Early on the morning of Thursday, August 25, 2022, I made my way into Courtroom 471 of the Collin County Courthouse in McKinney, Texas, for a hearing on Tommy’s TCPA motion to dismiss my libel lawsuit.
The courtroom looked disturbingly familiar, mostly because it had been the scene of my unsettling defeat just three days earlier, when Presiding Judge Ray Wheless had unexpectedly sat in for District Court Judge Andrea Bouressa and had issued an order of summary judgment against me in my easement case, back when I was still represented by attorney Robert Newton.
But Robert was not representing me in my libel lawsuit. So the good news was that I was representing myself in this hearing.
And the bad news was that I was representing myself in this hearing.
Be Seated
When I rode the escalators up to the third floor, I noticed a sign in the hall outside Courtroom 471 that listed all the hearings scheduled for that day. (Note that I’m relating this pre-trial activity from memory. I may be a little hazy about some of the exact details, but I think this is a good general description of what actually happened.) The first thing I noticed was that the TCPA hearing was one of maybe half a dozen hearings scheduled for 10 AM. That was confusing, but I assumed it would sort itself out.
As I entered the small courtroom, I noticed that two people were seated at the “counsel table” on the right, one of whom I recognized as Tommy. (The graphic below is a generic courtroom layout. It’s not the exact layout of Courtroom 471, but it’s pretty close. Tommy and his associate were sitting at the long. yellow-topped table on the right.)
After a few minutes, the bailiff called out the names of the parties in the 10 AM cases, like a teacher calling the roll before class. As he determined which parties were in the courtroom (they all were), he asked them how long they needed to present their arguments. One of the cases involved many attorneys, and that group said they’d need a couple of hours. Tommy said we’d need about half an hour for our arguments, fifteen minutes for each side – and while he hadn’t bothered to ask me, that sounded about right. The rest of the attorneys also said they needed about half an hour – and I realized that the bailiff was trying to schedule the shorter cases first, to expedite the flow of people out of the courtroom. (At least, that’s what I think was going on – I’ve been in court a few times since then, and I’ve never seen that procedure followed, so I can’t be sure that’s what happened.)
After he had finished calling the roll, the bailiff noted that Tommy and his associate were already sitting at the counsel table, so our case might as well go first. I guessed that had been Tommy’s strategy all along, and it had worked. I was grateful to Tommy (possibly for the last time), because that meant that I wouldn’t have to sit in the audience, waiting for my turn and getting more and more nervous.
I assumed my position at the counsel table on the left, and I remember that I was momentarily confused as I sat down. It must have shown, because Tommy’s associate came over to help me. He introduced himself as Tommy’s law partner Mitch Little, whose name I had seen (as “J. Mitchell Little”) on various documents that Tommy had filed in the case. Mitch showed me how to turn on and position the microphone. Helpful guy. (That may sound sarcastic – but I was so unsteady that I was grateful for his help.)
But now it was time to get serious. The bailiff ordered us to rise (which we did), and in walked Judge Bouressa.
Sword and Shield?
Once we sat down again, Judge Bouressa said “We’ll go on the record,” which meant that Denise Carrillo, the Court Reporter, could start creating the official transcript of the hearing. The judge asked us who we were and who we were representing (Mitch, it turned out, was representing Sonia, Tommy, and his own law firm); and she told us that she knew that we had each submitted filings the previous day, but that she hadn’t had time to read them yet.
Tommy was the one who had requested the hearing, so his lawyer (Mitch) spoke first. But just as he was getting started, I interrupted to ask the judge if I could ask a quick procedural question. She said: Sure, Hank, that’s okay with me! (I’m paraphrasing.)
My question was about Tommy’s role in the proceedings. Although Mitch seemed to be the lead attorney, Tommy also was an attorney on the case, representing himself. But I might want to call him as a witness – after all, he was the one who had claimed that I had exposed myself, and I might want to question him about that at some point in the case. Could he act as both an attorney and a witness in the same case? Specifically: If I later called him as a witness, could he object because he was acting as his own lawyer so he couldn’t be called as a witness as well?
Judge Bouressa said: “So I think what you are talking about is the sword and shield issue with assertions of privilege, and we will deal with those according to the law if and when they arise.”
I had literally no idea of what the “sword and shield issue” was. (Still don’t.) But I thought I had made my point, and I didn’t want to press my luck. So I just said “thank you” and sat down.
Once again, the judge asked Mitch to launch his argument. This time, I did not interrupt.
“May it please the Court,” Mitch intoned…
Document Links
Transcript of the TCPA hearing
Leave a Reply