Just five days before a trial was to begin in which long time companion Darla Lexington was suing the Estate of John O’Quinn. It appears everyone was happy after a four hour mediation meeting between the attorneys resulted in a sealed out of court settlement.

The Texas Lawyer announced the settlement late today.

“This afternoon, Darla Lexington, the longtime companion of prominent Houston plaintiffs lawyer John O’Quinn, settled her dispute with O’Quinn’s estate and the John M. O’Quinn Foundation over assets from his estate. O’Quinn died in an automobile accident in October 2009.

…Lexington sought court orders to force the executor of O’Quinn’s estate to return property she alleged belongs to her because of her common-law marriage to O’Quinn and because she received the property as gifts.

The estate and the foundation, which is the sole beneficiary of the estate in O’Quinn’s will, claimed that Lexington was not entitled to the property because O’Quinn specified in his will that he was not married and he left his estate to the foundation.

…Jimmy Williamson, a partner in Williamson & Rusnak in Houston who represents Lexington, says the terms provide for Lexington and her security. Kathy Patrick, a partner in Gibbs & Bruns in Houston who represents the foundation, could not be reached for immediate comment.

“I’m very happy we came to a mutual agreement and the foundation can go on and honor John,” Lexington said this afternoon.

Executor Gerald Treece, an assistant dean and professor at South Texas College of Law in Houston, said he is pleased with the settlement. “As the person John selected as the executor, I’m very happy to do what was in John’s best interest and also please Darla and the foundation,” Treece said.

The settlement averted what lawyers expected to be a five-week trial beginning on Jan. 9 in Judge Mike Wood’s Probate Court No. 2 in Houston.”

One thing I noticed was the trial was to start in Judge Mike Wood’s Probate Court, the same court that Anna Nicole Smith took on Pierce Marshall!

In other news in Houston Texas today, Jerry Eversole received a break from U.S. District Judge David Hittner who sentenced, the former Precinct 4 commissioner to 3 years probation in a case that could have landed him in federal prison for up to three years and cost him up to $100,000 in fines.

KUHF reported today that Eversole was accused of accepting bribes from developer Michael Surface. The sentence is for lying to a federal investigator about money and lavish gifts the government alleges Eversole received from Surface, a longtime friend, in return for lucrative county contracts.

“Eversole had been charged with conspiracy, accepting a bribe, and making false statements on tax returns in 2003 and 2004. All those charges were dismissed.

…Eversole refused comment on his sentencing and instead, let his attorney Rusty Hardin speak on his behalf. Hardin says he was ready to play hardball with government prosecutors, if need be.

“The judge read a provision in his sentencing memo, in which we took exception, and I said that I thought it was unseemly for the government to seek to have him punished for the counts they chose to dismiss, and that they could have asked for a trial on. We’d let a jury decide and they chose not to do that. And then they wanted the judge to punish him for something they didn’t have the courage to try.”

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©Rose Turner
January 4, 2012
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Tags: accepting a bribe, accepting bribes, Anna Nicole Smith, Celebrity Trials, common-law marriage to John O'Quinn, conspiracy, Darla Lexington, developer Michael Surface, Estate of John O'Quinn, Executor Gerald Treece, Gerald Treece, Gerald Treece assistant dean and professor, Gerald Treece Esq, Gibbs & Bruns, High Profile Trials, Houston, Houston Texas, Jerry Eversole, Jimmy Williamson, John M. O'Quinn, John M. O'Quinn Foundation, John O'Quinn, John O'Quinn died in October 2009, John O'Quinn's Estate, Judge Mike Wood, Judge Mike Wood’s Probate Court No. 2, Kathy Patrick, KUHF, lying to a federal investigator about money and lavish gifts, making false statements on tax returns in 2003 and 2004, mediation, Michael Surface, Pierce Marshall, return for lucrative county contracts, Rose Speaks Community, Rose Speaks Face Book, Rose Speaks Twitter, Rusty Hardin, Rusty Hardin Esq., sealed out of court settlement, sole beneficiary of the estate in O’Quinn’s will, South Texas College of Law, T. Gerald Treece, Texas, The O'Quinn Law Firm, The Texas Lawyer, U.S. District Judge David Hittner, Williamson & Rusnak

The Houston Chronicle announced that a group of Texas history buffs has purchased a vacant, partially submerged 19-acre tract near the San Jacinto Monument from the estate of the late Houston lawyer John M. O’Quinn with plans to restore it to its 1836 appearance and open it to the public as an extension of the battleground complex.

The $625,000 sale was announced this week by O’Quinn’s estate and the Friends of the San Jacinto Battleground.
The group announced it’s intention to raise the $625,000 last January and said they had until June 1, 2010 to come up with the $625,000. It appears they were close enough that the Estate of O’Quinn held the property until the purchase was complete earlier this month.

The San Jacinto battlefield is a monument to the battle that secured Texas as it’s own republic from Mexico. It is not as well known throughout the U. S as the Alamo is but it is sacred ground to Texans.

The Friends of San Jacinto president Jan DeVault said work at the site likely will begin next year as an archaeological team surveys 11 acres of the site covered with shallow water in search of a Civil War-era naval compound.

The Houston Chronicle goes on to say that although the hardest fighting in the April 21, 1826, clash between Sam Houston’s 900 Texan troops and Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna’s 1,400 soldiers occurred near the San Jacinto Monument, the newly acquired property still holds historical significance, DeVault said. “We consider it sacred ground,” she said.

In 1836, the property was transected by the Harrisburg-Lynchburg Road, and in the days leading to the final battle of the Texas Revolution, was crossed by both Mexican and Texan troops. In the weeks before the battle about 5,000 Texas settlers fleeing the Mexican advance crossed the property.

