GUILTY TX - Christina Morris, 23, Plano, 30 August 2014 - #38 *Arrest*

[zippixx]

O/T:
Ex-NFL player Aaron Hernandez convicted of 1st-degree murder
"...they never offered a motive beyond saying Hernandez appeared angry with Lloyd at a nightclub two nights before the killing."

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl...dez-convicted-of-1st-degree-murder/ar-AAb1qqC

 

[heather.scissorhands]

I think he's capable, but it's really hard to evaluate lawyers. The cases are unique (as to defendant, evidence, details of the crime, jury, and so on), and you don't get to replay trials with a diff atty and see who did better or worse for the client.

His reputation seems to be solid.

It's also hard to dig out the full story on cases after the fact. But here's a bit of info on a few, the parts I can find.

1 Murder of Sarah Walker 2007 - Went to trial and Gore got his client the death penalty. Collin County. Three-and-a-half hours of deliberation.

2 Attempted-murder-for-hire case in 2009 - a hired hitman who didn't carry out the plot, and told the intended victim. He was charged, but charges were dropped before it went to trial, and he probably testified in exchange.

3 Murder-for-hire and search issue - (NOTE: This is the situation you noted, but you apparently didn't get all the facts) (Rough outline of the case only) In 2008-10, there was an issue over Judge Rusch (the same judge in EA case) authorizing a search warrant for physical evidence in Gore's law office against his client M L Bell in a murder-for-hire case. The evidence was found. The warrant and details about it were contested, then appealed.

The law does allow such a search. (Law does not protect physical evidence under atty-client privilege.) But Gore claimed it was done wrong. [And, in principle, no atty wants judges allowing LE to root around in their files, so there's that.]

Rusch was ultimately recused from the underlying case because of the search issue. Eventually the warrant/evidence was deemed legal on appeal (as far as I could trace it, anyhow). The defendant eventually took a plea (LWOP) to the charges of being the killer in a murder-for-hire plot, and ended up testifying against the wife who hired him.

Link to the last case and the search where the evidence was found? I didn't realize this is Te same judge on the EA trial. Dang.

 

[SteveS]

Link to the last case and the search where the evidence was found? I didn't realize this is Te same judge on the EA trial. Dang.

http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/local/2014/08/06/13422146/ tells the core story of the underlying case, the search, why LE felt it necessary, why others objected. All the names and broad strokes are there if you want to search out more stories on the murder-for-hire cases against any of the parties, or on the issues about the search warrant and how it played out.

FWIW I doubt this is the first time since then that Gore has tried a case before this judge. Both operate in the same county. Both handle cases all the time. Inevitable.

 

[SteveS]

I'd so love proof that he was at that hotel after 3AM too.

If you want to inject HF into this case, it takes proof he was in Collin Co and in the place where EA/CM were, some time between 4 and 6 am, and afaik there's not even a whiff of evidence to support he was there. In regards to this case, he's just a red herring imo.

 

[Woe.be.gone]

O/T:
Ex-NFL player Aaron Hernandez convicted of 1st-degree murder
"...they never offered a motive beyond saying Hernandez appeared angry with Lloyd at a nightclub two nights before the killing."

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl...dez-convicted-of-1st-degree-murder/ar-AAb1qqC

Video tape, video tape and more video tape. Was Hernandez really trying to shoot a movie? ha!

 

[Woe.be.gone]

The subject of a hired hitman seems to come up a lot surrounding this Gore guy. :thinking:

 

[Woe.be.gone]

Well, as upset as CM appeared to be, maybe that's why HF didn't think much about her being gone & didn't inform anyone... (P.S. I know about the dog...)

Without direct knowledge about what was going on between HF and CM there's really no way to know why CM would stay away. But, imo, if she was done with him or rejected by him, she'd still go retrieve her dog or send somebody to do so. Just like in the McStay case, leaving a dog behind is a big red flag.
HF might be a red herring but the dog being left behind is a red flag he's not been honest.

