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June 2, 2011

Mistrial declared for Fox

Meagan O'Toole-Pitts Jacksonville Daily Progress

RUSK — Judge Dwight Phifer declared a mistrial last week for House of Israel member Robert James Fox who was  accused of tampering with a government record, a state jail felony which carries a possible two-year prison sentence.

Fox was indicted for tampering with government records and  simulating legal process after giving Jacksonville city employees a document in 2009 labeled “Attn: Risk Management Claim: Notice to Cure/Notice of intent to sue as presented by affidavit of Robert James Fox,” which allegedly had false information.

In the document, Fox requested $30 million, said Cherokee County District Attorney Elmer Beckworth.

“The reason he’s indicted is you cannot use a government document that has false factual statements in it,” Beckworth said. “With the intent to defraud the City of Jacksonville is the aspect of it that makes it a state jail felony.”

Fox allegedly made false statements claiming religious persecution, discrimination, retaliation and torture.

“Basically, he’s claiming the officers of the Jacksonville Police Department tortured him,” Beckworth said.

Fox made his claims part of government record when he filed the document in the Smith County Clerk’s Office, Beckworth said.

“He attempted to file it in Cherokee County with the county clerk. She would not accept it because it didn’t have an acknowledgment or jurat on it, which means it was sworn to,” Beckworth said. “He carried it to Smith County, filed it and then took the Smith County filed document with the mark on it, which made it a governmental record because anything kept or received by government is a government record, and then presented it with the false information to the City of Jacksonville demanding, essentially, money.”

According to Sec. 37.10 of the Texas Penal Code, a person commits an offense if he makes, presents, or uses any record, document, or thing with knowledge of its falsity and with intent that it be taken as a genuine governmental record.

In the trial, testimony was heard from members of the Jacksonville Police Department, the Smith County Clerk’s Office, Jacksonville City Secretary Betty Thompson and witnesses for the defense.

A mistrial was declared because 12 jurors could not unanimously reach a verdict, Beckworth said, which then required the commencement of a new trial.

A trial date has not yet been set.

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