Quietly yesterday and last night family and friends gathered at the home on the northeast side of Houston Texas of Johnny Cutliff to pay their condolences to his wife of twenty-five years, Rosemary Anderson. Johnny Lee Cutliff was described as a modest man by family members who said Cutliff loved John O’Quinn and loved working for O’Quinn.

Relatives describe Johnny Cutliff not just John O’Quinn’s personal driver and attendant but also O’Quinn’s “right hand man” and had been devoted to O’Quinn since 1983 from the first day he worked for O’Quinn. That was before the big wins and the tragic personal and controversial life of O’Quinn unfolded before giant corporations, fellow lawyers with O’Quinn or those on the other side in opposing O’Quinn. It was 1986 when O’Quinn began his own quest of wins to become the most reverend and also the most reviled lawyer from Houston Texas. Mr. Cutliff was one of the few who was in John O’Quinn’s trusted inner circle.

Quite different from the accolades pouring in from around the country for the man described “bigger than Texas”, Mr. Cutliff’s widow sat at her kitchen table and watched the scenes over and over again on her television play out while wondering why. “I really don’t understand how it happened,” she said, staring at the pictures of the wrecked vehicle on TV. Rosemary went on to say, that he, Cutliff, hardly took a day off in the 26 years he had worked for John O’Quinn saying; “He didn’t want to take no vacation or nothing, he really loved his job.”

Rosemary said of her husband that since she first laid eyes on Johnny Cutliff at a Sunday gathering at a friend’s house a quarter-century ago, she loved “just being around him.” Cutliff attended Lakewood Church every Sunday, relatives said. He was “a terrific dad” to his only son, who died in 1993, and a role model for his grandson, his daughter-in-law, Rayna Polk, said yesterday “It’s just shocking for things to happen the way they did today.” Mr. Cutliff was 56 years old.

Our heartfelt condolences go out to all who loved Mr. Cutliff, from his family to friends to those who attended church with him weekly, the pain will remain long after the funeral for Mr. Cutliff as this modest man’s family lay him to rest.

Very different from the around the clock coverage of the wreck that claimed Mr. Cutliff and John O’Quinn’s life yesterday morning on Allen Parkway during rush hour traffic. The police have recovered the black box from O’Quinn’s SUV and confirmed that O’Quinn and not Cutliff was driving when O’Quinn lost control of the vehicle and it became airborne landing impaled on a tree that had to be cut down to remove the wreckage. There are whispers from the Houston police department that O’Quinn was driving way too fast for Allen Parkway, which has claimed more then it share of Houstonians’ lives and left many to recover from other wrecks on this winding treacherous road. Perhaps one of the lasting tributes to O’Quinn will be that one of Houston’s most famous died on that road, and therefore it will finally be fixed as those who lived near the road said they had been begging to have something done to fix the road before something like yesterday happened. One of the witnesses to the wreck described the road as a “waiting time bomb”, perhaps now that it has gone off, the road will be fixed and no one else will be injured or killed traveling Allen Parkway.

John O’Quinn was having Accolades pour in from those who loved him, those who feared him and those still in litigation on adversarial roles. For yesterday, October 29, 2009 those in litigation pending with the O’Quinn Law Firm were quiet and respectful. L. Lin Wood one of the lawyers who had been in an adversarial and contentious battle with John O’Quinn since the spring of 2007 yesterday sent a note to Patti Lampton, a paralegal at the O’Quinn law firm. In answer to Ms. Lampton’s request for prayers for both men, Mr. Wood was one of the few who responded with, “Patti, I am in Washington, DC. I heard the news this morning and sent Neil an email. My deepest sympathy to you and the other members of John’s firm, and yes, to his family and the family of Mr. Cutliff.” it was signed simply “Lin” Even though we also are in an adversarial role with one of O’Quinn’s last big clients, Virgie Arthur, Anna Nicole Smith’s mother, we also stopped yesterday and sent one of what was probably thousands of emails to Ms. Lampton, Mr. McCabe, Don Clark and Wilma Vicedomine offering our deepest sympathy at their loss and offering any help we might be able to give as blog owners.

