Ex-bankruptcy judge worried about prosecution, embarrassment
By Dietrich Knauth
NEW YORK, Aug 22 (Reuters) -Former U.S. bankruptcy judge David Jones confirmed he was under criminal investigation at a recent court hearing in which he tried to ward off public questions about his once-secret romantic relationship with a Houston bankruptcy lawyer.
He also really, really wanted to explain that he has never gone water-skiing while dressed as a Christmas elf, according to a transcript of an Aug. 7 hearing in Houston bankruptcy court. The transcript, initially sealed so the court could redact sensitive information, was unsealed on Wednesday.
Jones was summoned to the hearing to explain why he volunteered for an "off the record" July 18 meeting with Jackson Walker, his romantic partner Liz Freeman's former law firm, related to a legal battle over fees that the law firm earned from cases filed in Jones' Houston court.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Eduardo Rodriguez ultimately sanctioned Jones for offering testimony outside of the court's supervision. Rodriguez is overseeing litigation initiated by the office of the U.S. Trustee, the U.S. Department of Justice's bankruptcy watchdog, which has argued that Jackson Walker knew about the relationship and chose to keep quiet so that it could continue collecting legal fees from the cases.
According to the transcript of the Aug. 7 hearing, Jones said he wanted to discuss his relationship with Freeman in private so that he could avoid public embarrassment and legal expenses over questions that had little to do with the fee dispute.
One of the things he wanted to explain was a blurry photo that had been presented as potential evidence that Jackson Walker was aware of his relationship with Freeman.
Jones said the photo actually showed Freeman's brother on the water-skis, and he wanted to save other lawyers from going down an expensive rabbit hole to investigate.
"I can't imagine how much money's been spent on the fact that, hey, Jones is water skiing the day after Christmas and this was sent to Jackson Walker," Jones told Rodriguez. "Look, I can't water ski. And it wasn't me."
Jones and his attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Jones was once the busiest bankruptcy judge in the U.S. and had recently presided over the bankruptcies of JCPenney, Neiman Marcus, Party City and Chesapeake Energy, among many others. He resigned from the bench last October after admitting to sharing a home with Freeman.
Jones said at the August 7 hearing that he was concerned that the U.S. Trustee would ask him questions that would expose him to federal criminal charges without helping the investigation into Jackson Walker's legal fees.
"I'm under criminal investigation," Jones said. "And then the other arm of the Justice Department wants to depose me about a whole series of topics that have nothing to do with what Jackson Walker knew. ... That puts me in a horrible position."
Rodriguez expressed concern at the hearing that the legal battle could undermine judicial authority by opening up former judges and their clerks to questions about the inner workings of the courts. Rodriguez has yet to rule on what types of questions the U.S. Trustee and Jackson Walker can ask during proposed depositions of Jones and other former court employees.
Jones said he was open to discussing his divorce and marital infidelity with Jackson Walker, with the understanding that the information would not be used in any court proceeding and that no one would attribute it to him.
Jones said he worried that his answers in a formal deposition could be used to embarrass him or be taken out of context on social media.
"My relationship has been the subject of misinformation everywhere," Jones said. "It has caused, and I'm not asking for sympathy, it has caused an immense amount of embarrassment. It's affected my relationship. It's done a lot of very negative things. And most of it's simply wrong."
In addition to the criminal investigation, Jones has faced private lawsuits and a 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ethics inquiry over his failure to disclose his relationship. Other judges have chastised Jones in those cases, including one who recently wrote that Jones "ran roughshod" over legal and ethical requirements while overseeing cases where he was "obviously disqualified."
Reporting by Dietrich Knauth
免责声明: XM Group仅提供在线交易平台的执行服务和访问权限，并允许个人查看和/或使用网站或网站所提供的内容，但无意进行任何更改或扩展，也不会更改或扩展其服务和访问权限。所有访问和使用权限，将受下列条款与条例约束：(i) 条款与条例；(ii) 风险提示；以及(iii) 完整免责声明。请注意，网站所提供的所有讯息，仅限一般资讯用途。此外，XM所有在线交易平台的内容并不构成，也不能被用于任何未经授权的金融市场交易邀约和/或邀请。金融市场交易对于您的投资资本含有重大风险。
所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。
本网站上由XM和第三方供应商所提供的所有内容，包括意见、新闻、研究、分析、价格、其他资讯和第三方网站链接，皆保持不变，并作为一般市场评论所提供，而非投资性建议。所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为适用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。请确保您已阅读并完全理解，XM非独立投资研究提示和风险提示相关资讯，更多详情请点击 这里。
