial system.

And every year, lawyers mistakenly believe that certain lawsuits above a certain amount must be filed with 40th District Court Gene Knize‘s office.

That is a myth.

Because of concurrent jurisdiction, our two county court at law venues have just as much Constitutional weight to hear lawsuits of large amounts as Knize’s court. This is a good, good set up, because people who like the “safety” feeling of having their cases heard before good listeners (judges Gene Calvert and Greg Wilhelm) and good judges won’t have to worry about the Bully on the Bench.

Same goes for CPS cases. Those are heard in court at law, not the 40th District. (honestly, do you trust Knize handling custody hearings?)

So, why the distinction between the court at law jurisdiction and the 40th District? One former judge in Ellis County told me that Knize created an administrative “rule” to have certain lawsuits go through his court.

Administrative “rules” and “laws” are not binding like a statute or the Constitution. They are merely laws by fiat.

So, let your clients, lawyers and the press know that there is nothing set in stone that says a lawsuit must be filed with the 40th District Court.

Knize Recuses Himself | Very Rare

40th District Judge Gene Knize recused himself in at least one case Friday, but multiple cases are expected, according to defendants and defense lawyers who were in court last week.

This is pretty big news considering Knize has been on the receiving end of criminal defense superstar lawyer Mark Griffith‘s recusal motions – for which cases exactly, I’m not sure.

Knize, if you’ll remember, is a former county/district attorney, wrote the controversial endorsement letter on behalf of convicted Catholic sex priest Rudy Kos several days before his conviction, helped maintain Ellis County’s standing as the safe haven for people accused of child sex crimes (such as rubber-stamping probation sentences for them), has fallen asleep on more than a dozen occasions in court, has dismissed an entire jury without cause – the first time in Texas judicial history that has ever happened…and on and on it goes.

If there was a Corruption Index in Ellis County, I would rank Knize No. 2 after County Attorney Joe Grubbs. That’s just me though.

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