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Brock jailed for contempt
Attorney connected to Phillips case failed to show at court
Published Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Covington County Probate Judge Ben Bowden yesterday ordered a Conecuh County attorney to spend 24 hours in jail for contempt.
Bowden’s ruling presented yet another legal problem for Evergreen attorney John Brock, who in August pled guilty to third degree perjury for his role in the probate case of Cary Douglas Piper, and is being suspended by the state bar as a result. It was from Piper’s estate that former Covington County Probate Judge Sherrie Phillips was found guilty of stealing $1.8 million. Phillips was convicted in October 2008 of theft and ethics charges and sentenced to three years in prison. She has exhausted her appeals options and is to surrender to authorities no later than Oct. 24.
In the contempt case, Brock was hired in March to represent Sonya Scott in the probate case of her stepfather, Sanders Clark Jr.
Clark, who lived on Dunson Street in Andalusia, died in September 2007; his wife passed away in May 2007. Probate records indicate neither had a properly recorded will on file at the Covington County Courthouse.
Clark’s father, Sanders Clark Sr., and his sister, Marcy Terry, filed their claims on the estate through the probate court immediately after Clark’s death. The estate was valued at less than $100,000.
Clark’s stepdaughter made a claim against the estate and presented a handwritten will witnessed by only person.
The case progressed until June of this year when the parties involved were required to present themselves before Probate Judge Ben Bowden to determine the validity of a handwritten will made by the Clarks.
Brock failed to appear at a hearing Sept. 10 hearing set for Scott to present her case. The hearing was conducted without him, and aside from a small reimbursement of expenses, Scott’s claim against the estate was denied.
Probate records show that testimony about Brock’s absence was included in that Sept. 10 hearing.
Brock subsequently was ordered to appear before Bowden to show cause why he should not be held in contempt. At that hearing Wednesday, Bowden found him guilty.
Bowden’s order stated Brock’s explanation for his absence was found “to be lacking and borders on untruthful. The hearing in question concerned an objection his client’s claims filed on (the estate). Ms. Scott testified she learned of the hearing from Mr. Brock … For Mr. Brock to now claim he did not believe the hearing concerned him and his client is unbelievable.
“Mr. Brock has a lack of candor with this Court in connection with the Piper Estate. This history, along with his failure to appear in this case, combined with his explanation of that failure, concern the Court that he fails to understand the importance of his relationship and duty to a court of law,” Bowden’s order states.
The order stated a finding of contempt is necessary to address Brock’s “documented lack of respect for this Court.”
Brock was taken to the county jail where he was to be held without bond for 24 hours. He was also ordered to pay a $20 fine plus court costs.
Bowden, when asked, stated it would not be appropriate to comment on an ongoing case.
In a certified letter from Brock to Bowden included in the probate file, Brock stated that he is being suspended by the Alabama State Bar today, Oct. 15, 2009, and presented a motion to withdraw from the Clark case.
Bowden granted the motion to withdraw in his contempt order.
Comments
Posted by winkie (anonymous) on October 15, 2009 at 12:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
WEL, well, well...............
Posted by winkie (anonymous) on October 15, 2009 at 12:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Really!!!!.............. just a slap on the hand... $20.00 and court costs.
Posted by blogwatcher (anonymous) on October 15, 2009 at 12:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Brock new better and so did Sullivan......Oh yes Sullivan is screaming that she was misrepesented and misled... bla, bla, bla. I happen to know this person , personally!! She and. Piper were quite "smitten" with each other. And yes ...she was married to another man who worked maily away from town.
There were dinners (alone) with Sullivan and Piper, gifts bought, sports cars, washer/dryers/ cash etc. And for what??? Just use your head. 'Afterall she thought she had smuggled thousands from his estate. Until Sherry & Brock got sloppy. She is no angle she just thought the "higher ups" being Phillips & Brock would protect her. She has a vert prudent way of expressing her self and the " oh woe is me"...trust me she is a SNAKE!!
I do sincerely hope the court system sees right through this. She is not different than Sherri. And neither one of them are very good at it.
Posted by blogwatcher (anonymous) on October 15, 2009 at 12:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
AND these are the days of our lives in Castleberry, Alabama.
Posted by blogwatcher (anonymous) on October 15, 2009 at 12:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
And then there is her sister-in-law, Lorraine. "Someone really needs to investigate this gal" Enough said.
Posted by winkie (anonymous) on October 15, 2009 at 12:53 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Pay attention to When , Where and WHY Brock was found in contempt. Then draw your own conclusion. My Mom /Dad didn't have a Will made and after their deaths, my Sister went to a local att. and had just a note witnessed by NO ONE stateing she was the admin. of their estate. And there was nothing the other 4 children could do about it, according to Sherrie. Needless to say, the rest of the children recieved absolutely NOTHING.
Posted by winkie (anonymous) on October 15, 2009 at 1:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Big money, little money Sherrie, Brock, Sullivan and OTHER'S shows no partiality when there is money gain under the table! I don't trust Judge Price, Sherrie ,Brock , and OTHER'S when it comes to Probate stealing in the past. I do believe there are other local Lawyer's who have lied about Family Inheritance's and sooner or later it will come out who they are. Judge Price should NOT have been Sherries Judge because he was her Law Teacher.Sullivan just got the ball rolling and you can betcha you she will wind up a broken person.
Posted by jujaphillips (anonymous) on October 15, 2009 at 7:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"The LOVE of money is the root of all evil." I Tim. 6:10. The Bible says it and that settles it.
Posted by justiceseeker (anonymous) on October 15, 2009 at 8:08 a.m. (Suggest removal)
People---this is a whole different case and has nothing to do with Sherry Phillips--except that this attorney was involved in both cases. Bowden has done all he can do from his end and has certainly paved the way for another bar complaint from a totally different client. The Alabama State Bar, which our tax dollars go to, needs to step up to the plate and issue some severe punishment to attorneys that violate the rules and take money from their clients and don't do the work. They should be protecting the public from these bad apples. Way to go Ben.
Posted by voiceofreason (anonymous) on October 15, 2009 at 9:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Keep up the Good Work Ben, Clean it up.
Posted by ToldYouSo (anonymous) on October 15, 2009 at 9:10 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The Alabama State Bar is as useless as t..s on a boar hog. Only one other is more flacid..the Ethics Commission. Both are disigned for (and practice) the protection of "friends".
Question: are we sure the State Bar receives tax dollars??
Some have explained that they are self-funded...therefore can do as they please. Anyone???
Posted by biscuitsandhoovergravy (anonymous) on October 15, 2009 at 9:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I will never forget how nervous a friend of mine was the day she told her father that she had decided she was moving to Las Vegas to be a hooker. She expected him to be totally devestated but instead he got the most serene look on his face...wrapped his arms around her and said...honey I am sooo relieved! Your mother and I have been worried to death you were gonna wind up going to law school.
Posted by myneckisred (anonymous) on October 15, 2009 at 1:38 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Uh...Did they ever do an autopsy on Piper??
Just saying...
Posted by alabamachris (anonymous) on October 15, 2009 at 1:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Biscuit--enjoyed the joke.
Posted by Shamrock (anonymous) on October 15, 2009 at 7:21 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Yeah, myneckisred: what's with this no Autopsy business in this county?
Posted by lulubell (anonymous) on October 16, 2009 at 2:09 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Good work Ben. Thank you for all that you have done and are going to do to show this county that the probate judges' job is getting done the right way.
Posted by winkie (anonymous) on October 16, 2009 at 6:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Good question's myneckisred / Shamrock!!
Posted by winkie (anonymous) on October 16, 2009 at 6:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
THANK YOU JUDGE BEN for your dedication. Keep up the good work, we all profit from honesty.
Posted by lo1an2go (anonymous) on October 16, 2009 at 9:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I feel sure Brock was like Sherrie and this was not his first time stealing from an estate. Maybe they need to go back on him and see what they find.
Posted by msharrel (anonymous) on October 16, 2009 at 2:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Good job this time, but one thing for sure is when elections come up again. I am voting for anyone but Bowden!!
Posted by biscuitsandhoovergravy (anonymous) on October 16, 2009 at 2:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
MSHARREL...I agree 100% ! Bobby Bowden has been coach at Florida State too long. It's time for him to go. Congrats to you on gettin Terry and Tommy fired from Auburn and Clemson.
Posted by sweetie (anonymous) on October 16, 2009 at 9:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Thanks biscuits!!... I just aspirated a dried cranberry while
eating dinner and reading your post, you stinker !!!! LOL, that was a good one.
Posted by winkie (anonymous) on October 20, 2009 at 8:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The SN took Court says NO to Sherrie Phillips off the blogg's!! Why did you do that? She has 5 day's to go.
Posted by bob (anonymous) on October 21, 2009 at 8:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Sherrie: We are counting down the days and looking forward to Saturday night at midnight!!! You should be eating your hot bologna, eggs and gravy for Sunday morning breakfast while Big Betty keeps you company!!!!
Posted by Sunnydays (anonymous) on October 21, 2009 at 4:57 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Sullivan is no angel. She knew what was going on, and because her name was decredited she wanted to show who was boss. She had Brock eating out of her hands for months, she probable told him to do this in the first place. She ain't stupid, she knew the whole time what was going on. I seen her the other day riding around on her motorcycle thinking she was a big dog, well she needs to be sitting on the porch........
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