Corruption Texas Style

[Jim Rojas <jrojas+tech-man.com>]

http://texaslawyer.typepad.com/texas_lawyer_blog/2007/10/the-third-judge.html

October 01, 2007
Federal judges recuse themselves

On Sept. 28, Senior U.S. District Judge Jerry Buchmeyer and U.S.
District Judge Sam A. Lindsay of the Northern District of Texas in
Dallas wrote letters recusing themselves from the government's
corruption case against 14 individuals, including some former Dallas
city officials, in which an indictment was unsealed this morning.
Buchmeyer, writing to Clerk of the Court Karen Mitchell, cites personal
reasons for his recusal. Buchmeyer may have recused himself because he
presided over Walker v. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development, a major Dallas housing desegregation suit in which he
ordered that multifamily housing have a certain number of units set
aside for low-income families. Walker and the Dallas City Council vote
concerning Walker are mentioned in the Hill indictment. Lindsay, writing
to Chief U.S. District Judge A. Joe Fish, does not cite any specific
reason for his recusal, although he is a former Dallas city attorney.
The clerk, according to the court's electronic records, subsequently
assigned the case, United States v. Don W. Hill, et al., to U.S.
District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn. In a separate indictment unsealed
today in the case United States v. James L. Fantroy Sr., the government
alleges former Dallas City Councilman James L. Fantroy Sr. embezzled
funds from Paul Quinn College, where he had served on the board of
trustees. In a letter to Mitchell, Buchmeyer recused himself from that
case as well citing personal reasons. Mitchell reassigned the case to
U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade. In a third indictment in the case
United States v. Jack Potashnik, the father of a real estate developer
who is a defendant in Hill was charged with tax evasion. On Oct. 1, U.S.
District Judge Jane L. Boyle recused herself from that case and the
clerk assigned it to U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater. Fitzwater
then ordered that the case be transferred to Lynn. In a fourth
indictment in the case United States v. Darren L. Reagan, the defendant
is accused of theft of public money related to housing subsidies. On
Oct. 1, Fitzwater ordered Reagan transferred to Lynn's court.

-- Miriam Rozen