Kicked Out Of The Courtroom
I know you guys are all wondering… did that crazy judge in Waller County try to throw me in jail when I defied his illegal court orders this week? Is he still trying to hide Waller County injustice? You’ll have to watch as I get KICKED OUT OF THE COURTROOM.
Kicked Out Of The Courtroom
“Sir, you’re ordered to leave the courtroom,” Judge Kern said.
“Why?” Wayne Dolcefino asked.
“Go right ahead,” Judge Kern said.
Listen very carefully, cause inside this Waller County courtroom, the “crazy” judge is at it again.
“On what basis?” Dolcefino asked,” Judge Kern said.
“I’m not explaining it to you, sir.
Waller County deputies are ordered to physically remove me if I don’t leave.
“The judge ordered Mr. Wayne out. He ordered him to leave the courtroom, and he doesn’t want to follow the orders,” Deputy said.
Judge Robert Kern had issued an order that we couldn’t even bring a camera into the hallway of the courthouse just when he was on the bench.
Tough nookie.
And yes, Your Honor, this time your abuse of power is caught on tape.
“Out of the courtroom. I’ve put up with enough stuff from you before, and I’m not putting up with it today,” Judge Kern said.
“Okay, Your Honor, keep violating the law,” Dolcefino said.
“What we witnessed in recent days in Waller Court should be called a kangaroo court instead.”
Remember when we called the Waller County Court at Law Number One a kangaroo court?
Well, I was wrong — that’s an insult to kangaroos.
And if you’ve been following my fights in courtrooms all over the county, you know I don’t take kindly to threats.
“If the real Judge in this court is too chicken shit to fucking deal with this than you know we will deal with it,” Dolcefino said.
The elected judge here is Carol Chaney. Remember that name.
Because it is past time Waller County voters hold her responsible for what is going on inside her courtroom.
“I’m running this show. Step out of the courtroom,” Judge Kern said.
No, the voice you are hearing isn’t Carol Chaney’s — it’s Robert Kern,
an elderly retired judge that Chaney wanted to take over a divorce case in her court with explosive political connections.
“Why is it sealed?” Andrea Palacio said.
Jay Sears, the co-founder of the county’s biggest real estate commercial developer, NewQuest Properties, and a virtual army of high-priced lawyers are fighting tooth and nail to keep his 600-million-dollar divorce case an absolute secret — invisible, in fact, from public scrutiny.
Denying the public the right to also see the injustice we’ve witnessed firsthand.
An unelected judge with a history of complaints that he’s biased against women…
“It’s crazier and crazier. I don’t think he remembers what he’s ordered,” Debra McLeod said.
Two months ago, the Texas Appeals Court had sent Kern a message.
He had abused his discretion by denying the media’s right to intervene in the divorce case solely for the purpose of getting access to court records, to unseal the unprecedented secrecy.
“Another day in Waller County,” Dolcefino said.
At our request, Judge Kern had finally scheduled a hearing — but he wanted it done by Zoom, without public notice, likely to avoid answering my questions outside the courthouse.
The judge had simply ignored our request to appear in court, so my lawyer and I showed up anyway.
And when Kern took the bench, he ordered both of us out of the courtroom and told deputies to forcibly remove us if I didn’t leave.
“But what’s the reason?” Dolcefino asked.
“I’m not explaining it to you, sir. This is a Zoom hearing — everyone out of the courtroom,” Judge Kern said.
Judge Kern has been around a long time, a really long time, and he knows there’s a law in Texas protecting the right of open courts.
“There’s an open courts doctrine, not only in the Texas Constitution, but there’s a common law right. There’s the First Amendment right, and there’s no reason why we should have been asked to leave the courtroom today,” Nick said.
“We would like to place a formal objection, as we believe we should be allowed in the courtroom,” Nick said in the Zoom.
That put deputies stationed at the courthouse in an awkward position, because they know the law too.
“Look, I like you guys, so I don’t want to make you arrest me. But somebody has to do something around here to stop this. This guy is a visiting judge — he wasn’t elected by anybody,” Dolcefino said.
The office of Waller County DA Sean Whitmore ignored my phone call to protest.
And as expected, Kern denied our request to unseal any of the records, except for his court orders.
He refused to make notices of future court hearings public. He wouldn’t even allow us the right to see transcripts of court hearings we were part of, held in open court.
The court reporter for the County Court had already told us she would not provide the transcripts of any open court hearings in this divorce case without an order from the judge.
A courthouse source had leaked what Kern said on one of those transcripts about our investigation:
“I don’t want to even leave the impression I have turned my tail and run.”
“This hearing is closed,” Judge Kern said.
Just days before a jury trial was scheduled, Sears and his wife, Debra McLeod, had agreed to have the rest of the divorce case decided by a special new judge, Jack Marr, instead of Judge Kern.
My guess: McLeod was apparently willing to forgo the jury she had fought for years to get, just to get away from this guy.
And the audio we captured during the Zoom hearing while out in the hallway provided more evidence that Judge Kern is simply not competent — especially frightening since he also handles criminal cases for a number of Texas counties.
“Who is the judge that is involved now?” Judge Kern asked.
“Jack Marr”
“Alright Judge Marr,” Judge Kern said.
Kern had forgotten the name of the new judge hearing the case — twice in about thirty seconds.
“I am going to defer to you all and to, uh… Judge… tell me his name again,” Judge Kern said.
We had already filed a formal legal protest against a new media order Kern had issued weeks before, denying us the right to interview him, even outside the courthouse.
Too bad.
“Your Honor, can you tell us why you threw us out of a public court during a hearing? Why do you do this? Why are you trying so hard to keep the public out of this case?” Dolcefino said.
As Kern left the courthouse, we shouted a bunch of questions.
“Did Judge Chaney approve these new orders about the media? Your Honor, do you think I’m violating your orders right now because you can’t keep us from asking questions? Your Honor, do you think this is an abuse of power? Your Honor,” Dolcefino said.
“Sir, out in the courtroom. I put up with enough stuff of you before. I’m not putting up with this today,” Judge Kern said.
“What trouble have I caused you, Your Honor? Are you doing this out of spite? Because you know that would be a violation of the canon — you wouldn’t do that, would you, Judge? Open it up to the public… open it up to the people. What’s the big secret, Judge?” Dolcefino said.
Dolcefino Media has now filed a formal ethics complaint against Judge Kern with the Texas Judicial Conduct Commission, alleging the judge is illegally denying our requests out of spite. His comments in the courtroom this time are just the latest example of a judge whose bias should now disqualify him from hearing any more court cases anywhere in Texas.
“We’re going back to the Court of Appeals, and we will see what they say,” Nick said.
“What you did to us in there was not right, Your Honor. It was not right,” Dolcefino said.
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