In interviews John O’Quinn described him and his law firm as a “Benevolent Tyranny” saying no one doubted who was in charge. O’Quinn had said in interviews he took his percentage of the lawsuits off of the top and paid the lawyers who worked for him an hourly rate with a bonus for incentive to win lawsuits. He described it as letting them taste blood like shark infested water by handling the firm in this manner. Some lawyers who knew him like Richard “Race Horse” Haynes said he, O’Quinn, never seemed to find real happiness in his life. Others in O’Quinn’s tight inner circle disputed that saying that might have been true at one time but not recently with Ms. Darla Lexington who was seen as a stabilizing influence on O’Quinn during the last years of his life. He had two failed marriages and had made it clear even as a young lawyer he did not want to have children of his own. He knew in his quest to be the greatest plaintiff litigator of all times he did not have time to be a father.

Now the questions start. Why was John O’Quinn at the Hobby airport in Houston to catch a Southwest airline flight to San Antonia for a mediation meeting at 7 AM to leave and die before 8:15 AM? It was eerie said one lawyer as the Southwest Airline counter began to page John O’Quinn at 9:30 AM to please report to the gate for boarding his flight. The airline did not know that O’Quinn had been killed in a horrendous accident over an hour earlier.

One person close to O’Quinn told us on condition of anonymity that many had been worried about his health lately and problems he was having with his diabetes, time will tell if that played a part of the crash that took his life early Thursday morning. This person said many of the almost 25 lawyers and over 100 support people employed by the O’Quinn Law Firm had worried about what would happen to them and their jobs if something happened to O’Quinn. Not only was he the heart and soul of his firm but also the driving force of brilliance of the firm. O’Quinn was known by his public persona of “Big Bad John”.

Neil McCabe appeared at the scene of the accident to see where his boss had been killed for himself. Mr. McCabe could not hold back the tears choking his throat as he said simply to the press, “That those who worked for O’Quinn were devastated”. McCabe added; “John was not only the head of our firm, he took care of all of us”. McCabe then looked over his shoulder at the wreck scene as if he could not take it all in and with tears no longer hidden said simply, “he will be missed, he will be missed”.

What will happen to this man’s firm that he built with hard work and a zealous need to win and be the best? Ken and I talked quietly about that last night and Ken said, “Rose, whether you loved or hated the man, he was a perfectionist and when the Estate is opened after his funeral next week we will find he left specific instructions for his O’Quinn Law Firm family”. John Maurice O’Quinn never left anything to chance.

Now back to today, yesterday as the death of John O’Quinn was blazing across wire services like the AP, Ms. Lampton on behalf of Mr. McCabe filed papers with the First Court of Appeals that had been prepared the day before.

October 29, 2009 Virgie Arthur Postsubmission Letter Brief with Exhibits to the First Court of Appeals, answering some of the points and questions brought up during the Oral Arguments on Oct. 27, 2009.

http://www.rosespeaks.com/modules.php?name=Downloads&op=getit&lid=2616.

The O’Quinn Law Firm has place in effect today the succession plan which also assures both the financial and legal continuity of the firm. That plan will be administered by Christian A. Steed and two other attorneys that had been life long friends of John O’Quinn. The O’Quinn firm has announced on the firm’s website that the funeral for John Maurice O’Quinn will be on November 4, 2009 at 11 AM at the Second Baptist Church in Houston, Texas.

©Rose Turner
October 30, 2009
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: Anna Nicole Smith, Art Harris, Bonnie Stern, CBS-ET, Celebrity Trials, Charles "Chip" Babcock, Dannielynn, Don Clark, Don Clark ex-FBI, First Court of Appeals Texas, Harvey Levin, High Profile Trials, Hobby Airport - Houston, Howard K Stern, John M. O'Quinn - dead, John Maurice O’Quinn, John O'Quinn, John O'Quinn killed, Johnny Cutliff, Johnny Lee Cutliff, L. Lin Wood, Lakewood Church - Houston Texas, Lin Wood, Luke Lantta, Lyndal Harrington, Ms. Darla Lexington, Ms. Lampton - O'Quinn paralegal, Neil McCabe, Patti Lampton, Rayna Polk, Rayna Polk - Cutliff daughter-in-law, Ricahard "Racehorse" Haynes, Rose Turner, Rosemary Anderson, Southwest Airlines, Teresa Stephens, The O'Quinn Law Firm, TMZ.com, Virgie Arthur