After the battle, the site was occupied by a sawmill and a small community called San Jacinto. During the Civil War, the site was home to a Confederate armory, barracks and shipyard.

The Confederate complex was covered by water as the land subsided. DeVault said archaeologists will survey the area with side-scan sonar and “make efforts to retrieve whatever we find.”

DeVault said it is significant that work at the site will begin in 2011, the battle’s 175th anniversary. “We are giving the site to the people of the state of Texas as a birthday present,” she said.

Gerald Treece, executor of the O’Quinn estate, said he was “overjoyed that we could see that this historically significant property went to the Friends of the San Jacinto Battleground, who will not only preserve it, but work to recapture the way the land looked and felt when Sam Houston marched the Texas army across it to go to battle for the state’s independence.”

If you visit us here in Texas I would say this monument is a must see and that most visitors to vist the Alamo in San Antonia Texas are disappointed. The Alamo is in downtown San Antonia and only a chapel is left with some history and a souvenir store within it’s walls. The San Jacinto sacred ground, will give more of a feel for the true history of Texas.

We will have an article up later today that recaps the testimony in California. There is not testimony or court today or tomorrow. Testimony will resume on Monday with more of the Thompson and Shelley family testifying.

Be sure to participate in our MEMBERS ONLY FORUMS, get the most out of the site by learning your way around in the forums where you can safely discuss things you do not want to see copied and pasted on another site.

©Rose Turner
August 26, 2010
All Rights Reserved, do not reproduce in whole or in part without the express written consent of the author.

The expressions in this blog article are based on the opinions of Rose Turner or our featured authors, please remember we are not lawyers and those opinions expressed here are each of our individual opinions and should not be taken as legal advice and/or legal opinions. The comments following this blog article are the opinions and sole property of the blog site members and do not necessarily reflect those of the site owners. If comments to this or any other articles are not related to the article or does not meet the terms of use for Rose Speaks, they will be removed by the moderators.

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Tags: 175th anniversary, April 1836, archaeologists, Civil War, Civil War-era, Confederate armory, Estate of John O'Quinn, Executor Gerald Treece, final battle of the Texas Revolution, Friends of the San Jacinto Battleground., Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna', Gerald Treece, Harrisburg-Lynchburg Road, Houston, Jan DeVault, John M. O'Quinn, John O'Quinn, John O'Quinn's Executor Gerald Treece, Mexico, Republic of Texas, sacred ground, Sam Houston, San Antonia, San Antonia Texas, San Jacinto, San Jacinto battlefield is a monument, South West Law School, South West School of Law, souvenir store, Texas, Texas Revolution, The Alamo, The Houston Chronicle, The O'Quinn Law Firm

The Houston Chronicle is carrying the story by Mary Flood that famed billionaire attorney John O’Quinn’s live in companion for over 10 years has asked to be named as O’Quinn’s common-law-wife in order to get part of O’Quinn’s Estate.

Darla Lexington’s attorney has approached the Executor of O’Quinn’s Estate, Gerald Treece to ask that she be named as O’Quinn’s common-law wife and thus that would make Lexington entitled to part of O’Quinn’s billion dollar Estate.

However as the copy carried here at Rose Speaks.com stated, John O’Quinn’s will was written in the summer of 2008 well into his relationship with Lexington and left her nothing and further stated that O’Quinn was “single” and that all of his money and property was to go to his charitable foundation. .

Jimmy Williamson is the attorney for Lexington, Houston Chronicle Article states that he said; “They are trying to handle this claim diplomatically and have filed no legal papers yet. There’s no question that Darla and John loved each other and John introduced Darla as his wife on many, many occasions.”

Lexington who lived with O’Quinn in a million dollar plus River Oaks Estate in Houston Texas moved out so it could be sold. “Selling the home was painful for Darla. It had been her home for 10 years,” Williamson said in the article.

Dale Jefferson, a lawyer for the estate, told the paper that; “They are also selling many of O’Quinn’s beloved antique cars and his ranch as well. The estate executor, and the foundation are completely aligned in thinking O’Quinn was single and the money goes to the foundation.

During O’Quinn’s life, Lexington headed the nonprofit corporation, Classy Classic Cars Ltd., which oversaw O’Qunn’s massive antique care collection numbering close to 1,000 vintage cars at one time. Lexington and O’Quinn had plans to establish a car museum before his sudden death in October 2009.

Wonder who else might want a piece of this billion dollar estate, guess time will only tell that?

Be sure to participate in our MEMBERS ONLY FORUMS, get the most out of the site by learning your way around in the forums where you can safely discuss things you do not want to see copied and pasted on another site.

©Rose Turner
April 21, 2010
All Rights Reserved, do not reproduce in whole or in part without the express written consent of the author.

The expressions in this blog article are based on the opinions of Rose Turner or our featured authors, please remember we are not lawyers and those opinions expressed here are each of our individual opinions and should not be taken as legal advice and/or legal opinions. The comments following this blog article are the opinions and sole property of the blog site members and do not necessarily reflect those of the site owners.

Please also read our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.

Tags: billion dollar Estate, Dale Jefferson Esq., Darla Lexington, Executor Gerald Treece, Gerald Treece, High Profile Trials, Houston Chronicle, Jimmy Williamson Esq., John O'Quinn, John O'Quinn's Estate, John O'Quinn's Executor Gerald Treece, John O'Quinn's Foundation, John O'Quinn's Will, MARY FLOOD, million dollar plus River Oaks house, ommon-law wife, reporter Mary Flood, River Oaks Houston Texas, The O'Quinn Law Firm