Hill v. Hunt

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Texas
DecidedFebruary 21, 2020
Docket3:07-cv-02020
StatusUnknown

This text of Hill v. Hunt (Hill v. Hunt) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hill v. Hunt, (N.D. Tex. 2020).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS DALLAS DIVISION

LISA BLUE/BARON & BLUE, § CHARLA G. ALDOUS d/b/a ALDOUS § LAW FIRM, and THE LAW OFFICES OF § STEPHEN F. MALOUF, P.C., § § Plaintiffs, § § v. § Civil Action No. 3:10-CV-2269-L § ALBERT G. HILL, III, et al., § § Defendants. §

ALBERT G. HILL, III, § § Plaintiff, § § v. § Civil Action No. 3:07-CV-2020-L § WILLIAM SCHILLING, et al., § § Defendants. §

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Before the court are the Hill Jr. Defendants’ Motion to Enjoin Vexatious Litigant Albert G. Hill, III from Vexatious Litigation (Doc. 1965), filed July 31, 2019, in Civil Action No. 3:07- CV-2020-L (the “2020 Action”); Plaintiff The Law Offices of Stephen F. Malouf, P.C. (“LOSM”) and Counter-Defendant Stephen F. Malouf’s (“Malouf”) Motion to Enjoin State Court Litigation to Effectuate Judgment (Doc. 652), filed September 20, 2019, in Civil Action No. 3:10-CV-2269- L (the “2269 Action”); Plaintiff Charla G. Aldous’s (“Aldous”) Motion to Enjoin State Court Litigation to Effectuate Judgment and Joinder of Malouf’s Motion (Doc. 655), filed September 20, 2019, in the 2269 Action; and Plaintiff Lisa Blue’s (“Blue”) Motion to Enjoin State Court

Memorandum Opinion and Order – Page 1 Litigation to Effectuate Judgment and Joinder in Malouf’s Motion (Doc. 658), filed September 20, 2019, in the 2269 Action. Movants seek affirmative injunctive relief from this court requiring Albert G. Hill, III (“Hill III”) to dismiss two lawsuits he filed on June 5, 2019, in Harris County, Texas, and requiring

him to seek leave of this court before attempting to file any claims against them relating to issues adjudicated in the 2020 Action or the 2269 Action. One lawsuit is against Margaret Keliher (“Keliher”), Heather Hill Washburne (“Washburne”), Elisa Hill Summers (“Summers”), Tyree Miller (“Miller”), David Pickett, Chester Donnally, Thomas Tatham, Ray Washburne, and Joy Waller (collectively, the “Hill Jr. Defendants”), as well as against former Dallas County prosecutors Craig Watkins, Terri Moore, and Russell Wilson. Cause No. 2019-38645, Albert G. Hill, III v. Craig Watkins, et al., 127th District Court, Harris County, Texas (“Cause No. 2019- 38645”). The other lawsuit is against Hill III’s former attorneys Blue, Aldous, and Malouf (collectively, “BAM”), Cause No. 2019-38870, Albert G. Hill, III v. Lisa Blue, et al., in the 295th District Court, Harris County, Texas (“Cause No. 2019-38870”).

In Cause No. 2019-38645 and Cause No. 2019-38870 (sometimes collectively, the “State Court Actions”), Hill III asserts Texas common law tort claims for malicious prosecution, conspiracy, and aiding and abetting, and seeks to recover actual and exemplary damages for his alleged malicious prosecution claim in connection with the April 4, 2011 criminal indictments against him and his wife, Erin Nance Hill, for felony mortgage fraud. The indictments against Hill III were dismissed in 2018 by the state trial court. State v. Hill, 558 S.W.3d 280, 287 (Tex. App.—

Memorandum Opinion and Order – Page 2 Dallas 2018, no pet.).1 Having considered the motions, responses, replies, appendixes, record, and applicable law, and for the reasons that follow, the court denies the motions. I. Factual Background and Procedural History A. The 2020 Action

