Texas Lawyer Keen[e] to Resign After being Criminally Charged with Soliciting a Client for Sex, in Exchange for Legal Services

LIT COMMENTARY

Published; 21 Dec., 2019

Joel Baker was a Texas Judge who was guilty of very similar conduct to sexual deviant and Texas lawyer James Keene. Baker was actually sexting while acting as a disciplinarian for the SCJC. Baker also had his resignation accepted in lieu of discipline and today he’s working as a CRIMINAL ATTORNEY.

This is only one of the many judges and lawyers in the State of Texas we have highlighted in 2019 for their sexual misconduct and/or racial slurs and discrimination.

When the Governor of the State of Texas goes on Social media and tries (but fails miserably) to condone  racial slurs by a sitting judge, he should resign.

Texas needs ethical branches of State and Federal Government in place.

The Justice for Sale documentary from 31 years ago as confirmed at a 2019 Texas Federalist Society meeting highlighted, Texas is corrupt. Sadly, it has not changed. The only way it will change is if the People, the Citizens and concerned ethical politicians, judges and lawyers make change happen.

TX lawyer accused of offering legal services in exchange for sex. Law License taken away.

Published; Dec. 20, 2019

A North Texas attorney has resigned his law license as he awaits his trial on a prostitution charge in Erath County, where he is accused of offering legal services in exchange for sex.

The Texas Supreme Court accepted the resignation of James W. Keene on Dec. 10.

Texas Attorney Keene, 59, of Dallas, had submitted his resignation on Dec. 3, asking to resign his law license, rather than facing discipline. He also had an office in Stephenville.

In his resignation, Keene also said he was experiencing health issues. He did not provide any details.

The Commission for Lawyer Discipline alleged Keene’s conduct violated an attorney rule that a lawyer can’t “commit a serious crime or commit a criminal act that reflects adversely on the lawyer’s honesty,” according to the Texas Lawyer.

Keene was arrested in May 2018, and released a few days later on $200,000 bail.

An Erath County grand jury indicted Keene in April on a charge of criminal attempt-compelling prostitution. The attorney has entered a plea of not guilty to the third-degree felony.

Stephenville Detective Seth Reding wrote an arrest warrant for Keene and the information included the following:

Jane Jal, a pseudonym used by the detective to identify the woman, told authorities that Keene came to her Erath County home on April 23, 2018, to discuss her pending criminal charges.

Jal used her cell phone to record the conversation with Keene.

During their conversation, Keene complained that she had failed to timely pay her legal fees and her bond could be revoked.

Keene then made multiple requests for her to have sexual intercourse with him to help pay her outstanding legal fees, and in order for help to remain as her attorney and bondsman, according to the warrant.

The attorney said he would no longer “put up” with Jal if she did not have sex with him.

In the video and recording, Jal told Keene she was married and did not want to have sex with him.

Jal met with detectives on May 11, 2018, and stated Keene had attempted by threat to compel her to prostitution, according to the warrant.

The detective noted based on his knowledge and encounters with Keene, he believed the voice on the recording was Keene. The detective also noted that Jal calls “James Keene” by name several times in the video.

Meanwhile in #TEXAS : Judges Who Violated State Laws and Denied Citizens and Residents of Texas their Legal Rights and Access to Justice Have their Sanctions Deleted from the TCJC Website #AuditTexas #RESTORETX https://t.co/hItn500Svi pic.twitter.com/KA7WwBuVme

— LawsInTexas (@lawsintexasusa) December 9, 2019

Sex for Legal Services? How a Texas Attorney Lost His Law License

Published; Dec 13, 2019

James Keene of Stephenville resigned his law license this week rather than face attorney discipline over a criminal charge for third-degree felony prostitution. The indictment alleged he told a client, who was behind on her legal bills, that she had to have sex with him or he would stop representing her as an attorney and bondsman.

A North Texas attorney charged with prostitution for allegedly offering his legal services in exchange for sex has resigned his law license.

The Texas Supreme Court accepted James W. Keene’s resignation in lieu of discipline, which has the same legal impact as disbarment.

Keene can’t practice law or hold himself out as a lawyer for five years. Afterward, he’s eligible to reapply for his law license.

The court documents in the resignation said that in April 2018, Keene “did knowingly offer to another person, for the purpose of engaging in sexual conduct with that person, an offer of a benefit being in the form of rendition of professional services.” He was charged on April 4 with prostitution under Texas Penal Code §43.02.

The Commission for Lawyer Discipline alleged that Keene’s conduct violated an attorney disciplinary rule that says a lawyer can’t “commit a serious crime or commit any other criminal act that reflects adversely on the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in other respects.”

Keene submitted a motion to the Supreme Court on Dec. 3, asking to resign his law license, rather than facing discipline.

“In addition, applicant’s health issues preclude him from practicing law,” said the motion.

The Supreme Court deemed the allegations of professional misconduct by Keene established for all purposes, said a Dec. 10 order accepting Keene’s resignation.

LIT; Uncovering the Real Truth about #Texas Law and those elected officials #WeThePeople put into Government;

Judge James Oakley of Burnet County; Roped In Twice and Escapes Again #RESTORETX https://t.co/rgwLaRWCZC pic.twitter.com/HdyAQy39aJ

— LawsInTexas (@lawsintexasusa) November 24, 2019

Mark Daniel, Criminal Defense Attorney for Keene

Criminal case pending

Erath County Jail records show that Keene was booked May 14, 2018, for the offense of attempting or compelling prostitution. He was released May 18, 2018, on a $200,000 bond.

At the time, the Stephenville Empire-Tribune reported that the alleged victim reported to law enforcement that Keene on April 23, 2018, asked her to have sex with him to pay off her outstanding legal fees. She recorded her interaction with Keene, and said she felt threatened by him because he was in a position of power over her. The woman did not want sex with Keene. The paper reported that Keene was arrested at his office on May 14, 2018.

Nearly a year later, this April, a grand jury indicted Keene for criminal attempt—compelling prostitution, a third-degree felony, according to the indictment in Texas v. Keene.

The indictment alleged that he intended to compel prostitution of a woman by threatening to stop her legal representation, and stop acting as her attorney and bondsman if she did not have sex with him.

Keene pleaded not guilty on April 16, court records show. The matter is still pending in Erath County’s 266th District Court, where a senior judge has been assigned to the case.

Keene’s criminal-defense attorney, Mark Daniel, a partner in Evans, Daniel, Moore, Evans, Biggs and Decker in Fort Worth, didn’t immediately return a call or email seeking comment.

Neither did Erath County District Attorney Alan Nash.

The State Bar of Texas profile for Keene said that he earned his law license from the University of Arkansas School of Law in Fayetteville in 1983. He was licensed in Texas in 1984. A telephone number listed on the profile was not operational.