Rusty Hardin | |
---|---|
Born | Russell Hardin Jr. October 6, 1941 Durham, North Carolina, U.S. |
Education | |
Occupation | Lawyer |
Russell "Rusty" Hardin Jr. (born October 6, 1941) is an American attorney [1] [2] and head of the Houston law firm Rusty Hardin & Associates, P.C. which he established in 1996.
Hardin attended a private military academy in Chattanooga, Tennessee, called Baylor School (now a coed, independent day and boarding school). He graduated in 1960 and was influenced by one of his teachers at Baylor, Stan Lewis, to attend Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. Hardin is a 1965 graduate of Wesleyan and went on to earn his J.D. degree in 1975 at Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law in Dallas, Texas.
During the Enron scandal, Hardin represented the accounting firm of Arthur Andersen. [3] His efforts resulted in the US Supreme Court unanimously overturning the firm's conviction of obstruction of justice in 2005.
Hardin has represented and won favorable verdicts for athletes such as Rudy Tomjanovich, [4] Warren Moon, [5] Wade Boggs, [6] Rafer Alston, [7] Scottie Pippen, [8] Steve Francis, [9] and Calvin Murphy. [10] Another former client is Roger Clemens, [1] who had been embroiled in accusations of having perjured himself before Congress over alleged steroid use. Clemens was acquitted on June 18, 2012, on all charges that he obstructed justice and lied to Congress when he denied using performance-enhancing drugs as a Major League Baseball pitcher. [11] Other clients include Michael Bennett [12] of the New England Patriots; Deshaun Watson formerly of the Houston Texans and currently of the Cleveland Browns; Adrian Peterson, accused of child abuse; [13] and NASCAR driver Kurt Busch, who was accused of domestic abuse against his former girlfriend. [14] [15]
Hardin successfully represented Victoria Osteen, wife of TV evangelist and bestselling author Joel Osteen, in a civil lawsuit filed by a Continental Airlines flight attendant. The flight attendant claimed that she had been pushed by Osteen, and sought civil damages, but a Houston, TX jury acquitted her in 2008. [16] Hardin also won a favorable verdict for his client the estate of Texas millionaire J. Howard Marshall. A jury found that the estate owed nothing to Marshall's widow, former Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith, who married Marshall when he was 89 years old. [1]
Hardin represented the family of Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs, who died on July 1, 2019. [17]
In early June 2023, the Texas House committee investigating Texas attorney general Ken Paxton announced the hiring of Hardin and fellow high-profile attorney Dick DeGuerin as impeachment prosecutors. [18] [19]
Andrea Pia Yates is an American woman from Houston, Texas, who confessed to drowning her five children in their bathtub on June 20, 2001. The case of Yates—who had exhibited severe postpartum depression, postpartum psychosis, and schizophrenia leading up to the murders—placed the M'Naghten rules, along with the irresistible impulse test for sanity, under close public scrutiny in the United States.
James Edward Ferguson Jr., known as Pa Ferguson, was an American Democratic politician and the 26th governor of Texas, in office from 1915 to 1917. He was indicted and impeached during his second term, forced to resign and barred from holding further Texas office.
Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States, was impeached by the United States House of Representatives of the 105th United States Congress on December 19, 1998, for "high crimes and misdemeanors". The House adopted two articles of impeachment against Clinton, with the specific charges against Clinton being lying under oath and obstruction of justice. Two other articles had been considered but were rejected by the House vote.
Dick DeGuerin is an American criminal defense attorney based in Houston, most notable for defending Tom DeLay, Allen Stanford, David Koresh and Robert Durst. In 1994, DeGuerin was named Outstanding Criminal Defense Lawyer of the Year by the State Bar of Texas Criminal Justice Section.
Victoria Osteen is an American author and the co-pastor of Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. She is the wife of Joel Osteen and the daughter-in-law of John Osteen.
Abuse of power or abuse of authority, in the form of "malfeasance in office" or "official abuse of power", is the commission of an unlawful act, done in an official capacity, which affects the performance of official duties. Malfeasance in office is often a just cause for removal of an elected official by statute or recall election. Officials who abuse their power are often corrupt.
Samuel B. Kent is a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, whose term ended in resignation in 2009 following charges of sexual abuse.
Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr. is a far-right American politician and lawyer in Texas.
Susan Lucille Wright is an American convicted murderer from Houston, Texas, who made headlines in 2003 for stabbing her husband, Jeff Wright, 193 times in an act of mariticide and then burying his body in their backyard. She was convicted of murder in 2004, and was given a 20-year sentence at the Crain Unit in Gatesville, Texas. She was denied parole on June 12, 2014, and July 24, 2017. She was granted parole in July 2020 and released from prison on December 30, 2020.
Anthony Glenn Buzbee is an American lawyer and politician. In 2019, Buzbee ran for mayor of Houston, Texas, but lost to incumbent Sylvester Turner.
Cecil Ivan Bell Jr. is a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 3, which encompasses Waller County and a portion of populous Montgomery County in Southeast Texas.
Rosemary Lehmberg is a former District Attorney of Travis County, which includes the capital city of Austin, Texas. She began working in the District Attorney's office in 1976. She headed many Divisions of the DA's office, establishing the Travis County Children's Advocacy Center, and was called "The Best Lawyer for Children's Issues" by The Austin Chronicle. In 2009, she became the first female District Attorney in Travis County. Lehmberg served eight years as Travis County’s district attorney before retiring in January 2017.
Jason Richard Ravnsborg is an American attorney and politician. A Republican, he served as Attorney General of South Dakota from 2019 until his removal in 2022. Ravnsborg ran for the U.S. Senate in 2014, losing in the Republican primary to former Governor Mike Rounds, who won the general election.
Angela Suzanne Paxton is an American politician from the state of Texas. A member of the Republican Party, she has represented District 8 in the Texas Senate since 2019.
Candace Thweatt Noble is a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 89, which encompasses all or parts of Allen, Copeville, Fairview, Lavon, Lowry Crossing, Lucas, Murphy, Nevada, Parker, Plano, Sachse, St Paul, and Wylie in Collin County.
The 2022 Texas Attorney General election took place on November 8, 2022 to elect the Attorney General of Texas. Incumbent Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton won re-election to his third term. Paxton won all but 21 counties and won the popular vote by a margin of 9.7%, underperforming Governor Greg Abbott's concurrent bid for re-election by 1.1%.
Annette Elizabeth Johnson is an American attorney and politician. She has represented the 134th District in the Texas House of Representatives since 2021. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Johnson is also an adjunct professor of law at South Texas College of Law Houston.
Andrew Stevenson Murr is an American attorney, rancher and politician serving as a member of the Texas House of Representatives from the 53rd district. Elected in 2014, he assumed office in 2015. His maternal grandfather was Coke Stevenson, the 35th Governor of Texas.
Brent Webster is an American lawyer serving as the first assistant attorney general of Texas since 2020. In May 2023, he performed the duties of state attorney general for three days following Ken Paxton's impeachment and suspension from office.
Natin "Nate" Paul is an American real estate developer, who founded the real estate firm World Class Capital Group. Paul is at the center of the abuse-of-office complaints that ultimately led to the 2023 impeachment and suspension of Attorney General of Texas Ken Paxton: 6 of the 20 articles of impeachment against Paxton in 2023 mention Paul by name.