 

[daisytrail]

It may not be against the law to search a defense attorney's office, but it seems pretty extreme to me. Imagine all the caterwauling that would go on if a defense attorney tried to demand that a prosecuting attorney's or a judge's office be searched. It just would not happen.

 

[SteveS]

It may not be against the law to search a defense attorney's office, but it seems pretty extreme to me. Imagine all the caterwauling that would go on if a defense attorney tried to demand that a prosecuting attorney's or a judge's office be searched. It just would not happen.

Absolutely true. It's rarer than rare, and it raises all sorts of abuse-of-process issues. But from a theoretical angle, I can see LE's side as well, since a defense attorney is NOT legally permitted to hold onto physical evidence but instead MUST submit it to the court.

And in this case, as it turned out, apparently Gore crossed that line. Gore claimed he was "going to" turn it over, but to be fair, whether LE would have gotten the evidence without the warrant is murky.

The search still seems shady, in a way. Then again, so was Gore's behavior.

I don't like it anyhow. There has to be a better way. But it happened, at least this once, and was deemed legally proper. And to me, it does matter that the end result was that justice was served at the end of the day.

 

[daisytrail]

Absolutely true. It's rarer than rare, and it raises all sorts of abuse-of-process issues. But from a theoretical angle, I can see LE's side as well, since a defense attorney is NOT legally permitted to hold onto physical evidence but instead MUST submit it to the court.

And in this case, as it turned out, apparently Gore crossed that line. Gore claimed he was "going to" turn it over, but to be fair, whether LE would have gotten the evidence without the warrant is murky.

The search still seems shady, in a way. Then again, so was Gore's behavior.

I don't like it anyhow. There has to be a better way. But it happened, at least this once, and was deemed legally proper. And to me, it does matter that the end result was that justice was served at the end of the day.

To be frank, I think that justice is rarely completely served. I think lawyers and judges are fond of saying that the system works. It works as a process. However, people get chewed up all the time, imo. By people, I mean ordinary folks. Maybe in this instance, justice was served, but you would surely agree that no defense attorney could get a search warrant executed on the office of the district attorney, say. That would take the feds and a big stinking investigation.

I am not crazy about defense attorneys, but they do often represent the little guy facing big guns.

 

[heather.scissorhands]

Why can't I find where they found the boots? All I see is they found letters to his wife about him contemplating suicide. But, I'm at work and haven't had time to read thoroughly, so my apologies if I just missed it.

And yeah, I've never heard of anything like this happening. It obviously is rare.

 

[Helen_Ready]

I am trying to find what I can about Keith Gore. It's not easy to find info on how many wins/losses he has had. I want to know more about how he plays a jury. This is from his own page:

http://http://www.keithgore.com/cases.htm

I did find in 2008 he was raided by LE for possibly having evidence from a client. They never found anything, but it was a big deal in the legal community. Here's an article about that.

http://http://blog.simplejustice.us/2008/07/19/whats-the-rusch-to-search-a-law-office/

Anyone have any info about his reputation as a defense lawyer?

Thank you.... This is great..

 

[SeriouslySearching]

If you want to inject HF into this case, it takes proof he was in Collin Co and in the place where EA/CM were, some time between 4 and 6 am, and afaik there's not even a whiff of evidence to support he was there. In regards to this case, he's just a red herring imo.

And in order for HF to be there without proof...all it took was for HF to conveniently "lose" his phone during the hours between 4:00 - 6:00 am.

 

[Bootsctr]

Thank you.... This is great..

I'll say. The comments were good too. I wonder if they ever found the boots...

 

[Bootsctr]

I'm thinking EA needs a change of venue and a different judge.

 

[Bootsctr]

And in order for HF to be there without proof...all it took was for HF to conveniently "lose" his phone during the hours between 4:00 - 6:00 am.

It really is that simple! :banghead: A simple call to HF from another party to say CM was on her way home, but her plans change and she decides to smoke some weed with EA prior to heading home to the :beagle: and he intercepts them. CM could have turned her phone off to keep HF from tracking her, but he didn't need to track her. He knew where she was as she knew where HF was and it wasn't at home asleep in bed.

