More delightfully transphobic reporting that not only relays the facts incorrectly, but also attempts to paint Nikki as a liar and defrauder (is that a word?).

The Link


Dylan

The comments under the article are gross. Some are good, some are just gross.

emphasis mine
 

HOUSTON - Nikki Araguz can get very dramatic. She considers herself the widow of fallen firefighter Thomas Araguz.


:explode:

Wait until you see this one! Absolutely fassssssssccccinating reporting by faux news.

Linky Loo


Dylan

wow. just wow.

The "reporting" of this story is the absolute worst and most bigoted reporting I have ever seen in my life.

Alright, here's the letter I've written. I'm just going to use the same letter for all of the stations. Please feel free to use it and send it.

Also, if you see any typos please let me know. I've checked it, but I also know I have a propensity to screw up there/their/they're and your/you're...oh and it's/its. Damned contractions.

The addresses for Fox and khou (the station that did that heinous interview) are listed below.

Thank you

Oh, and please don't be put off by the 'what may seem over-dramatization of disrespect to Texas'. We take Texas vurrry suriously here. Texans first, THEN Amuricans.

KRIV FOX 26
P.O. Box 22810
Houston, TX 77227

KHOU-TV Channel 11
1945 Allen Parkway
Houston, TX 77019
(713) 526-1111


Please feel free to pass this around to anyone you think would be willing to send a letter. Emails don't do diddly. Another route is to sign up to be able to comment on their stories on their websites...altho, I haven't been able to figure out how to do this yet.


Dylan

Well, finally, we have some info about someone OTHER than Nikki. Here's a video talking about the attorney for the husband's family, and how he was Nikki's attorney before he divulged her trans-status and other personal information about her





Dylan

Dylan,

Just curious. Why do you say that emails are essentially worthless? I may have to rethink the way I do things, if you know this to be true. GREAT letter, by the way.

Is that even legal? This sounds like a big hoo doo on the part of this lawyer. Interesting stuff. I wonder if someone will make a complaint against him.

Melissa

Emails can be (and are usually) ignored.

I mean, emails work for getting your message to people, but they have proven not so effective in changing people's minds/activism. Basically, they're a 'lazy' tool for people.

I think there was something written about the psychology and effectiveness and how people respond to getting a critical email vs getting a critical letter...like they took the letter more seriously than the email, because of the fact that someone actually took the time to write a letter. I'm not making much sense.

Firie has way more info on this than I do...maybe she can explain it better (hopefully). I think she actually has stats or something.


Dylan

P.S. Thank you for the feedback on my letter. Please send a letter if you can.

P.P.S. I'm only posting my letter in case folks don't have time to write one of their own. There's been many times I said I was going to write a letter, but ran out of hours in the day. I would have been more likely to actually send one if there was one already written up.

Maybe we should call him on his cell and ask him?

I'm going to ask for the opinion of an attorney friend of ours. And then, I may be writing another letter to the Texas Bar requesting an investigation. Or perhaps another letter to fox 26 and khou asking why they haven't run this story.


Dylan

I think the woman who made the video is filing a grievance with the Bar. Yes, give the info to the news stations and see what they do with it. They could at least report on the atty's previous suspension from practicing and subsequent probation.

Nikki Araguz: Lawyer Representing Her Husband's Ex-Wife Faces State Bar Investigation

The case of whether a fallen Wharton firefighter's benefits should go to his transgender widow just gets exponentially weirder: Frank Mann, the lawyer representing Thomas Araguz's ex-wife, is facing investigation by the State Bar of Texas's disciplinary office for a possible ethics violation related to an e-mail he sent "outing" the widow, Nikki Araguz, during her mayoral campaign.

Mann represented Araguz and her first husband in a 2002 bankruptcy case. Earlier this year, he represented Heather Delgado, Thomas Araguz's ex-wife, in a bitter custody dispute, and is now representing her in a motion to void Nikki's and Thomas' 2008 marriage.

In an April deposition of Nikki Araguz, Mann got her to admit that she was born Justin Graham Purdue; he also asked about her medical history. Mann then used the information in a May 6 e-mail titled "Public Information on Nikki Araguz who is running for Mayor of Wharton, Texas."

He would not say how many people he sent the e-mail to, but it became public during Araguz's race for Wharton mayor this spring.

Mann's e-mail kicks off with "Occasionally you get a case that makes the papers or Jerry Springer," and just gets classier from there. "...I am sending this to you because you are a friend of mine and the deposition is public knowledge. I think the citizens of Wharton Texas should know this information....Nikki Purdue Araguz is the stepmother in a case of mine and she gave testimony that she is a transgender. She is a he. Her birth certificate states that she is male. She has multiple felony convictions in Harris County...and is on probation in Wharton County for possession of a controlled substance."

That bit in ellipses? That's where he disclosed a portion of her medical history. Hair Balls isn't going to do that because we only act like assholes when it's called for.

Mann signed off with, "If you would like to discuss this with me, call me on my cell..." (You can see more discussion on this e-mail on the YouTube page of Cristan Williams, executive director of the Transgender Foundation of America).

Nikki Araguz filed a complaint with the State Bar of Texas. It appears the complaint was initially dismissed, but that on June 29 the Board of Disciplinary Appeals granted Araguz's appeal and issued her a letter stating it would "return the case to the Office of the Chief Disciplinary Counsel for investigation and a determination whether there is just cause to believe that the attorney has committed professional misconduct."

The Board's letter indicates that the investigation would center on rules 1.05 and 1.06 of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, which deal with client confidentiality and conflict of interest. (The paperwork indicates that Mann has 30 days to respond to Araguz's complaint before an investigation would begin).

It's not Mann's first dance with the Office of Disciplinary Counsel: in 1990, Mann agreed to a fully probated 36-month suspension for "misrepresentations of fact concerning the dates of his hospitalization for alcohol and substance abuse in an affidavit offered in support of a motion to retain." (The suspension was stayed; he was allowed to actively practice, but was placed on probation.) The Office of Disciplinary Counsel also ruled that, in one case, Mann "assigned away 100 percent of any attorney's fees" and then "intervened in the pending lawsuit, claiming an interest in attorney's fees."

In 1997, Mann was suspended for five and a half years and was not eligible to practice for the first 36 months. In that case, among other things, the Counsel found that Mann's paralegal "affixed [a] client's signature from a prior document to a proposed modification, without the client's consent." Mann wasn't in the office at the time, but he was "responsible supervision and instruction of his staff and for ensuring that his staff follows the law and the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct."

Mann told Hair Balls that all of the information in his May 6 e-mail was gleaned from the deposition, and not from his earlier representation of Araguz and her first husband. He said all the information was public and he was only releasing it because the people of Wharton had the right to know about a mayoral candidate's criminal record. (Although Mann told us he was more concerned about Araguz's drug and theft convictions and not her sexual identity, the e-mail itself indicates otherwise.)

We're not clear on what a person's medical history has to do with running for mayor in a town of 10,000. We're also not clear why Mann felt obligated to share this information. Lastly, we wonder if he regularly e-mails his pals about shit that comes up in depositions and invites people to call him on his cell for more gossip.

"I think that people needed to know information about her background of felony convictions for theft....the people in Wharton, Texas, did not know anything about her background," Mann said.

He also said that, when he represented Nikki Araguz in the 2002 bankruptcy, he did not know anything about her sexual identity and only focused on financial matters.

"I was informed from my client, Heather Delgado, about rumors about Nikki," Mann said.

Meet Frank Mann III, Opposition Attorney in Nikki Araguz Case
 

I just wondered if anyone had been keeping up with this story and how things are going for Nikki?

Melissa