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Witness sues former judge
Sullivan files civil complaint against Phillips, 2 others
Published Thursday, June 25, 2009
One of the key witnesses in last year’s case against former Covington County Probate Judge Sherrie Phillips has filed a civil lawsuit against the former judge and others involved in the case that led to Phillips’ conviction on charges of criminal theft and ethics charges.
The criminal case involved the estate of a deceased man, Cary Douglas Piper of Castleberry in Conecuh County, who appeared at the time of his death to have no heirs and no will. Six first-cousin legal heirs were later identified.
Mary Drew Sullivan of Castleberry, a friend of Piper’s, retained Evergreen attorney John Brock to help her settle Piper’s estate. In the civil lawsuit filed earlier this month in Conecuh County, Sullivan claims that Brock and Phillips “insisted that the petition to administer (Piper’s) estate be filed in Covington County and that estate assets be moved there to create jurisdiction,” despite the fact that Piper lived in Conecuh County. She is demanding a jury trial in the case, in which she alleges legal malpractice, conspiracy, breach of fiduciary duty, outrage, negligence, wantonness, fraud and suppression.
In her complaint — which also lists Birmingham accountant John C. Boohaker, who has offices in Brewton — Sullivan claims that “at all times during the administration of the estate, she followed the instructions and legal, accounting and judicial advice and representations of the defendants and never questioned their advice and directives.”
Sullivan testified in Phillips’ criminal trial and claimed in the civil trial that she moved a bank account of Piper’s to Regions Bank in Covington County at Phillips’ and Brock’s instruction. Brock then petitioned the probate court of Covington County to have Sullivan named personal representative of the Piper estate.
In Sullivan’s complaint, she states that Phillips, in concert with Brock in December 2007 or January 2008, awarded attorney’s fees to Brock and personal representative fees to Sullivan in the amount of $450,000 each.
“Phillips then instructed Sullivan to write a check payable to Phillips, individually, in the amount of $1,800,000, which she did, based on Brock’s advice and Phillips’ instructions,” the complaint reads.
Not long after the check to Phillips was written and delivered to her, Brock “suggested to Sullivan that it would be a good idea to pay him cash in the amount of $7,000 to pay for one half of a gift to Phillips,” and Sullivan did so, the complaint says.
In May 2008, the Alabama Attorney General’s office contacted Sullivan about the Piper case and “for the first time Sullivan realized that there were serious and significant problems with the advice given to her by Brock and Phillips and the manner in which the Piper Estate had been handled,” the complaint reads.
Phillips was later found guilty in the criminal case that followed. She has appealed that conviction and is free on an appeals bond.
In a separate legal case, then acting Probate Judge Lee Enzor ordered Sullivan and Brock to repay the fees they received from the estate after six first cousins and legal heirs to the estate were identified. The case was moved to the probate court of Conecuh County.
In the lawsuit filed last week, Sullivan says she has had to mortgage her home, borrow money from her parents and “deplete her assets in order to pay monies back to the estate, with interest, and to pay the IRS penalties and interest for late filing of the estate tax return, to pay monies unnecessarily to the defendants, to be investigated by the Alabama Bureau of Investigation and the Attorney Generals Office, to be subjected to public ridicule and scorn, to suffer personal embarrassment and severe emotional distress, all as a result of the conduct, misconduct and malpractice of the defendants.”
Phillips, Brock and Boohaker have 30 days from the date of the filing to answer the suit.
Lee Peacock of The Evergreen Courant and Michele Gerlach of The Star-News both contributed to this story.
Comments
Posted by lookeyhere (anonymous) on June 25, 2009 at 7:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)
What a mess,sounds like they all deserve each other.
Posted by swswilliam (anonymous) on June 25, 2009 at 8:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)
She has a viable claim and I hope she is successful. Not only did they misuse their "power" for their personal financial benefit, but they put this woman in one HECK of a position because she did what they, in official capacities, told her do to.
Posted by rgodwin (anonymous) on June 25, 2009 at 8:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I agree that they all 3 of these so called professionals used this lady for their own personal gain, and they should have to pay back every penny of what they say she owes, plus serve time for their crimes. This lady's name should be cleared and a front page story written, clearing her if she is innocent. I despise crooked lawyers and other officials who are suppose to be there to help people. This just goes to show that you never know who to trust. I hope Phillips serves a lot of time and the other 2 also, but I seriously doubt it. I do know that it is only right for this lady's life and finances to be put back to normal if she has done nothing wrong. It's a poor system that punishes the innocent, but get ready because it is only going to get worse. How's that hope and change working for you?
Posted by average_joe (anonymous) on June 25, 2009 at 9:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)
And with our "crackerjack" legal system, the "judge" remains free on bond for more than a year, apparently waiting on her crony judges to give her a free pass in the appeal process. What a legal system, having the best paid judges in the nation and having to wait years for justice?