LE says they found no prior contact between HF and EA. Too many burner phones to ever know if that is the truth. There certainly could have been many second and third party contacts made between the two (SN, PP, SB, ALP). It was only at the behest of LE, I'm sure, that HF called EA several days after CM's disappearance to question him about Christina.

 

[SteveS]

I'm thinking EA needs a change of venue and a different judge.

It really is that simple! :banghead: A simple call to HF from another party to say CM was on her way home, but her plans change and she decides to smoke some weed with EA prior to heading home to the :beagle: and he intercepts them. CM could have turned her phone off to keep HF from tracking her, but he didn't need to track her. He knew where she was as she knew where HF was and it wasn't at home asleep in bed.

LE says they found no prior contact between HF and EA. Too many burner phones to ever know if that is the truth. There certainly could have been many second and third party contacts made between the two (SN, PP, SB, ALP). It was only at the behest of LE, I'm sure, that HF called EA several days after CM's disappearance to question him about Christina.

I can see where this is going. Some sort of HF vs EA game.

Except, that's not justice for Christina.

EA put Christina IN HIS TRUNK, and she has never been seen or heard from again. He needs 99 years for that sort of kidnapping, and since he probably murdered her, then something even more severe if they can prove it.

Beyond that, if someone can find some actual EVIDENCE of HF's involvement, that's fine. But so far it's just people who don't like him, imagining things, with no proof, and that's just making stuff up. Heck, the eyewitness who was there, and who has plenty of motive to point fingers at people, doesn't even say HF was involved.

 

[heather.scissorhands]

I can see where this is going. Some sort of HF vs EA game.

Except, that's not justice for Christina.

EA put Christina IN HIS TRUNK, and she has never been seen or heard from again. He needs 99 years for that sort of kidnapping, and since he probably murdered her, then something even more severe if they can prove it.

Beyond that, if someone can find some actual EVIDENCE of HF's involvement, that's fine. But so far it's just people who don't like him, imagining things, with no proof, and that's just making stuff up. Heck, the eyewitness who was there, and who has plenty of motive to point fingers at people, doesn't even say HF was involved.

With all due respect, you don't know if we are imagining things. You don't know if we are making stuff up. You don't know if there are other factors involved in this case. And I, personally, am not pitting EA and HF against each other. I'm actually probably thinking the opposite. I may even be thinking of other people that were involved in her life. You don't know everything about this case, just like the rest of us, SteveS. And that's ok. I do think she ended up in that trunk that night. I do not doubt that. But, I am still curious what events led up to that moment. That's ok, right? To question? So, maybe you can relax a little about our questioning and we can relax a little that you feel you can trust the facts LE has released as the only important ones in this case.

Um, I still can not find where they found these boot in the search on Keith Gores office. Can you please provide a link?

 

[Bootsctr]

I can see where this is going. Some sort of HF vs EA game.

Except, that's not justice for Christina.

EA put Christina IN HIS TRUNK, and she has never been seen or heard from again. He needs 99 years for that sort of kidnapping, and since he probably murdered her, then something even more severe if they can prove it.

Beyond that, if someone can find some actual EVIDENCE of HF's involvement, that's fine. But so far it's just people who don't like him, imagining things, with no proof, and that's just making stuff up. Heck, the eyewitness who was there, and who has plenty of motive to point fingers at people, doesn't even say HF was involved.

It's not a game. CM is missing. We don't have a body. We have her DNA in EA's trunk. I didn't see EA put CM in the trunk. LE believes that is what happened and they have to prove it. The eyewitness isn't saying anything which I see as a good thing for him. Worked for Casey Anthony. I think the texts and phone calls say a whole heck of a lot, just not sure how to decipher them. Time will tell I suppose, or maybe not, and that's not justice either.

 

[heather.scissorhands]

And, no offense, but NONE of us know what justice is for Christina yet, as there has not been a trial. Innocent until proven guilty is a legal standard, right?