Crazier and Crazier
The illegal secrecy swirling around the rulings of an unelected judge at the Waller County Courthouse is getting CRAZIER AND CRAZIER. Why is NewQuest founder Jay Sears getting special protection? Why is elderly Judge Robert Kern even on the bench anymore? I am told the only way to legally challenge some of his vindictive ridiculousness is to violate the court orders.
Crazier and Crazier
“I always got to look pretty in court. Today we’re going to fight for the First Amendment,” Wayne Dolcefino said.
I was all ready for a confrontation.
Powerful real estate developer Jay Sears has been getting special, in fact, unheard of secrecy in his divorce case… but why?
What’s NewQuest Properties and its co-founder trying to hide?
“The secrecy here is ridiculous… won’t stand for it,” Dolcefino said.
And if you were hoping the illegal secrecy at the Waller County Courthouse would end.
It didn’t.
“I’m going to see my favorite judge,” Dolcefino said.
Inside, the bizarre unconstitutional orders of an unelected County Court at Law judge just got crazier and crazier.
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. And this is insane,” Cordt Akers said.
I used my cell phone to capture video of the elderly retired Judge Robert Kern leaving the Waller County Courthouse after court.
I was across the street, and I would have been closer, but we had just been threatened with contempt if we dared to try to even talk to the judge as he left the courthouse.
Guess he doesn’t like the moments we have shared together in the past.
“I watched you in court today and you still don’t remember a lot of your orders. I mean, that court was like chaos today,” Dolcefino said.
We had spent the morning listening to an attorney for Jay Sears telling the judge that my career had devolved.
From an award-winning investigative reporter for Channel 13.
To a hired gun, a coward hiding behind a journalist’s shield.
“They’re claiming the Dolcefino Media is not a journalism agency, which is something, as you know, we’ve been through before—fought and won multiple times in the same way that Amazon owns The Washington Post,” Akers said.
Sears thinks I’m a co-conspirator, really. Supposedly trying to help his wife Debra McLeod unseal NewQuest secrets that she agreed to keep secret when their divorce first started five years ago.
“I’d like to talk to you about these allegations that I’m not a member of the media,” Dolcefino said.
“I don’t want to talk, I don’t want to talk,” Randy Wilhite said.
“Well, you talked a lot in court,” Dolcefino said.
I had been subpoenaed to court as Sears’ lawyers were going to force me to testify.
Months ago, they had subpoenaed my company records.
I had already posted on Facebook what my answer would be.
“In court, even Sears’ lawyers clearly knew that it would be a cold day in hell before I told anyone, including a judge, why we started our investigation, even if it meant going to jail. I’ve been there before, and security was tight—they were ready,” Dolcefino told the camera.
“If he sits on the witness stand today he won’t do it, or if you order him to tell us who hired him, he won’t answer,” said Sears’ lawyers.
“You don’t think the public has a right to hear what you say?” Dolcefino asked.
But we never got to my testimony, Sears’ lawyers wanted a continuance so they could prove I’m not really a journalist.
Good luck on that, but it’s beside the point.
” Well, the media is the agent of the public, so the right to access court documents doesn’t belong to the media or any specific individual, it is for the public. It is a general right to access court documents,” Nick Kacal said.
We reminded Judge Kern that an appeals court had already ruled that he abused his discretion.
We hold that a media entity, they wrote, has a common law right to access court records in a divorce case.
Judge Kern said he didn’t really read it that way. Whatever that means.
He denied our right to unseal the records today by not ruling on it, but he has agreed to release some orders, but that’s not nearly enough.
The judge is even hiding records of hearings that were held in open court.
Then without warning, Kern issued a new order changing the media policy at the Waller County Courthouse for all his cases.
“So I’m not exactly sure what the goal of this is, other than to specifically stop you and Dolcefino Media from reporting on what’s going on here,” Akers said.
Judge Kern prohibited video shot through the windows.
No cameras.
After this incident, Waller County had painted the windows black.
He prohibited video in the courthouse of court staff.
But then he went even further. We were warned, claiming that we were no longer even allowed to interview court staff or the judge outside the courthouse.
“Wished you could have watched because it was fun. But then Judge Kern went off on a bizarre rant about me coming to his house — that I had been there, that I was taking pictures of his house from the driveway. Now, we’ve done that kind of stuff before, but not at Judge Kern’s house. I don’t even have a clue where the guy lives. Judge Kern, you’re imagining things,” Dolcefino told the camera.
“It looks like the court has issued a public policy, and it does seem to be unconstitutional,” said Nick Kacal. “He believes Dolcefino has been going to the judge’s home residence. Obviously, that’s been denied in open court, and we have no video of him at his house, so I don’t understand what that allegation is really referring to at all.”
Look at number six, the broadcasting or showing of any type of film, videotape or picture or broadcasting of any type of picture or broadcasting or recording of any recording or pictures of proceedings made in violation of this policy is prohibited.
Huh…
“The order doesn’t really make a lot of sense — it’s a lot of repetitious words. I need to look at it more closely, but it kind of came out of nowhere to all of us, and so we’re going to have to figure out exactly what the judge is trying to say,” Akers said.
“So… no jail this time, damn. But we’re still heading for a First Amendment showdown. And Judge Kern needs to know that he can’t stop our investigation or intimidate us or tell us who we can talk to and when. I don’t think the guy should still be on the bench anymore. Stay tuned,” Dolcefino told the camera.
Keep up with us on social media:
