The Cozy Courthouse
They already love me at the Montgomery County Courthouse. Kidding of course. We are back to call on Judge Vince Santini to stop hearing cases involving another judge’s husband. Boy it’s a COZY COURTHOUSE.
We’re up at the Montgomery County courthouse and when you’re locked in a legal battle, especially here in a small town like Conroe, you’ve got to make sure, it’s vital, that you check to see who knows who.
Because the conflicts in this cozy courthouse must be stopped.
The Great Wolf Lodge in Webster, Texas is family friendly and this security camera is the only recording of what’s about to shatter the fun.
“I heard screaming. And I look up and my sister is coming towards me, and my son is just screaming, help, help help help,” said Jessica Sisney.
At first it looked like kids being kids, but that 11-year-old boy Jase Sisney on the right side of your screen has special needs. A shoving match ensues.
A frustrated swing, then Jase runs away. The grownups, including the lifeguard, had a chance to stop it but didn’t.
“That’s when I see another man chasing my child, a boy, another woman and another woman,” Sisney said.
That dad isn’t trying to separate the kid. He’s accused of inciting more violence. Egging his son on.
“And other parents were coming up going, stop, these are children. These are children,” Sisney said.
“You can see the dad even shove a security guard trying to stop it.”
“Matt is blocking where my kid can get anywhere and saying beat his f—king ass,” Sisney said.
There’s no audio. If there was we are told we would hear the dad shouting obscenities in front of kids.
“Take your fist and break his nose. Keep hitting him, keep hitting him. Beat his f—king ass,” Sisney recounted.
Wait till you find out who that dad was.
“Apparently like the father of the other kid is like a county commissioner.”
That dad is Montgomery County Precinct 4 Commissioner Matt Gray.
“I spent and still spend a ton of time at ballpark mentoring the youth in the county,” Gray said at a meeting.
“You could see people were scared. Matt’s not a small man and when someone’s looking at you belligerent, I can smell the liquor on his breath,” Sisney said.
The cops suspected Gray was intoxicated.
“So, he’s drunk and he drove his kid to the hospital. Great.”
“I think the public needs to know what their elected official, this is how he acts,” Sisney said.
Jessica and her husband wanted to sue, but Matt Gray filed his lawsuit first.
The embarrassing pool fight had taken place in Harris County, but Matt Gray filed suit on his home turf. Montgomery County.
“I think he intentionally filed so that he could determine the venue and have it in Montgomery County because he knew once he filed there was only one court that he was going to land in,” said Attorney Michelle Acosta.
And that’s because of the lawyer Commissioner Gray picked to help him win in court. This guy Randall Bays.
“Hello, Wayne Dolcefino.”
“I got two quick questions for you.”
“I’ve got an important hearing going on here.”
“You don’t have to push me.”
“I did not push you. You were in my way.”
“Because I was in your way, you pushed me? Okay, that’s nice.”
“No, I went up my, popped you in the stomach, just like that, just like you did, man.”
“What could go wrong?”
A member of the Conroe band Vinnie and The Montage knows about the cozy courthouse.
He’s Vince Santini. And his day job is district judge.
Santini is one of only two Montgomery County judges who can even hear expensive civil suits worth over $325,000.
We looked at 285 cases where Bays was the lawyer since the creation of Santini’s 457th district court.
88.4 percent of Randy Bays cases end up in Santini’s court.
Why so many? Bays can’t appear before the other judge because she’s Bays’ wife, Kristin Bays.
He’s her campaign treasurer, and his client Commissioner Gray is a big donor. Everyone’s friends in the cozy courthouse.
“So, there is Judge Santini’s court, flip around, right there, Judge Bays. They’re neighbors.”
The judges are next door neighbors in the courthouse.
“Kristin Bays and myself are doing the jobs of five civil district courts, two courts doing job of five. It’s just not a sustainable model,” Judge Santini said on the podcast Vinny’s Out to Lunch.
“Guess who the judges need to vote to help make it happen. Commissioner Matt Gray.”
“Right now, you have Judge Bays and Judge Santini petitioning the commissioner’s court for funding for a new courthouse, which we’ve learned through this case, they’ve been working closely together for quite a long time,” Acosta said.
Gray knew Santini would end up hearing the pool case.
There’s a standing order that transfers all of Randy Bays cases into Santini’s court.
But there are also easy-to-find social connections between Santini… Judge Kristin Bays and Commissioner Gray.
‘I saw that they were constantly together at fundraisers, at social events, at just all these things, and it made me realize that relationship is not just another person that offices down the hall,” Acosta said.
When the judge was on Vinny’s Out to Lunch podcast even the host talks about needing gray.
“You got to have the commissioner, the commissioner court, right?”
Of course, judges need lawyers who give them money too, and Acosta didn’t. Bays did.
“From my experience, Randy Bays and myself are not held to the same standards. I’m apparently held to a much higher standard than bays is,” Acosta said.
Michelle says Bays takes liberties with standard court procedures on a regular basis.