Posted by chopdoc (anonymous) on June 25, 2009 at 9:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I hope and pray that the legal system makes Ms. Sullivan whole again. As a victim of public officials and so-called lawyers, she deserves at least that much. It turns my stomach whenever I think of the absolute greed they have shown us along with the utter disregard for the welfare of the people that they had or have sworn to serve and protect.
Posted by bob (anonymous) on June 25, 2009 at 11:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Hopefully, there will be MORE cases brought against Phillips. For years she got away with stealing innocent peoples money and possessions by using unscrupulous attorneys and conservitors. Ms. Sullivan was a victim of ABSOLUTE GREED !!!
Posted by Ineedtobeheard (anonymous) on June 25, 2009 at 1:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I truly feel sorry for this lady. She did as she was told by her attorney and PHillips, and then Enzor, and look where she is today. I just can't imagine being told I was entitled to that sum of money, receiving it, spending it on things I could never have otherwise afforded, and then Bam! Hit in the face with having to come up with it because the judge was a crook....there seems to be a lot of misjustice done here against this lady and this estate, and it seems that she is the only one suffering...seems phillips is continuing to live her "life of luxury" even though she was convicted...she still walks around with that fakeass grin on her face, thinking folks will forget, but then probably not really caring...I wish Ms. Sullivan the best of luck with what's ahead for her, and hope that she gets every single penny she's entitled to plus compensation for the troubles she was caused, plus pain and suffering, plus anything else her attorney can throw in the pot for her.! Shame on you Sherrie, look what you managed to do to this poor lady! You should bury your face in the sand and never come up!~
Posted by biscuitsandhoovergravy (anonymous) on June 25, 2009 at 3:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Am I missing something here? Ms. Sullivan seems to me to be a more than culpable party to this whole scheme. She recived 450,000 for being what amounts to a conduit thru which the estate was funneled to the 3 of them. Did she really believe that $450,000 was a reasonable fee to administer an estate? Ha ha...come on...as thick as I am tween the head handles I dont buy that story. I am so glad that there was a judge like Mr. Enzor that was willing and able to stop this travesty and set it straight.
The law profession should be more like Judge Enzor and it would enjoy a tremendously better image that is currently does.
Posted by rgodwin (anonymous) on June 25, 2009 at 3:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I believe I said, if she is innocent that her name should be cleared. We all know Phillips and the other 2 are guilty, but this lady has yet to be proven guilty of anything other than being gullible. I have no idea what the truth is, but I sure hope it turns out that she was just gullible.
Posted by winkie (anonymous) on June 25, 2009 at 5:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
$450,000. are you jokeing? Sullivan knew this was not kosher monies for the jobs she rendered. Heck,....... if I were going to have to take a fall for recieving illigel funds I also would do what Sullivan is doing. I'm just wondering who Phillips will rat on before its over with and you can bettcha she will rat to get a lighter prison sentence. Hopefully there will be more people comming forward to complain how Sherri Phillips and her 'special' administrators stole jewerly, furniture, money from their family estates.Sullivan has opened a stinking can of wormes that might not stop smelling for a long time.
Posted by justiceseeker (anonymous) on June 26, 2009 at 7:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It will be interesting to see who ends up being the Judge on this one. Anyone know who her attorney is ? I'd like to know how you can file a civil suit in one county for " legal malpractice, conspiracy, breach of fiduciary duty, outrage, negligence, wantonness, fraud and suppression" that happened in another county?
Posted by voiceofreason (anonymous) on June 26, 2009 at 1:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Sounds like Sullivan is trying to cover her tracks and point the finger at those already found guilty. I think I would have cried foul and sought advice the minute they gave me $450k and I had to write a $1.8 million check to the judge giving me the money. Sullivan is a crook too. Slap the cuffs and then let her go free just like Phillips. What a mockery of public servitude. I'm really crying tears for a lady having to mortgage her house in order to pay back stolen money. I hope she loses everything and shares a cell with Phillips for the next 50 years.
Posted by andervic (anonymous) on June 26, 2009 at 1:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Everyone needs to understand in probate the fees are a percentage of the total estate, not for the work you do. i am a conservator and i get a percentage of the estate annually, and it by no means gives anything for the 24 hour care i give. but in turn the lawyers get fees for the audit it is all a big racket.
Posted by SouthernAttitude1 (anonymous) on June 28, 2009 at 12:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Once a crook ... always a crook. Sherrie needs her butt in jail and maybe she could lose some of that weight she is always trying to lose.
Posted by andervic (anonymous) on June 28, 2009 at 8 p.m. (Suggest removal)
souterhernattitude1 i agree whole heartedly not only phillips but all her cronies she appointed as guardian ad litems maybe they need to audit thier files and see how much of a kickback they gave her from a $6000 bill for being guardian ad litem. and beleive me there is no comparison to 200 dollars an hour for a guardian litem and no pay or 4% of the total estate/trust for a conservator, especially when the conservator is the caregiver 24hours a day with about 20 days a year break. you tell me who the crooks are it is the lawyers and legal system and the probate system. it all needs to be overhauled but dont think for a minute holley or hammeth would introduce a change to the current law.
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