Asides

Gene Roberts Interviews the Billion Dollar Bearkat, Brad Ertl

Jessica Cuevas, 09/05/2023

Unlike a typical Tuesday afternoon, the LEAP Ambassadors had the opportunity to attend a virtual event hosted by Sam Houston’s Student Legal Mediation Service (SLMS) Director, Dr. Gene Roberts, featuring Bradley (Brad) Ertl who would be discussing a recent multi-billion dollar ‘revenge porn’ case in Harris County. Brad Ertl is a Sam Houston Alum who, during his tenure at SHSU, received the student Sammy Award. He received his JD from South Texas College of Law and is currently an attorney at Gilde Law Firm, PLLC.

Ertl and his firm took the case of Mark West Jamall Jackson v Jane Doe not for the money but to send a message to the world that the sharing of invasive visual recordings or ‘revenge porn,’ as we colloquially know it as, is not okay. This is what they intended to do from the start, and they were successful in it despite the defendant never appearing in court or having had responded to being served.

In 2012, Mark West Jamall Jackson and Jane Doe met at the wedding of their best friends: he was his best friend’s best man and Jane was her best friend’s maid of honor. They became good friends and kept in contact after the wedding, but it was not until Jane’s father became terminally ill that she began to confide more in Mark and grew closer to him. This led to the start of their relationship in 2016. Soon after Mark was offered a job in Chicago and he asked Jane if she would move with him, which she happily agreed to since their relationship was going well.

The first couple of years were great until Mark lost his job in 2019 and became verbally abusive towards Jane who was currently excelling in her career as an educator. There was testimony to prove that he was a womanizer and could not have any woman be smarter or better than him. Even when things got pretty bad between the two, Jane went to see her mom and believed that she and Mark were going through a rough patch, just like everyone else in their life, she believed this was a ‘forever relationship.’ However, things only went downhill from here when Mark began to share and threaten Jane with nonconsensual sharing of a nonconsensual recording of intimate behavior between the two through all social media, internet websites, emails to her co-workers, etc. Ultimately, after telling their story the jury delivered their verdict within 30 minutes of delivering and favored Jane Doe by $1.2 billion. Although it may seem like a lot, this case was not about the money and no amount of money will ever repair the hardships and emotional toll that she had to endure during the past years.

After providing us with a couple of details of the case but was careful not to share too much, as this case is ongoing and the final judgment is still pending, Ertl broke down the case and explained the legal aspects of the case for the pre-law students: how to choose a jury, how to prepare for a case or determine causes of action, how to continue a case when the defendant evades being served, what the expectations were as he and his colleagues eagerly waited for the final judgment to be delivered by the judge, and how to deal with a case that is emotionally heavy.

To end the evening, Ertl was asked to give pre-law students some advice and he highlighted three things: (1) be present, (2) have and maintain good grades, and (3) go with your gut and tell your story. The latter of which really stood out to me because it was different from what we normally hear but it was a great piece of advice, nonetheless. Intuition is crucial in the legal field as you want to trust gut feelings when having to decide who you want to represent and the best way to defend them to create your reputation. However, at Gilde Law Firm, PLLC. they do focus groups to help guide them in what evidence present to a jury and how to present it as they prepare for a trial.

Thank you, Dr. Gene Roberts…

…for hosting Brad Ertl, and thank you Mr. Ertl for taking the time to discuss this case with Sam Houston State University students and faculty! If you are interested in reading more about the case search Ertl’s name and news articles will come up about this multi-billion-dollar case.

SHSU’s Lowman Student Center at 60

Named for SHSU President Harman Lowman, the Lowman Student Center has been at campus center since 1963. LSC staff made the most of this anniversary, inviting all students, past and present, to attend a celebration, share memories, and join in food, fun, and games.

The event was a joint venture of the LSC staff and the Alumni Association, with Anna Pursley (LSC) and Donna Gilbert (AA) doing the heavy lifting. But volunteers from numerous student organizations, including LEAP (we manned the Photo Booth), were on hand to help.

