Turnabout is fair play

Apparently my posts about Precinct 5 Justice of the Peace candidate George Huntoon have struck a raw nerve in some. I have received numerous telephone calls from Mr. Huntoon about the posts wanting to give me his side of the story. I even told him that I would be willing to run his explanation of the events - unedited - if he chose to send it to me. I'm still waiting.

Now first I need to make a correction to "Is JP candidate up to his waist in water?" (Feb. 28, 2010) - the water in question was not stolen from the City of Houston, the water was stolen from the Harris Galveston Subsidence District. As far as the allegations themselves, well, here is what I gathered from my conversation with Mr. Huntoon last week.

The taped conversation I posted was between Mr. Huntoon and Alex Constantin, who is now deceased. Mr. Huntoon claims that Mr. Constantin was harassing him "constantly." He told me that about 100 people in the subdivision (Shadowlake) lived on a lake and were griping to him because the lake needed to be filled. Mr. Huntoon said he made the phone call to "throw a bone" to Mr. Constantin and because he had "too much time" on his hands. He denied the phone call had anything to do with stolen water.

Mr. Huntoon said he left the board of the Shadowlake Homeowners' Association before the theft. He claimed one of the homeowners, Zair Khan (Mr. Huntoon could not provide me with the correct spelling of the name) cut the PVC pipe and rerouted the water. He said the well was located just ten feet behind this person's house.

He kept coming back to asking why he would want to do anything for these folks whom he claimed had been harassing him. He said he wanted them to be miserable. To be fair, Mr. Huntoon was never charged with the theft. He said Sgt. Larry Buzo said there wasn't enough evidence to charge anyone.

"There is absolutely no proof whatsoever I had anything to do with it," concluded Mr. Huntoon.

On a funnier note, Mr. Huntoon said one resident in particular kept trying to throw his weight around while Mr. Huntoon was on the board. This resident was an assistant district attorney in Harris County - and is now a fine criminal defense attorney. I think he called you out, Murray.

Here is the text of an e-mail I received from Mr. Huntoon on Saturday morning. To be fair I am running it unedited.

It was good to talk to you the other day. I was very busy the next day, I was hoping to talk with you again. I can’t help but smile at the irony that you radiate. When I look at your website it appears that you make your living, helping guilty people game the system to get out of trouble. I am sure a few people are wrongly accused, or are they. It is hard to believe that all the clients that come to you with a DWI really are innocent. But you know that, and you make money trying to convince the court otherwise. That would be really hard for me to do and have a clean conscious. What do you do when one of those drunks, gets off from a DWI by your help, and then a month later goes out and gets drunk and drives home and runs over someone’s sweet 5 year old daughter?

The only reason I bring all of this up, is that it seems you are extremely fast to convict me, yet you refuse to convict your clients that you know are guilty. I guess my only fault is that I am not paying you. I suppose if I pay you to “represent” me maybe you would have a better opinion of me. Like your website says, “when bad things happen to good people”.

I don’t have any problem with you. I know you are a good dad. The fact you go to your girls softball practice and games, says a lot. But as Dad’s of girls, we really do need to set the tone and set the example for them. If we want them to grow up and live in a loving world, then we better do something to make it that way.

I don’t know what possessed me to sit down and start typing, but something intrigued me about you on the phone the other day. When I told you repeatedly that what you wrote about me was blatantly false and a lie, and when you admitted that you supported my opponent, and I asked you to do what was right and remove the lie. you were silent for a second, I think you were actually thinking about what was right and wrong for a split second. I asked you not to let the thirst for me to lose to Jeff, blur your vision to what is right and what is wrong. I actually think for a second you heard what I was saying.

I know it is hard in your profession. Right and wrong can get confusing. Prosecutor or Criminal Defense? Which one is the noble one? Which one is good versus evil? What do you do when you know in your heart that the client is guilty and you argue otherwise?

Well that’s about all I have. My daughters are waking up and we are going to the park.

In response I asked Mr. Huntoon what he thought the biggest issues facing the court were and what he would do to fix them. I have yet to receive a response.

I just hope he's not planning on doing anything to make the docket move more efficiently. Back in January I reset a case and just got my new trial date - April 12, 2011.