“He knows that he can get away with it because he has been and it’s just something that continues to happen,” Acosta said.
The Sisneys’ lawyer petitioned to move the case to Harris County where The Great Wolf Lodge is located. Makes sense but Santini said no.
And Judge Santini took The Great Wolf Lodge out of the lawsuit.
Acosta finally petitioned for Santini to recuse himself, questioning the appearance of impropriety. The photos. The politics. The campaign cash.
Gray has been a financial supporter since Santini’s court got created. Bays is a big financial backer too. $5,000 from The Bays Firm to the judge.
Bays invoked the name of Elvis Presley’s song Suspicious Minds in his response.
And he quoted Fyodor Dostoevsky. A hundred suspicions do not make a proof.
“Maybe not. but judges are supposed to avoid even the appearance of bias… that should be good enough.”
The county’s administrative Judge Robert Trapp has refused to force Santini to recuse.
“Of course, Trapp has a history. He allowed crazy Judge Robert Kern to issue repeated illegal rulings in Waller County.”
“I’m an idealistic person. I believe in our justice system. So, this has been very disappointing. I did, I had very high expectations for Santini,” Acosta said.
Michelle and the Sisneys are stuck with Santini claiming his favoritism for Gray and the judge’s husband are obvious.
“Every time I’ve tried to get additional evidence through discovery, it’s been denied,” Acosta said.
“So, he’s drunk and he drove his kid to the hospital. Great.”
“I need the bills, the folio from the hotel to show how much he was drinking, if he had been drinking. I was denied that. It was found to not be relevant,” Acosta said.
The commissioner has a clear history of alcohol related arrests. Open container in 2004. Public intoxication in 2006. Drunk driving in 2007.
“He had his license suspended and taken away for DUI,” Acosta said.
In 2011, Gray was charged with assault with bodily injury. The case may have been expunged.
“We’d ask the commissioner, but he doesn’t want to talk to us.”
“Most normal parents, they would stop a fight. Not him. Not him, he encouraged it. In fact, when his son did not want to continue fighting, he told him to keep fighting,” Acosta said.
“Michelle Acosta is not the only one telling us this. We hear the same thing from several other lawyers up against Bays in Santini’s court.”
I tried to get Randy Bays to answer to these allegations.
“Got a quick question.”
“Well, you’re not getting an answer.”
“How come?”
“Other lawyers have seen the favoritism too. One attorney said giving us an interview about it would be like shooting himself in the head.”
Santini denied recusal in another case we found over the same courthouse conflicts.
The lawyer who filed it was worried he would pay the price in possible retaliation. Michelle Acosta doesn’t care.
“It’s been complete disappointment in the judicial system that I love so much. And it just feels like there’s no justice in Montgomery County,” Acosta said.
“I want to ask you about your relationship with Judge Santini. There’s been a lot of complaints that there’s a bias in his courtroom for you. What do you say about that? Does being married to a judge help you in another judge’s court on the same hallway?” Dolcefino asked. “Does being married to a judge help you in his court? What’s the look for? You can’t talk?”
“Judge Santini should recuse from all of Bays cases.”
“I think in that situation, maybe they should have a visiting judge. I don’t think that would be too hard,” Acosta said.
We think a little boy with special needs deserves that.
“He doesn’t want to talk about it. I’m respecting his wishes, but I did want to let him know. You know, mom’s still fighting on your behalf,” Sisney said.
“I have no obligation to talk with you. I’d like to talk my client. So can you please get out of our face so we can talk?”
“I’m not in your face. I’m actually standing right next to you.”
In the meantime, we might have found a way for lawyers to get their cases out of Santini’s court when Bays is on the other side.
“So, if somebody came to your courthouse and could they schmooze you like hey judge. I heard your band. It’s really good,” Vinnie Sinisi said on his podcast Vinny’s Out to Lunch.
“So, you know when someone tries to schmooze, I don’t care if they try and schmooze on the record in front of everyone else,” Judge Santini replied.
So go in there and tell the judge I think your band sucks on the record.
“Let me know if it works.”
You could hug it out with the judge like he did with Bays’ wife in this photo we found.
“You know this video could piss off the judge.”
“I don’t think I could piss him off any more,” Acosta said.
“We first asked Commissioner Gray for an interview weeks ago. He ignored phone calls. So did Judge Santini.”
“Teach your children to be kind. Teach your child include others. Teach your kids to stand up for themselves,” Gray said at Commissioners Court.
But at Montgomery County Commissioners Court, it was curious to see Gray reading the proclamation in honor of, get this, National Bullying Prevention Month.
“But we should also teach them not to stand by when someone else is being mistreated,” Gray said. “Simply standing there and taking it or watching it is not good enough.
But we’ve all now seen that disturbing video at the water park where Gray is accused of egging his son to fight another boy.
“We need to continue to teach our children to be kind. Teach them not to pick on someone weaker or smaller or less fortunate than ourselves,” Gray said.
“I call that hypocrisy. What about you?” Dolcefino said.
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