March 26, 2003

Office of Chief Disciplinary
La Costa Center
6300 La Calma Dr., Ste. 300
Austin, Texas 78752

 Re:    Robert J. Killeen, Jr. – Bar No. 1407000 

            Robert L. Negrin --       Bar No. 14865550

To Whom It May Concern: 

            The undersigned, Harry and Dottie Harrison, are filing charges for fraud and/or forgery against Robert J. Killeen, Jr. and Robert L. Negrin of Killeen & Wheat, 8 Greenway Plaza, Suite 614, Houston, Texas 77046. 

            Mr. Killeen is lead counsel in a civil suit against the Harrisons, cause no. 2002-36525 in the 133rd Judicial District, Harris County, Texas. Mr. Negrin assists Mr. Killeen. 

            In depositions on February 12, 2003, Mr. Harrison signed a “Consent to Release Patient Information” form at the request of attorney Robert J. Killeen, Jr.  (Exhibit A.)  As shown on Exhibit A, Mr. Harrison wrote in the names of three doctors to which the authorization applied:

            (a)   Dr. McClendon     (b)   Dr. Vanik       (c)   Dr. Conlon 

            Attached as Exhibit B are excerpts of Mr. Harrison’s deposition of February 12, 2003, in which Mr. Harrison says (regarding the consent form): “Now for the record, I would like to understand that, as I understand it, this would be a consent to approach Dr. Vanik and Dr. Conlon and Dr. McClendon; is that correct?”  Mr. Killeen replies:  “That is correct.” (This commentary begins on page 38 of the deposition, line 23 and goes on through line 4, page 39 of the deposition. (Mr. Killeen also says he is keeping the original – line 11, page 39.) 

            Verifying the form that Mr. Harrison signed, attached as Exhibit C is the affidavit of Terri L. Johnstone, who was the court reporter at Mr. Harrison’s deposition. In her affidavit, Ms. Johnstone verifies that the consent form signed by Mr. Harrison during deposition bore the names of the three doctors mentioned above and that the form also had Ms. Johnstone’s handwritten number “15” in the lower right-hand corner.

On February 14, 2003, Mr. Killeen decided he wanted information about Mr. Harrison from a fourth person, Damian Duplechain, who is a  therapist.  

Instead of attempting to obtain authorization from Mr. Harrison by lawful means, Mr. Killeen and/or Mr. Negrin whited out the names of the three doctors on the form Mr. Harrison signed, thus fraudulently turning it into a carte blanche authorization to release medical information on Mr. Harrison.

            The attorneys sent the request to Damian Duplechain with the (fraudulent document attached) on February 14, 2003. (Exhibit D.) The cover letter to Mr. Duplechain is signed by Robert L. Negrin.

            Under the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure, the attorneys had to send a copy of their request to Mr. Duplechain to us. We suppose they thought we wouldn’t notice the fraudulently altered form.

            Compare the consent form attached to attorneys’ request to the form attached to Ms. Johnstone’s affidavit. Both copies bear the identical number “15” handwritten by Ms. Johnstone in the lower right-hand corner. On the form altered by the attorneys, you can see that the lines at the top of the page are slightly crooked and thinner in places where the attorneys tried to repair the lines after whiting out the names of the doctors in order to turn the form into a carte blanche authorization. 

            We contacted Mr. Duplechain and explained the situation to him. Courtesy of Mr. Duplechain, we are in possession of the unopened envelope mailed to him by the attorneys. The envelope will contain what is included here as Exhibit D. We don’t want to turn that in until there is a notary present to swear to the evidence and the contents, such as within the police department.           

The Harrisons believe this criminal act by Robert J. Killeen, Jr. and/or Robert L. Negrin is prosecutable under the Texas Penal Code, Chapter 15.01 (Criminal Attempt), and/or Chapter 32.21 (Forgery), and/or Chapter 32.22 (Criminal Simulation) and/or  Chapter 32.47 (Fraudulent Destruction, Removal, or Concealment of Writing and/or Chapter 32.48 (Simulating Legal Process) and/or Chapter 37.03 (Aggravated Purjury) and/or Chapter 37.04 (Materiality), and perhaps violation of other statutes as well. 

For anyone to commit a forgery like this is a serious matter. But this act by an attorney is even worse. Attorneys are officers of the court. And even more serious is the fraudulent altering of a consent to release medical information.

Under the Rules of Ethics for Lawyers and under Chapter 82.062 of the Government Code (Attorney Conduct), and whatever other statutes or codes may be applicable, we are asking for the disbarment of Robert J. Killeen, Jr. and Robert L. Negrin. 

§ 82.062. Disbarment (Government Code) 

Any attorney who is guilty of barratry, any fraudulent or dishonorable conduct, or malpractice may be suspended from practice, or the attorney's license may be revoked, by a district court of the county in which the attorney resides or in which the act complained of occurred. An attorney may be suspended from practice or the attorney's license may be revoked under this section regardless of the fact that the act complained of may be an offense under the Penal Code and regardless of whether the attorney is being prosecuted for or has been convicted of the offense. 

Sincerely, 

Harry A. Harrison                                                          Dottie Harrison

            P.S.      On February 2, 2003, I wrote a letter of complaint to the State Bar in Houston regarding unethical conduct by Mr. Killeen. They refused to take any action. This latest act by Mr. Killeen, and also Mr. Negrin now, cannot be ignored.

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