Chris and Debbie Tritico were there, as were Frank and Mary Thornton. Toni Bruner attended; so did Ruth Lynn Parker and Paula Armstrong. Shannon Higbie was there, too.

Derrick Birdsall was on hand, and Frank Parker, looking like retirement agreed with him, enjoyed the festivities.

Many students were there, too, hovering near the food line.

A few played games. Others listened to the music, which was a generational mix, with songs from the 60s to more recent times. Interestingly, two of the last songs played dealt with rain, and they came just as Huntsville ended what has seemed like a summer-long rain drought!

We had a wonderful opportunity to meet University staff such Donna Gilbert and Joellen Tipton, renew acquaintances with alumni, and even make some new friends!

Many thanks to the LSC and Alumni Association for putting this event on, bringing current and former students to mingle, and for the work they put into making SHSU a wonderful place to go to school.

Sleuthing from the Cheap Seats: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

It was a sunny and bright day, but murder was in the air. We were at the Alley Theatre, and its cast was performing Agatha Christie’s “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd.”

It was a nice mix of people, LEAP Ambassadors, LEAP alumni, and “friends of LEAP” together for an enjoyable afternoon. With lunch at Post Houston, a new favorite recommended by LEAP alum Will Phillips, we caught up, talked about classes, and explored food from multiple continents.

But we had come to Houston for the play, and it was something of a process to actually see the play. Many of us had read the book, with at least half of us stopping before the end so as to not spoil the “whodunit” aspect of the performance. In July, we attended a Murder by the Book presentation by Mark Shanahan, the play’s director, a presentation that left us even more excited.

Unfortunately, when we drove to our scheduled performance, the Alley had to cancel the showing because a cast member wasn’t available!

So, with more than a month of anticipation and at least one false start, we were more than usually ready for the play to begin.

And it did not disappoint. It was expertly adapted to the stage by Shanahan, with clever techniques of compressing time and space.

It was humorous, with a wonderful cast that included two SHSU alums (Dylan Godwin and Melissa Pritchett)!

During intermission, we speculated as to who the culprit might be. Victoria couldn’t identify a key suspect; Nick, with all the creativity he could muster, thought “the butler did it;” and Katherine thought that the house staff conspired together to kill their employer, Roger Ackroyd. (If I were Katherine’s employer, I’d lock the doors at night.) Morgan, whose literary tastes lean toward bodice-ripping romance, had trouble keeping up with the characters and the narrative. She nodded a lot as we discussed things.

The second act was delightful, with more humor and variation in pacing. The plot, as they say, thickened, ending with all the cast gathered together to identify the murderer. We will, of course, stop there, and engage in no spoilers. But it surprised all of us–with the exception of Olivia, who, when it was over said, “I knew it all along” to an incredulous group and an ever-nodding Morgan.

Kudos to the cast of the Alley, the timeless appeal of Hercule Poirot, and the camaraderie of LEAP students, present and past.

Around the Town with KSAM

Ashlyn Parker

Once a semester, KSAM’s Larry Crippen hosts the LEAP Center for a discussion that airs on “Around Town.” The program focuses on one person or organization, but since LEAP is an engagement organization, the program inevitably covers many aspects of the University and the community.

And so it was the LEAP Ambassadors, along with their advisor Mike Yawn, that met with Larry Crippen at the KSAM radio station for a short discussion of the upcoming fall semester. For example visits from Jeff Guinn to discuss his book Waco: David Koresh, the Branch Davidians, and a Legacy of Rage and Chris Tritico to discuss his successful law career .

Along with annual community service projects LEAP always enjoys being a part of such as M*A*S*H, Scare on the Square, and Christmas on the Square.

We also shouted out our past, recent, and current internships we have got the opportunity to do over the last year such as the Sam Houston Austin Internship Program, my summer internship with The Normandy group in DC, and the City of Huntsville Internship Program.

It was one of several collaborations with the media this year–undertaken by us and our advisor. And while we may never get accustomed to speaking into a microphone or camera, it was an enjoyable event, in part because we also work with KSAM every fall on their Make A Smile Happen gift drive