CLEBURNE – Fort Worth attorney Tim Evans found fault Friday with each of nine grand jury felony indictments facing his client, former Johnson County Precinct 2 Commissioner John Winchester Matthews, but a trial will proceed.
There’s no substance to the indictments and they should be quashed, he argued in the 18th District Court at the Guinn Justice Center.
“All of these offenses arose from the same period of time as a product of John Matthews being in office,” prosecuting attorney Paul Hable countered.
District Judge John Neill has ruled the indictments will stand and a trial, which could call a large majority of elected Johnson County officials to the witness stand, will commence Sept. 10.
Matthews was indicted Dec. 15 by a grand jury on counts of abuse of position, falsifying records and theft. He faces six counts of tampering with a government record, two counts of abuse of official capacity and one count of theft of $1,500-$20,000 by a public servant.
Evans, who appeared on the 2011 Super Lawyers list of top 100 attorneys in Dallas-Fort Worth, gave some clarity to a litany of filings he has made in the case.
He summed up his issue with all allegations when he told Neill, “Information is missing.”
The indictments fit the statute, Hable responded.
“We believe the defense is on notice as to what we believe to be criminal acts,” he said. “The defense is under sufficient notice for what
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offenses are.”
There’s no substance to the allegations and they should all be quashed, Evans argued.
In the first count, relating to an audit of precinct purchasing with a Home Depot credit card, Matthews is accused of theft of $1,500-$20,000 by a public servant, a state felony carrying a minimum penalty of 180 days confinement and up to a $10,000 fine.
The indictment does not identify theft by name, kind and number, Evans said. But receipts included in the investigation obtained almost a year ago by the Burleson Star mostly dispel any vagueness to the allegation.
The Burleson Star’s investigation included 72 receipts from the county auditor’s office that had been reviewed, some found to be questionable and some not. The questionable purchases ranged from soap and paper products, pool supplies and tools allegedly not applicable to princict operations to such purchases as a Boston fern, bottled water, Febreze, folding chairs, leaf rakes, stain remover, water hoses, Christmas lights, bamboo shades, a flag kit, Ryobi tools and an umbrella. There were various quantities of 72 products purchased which were included on those receipts, but it wasn’t clear Matthews made the purchases.
“The offense is set forth in plain language as the statute allows,” Hable said. “It is alleged that property was taken from the owner, (County Judge) Roger Harmon.”
In the second count, Matthews allegedly abused his office by purchasing MC-30 offspec products from Gulf Energy Company while receiving cash and check payments from Tom Arthur, an agent of the company, and paid the company more than $100,000 and less than $200,000 in county funds. The charge is a second-degree felony carrying a minimum penalty of two years confinement and up to a $10,000 fine.
Evans’ opposition to the charge raised the first mention of Arthur’s involvement in an open court session. Arthur is associated, but not charged, with first, second and third-degree felonies facing Matthews.
“They charge the defendant received payment from Tom Arthur,” Evans said. “I don’t see that it states unlawful conduct.”
In the third charge, Matthews is charged with abusing his office by purchasing products from Gulf Energy Company, while receiving cash and check payments from Arthur, in the amount of more than $200,000. The charge is a first-degree felony carrying a minimum penalty of five years confinement and up to a $10,000 fine.
“It alleges John Matthews was receiving cash and check payments,” Evans said. “There should be some specific facts to show how government property was misused.”
Arthur’s and Matthews’ relationship may have begun on the football team at Texas A&M, according to internet records researched by the Burleson Star that place them on Aggie teams in the early 1980s. Arthur was listed as an original 12th Man.
Matthews faces six other third-degree felony charges of filing a false financial statement with County Clerk Becky Williams. The charges stem from income earned from Arthur; Mark Shipman and/or Confab Construction; Cody Jones and/or Rig Structures LLC; John Hardee and/or Hardee Landry Inc.; and from Jeff Cannon and/or Waste Facilities Inc.
“They all allege tampering with a government record,” Evans said, but he wondered if an elected official could tamper with a government record never filed.
A request could be made to separate charges into three trials. Evans expressed a desire to have the first count separated from the others, and for the second and third counts to be separated from counts four-nine.
The court appearance allowed Neill to rule on all filings in the case, he said. There was no mention Friday of further plea bargain negotiations.
A file first released to the Burleson Star on May 2, indicates the state would call 48 potential witnesses, including elected officials, precinct officials, at least four members of the sheriff’s office, two bankers and a litany of others residing inside and outside of the county. The state and defense have agreed to mutually release expert witness lists.