El Paso Court of Appeals halts trial — for now

Update: At press time yesterday the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in El Paso granted a stay in the Brite Ranch trial on a motion by Jim and Cuatro White for a writ of mandamus to clarifiy with legal certainty the parties — including adopted son Geoff Connor — that were set to head to trial on August. 18. The ruling states that parties have until August 29 to address the petition for the writ. Updates on the decision are included below.

PRESIDIO COUNTY — On July 15, attorneys for Mac White — a plaintiff in the Brite Ranch trial — filed a motion for the judge to impose a gag order prohibiting any of the parties from discussing the case with reporters or releasing any information to the media. Within two weeks they pulled the motion after the defendants claimed a right to free speech. 

The battle over the historic ranch in southwest Presidio County between siblings Mac, Jim White (and formerly the late Beau White) and their children had been inching forward to an August 18 retrial with several substantive motions in the case still not being heard in court or receiving rulings. The trial date likely will be changed now that an appeals court granted a stay in a motion from Jim and Cuatro.

Attorneys for Mac stated in their motion that the intent of a gag order would be to stop Jim White, Cuatro White, Raphael White Woodward and their attorneys from providing information to The Big Bend Sentinel.

“As described herein, Defendant and Intervenors’ [Jim, Cuatro and Raphael] have engaged in continual warfare against Plaintiffs [Mac, formerly the late Beau, and Geoff] through selective use of The Big Bend Sentinel to assist in the publication of articles prejudicial to Plaintiffs. … these articles threaten to poison the Presidio County Jury Pool — through no fault of Plaintiffs.”

The original lawsuit, which began in 2018, had Mac and Beau White suing Jim for breach of fiduciary responsibilities for the Jane White Trust. That trust and four individual trusts for her children — Jim, Mac, Beau and sister Hester Ann — form the ownership of the 65,000-acre ranch valued at more than $60 million. Jim claimed that Mac and Beau were intent on selling the ranch, while he wanted to preserve it. Mac and Beau alleged Jim was concentrating too much on cattle ranching instead of more profitable pursuits to give them bigger distributions from the trust. A summer 2023 jury agreed and stripped Jim from managing the trust and ranch, but an appeals court voided that ruling in December. Since then, the parties have been involved in ongoing legal battles with dozens of motions filed and have failed at several mediation attempts, setting up the new August trial.

Jim’s son Cuatro was originally an “intervenor” in the case (along with his sister Raphael and two of their other siblings), but has since been named by the plaintiffs as a defendant — a “co-conspirator” in the breach of trust with his father Jim. For more background, you can read all 13 Sentinel stories on the case at bigbendsentinel.com/brite.

The Sentinel has been the target of back and forth allegations this spring that ended up in court hearings. Cuatro, in his motion to change the trial venue to another county, noted extensive newspaper coverage that his petition claimed would make an impartial trial impossible in Presidio County — since potential jurors would know a considerable amount about the lawsuit and accusations made by parties. “The Big Bend Sentinel, a local Marfa, Texas newspaper has published and circulated widely in that County numerous stories on this litigation … Presidio County’s very small population with the family’s prominence and public office in the County and the numerous news stories that have been published and circulated, it is impossible that an impartial trial can be held that is fair to all Parties,” the motion stated.

Plaintiff lawyers rejected that notion by arguing The Sentinel’s coverage was balanced and would not prejudice a jury. (The judge ruled against a venue change.) Last week, those same attorneys changed their tune. “Defendants and their attorneys have been utilizing The Big Bend Sentinel for their own purposes since immediately following the 2023 trial,” the motion for a gag order stated.

In defense of the attorneys’ flip flop, they had a new concern — as stated in their motion — one document The Sentinel reported on, which included Geoff Connor making his first appearance as a plaintiff party on a request for discovery to Jim Cuatro and Raphael. “Discovery requests are not public documents and Plaintiffs’ discovery request was not filed with the court so a party to the lawsuit must have provided a copy to The Big Bend Sentinel,” the motion stated. (The Sentinel does not reveal sources that ask to remain confidential, and that confidentiality is protected in most respects by state “shield” laws.)

On July 24, Cuatro’s attorneys fired back at the gag order and filed a Texas Citizens Participation Act (TCPA) motion to “stay” the trial — in other words, suspending all discovery and depositions until 394 District Court Judge Tryon Lewis ruled on the motion to fight the gag order. TCPA filings protect Texans from Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) suits, attempts to intimidate citizens when they are using their constitutionally-protected First Amendment rights to speak out on issues. In the TCPA motion, Cuatro called the attempted gag order unconstitutional, a violation of his free speech rights and rights to petition. It’s unclear why, but the plaintiffs have since pulled the motion for a gag order but pleaded that discovery should continue in the case without a stay suspending it. It’s uncertain if any steps will be taken on that request, since the next scheduled hearing on motions is August 5, and August 1 is the deadline for discovery.

A new role for Geoff Connor?

This week, Judge Lewis denied a motion from Jim and Cuatro to void the designation of Geoff Connor as the successor trustee to the Beau White Trust, after Beau died on June 23. However, the finality of that decision is unclear after the El Paso 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that the parties should act on a petition for writ of mandamus filed by Jim and Cuatro objecting to Connor as a successor. 

Mac and Beau both had adopted Connor — a then 59-year-old former Texas secretary of state who was a good friend of Beau and his wife Kathleen — in 2022. Cuatro and Raphael have called it a “sham adoption” intended to dilute the inheritance of other heirs and as a means to have leverage over them in trial negotiations. When Beau died, attorneys in Bastrop immediately made Connor temporary executor of Beau’s estate. They also got a ruling from a Bastrop County District Court judge that had been prepared before Beau’s death ultimately making Connor Beau’s successor trustee — a modification of the trust in court that wasn’t known about by Jim, Cuatro, Raphael and possibly no other members of the family. Jim and Cuatro argued in court that the trust’s original documents would make their sister Hester Ann White successor trustee, not Connor, and that the modification of the trust should also be voided because all parties in the lawsuit and trustees were not notified of the pleading.

To confuse matters more, the approved modification in Bastrop actually named Mac as Beau’s first successor trustee. But it’s unclear if Mac was even aware of that ruling. In a hearing last week, Mac’s attorney said that regardless of Mac’s knowledge or involvement in the modification, he had indicated he had no desire to serve as Beau’s successor trustee, and thus Connor had standing to serve in that role. Judge Lewis told the attorneys to submit a filing from Mac affirming he is refusing the role.

For now, at least, Connor is a new plaintiff in the lawsuit headed to trial. Hearings on additional motions still pending will be heard on August 5.