With so many items on the docket, it was clearly going to be a long day—albeit, a busy one—in court on Friday. The docket read like a laundry list: Teresa Stephens’ Contempt Motion, a Hearing of all of Teresa Stephens’ Motions, Larry Birkhead’s Motion to Compel, and Bonnie Stern’s Motion for Sanctions. Among those present were Judge Lindsay, of course, and attorneys Neil McCabe (for Plaintiff Virgie Arthur), his paralegal Patti Lampton, Mr. Ronald C. Lewis (for Defendant Larry Birkhead), and Ms. Amanda Bush (for Defendant Art Harris). In the gallery were the writer, his partner Kenneth, and Ms. Lyndal Harrington. We were told that Defendant Teresa Stephens, Defendant Pro Se would not be able to arrive to court on time, but would be there by 3:00pm.

The first issue heard was Birkhead’s Motion to Compel order. This hearing was supposed to be before the court last Friday, but was canceled and rescheduled for this Friday. His usual lawyer, Diane Marshall, was not able to appear in Birkhead’s behalf, being otherwise occupied in a related matter. Instead, Mr. Lewis represented him. A formidable man, Mr. Lewis was a powerful speaker: His words were grand, his speech eloquent, but his delivery was dry and his tone, though deep and rich, was low and monotone.

But the man could talk—and talk he did. Once he got his engine running, his volume and his passion grew. At the very beginning, though, following Neil McCabe’s opening statement, he said that he had come prepared to present his case in a particular fashion and that the order in which McCabe had presented the points in Birkhead’s case “threw him off track.” He said he had to reorganize his notes and asked the court leave to make adjustments.
Mr. Lewis insisted that the matter before the court, regarding Larry Birkhead, was not germane because the issue was really about jurisdiction and jurisdictional discovery, and not about compelling Birkhead to turn his computer over to Special Master and computer forensic examiner Craig Ball. This was Lewis’ sole train of thought and, as this writer mentioned earlier, once he got on track, he went full steam ahead. He laid out his argument beautifully; presenting his case as a series of objections which, he explained, he was appealing to the Court to sustain.

In furtherance of Mr. Lewis’ argument, Lyndal Harrington rose from her seat in the gallery and asked to address the Court. The Judge granted Ms. Harrington permission to speak. Her voice was without a trace of timidity and the strength of her diction betrayed any signs of verisimilitude, so much so that it caused this writer to note it. Ms. Harrington, never leaving her place in the gallery, stated her conviction that Mr. McCabe’s request for information was over broad and that this case demonstrated the same kind of fishing expedition (borrowing a term that Mr. Lewis had used in his argument) present in all of McCabe’s requests from defendants in the case. At the conclusion of Ms. Harrington’s statement, she sat back down and the Court thanked her for her input. Even Mr. Lewis seemed impressed, nodding his head in agreement.

Although, in the opinion of this writer, Mr. Lewis was brilliant in soliloquy and his argument was replete in logic and a terrific example of persuasive essay, he learned shortly thereafter that he had apparently missed the mark entirely and, in the words of the Court, had just spent the last 20 minutes or so arguing a different motion than the one before the Court. Judge Lindsay promptly overruled every one of Lewis’ objections.

On a more fruitful note, however, Mr. Ron Lewis and Mr. Neil McCabe managed to hammer out an agreement as to how the forensic examiner is to conduct his search on Larry Birkhead’s computer. Special Master Craig Ball will search Birkhead’s computer for references in List #1 (see Birkhead’s Motion to Compel). Once Ball has obtained those references, he is then to search those for references in List #2 (please see Birkhead’s Motion to Compel for the Lists). Both attorneys seemed satisfied with the new limitation placed on the scope of the search. Judge Lindsay also made it abundantly clear that any material of a personal nature would automatically be deemed inadmissible and said that the restriction applied to all defendants. Mr. Lewis then asked the court for further clarification concerning records of Larry Birkhead’s financial data. The Court said, “Information pertaining to Mr. Birkhead’s finances will be admissible, but you always have the right to include anything you want on your privilege log.”

