Texas State Rep. Facing New Trial on `Ambulance Chasing` Allegations

Nov. 18--For state Rep. Ron Reynolds, his trial this week on misdemeanor barratry charges in Montgomery County is a chance to set the record straight. But the verdict also could affect his political future.

"I'm excited to finally see the facts come out without any spin," the Missouri City Democrat said of the trial, his second on allegations that he ran afoul of the law prohibiting lawyers from soliciting clients, sometimes called "ambulance chasing."

Reynolds has been representing himself in court proceedings this week.

"Everybody advised me not to do it, but who would best represent me other than me? I know the most about this case," Reynolds said after spending Tuesday cross-examining the prosecution witnesses against him.

If Reynolds is convicted this time, he faces up to a year in prison and a $4,000 fine. The third-term lawmaker expressed no fear of jurors convicting him again as a jury did last year, before the verdict was overturned.

Reynolds contends that he did not know clients were being illegally solicited by a four-time convicted felon, Robert Ramirez Valdez, Sr., whom prosecutors said was being paid thousands of dollars by lawyers to do just that.

Reynolds was easily reelected during his first trial just before a jury found him guilty of six counts of "solicitation of professional employment," or misdemeanor barratry. But that guilty verdict was overturned by state District Judge Lisa Michalk, who declared a mistrial after one juror reported being influenced by outside information.

The juror informed a bailiff that before the verdict was reached, another juror, whom she could not identify, told her about a plea deal already accepted by five other Houston-area attorneys who'd been arrested in the same sting operation. She told the court that this had influenced her guilty verdict.

Several of the 11 remaining jurors acknowledged that they, too, had heard the remark about plea deals, but said that it occurred after the guilty verdict was rendered and before testimony on punishment.

In 2013, Reynolds was among eight Houston-area lawyers charged as a result of the investigation into an alleged "ambulance chasing for profit" scheme. The attorneys were accused of paying thousands of dollars to Valdez, who has since been convicted for his part in scouring Houston police records to recruit car accident victims to become their clients.

Texas law prohibits lawyers -- as well as licensed chiropractors, physicians and private investigators -- from seeking out and soliciting a client for personal injury, wrongful death, accident or disaster claims.

The first jury found insufficient evidence that Reynolds had committed a felony.

Even though a new trial was ordered in Reynolds' case, prosecutors agreed with the defense that charging Reynolds again with felony barratry again would have constituted double jeopardy.

The main thrust of Reynolds' defense Tuesday was to insist that a key witness against him, Crystal Valdez, perjured herself.

She is the ex-wife of Robert Valdez, who ran the barratry scheme in which lawyers paid about $1,000 for every accident victim that was recruited for them.

In testimony Tuesday, Crystal Valdez acknowledged making a mistake when she said that she counted $10,000 in a white envelope that she says her husband collected from Reynolds at his office.

She said it actually only contained $1,000, as she had gotten the payment confused with the total collected from other attorneys that day in 2013.

Prosecutor Joel Daniels presented office surveillance photos that showed the couple with Reynolds at his office that day.

Daniels said Valdez pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme and received a reduced five-year sentence. In exchange, he testified against all eight attorneys charged with participating in the scheme. Reynolds is the only defendant who did not accept a plea deal and instead took his case to trial.

The case resumes at 9 a.m. Wednesday and is expected to continue through Thursday, Daniels said. He declined further comment.

Reynolds faced similar allegations for soliciting clients in Harris County in 2012. That time he was accused of using a chiropractic firm to persuade patients to sign contracts naming him as their attorney before they had ever been examined or met him. However, those charges were dismissed after a Harris County investigator who worked the case was accused of stealing evidence in another case.

This week's trial is being heard in Precinct 4 County Court at Law Judge Mary Ann Turner's court in Conroe.

Reynolds is the first black to be elected state representative in Fort Bend County since Reconstruction. He represents House District 27, which covers parts of Houston, Missouri City, Sugar Land, Pearland, Stafford, Fresno and Arcola.

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