"To call on a judge to change his opinion, well, I'm not a lawyer, but that's bad," says Blakemore. "You're not supposed to do that. People have alleged that that's a criminal violation."
Bettencourt says the effort was ill-conceived. "If you don't like what somebody has done, express your opinion. But under no circumstances should anybody be lobbying people to reverse their opinions while the case is active."
Troy Fields
Polland finally got the podium - but not the spotlight - at the state GOP confab.
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However, all Republican judges don't seem to merit the same ideological scrutiny from Polland. The chairman in the past denounced President Clinton as a "murderer" for his stance opposing a ban on partial birth abortion. The GOP party platform also adheres to a strict right-to-life position on abortion, excluding the three exceptions accepted by moderates: rape, incest and endangerment of the life of the mother.
But Polland doesn't mention that his brother-in-law, appellate Justice Murry Cohen, whom he talked into switching parties last year, is married to Meryl Cohen, a prominent Planned Parenthood official. Justice Cohen has attended Planned Parenthood events in the past, and agency officials who've met him do not recall him espousing a right-to-life position. (Neither Cohen nor his wife returned Press inquiries concerning his stance on abortion.)
"The rumor is he told Murry that if he didn't change, someone would run against him, and he wouldn't do anything to protect him," says Carolyn Garcia, "even though he probably thinks Murry is a very fine appellate judge, as a lot of people do. I'm just opposed to judges changing parties for political purposes, only to get ahead. 'Cause I think that communicates to the general public that there's something political about being a judge."
(Polland denies promising political protection to Cohen on the abortion issue, and claims his brother-in-law has not indicated to him that he embraces the pro-life position of his GOP platform.)
Garcia had the option to switch parties in 1998, but stayed a Democrat and lost to GOP challenger Caroline Baker.
After Cohen made the jump to the GOP, Polland made sure he would have little trouble in the primary with right-to-lifers. His handpicked envoy to the religious conservative wing of the party, Hutson, went to work for Cohen. Only one marginal candidate filed against the judge, and was later disqualified from the primary ballot, leaving Cohen unopposed in the Match primary.
In this case, blood is apparently thicker than Gary's political rhetoric.
While opinions vary on the merits of his frenetic activities since he won the chairmanship, one thing most everyone does agree on is that being chairman has been very, very good for Polland's law business.
His criminal lawyer credentials couldn't get him elected as a GOP nominee for even misdemeanor court judge, but it hasn't stopped him from becoming the driving force in the local judicial scene. Of course, his role in the defense bar is not one of his talking points at GOP political events, where the phrase "defense lawyer" is an epithet, not a compliment.
"I think he does it because he likes the stroke," says fellow attorney Jones. "I think he likes getting the appointments because he recognizes they're doing it because he's a player, a political guy, the chairman."
Attorney Doherty recalls both the old and the new Gary Polland. Fresh out of UT law school, Polland worked in Doherty's La Branch mansion-turned-legal-office in the late '70s and early '80s.
"This was a hotbed of liberalism -- not some stodgy insurance company defense firm," laughs the malpractice specialist, who doesn't recall Polland as a standout in the crowd. "No, he was not a Young American for Freedom-type thumper stumper. You wanted to find a conservative back then, go look for suspenders, wingtips and high-water pants at Baker Botts or Butler Binion. We put on a coat and tie only when and if necessary."
In 1998 Doherty encountered the new Gary Polland in an unexpected venue. Doherty was representing attorney Mike Sydow in a fee dispute with another lawyer. He thought it odd when the opponent hired Scott McKinley, an attorney in Polland's firm.
Doherty explains that the case law involving "an esoteric area like division of fees within a law firm" is a highly complex and specialized field of civil law. "I wouldn't go hire a criminal defense lawyer [for that]. So why did they hire him?"
Doherty says he got the drift of what was going on when Polland showed up and stayed in the courtroom schmoozing with state District Judge Mark Davidson while he and McKinley worked on discovery issues in a back room. From then on, claims Doherty, the judge's rulings all ran in Polland's direction.
"I got a lot of respect for Judge Davidson, but that's not fair," says Doherty. "It was overt and unseemly. The last guy that was more heavy-handed than Polland in bragging about his judicial influence was George Bishop, and look where he is. Uh-huh."
Bishop, a Republican Party activist and the husband of District Judge Caprice Cosper, recently went to prison on his conviction of tax fraud.
"Did he peddle influence?" asks Doherty of Polland's maneuver. "Yes, he peddles influence. Is he heavy-handed about it? Yes, he's heavy-handed about it."