This pronouncement did not sit well with Mr. Lewis, which was made evident by the way he shook his head in amazement as he threw his belongings in his briefcase. This small demonstration earned Mr. Lewis an admonishment from the Court: “Mr. Lewis, I would advise you and Ms. Marshall to advise your client not to delete anything on his computer. In fact, I would advise him to lock it up somewhere.”

Surprising (to this writer, at any rate) is the fact that Judge Lindsay refused to sign an order compelling Birkhead to submit his computer to Mr. Ball. Rather, she said, “Let’s give Mr. Birkhead the opportunity to listen to his attorneys’ advice, now that Mr. Lewis understands where this court stands in that regard.” Mr. McCabe had no objection.

It should be pointed out that, during Mr. Lewis’ oral presentation, Judge Lindsay’s clerk entered the courtroom through a door behind the bench and handed a one-page document to the Judge to read. After reading it, the Judge exchanged a cagey little smile with the Clerk, and then the Clerk left through the same door from which she had entered.

The hearing then adjourned its first short recess.

Upon the resumption of the hearing, Judge Lindsay’s Clerk, Alice Rowe took the witness stand to testify as to what she knew about Teresa Stephens’ lack of appearance in court. Ms. Stephens was to present her motions as well as answer the show cause Order as to why she should not be held in contempt of court filed against her by Mr. McCabe for not turning her computer over to Mr. Ball for examination.

Mr. McCabe elicited from the Ms. Rowe that Teresa Stephens had notified the Ms. Rowe as the Court Clerk that, due to a number of unforeseen circumstances, Ms. Stephens would not be able to make it to court by 1:30 P. M., the time the hearing was scheduled to begin. The Clerk, Ms. Rowe, explained that she gave Ms. Stephens until 2:00 P. M. to arrive, but that Ms. Stephens said she still wouldn’t make it by then. Finally, both agreed that a 3:00 P. M. arrival was doable. Ms. Rowe was on the stand at 3:20 P. M. and clearly Teresa Stephens had not yet arrived and the Clerk was unable to provide any further explanation for Ms. Stephens’ absence. She was allowed to step down.

Mr. McCabe then addressed the Court: “Your Honor, I would ask the Court’s permission to call to the stand Lyndal Harrington. We would like to determine if perhaps she may shed some light as to the reason Ms. Stephens is not present.” The judge said that was fine. Ms. Harrington, without hesitation, took the witness stand.

McCabe: Ms. Harrington, have you been in touch with defendant Teresa Stephens?

Harrington: Yes, I have.

McCabe: How frequently would you say you have contact with Ms. Stephens?

Harrington: Today? Or do you mean—

McCabe: Over the past week, say.

Harrington: Because of this hearing coming up this week, I would say a few times over the course of the week.

McCabe: When was the last time you spoke to her?

Harrington: Just a few minutes ago, while we were at recess.

McCabe: Did she tell you why she isn’t here?

Harrington: She told me, as far as I know, she has every intention of showing up. I asked her if she needed me to pick her up at the airport.

[Note: The writer was present with Ms. Harrington when she received this phone call from Ms. Stephens and, if given the chance, I would testify that Ms. Harrington’s testimony was truthful. After the initial conversation above, Ms. Harrington was afforded her privacy.]

McCabe: How many times have you spoken to her today, either on the phone or other means?

Harrington: Three times. At one point, she asked me if I would babysit her child, out in the hallway, while she was in here presenting her case.

McCabe: Did she make arrangements for her child in the event she was arrested?

Harrington: She asked me, if something like that were to happen, if I could maybe take care of her child; but I said it would be inconvenient for me because of my present situation. But I would if I had to.

McCabe: You mean she hasn’t made any definite accommodations for her child yet?

Harrington: I really don’t know.

McCabe: No further questions, Your Honor.

Judge Lindsay: Okay, thank you, Ms. Harrington. You may step down.

