Robert Edward Battaile v. Texas Elections Division, Hon. Jane Nelson; Texas Secretary of State; Jeffrey Travillion, Travis County Commissioner
Opinion
ACCEPTED
15-25-00142-CV
FIFTEENTH COURT OF APPEALS AUSTIN, TEXAS
10/24/2025 11:44 AM
NO. 15-25-00142-CV CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE CLERK
15th COURT OF APPEALS RECEIVED IN 15th COURT OF APPEALS
AUSTIN, TEXAS
10/24/2025 11:44:00 AM
ROBERT EDWARD BATTAILE, Appellant/Relator CHRISTOPHER A. PRINE
Clerk
V.
TEXAS ELECTIONS DIVISION; HON. JANE NELSON; TEXAS SECRETARY OF STATE, ET AL., Appellees/Respondents
On Appeal from the 459th District Court Travis County, Texas
Trial Court Cause No. D-1-GN-25-000719
NOTICE OF NEWLY DISCOVERED EVIDENCE OF CONCEALMENT AND CONTINUED RETALIATION (PIR-264-2025)
Appellant, Robert Edward Battaile, files this Notice pursuant to Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure 38.7 and 10.5(b) to supplement the appellate record with newly discovered evidence of concealment of public records by City of Manor officials Brittany Lopez, Asst. City Secretary and Lluvia Almaraz, City Secretary acting under the supervision of City Manager, Leslie Scott Moore; and by City Atty, Shruti Vanaparthy Knights Law Firm.
I. STATEMENT OF FACTS
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City staff Brittany Lopez and Lluvia Almaraz twice issued “No Responsive Records” answers to Appellant’s Public Information Request No. PIR-264-2025, denying the existence of Ground-Penetrating-Radar (GPR) mapping data and related financial documentation for which the City paid $32,500.
City Attorney Shruti Vanaparthy of Knights Law Firm ratified those denials and refused to forward the matter to the Texas Attorney General as required by Texas Government Code § 552.301(b), instead writing, “This is not a Class C misdemeanor…the court does not have jurisdiction over this complaint.” The City of Manor employees act under the authority and supervision of City Manager Leslie Scott Moore, establishing a degree of managerial knowledge and control of the concealment. There is a direct line of communication between the City Manager and the City Attorneys.
Exhibits A–F collectively show a coordinated effort to obstruct lawful access to public information; and to retaliate against Appellant for exposing election coercion and record-keeping misconduct that relate to further
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evidence of private developer harms, city funds/staff misuse and a pattern of Manor Police Department lack of investigation and enforcement.
II. RELEVANCE AND ONGOING RETALIATION
On October 21, 2025 Appellant filed two police complaints (Exhibits A and B), a municipal-court complaint (Exhibit C), and the original Public Information Act correspondence (Exhibit D) to preserve contemporaneous evidence. Based on numerous prior experiences with the City of Manor and its Police Department, such matters are routinely delayed and ultimately classified as “inactive” without any substantive investigation or follow-up. This repeated pattern of administrative inaction in the face of clear evidence of wrongdoing demonstrates an institutional practice of protecting insiders and retaliating against those who expose official misconduct.
III. CONNECTION TO THE HISTORIC MCVEY (MCVADE) CEMETERY AND ONGOING MISUSE OF PUBLIC AUTHORITY
Note that the spelling on the 1906 Deed registered at Travis County shows the spelling as Martin McVey. Appellant has also seen payment receipt documents as “McVay” and the Purchaser/Sexton (caretaker) was buried as Martin McVade circa 1940 – not at his “Cemetery Lot” but at the
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“out-of-town” black Cemetery – Parks Spring. More recently, the family has been using the name “McVade.”
The concealed records under PIR-264-2025 concern the City’s commissioned $32,500 Ground-Penetrating-Radar (GPR) mapping of the Manor Cemetery. However, that survey excluded the adjoining 0.5-acre Martin McVey Cemetery parcel, located immediately adjacent to and sharing the western fence line at the north end of the main cemetery tract. Historic records—including an original 1906 deed conveying the property “for a cemetery lot”—and photographic evidence of densely packed lilies strongly indicate the presence of unmarked graves on that site.
– See also Plaintiff's Appendix One Revision One pgs 15:42 Despite this knowledge, City officials under the supervision of City Manager Leslie Scott Moore authorized or permitted City crews to mow and clear portions of the McVey tract using City equipment and labor, thereby spending taxpayer resources on a private developer’s property and disturbing potential burial grounds. These actions were the subject of two prior police reports, both later classified as “inactive” without meaningful inquiry.
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The City’s refusal to disclose the full GPR records, combined with its decision to omit the very parcel most likely to contain historic burials, demonstrates deliberate obstruction of truth and ongoing retaliation. The concealment protects current development interests while erasing Manor’s earliest Black cemetery history—an act wholly incompatible with the City’s ethical and legal obligations under the Texas Government Code and the Public Trust Doctrine.
Appellant’s efforts to obtain the concealed GPR records are made in good faith and for a deeply personal and legitimate purpose—to identify a suitable burial site for his friend, Donald McVade, who was recently murdered and whose remains remain at the Travis County Medical Examiner’s Office.
This effort is not intended to build litigation leverage but to ensure a dignified and historically appropriate resting place near the Martin McVay/McVade Cemetery, the original 1906 “cemetery lot” conveyed for burial use. Based upon 25-year generations, Martin McVey could be Donald McVade's Great-Great-Grandfather. Interestingly, the parcel sold to Mr. McVey was sold by A.E. Lane. Mr. Lane also sold or donated much of the parcels that became the out-of-town black cemetery, Parks Spring.
The McVade parcel, which adjoins the Manor Cemetery along the –5– 15-25-00142-CV western fence line at the north end, contains visible rows of densely packed lilies that align with the likely locations of unmarked graves from the early 20th century. The City’s refusal to disclose or extend the GPR mapping to this adjacent tract has prevented even a basic act of respect and commemoration. These omissions demonstrate that what began as a public- records dispute has evolved into a moral and cultural failure of governance.
Appellant has repeatedly copied and notified Travis County officials, including at live-streamed County Commission meetings; and those within the County Attorney’s Office, the District Attorney, and other oversight channels, of this and other similar Public Information Act breaches and related civil-rights violations through documented emails that also include the Texas Attorney General’s Office.
At the State level, Appellant spoke to the Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Economic Development on June 13, 2024. The topic was:
Preserving Texas History: Review the historical site district designation and how such designations contribute to cultural preservation, tourism, and community identity. Report on what impact this historical designation would have on property values, site preservation, and educational opportunities within certain districts including, but not limited to, the San Jacinto
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Battlefield, the Alamo complex, Washington-on-the-Brazos, and Goliad. In the year-and-a-half since, neither the Senate nor the in-attendance Texas Historical Commission had done anything to save Manor Heritage, other than provide a copy of State and US protective Statutes on their website.
This sustained pattern of administrative silence and non-enforcement supports Appellant’s contention that sovereign immunity cannot shield such ultra vires conduct or deliberate indifference to citizens’ rights under both state and federal law.
IV. PRAYER FOR RELIEF
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Robert Edward Battaile v. Texas Elections Division, Hon. Jane Nelson; Texas Secretary of State; Jeffrey Travillion, Travis County Commissioner (Robert Edward Battaile v. Texas Elections Division, Hon. Jane Nelson; Texas Secretary of State; Jeffrey Travillion, Travis County Commissioner) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.