SOROLA WHIPS BOBBY AT STATE BAR; WILL HE WANT MORE?

By Juan Montoya
A complaint filed with the Chief Disciplinary Counsel of the Texas State Bar by Brownsville resident Emilio Montes against local attorney Louis Sorola has been dismissed.
State Bar Assistant Disciplinary Counsel K.W. Morgan notified the parties May 18 that "this office has examined the the grievance (filed April 20 against Sorola) and determined that the information alleged does not demonstrate professional misconduct or a disability. Pursuant to the Texas Rules of Disciplinary Procedure, this matter has therefore been classified as an inquiry and has been dismissed."
The complaint stems from a case where Sorola was appointed to represent Hector Negrete by 138th District Judge Arturo Nelson on a felony charge of criminal mischief.
The record shows that Nelson appointed Sorola "out of order" – not an unusual occurrence – and both he and Cameron County Asst. District Attorney Gustavo Gus Garza concurred that trying the defendant twice for an offense arising from the same criminal act constituted double jeopardy.
Garza filed for the dismissal
Negrete had already been ordered to spend 76 days in jail for a previous misdemeanor conviction of criminal mischief arising out of the same offense.
Although the grievance against Sorola was signed by Montes, it was no secret that the paperwork and the grievance narrative was written by looney local blogger – and disbarred attorney – Robert Wightman.
Wightman has railed against Sorola for his appointment by Nelson and the filing for dismissal by Garza. He charged in the grievance that a $500 campaign contribution by Sorola to Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz indicated that there was "the same level of corruption which occurred under now convicted former Cameron County DA Armando Villalobos. After cases are dismissed money is donated to the DA's campaign."
So Sorola made a $500 contribution for a fee that wouldn;t amount to half that much?
Wightman did not tell the State Bar that Montes just happens to be his nephew and that he and a friend were trying to get victims compensation from the Texas Attorney General's Victim's Compensation Unit for the losses that they said Negrete caused when their Harley Davidson motorcycles were damaged.
Montes and a friend were at the Sportsmans Lounge when Negrete was kicked out of the bar after he assaulted a waitress. He was locked out of the bar and then arrested by police. In interviews with police, Montes and his friend said they had not seen Negrete damage their bikes. The friend also told police that he was not drinking in the bar, merely "bullshitting" with friends.
Montes said damage to his Harley was somewhere above $3,000 and his friend told police his bike's damage was about $300.

Wightman's narrative, as he is wont to do, is filled with assumptions of a conspiracy between Nelson, Sorola, and Asst. DA Garza in the case. He alleged that the former court-appointed attorney Letty Barguiarena, withdrew from the case because "she refused to be a party to the fraud" and because "she knew there was no basis for the double jeopardy claim."
There was no such statement from Barguiarena in the grievance filed with the state bar and no indication she would testify to Wightman's claims.
And then, the usual claim by drama queen Wightman, his imagined coup-de-grace: "I know for a fact the DOJ (U.S. Department of Justice) is investigating our current DA on two other bribe claims so I'm copying this State Bar Complaint to the FBI/DOJ."
Ooooh! Signature Wightman. And then he has the unmitigated gall to say he was not behind it? What wagon of green wood do you think our readers came in on?
Sorry, Charlie, said the Texas State Bar. Not good enough for prime time.