Judge Brady Fitzsimmons
Excerpt from a letter to
the Judiciary Commission
August 25, 2004
After many years of contemplation and bewilderment, I have elected to come forward with a formal complaint against Brady Fitzsimmons. I have briefly described my miserable experience in the paragraphs below. Brady deprived me of access to the system. I feel that a fair court was not available to me because of his demeanor and directives. My attorneys felt the tools of justice were taken away. Even after he was removed from my litigation, his previous actions tainted my ability to prevail. Brady Fitzsimmons should not be in a position of judgment over anyone!
I have known Brady since the 70’s, when he moved to
St. Tammany. My wife and I
socialized with he and his first wife and I was one of his first clients.
In 1980, I testified against Dick Blossman in federal court when he was
indicted for bank fraud. Brady was one of Dick’s advisors, and he strongly resented
my testimony. This
really upset my attorney at the time, as he felt Brady had no right to object to anyone offering testimony before a court of law.
A few years later, Brady was appointed to serve as an
assistant district attorney under Walter Reed.
During his employment, I was confronted with potential litigation from my
estranged sisters over the control of a family corporation.
They attempted to get the attention of the DA’s office, and Brady did
his best to compliment them using other assistants to harass me rather than
encouraging review. When brought to
his attention, Walter Reed clearly and quickly saw the claim as frivolous, and
terminated the involvement. Within a short time, Brady received a judgeship.
My sisters continued their pursuit, and filed a civil
claim against me in the 22nd judicial, and the case was placed before
Brady Fitzsimmons. Immediately, I
discussed Brady’s past demeanor with Mary Devereux, my attorney, and she
requested his recusal. Mary was
shocked by his response. He told
her, “that not only would he not recuse himself, but he wanted his shot at
me.” He also told her that, “she
should not represent me”. Mary
was horrified. She knew at this
point that her efforts would be for naught, and therefore, I elected to settle
the case by surrendering my position. In
essence, Brady denied me access to the system.
There would be no such thing as a fair trail. I should have confronted the issue then, but no one knew what
to do or they were afraid to do it.
Unfortunately, my surrender only brought more litigation
and again before Fitzsimmons. This
litigation was important, as it involved defending my parent’s control of
another family corporation. Their
livelihood was at stake. My sisters
desperately wanted control, which my parents feared for many years.
At the first hearing, I again settled rather than going before Brady, as
he clearly exhibited his intentions to rule against me.
In that a true court and fair judge was not available to me, I made many
efforts to settle the litigation, but to no avail.
Brady did everything he could at the next hearing to ridicule me in open
court. He ruled against me and called for documents to be prepared
and executed within two days. Neither
attorney was available the following day to draft the settlement, or establish a
time to execute final documents. On
the third day, when Brady learned that documents were not final, he ruled me
into his chambers, placed me in contempt, had a bailiff cuff and shackle me,
placed me in the jury box of an on going trial, and then taken to jail. Salty
Galvez, a local attorney was in Brady’s chambers at the time. Brady told Salty, “watch this, I am going to show you how
the system works!” The jailor
refused to honor his directives, as he knew me and was well versed on Brady’s
abuse of the system. My attorney
friends were appalled by his actions and one judge stopped his court to express
his disappointment.
Dick Knight, senior member of the plaintiff firm was
with Brady in chambers prior to every hearing.
It was very discouraging to view them both walking out together as we
entered the courtroom. Dick Knight
was purported to be an administrator of a trust for Brady’s wife and kids
called Tatoug, which if true created a major conflict of interest. Brady was not only exercising his own prerogative; he was
enhancing his financial position by doing so.
At this juncture, I knew there was no possible way to
prevail in the on going family litigation as long as Brady was my judge.
My wife and I visited with Judge Clayton James, another 22nd
judicial judge, relaying our experiences. He
assured us that Brady would no longer handle our case, and he spoke with Mary
Devereux and Butler after our meeting.
Brady was elected to the court of appeal with the full
support of the legal community, as they wanted him out of the 22nd
judicial. Unfortunately, my
case was sent to the court of appeal, and therefore, back in Brady’s reach.
Even though the decision did not bear his name, it fully protected the
Dick Knight law firm from a major malpractice liability, and remanded my case
back to the 22nd judicial for a new, but limited trial.
It reeked of manipulation! Every
attorney that reviewed the decision questioned the motive and structure.
I did not prevail in the family litigation, and
therefore my parents lost as well. My
father is now dead after years of torment, and my mother has been stripped of
her home and all assets. I have
lost everything as well. I
specifically blame Brady Fitzsimmons for this scenario.
His devious actions have destroyed my family.
Brady Fitzsimmons should not be in this position.
He has abused the system, the public, and prevented his peers from
practicing their profession. Brady is the most arrogant, egotistical and devious person I
have ever known. He is strictly out
for his own enrichment at the cost of anyone in his path.
My attorney made a statement to me one time, being;
“the system works, if you leave it alone.”
What a profound statement when repeated today!