At that point, Judge Lindsay asked Mr. McCabe to present a warrant for Teresa Stephens’ arrest. She explained how a Tarrant County sheriff would locate Mr. Stephens and take her into custody. She would be held in a Tarrant County jail until a Harris County Constable went to the Tarrant Jail and picked up Ms. Stephens to transfer her to Harris County. McCabe’s law firm would be required to bear the expense of obtaining a Harris County sheriff to have her transferred from the Tarrant County jail to to the Harris County jail, where she would remain in custody until the Motion for Show Cause for Contempt hearing could be rescheduled. Judge Lindsay gave every impression that Teresa Stephens could be in jail in a matter of hours, if that was how Mr. McCabe wanted to proceed.

But Mr. McCabe declined. He explained that it had come to his attention earlier in the day that Ms. Stephens had filed some kind of last-minute emergency appeal that, even though he hadn’t read it yet, he believed was an attempt to attach herself to Howard K. Stern’s Writ of Mandamus. He said that, even though he was aware Ms. Stephens could be remanded to jail presently, he felt Ms. Stephens should be afforded the opportunity to have her appeal heard, and then proceed from there, depending on the outcome. Judge Lindsay said, “I think that’s an excellent idea.”

It had already edged just past 4:30 P. M. and the matter was only now turning to Bonnie Stern’s Motion for Sanctions. The writer feels had Ms. Stephens’ numerous motions been heard, the hearing would have gone far beyond 5:00 P. M.. As it were, it was getting close to 5:00 P. M. and the Bonnie Stern matter only now was getting heard.

The Motion for Sanctions hearing, as it turned out, was the briefest. Bonnie Stern, a Pro Se Defendant in Harris County, was not present; nor did she have anyone there to advocate for her. Mr. McCabe simply read portions of Craig Ball’s forensic findings, which indicated that spoliation had definitely taken place relative to Ms. Stern’s electronic media. Mr. McCabe also provided a brief summary of Mr. Bly’s declaration, in which he admits to having deleted portions of Ms. Stern’s hard drives.

Perhaps not satisfied with Mr. McCabe’s rather short synopses, the Court requested all of the referenced documents so she could read them herself. Her reading occupied the most part of the remaining half hour. When she was through, she asked a few questions, such as, “How in the world did Bonnie Stern get the notion there was a warrant out for her arrest?”—to which Mr. McCabe replied that the misinformation must have been related by one of the spectators in the gallery.

[Note: This writer was not present on the day the arrest warrant was sworn out for Ms. Harrington’s arrest. The confusion and furor followed the publication of an arrest warrant (with no name attached) on Harris County’s web site. Some believed it was for Lyndal Harrington, while others believed it was for Bonnie Stern. Some in attendance that day said they heard with their own ears that the warrant was being issued for Ms. Stern. The matter was eventually cleared up when it was determined the warrant was indeed issued for Ms. Harrington and that its issuance was merely a formality.]

Judge Lindsay sustained the Motions for Sanctions against Bonnie Stern. When the Court asked McCabe for his suggested sanctions, for the crime of spoliation he requested a default judgment for liability only, as damages have yet to be determined. Judge Lindsay granted the request. Additionally, for the crime of discovery abuse, McCabe requested that Bonnie Stern be forced to forfeit her Special Appearance, during which she would argue that Texas has no jurisdiction over her and her computer. Judge Lindsay granted that request as well. Houston now has jurisdiction over Ms. Stern and her electronic media.

Court adjourned at exactly 5:00pm.

Newest Filing in Texas filed by Arthur on July 17, 2009

July 17, 2009 Virgie Arthur’s Third Amended Original Petition in some ways firming up previous allegations and for the first time states CBS is a responsible third party. The newest filing for the first time says Virgie Arthur was notified that she is the next of kin for Anna Nicole Smith in the California prosecution of Howard K. Stern, wonder if that opens the door for a wrongful death suit?

http://www.rosespeaks.com/modules.php?name=Downloads&op=getit&lid=2223.

© Emmett Glenn
July 19, 2009
Used with the permission of Emmett Glenn
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 our featured writer, Emmett Glenn, 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: Alice Rowe, Anna Nicole Smith, Art Harris, Bonnie Stern, Celebrity Trials, Craig Ball, Dannielynn, Diana Marshall, Honorable Tony Lindsay, Howard K Stern, Judge Tony Lindsay, Lyndal Harrington, Neil McCabe, Patti Lampton, Ronald C. Lewis, Rose Turner, Teresa Stephens