"An inaccurate timestamp or missing signature on a court document not only erodes the integrity of the record," said Chris Daniel. (Former Harris County Clerk)
Questions to Consider to Expose Court Bias Against the Public:
1. Document manipulation through law: Does a Judge's requirement for expert witness documentation intentionally prejudice a Pro-Se who can never get Expert Witnesses due to the refusal of Expert Witnesses to represent an individual, Pro-Se, who represents themselves? Yes. Should the summary judgment document be banned in a legal malpractice case to ensure justice? Yes. Otherwise judges can protect fellow lawyers' errors against the public rather than offer justice against suppressive actions.
2. Document tampering by delaying upload to prevent timely response: Can delaying the upload of a summary judgment document by the court to prevent timely response help the judge to give preference to one over another in summary judgment? Yes. Does that action protect a judge's friend? The fraternity? Yes. Has this happened already? Yes.
3. Document tampering through a clerks' intentional haphazard upload of pleadings and exhibits to block viewing a document and disrupt accurate placement of exhibits: Can court clerks who are responsible for uploading documents and exhibits, manipulate and tamper with filings to benefit one person over another? Yes. Does the current system give power to court clerks who can hide behind the difficulty in uncovering document tampering since they control the dates and "copying the envelop" retains the original submission date which retains the same original date via email thus hiding documents that may have not been uploaded weeks or months later, possibly past response deadlines? Yes. Should these court clerks be brought to justice for their actions? Yes. Should the judges who allow their court clerks to manipulate documents be held responsible? Yes.
4. Document tampering by manipulating dates on document uploads: Can a court clerk decide not to place the accurate date on a pleading upload or the upload date? Yes. Is this manipulation by court clerks easy to find? No. Should every claim of document manipulation be investigated? Yes. Does the court clerk receive some type of benefit either monetarily or through favors by manipulating documents that benefit one person over another? Will Harris County courts continue to fail the public by allowing court clerk manipulation or will they investigate and prosecute? The more clerk corruption is allowed the more the public suffers. Can a filing and related email show one date when it actually was not viewable in the court system until later? Yes.
5. Court clerks' lack of accountability and freedom to manipulate documents lead to dangerous control over court cases and creates a fearful one-sided position against the public: Does the delay in upload retain the original upload date as well as the email retaining the original upload date? The answer is "yes"; thus, the date of the filing as well as the date shown on the email indicating filing will not show the delayed date the clerk decided to upload documents leading to multiple opportunities of fraud and manipulation. This failure in true time-date stamping fails the public and strengthens corruption.
Examples of Court Manipulation - See End of Article for Document Links for This and Other Examples of Court Manipulation
COURT CLERK TAMPERING OF DOCUMENTS:
Besides the conflict existing when a judge can summary judge out a case thus dismissing the case against a fellow lawyer in a malpractice suit due to the above, court clerks may also be susceptible to diversion for favors in return or for monetary benefits as mentioned below in numerous cases and of interest in Harris County as well. This failure in true time-date stamping fails the public and strengthens corruption. Such practice without deep analysis of each claim of manipulation hides legal deception against the public.
Court Clerks Hold Incredible POWER in Choosing How to Handle Court Documents
1. Court Clerks review documents for pro-se prior to uploading on the court system. When someone makes a mistake on the document, the court clerk
a. HOLDS the document from becoming visible on the docket and blocks the delivery of emails notifying of the filing to the opposing counsel so that the mistake can be corrected.
Court Clerk Retains Physical Control Over Documents Reaching Docket Posting
b. The mistake is corrected by "copying the envelope", correcting the mistake and then resubmitting it back to the court clerk. The time-frame to resubmit may take days or longer depending on the requirements. The process for dating and loading the documents fall under the personal discretion of the clerk who can circumvent those requirements without simple detection. See examples below.
"Copying the Envelope" Retains Original Date of the Filing Before Mistake Correction
c. However, copying the envelope RETAINS the original date of filing that had the mistake even though the actual filing may not hit until days or weeks or especially months later. Even the email retains the original date instead of the upload date.
Corrected Filing Can Be Held Beyond Requirements
Keeping Opposing Counsel Unaware of Need to Respond
d. This original date applies not only to the date on the docket but also the date on the emails that appear to hit on that date but are actually released later. Hence, regardless of the time that the filing was actually approved by the clerk and uploaded, no apparent data indicates the actual filing occurred later. Research as done by California below showed clerks document tampered for money as docket and all did not show date manipulation or record manipulation. Such research should be required with any question on visibility and especially when a case can be dismissed for failure to respond in a timely manner as happened with Meigs. See below for document tampering in Harris County.