By George, you might just be on to something

Even though George Huntoon, republican candidate for Harris County Justice of the Peace, Precinct 5, Position 2, is proud to tell you that he's not an attorney, he is a bit familiar with Judge Yeoman's court.

It seems that Mr. Huntoon has five active cases on Judge Yeoman's docket.

He was issued a speeding ticket on January 26, 2009 that is now set for trial on March 22, 2011 in Case Number TR52X3735364.

He was issued another speeding ticket on June 16, 2009 and he failed to appear at his initial court appearance in Case Number TR52X3772434; a case set to go to trial on September 7, 2010.

On December 11, 2009 he was cited for improperly passing an emergency vehicle, disregarding a traffic control device and failure to maintain a single lane. He also failed to appear at his initial court appearance. Case Numbers TR52X3817550, TR52X3817551 and TR52X3817552 are set for trial on March 15, 2011.

As nothing goes fast in that courthouse over on Clay Road, maybe that's the winning strategy for getting out of traffic tickets in western Harris County -- set if for trial in Judge Yeoman's court then get a reset and throw your hat in the ring for the seat when the judge retires.

Is JP candidate up to his waist in water?

It seems that while George Huntoon, candidate for Justice of the Peace for Precinct 5, Position 2, was president of his homeowners' association, he engaged in a little plumbing work that didn't exactly have the approval of the City of Houston.

In fact, you could even say he stole water from the city when he bypassed the city water meter by cutting the PVC supply pipe and reattaching it on the other side of the water meter. His plumbing job only came to light when the city checked the electric meter for the pump -- and it showed electricity usage even though the water meter did not show any water usage.

Click here to listen to Mr. Huntoon talk about getting water for free.

Is this the person you want sitting on the bench?

The butcher, the baker and the idiot who fell off the turnip truck

I attended the Harris County Municipal Justice Bar Association's lunch today so I could see the candidates for Harris County Justice of the Peace for Precinct 5, Place 2. For those of you unfamiliar with that court, the current Justice of the Peace, William Yeoman, is retiring and four republicans are running for his bench.

Of the four candidates, Jeff Williams, George Huntoon and Virginia Pittman spoke at the luncheon. Mr. Williams is an attorney, Ms. Pittman is the supervisor of the court's criminal department and Mr. Huntoon is a real estate huckster, er agent.

Judge Yeoman's court is the busiest in the State of Texas, or at least that's what Judge Yeoman announces to the gathered throng when he steps out to present his monologue, er welcome speech, every morning.

Mr. Williams said he has practiced in Judge Yeoman's court and knows what a nightmare it can be. He promised to streamline procedures so that attorneys weren't spending hours in court. Of course on the traffic side of things, the nightmarish docket can be a blessing as DPS officers will rarely appear for trial and cases are continued for a year or more.

Ms. Pittman understands the inner workings of the court. She knows what works now and what doesn't. She proposed to get input from court staff as to what needs to be changed. While some might say that a court insider could be very myopic when it comes to operations, when it comes to the strange world of the justice court, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Finally we come to the strange world of Mr. Huntoon. He was quite proud to let us know he wasn't an attorney -- but he always wanted to be one. His radio ads tout him as someone who would run the court as a conservative republican. When questioned about that statement he seemed at quite a loss for what a JP court actually does.

If you're concerned that a Harris County Justice of the Peace might conduct a marriage ceremony between two gays or lesbians, then Mr. Huntoon is the man for you. He said he would never do that. If you're worried that a Harris County Justice of the Peace might sit over a trial in which a defendant was charged with a hate crime (WTF?), he let us know that he wouldn't stand for it -- he didn't think federal hate crime legislation was constitutional. Finally, if you lie awake at night fretting that a Harris County Justice of the Peace would be one of those liberal activist judges who make up the law on the bench, you needn't worry anymore.

Mr. Huntoon said that as a judge he represented everyone in the district. Huh? Is that what he really said? Earth to McFly, a judge represents no one. A judge is supposed to be a neutral arbiter of the facts before him.

So for those of y'all voting in the republican primary next month, you've got a choice. You can choose the attorney, the court employee or the buffoon who has no freakin' idea what a Justice of the Peace does.