The court has addressed this contentious and unrelenting family dispute in a multitude of prior opinions beginning in 2007, and continuing through the present. For example, on June 1, 2018, and July 3, 2018, the court addressed this dispute at length in memoranda opinions and orders denying motions to enforce the Settlement Agreement and Final Judgment and requests for injunctive relief filed by Washburne and Summers, who are the daughters of Albert G. Hill, Jr. (“Hill Jr.”) and the sisters of Hill III, the great-grandson of Haroldson Lafayette (“H.L.”) Hunt, the late Texas oil baron who died in 1974. See Hill v. Schilling, No. 3:07-CV-2020-L, 2018 WL 2461877 (N.D. Tex. June 1, 2018) (Lindsay, J.) (“Hill I”) (denying application for temporary restraining order); Hill v. Schilling, No. 3:07-CV-2020-L, 2018 WL 3239795 (N.D. Tex. July 3, 2018) (Lindsay, J.) (“Hill II”) (denying application for preliminary and permanent injunction and

1 Although the State of Texas dismissed the charges against Hill III’s wife, Erin Nance Hill, shortly after she was indicted, it continued to prosecute the indictments against Hill III. In March 2013, all charges against Hill III were dismissed with prejudice following an evidentiary hearing. The State of Texas appealed the trial court’s order of dismissal. On December 29, 2014, the Dallas Court of Appeals reversed on the grounds that the trial court should not have held an evidentiary hearing, and it remanded the case with instructions to reinstate the indictments. State v. Hill, 2014 WL 7497992 (Tex. App.—Dallas, Dec. 29, 2014). Hill III appealed and, on September 21, 2016, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the decision of the Dallas Court of Appeals and remanded for a determination as to whether dismissal of the indictments with prejudice was proper. State v. Hill, 499 S.W.3d 853, 871 (Tex. Crim. App. 2016). On August 15, 2018, the Dallas Court of Appeals held that the indictments were properly dismissed with prejudice based upon the taint of prosecutorial misconduct and the undue influence exercised over Watkins by Blue, Albert G. Hill, Jr., and those working in concert with them. The State did not appeal and, accordingly, the judgment of the Dallas Court of Appeals became final with the issuance of its mandate on October 26, 2018.

Memorandum Opinion and Order – Page 3 denying motion to enforce final judgment and settlement agreement). On December 7, 2018, the court once again addressed this dispute in a 32-page opinion in which it granted Washburne, Summers, and Keliher’s request and permanently enjoined Hill III from challenging his father’s will in Probate Court No. Two of Dallas County, Texas. See Hill v. Schilling, No. 3:07-CV-2020-

L, 2018 WL 6436397 (N.D. Tex. Dec. 7, 2018) (Lindsay, J.) (“Hill III”), aff’d in part, dismissed in part sub nom. Hill v. Washburne, __ F.3d __, 2020 WL 548677 (Feb. 4, 2020).2 The court incorporates its opinions in Hill I, Hill II, and Hill III by reference as if repeated herein verbatim and curtails its recitation of the background facts to those necessary to rule on the pending motions. 1. The Settlement Agreement and Final Judgment In December 2007, Hill III brought a lawsuit in Texas state court in his individual capacity and on behalf of the Margaret Hunt Trust Estate (“MHTE”) and the Haroldson L. Hunt, Jr. Trust Estate (“HHTE”) against specific beneficiaries of the MHTE and HHTE, including his father (Hill Jr.), Hill Jr.’s siblings, and the trustees and members of the advisory boards of the MHTE and HHTE. Among other things, Hill III alleged wrongdoing in the management and administration of

the MHTE and HHTE by their respective trustees and sought a declaration that he was a direct and vested beneficiary of the MHTE as a consequence of his father’s disclaimer of various interests he held in the MHTE.3 Following removal to federal court on December 3, 2007, the case was randomly assigned to United States District Judge Reed C. O’Connor.

2 The appellate court remanded the matter to the undersigned for the limited purpose of considering whether Washburne, Summers, and Keliher are entitled to “additional costs and fees.” Hill v. Washburne, __ F.3d __, 2020 WL 548677, at *10 (Feb. 4, 2020) (quoting Instone Travel Tech Marine & Offshore v.

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Hill v. Hunt, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hill-v-hunt-txnd-2020.