Legal Ethics
Why Texas DAs Rarely Prosecute Estate Theft, and Why Lawyers Like It That Way
Posted Jun 30, 2008, 12:54 pm CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Texas prosecutors rarely bring charges in connection with estate thefts, and probate lawyers are partly to blame.
The lawyers usually advise heirs to file civil lawsuits rather than go to police, the Austin American-Statesman reports. Civil lawyers are not required to report the suspected theft by clients’ relatives under state ethics rules, and they view civil suits as more likely to satisfy their clients’ goals, the story says.
Dallas probate lawyer David Pyke explains in an American-Statesman interview. Prosecutors "put the person you are suing in jail, which may be a good thing for society, but doesn't get you any money," he said. "They can't make money in jail."
Sometimes it is the lawyers who are accused. Austin lawyer Terry Erwin Stork pleaded guilty to felony theft charges on Friday for stealing from three estates, the Austin American-Statesman reports in a separate story published Saturday. Court records said he lived in the home of one deceased client, and in another case, he drove a client’s Buick LeSabre.
A letter from Bexar County Probate Judge Tom Rickhoff led to the investigation and prosecution of Stork. The newspaper describes Rickhoff as one of the most aggressive probate judges in suspected estate theft cases. He says he has forwarded dozens of possible cases to prosecutors.
"The culture here was that all the civil lawyers thought every dispute about where money went is a civil matter that should be resolved in a lawsuit," Rickhoff told the American-Statesman. "It was clear to me that if you take a diamond ring and give it to someone [else], you stole the diamond ring.”
The American-Statesman wrote about the Stork case in more detail in a story published Friday, the same day he entered a guilty plea.
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Posted by Lou Ann Anderson - 1 month, 3 weeks, 2 days, 11 hours, 8 minutes ago
Excerpted from www.EstateofDenial.com:
...And while realizing that prosecution of these cases occurs in an environment with limited resources and competes with many violent or heinous crimes also requiring attention, the families to which this happens are generally law abiding, taxpaying citizens who deserve (and have paid for) better treatment than they have previously received from taxpayer-funded entities such as elected officials, law enforcement, civil and criminal courts.
It is understood that county district attorneys and courts would rather relegate these cases to civil actions as they don’t want their resources tied up and these cases can be good income generators for court personnel and attorneys on the civil side of things. This attitude however, we believe, perpetuates more Involuntary Redistribution of Assets (IRA) cases as civil trials are cost prohibitive, time consuming and emotionally exhausting to a point that many people - though completely deserving of justice - can’t pursue such an action and continue with any type productive life. All involved - the public officials, lawyers and those of us experienced in being an IRA target - are aware of this reality as also are the looters and the poachers who, because of our “pay to play” legal system, become even further emboldened to commit these dishonest actions with minimal concern for future accountability or liability.
And to the defensive bureaucratic response of “would you rather us not pursue criminals who are raping and murdering people and instead focus on those who are stealing from estates?” we would simply point out that IRA cases are often actions of opportunity made attractive due to an unlikeliness of negative consequences. Should IRA perpetrators (lawyers and otherwise) start understanding that looting assets from estates can lead to serious, even criminal consequences, the appeal of such actions will diminish as likely will the numbers of these cases.
We generally try to avoid overtly angry tones in our postings, but the nature and close physical proximity of this case makes this posting an especially difficult task. Terry Erwin Stork is not the first grave robber. He is not the last - especially not in Travis County. “Shining light on the dark side of estate management” is critical. Thank you to Tony Plohetski and the Austin American Statesman for their efforts.
Meanwhile, we hope that Mr. Stork receives the full measure of sentencing that can be imposed. His age is of no consequence. In fact, it’s unfortunate that he is not younger only so that he could have longer to endure the consequences of his criminality. Having talked with many Involuntary Redistrubution of Assets (IRA) targets, it’s obvious that the negative impact of these actions will stay with them for the rest of their lives. An upcoming EoD column will adress this topic because easy as these cases are to dismiss with just “being about the money,” it’s a far greater violation than most people bother trying to understand. Nevertheless, Mr. Stork will hopefully have the same scarring experience as other IRA victims throughout his remaining years - and preferably from behind bars.