Current System Lacks Ability to Openly and Easily Monitor
Court Clerk's Possible Self-Serving Actions in Document Handling
e. The clerk can hold the filings as long as they want without being caught for sitting on the filing and can do so for the benefit of someone as the filing and email will show the original date of the filing that had the mistake requiring correction that never hit the docket due to errors.
This means that the Court Clerk can MASK and MANIPULATE the actual time a filing becomes visible on the docket and email released
regardless of the date the filing shows that it was uploaded.
f. NO GUARANTEE EXISTS AS TO THE ACTUAL DATE THE FILE BECAME VISIBLE IN HARRIS COUNTY OR THE DATE EMAILED OUT.
Hence summary judgment approval for failing to respond for not seeing a filing, especially in a court with document handling issues already noted, should fall to leniency that is normally given in such cases and time given for response. Leniency failed under Judge McFarland in Meigs case against Zucker.
2. McFarland dismissed the Zucker case without leniency to Meigs never seeing the amended summary judgment when Meigs responded on time to all other filings. Also months prior, Meigs sent a letter to Chris Daniels, District Court Clerk, to report concerns over document tampering by clerks in Meigs' "Objection to Mediation" filing in the Zucker case. Same court, same case with document issues and McFarland Dismissed Zucker Case Related to Document Issues. In appeals. See below for history of document tampering issues in Harris County.
McFarland Dismissed Zucker Case without Leniency
on Meigs Claims of Not Seeing Filing.
Past History of Document Issues in Same Court, Same Case.
In Appeals.
Court Clerks can Manipulate Court Document Filing Dates, Placement and Visibility
a. It is possible that the court clerk can prevent the uploading of a document until much later causing enough time to pass where the filing is missed? The printout of the filings will NOT show that the filing was held back by the clerk. See below for clerks who were arrested for manipulating filings.
Dockets and Emails Do Not Always Indicate Actual Filing Dates of Court Documents
b. Such manipulation of filings, especially those with limited time frames to respond, may cause the failure in response to that filing within said timeline. If difficulty existed before with a court clerk manipulating the filings different than had been uploaded, then possibly that clerk should be investigated for document tampering? If anything, any statement of failure to see a pleading should be taken as truth in an environment where pleadings appear to have been manipulated by the court clerk..... such as in Meigs' case against Zucker to be discussed in another blog.
Holding Time-Dependent Filings Requiring Response
Blocks Timely Response Leading to Dismissal. Public Further Abused.
c. And if manipulation occurred in the same court that a legal malpractice case was dismissed for not responding whilst all other time-frames had been met in that case and the pleading was said to not have ever been seen, then maybe the court and clerk should be investigated for document tampering? And leniency should be given for not having seen the pleading to respond within required timelines and allow the person to respond to that pleading in the name of justice? Remember that copying the envelope retains the date of filing even though the actual filing can hit much later. If that can be changed and based on examples below, a legal malpractice case can be lost due to failing to see a filing that was held back until the response time lapsed or for such a long time that the pleading gets lost in litigation among older pleadings. Such manipulation of court records benefits dismissal of the legal malpractice case against a lawyer and blocks the just trial by jury required by the abused client fighting for justice.
Manipulation of Court Records Protects Malpracticing Lawyers
5. Exhibits from Meigs concerning Possible Tampering:
Letter to District Clerk Chris Daniels over Fear in Document Tampering for Same Court and Same Case for Zucker Case which was Dismissed by McFarland for Not Seeing the Filing and Responding Shows difference in manipulated first upload versus second upload that was corrected to bring attention to the manipulated first upload. Screenshots included to prove manipulation of documents and viewability by court.
Tampering of Zucker Files Meigs' files show haphazard loading. Files indicating dates sent do not represent actual date sent due to clerk holding the documents and the system failing to show actual date uploaded. Nothing indicates timely receipt by Meigs of any documents.
6. Examples of Court Clerks Manipulating Filings in Texas:
Houston Chronicle:
"Judge accused of creating false court records" in Harris County before.
" 'An inaccurate timestamp or missing signature on a court document not only erodes the integrity of the record,' Daniel said, but can have an impact on appeals and other legal processes."
Judging Judges Difficult
Judging Texas Judges Difficult When Identities Of Misbehaving Ones Often Kept Secret (Click this Link)
"When Texas judges misbehave, the state agency in charge of overseeing judges often keeps their identities a secret. "" Complaints against judges are filed with the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct. The commission has the power to discipline Texas judges, but the CBS 11 I-Team found it rarely does. " According to discipline records, in June, commissioners found one judge “exhibited bias and prejudice against women at his workplace.” The judge was issued a private warning.
Texas judges’ misdeeds often kept secret by oversight commission (Click this Link)
"In 2008, a Texas judge found an out-of-town attorney in contempt of court. But, the judge added, there was a way the lawyer could avoid jail: He could donate “large sums of money” to several charitable organizations, one of which the judge happened to have a close connection to. Want to know more about the judge and his charity? You can’t. It’s confidential"
"No identifying information about the judge or his or her jurisdiction is released, and the penalty has no real impact beyond a notation in the commission’s records and the judge’s conscience. ....."
"The Sunset Advisory Commission is charged by the Legislature to review the performance of state agencies to determine if taxpayers should continue funding an agency and, if so, what changes might be made to improve its efficiency. But when sunset auditors examined the judicial conduct commission earlier this year, they essentially threw up their hands after the commission refused to turn over records of its deliberations or permit sunset employees to sit in on hearings, which the agency said were closed to all but judicial conduct commissioners and staff. 'Staff could not assess the commission’s primary duty,' the audit agency concluded. 'By preventing a full review, the Commission on Judicial Conduct seriously limits the ability of the Sunset Commission and the Legislature to assess the oversight of judges in Texas, as required by law.'"
“ 'So much for the public’s confidence in the integrity of the judicial system,' Jim Harrington of the Texas Civil Rights Project, who had filed a complaint against Keller, said at the time. 'It says that judges protect their own.' Few judges disciplined... Yet detractors say the secrecy is troubling. 'There’s a fraud on the good citizens of this state,' said Robert Fickman, a Houston defense attorney. 'They’re told that they’re being protected from abusive judges, but that’s not occurring.' "
Judging Texas Judges Difficult When Identities Of Misbehaving Ones Often Kept Secret
Judges Gone Wild: "Judges are often thought to be the most fair, just, and moral among us, the ones we turn to when we need to make important decisions about truth and justice, even life and death. But judges sometimes behave badly."
6. EXAMPLES OF COURT CLERKS MANIPULATING FILINGS IN OTHER STATES:
"... law enforcement officials view the arrest of Gevorkyan and Koshkaryan as exposing a major “betrayal within the system.” "According to the story, law enforcement officials are concerned that “organized crime is infiltrating areas we wouldn’t have expected,” putting officer’s safety in danger, and allowing defendants under investigation to possibly destroy evidence and threaten criminal investigations. These threats are often difficult to detect because an insider, as an employee with legitimate access, may not initially appear to be doing anything wrong. However, such insiders can cause significant damage by stealing company information or products to benefit another organization."
Former courthouse clerk arrested on felony charges:
Documents from the Case... Some Manipulated.
Objection to Mediation-First Upload This was hidden on first upload.
Objection to Mediation-Second Upload
BASIC INFORMATION REGARDING MEIGS' FIGHT: 1. Click Link for Importance of Questions to Meigs' Case: Deceptions
2. Preface to Individuals Involved.
3. ==All Statements, Opinions, Conclusions and Assumptions are personal opinions and conclusions of Wendy Meigs and do not intend to be assumed as judgment or declarations. Wendy Meigs holds copyright to all statements, conclusions, assumptions and story. © ==
4. Meigs' Lawsuits against Bergman and Zucker were Dismissed. Case Information.
5. Both are currently in APPEALS. Stop Mediation Abuse: Help Force Accountability
_______________________________________________________________________________
Meigs was told that the lawyers representing Edward Trey Bergman and Todd Zucker as well as Bergman and Zucker are powerful enough to make sure that Meigs would find no one to represent her, that they were influential enough with various individuals in the courts and justice to block her cases from continuing to trial and prevent any law agency from pursing what appears to be clear claims. Meigs experienced additional tactics to force signature to a printed version of the mediation agreement that released liability of all lawyers. Meigs refused.
No one should be above the law. No one should be allowed to obstruct justice through influencing anyone. The public needs to be aware that justice system/courts may consider some individuals too high to fall while they dismiss valid claims by the public and force the public to be accountable whilst they walk away. Our ancestors suffered for fair courts and our military fights for our freedom every day. We must reclaim the courts for the people.
Help Force Accountability! Stop Court Abuse. Stop Mediation Abuse!
Protect the Yourself! Protect the Public!