Roy Moore’s Slip and Fall Lawyer Trent Garmon Was Disciplined for Ambulance Chasing

Even without the molestation charges and the overall skeevy “dating” behavior by Roy Moore, I might be loath to support him just based on what hiring Trent Garmon as his lawyer says about his judgement. You would think that a Chief Justice of a state Supreme Court would be able to find better counsel than a literal slip and fall lawyer with a shady past.

Somehow he got the gig of defending  Chief Justice and U.S. Senate Candidate Roy Moore against 40 year old allegations of sexual misconduct when his legal experience is primarily chasing ambulances. His bizarre appearances on television and the incoherent warning he wrote to the Washington Post have been marveled at with morbid fascination across the blogosphere. It makes me wonder if Garmon himself doesn’t have some sort of dirt on Moore that he’s leveraging to get some national exposure. Something weird is going on because by all appearances this guy is Lionel Hutz.

To be fair, he’s not a defamation lawyer https://t.co/nGPJYCW7pz pic.twitter.com/TX5ILLGoC7

— Jacob Gershman (@jacobgershman) November 15, 2017

Garmon appears to have used intentional deception to obtain personal injury clients and has used the excuse that as a minister he was reaching out to families suffering injuries and wrongful deaths in order to “minister” to them. (Oh and hey by the way I’m also a lawer so you are in luck.) Garmon filed an appeal in response to the ambulance chasing sanctions, claiming that he was not allowed to bring character witnesses.

In its “order and Judgment” issued on December 21,2012,  the Disciplinary Hearing Officer provided a succinct summation of the facts of this case:

“On September 2, 2011, Brandon and Christie Gentry’s 13 year old son Austin Gentry was riding as a passenger in an automobile, and was killed in a collision.  Within one or two days following the funeral services for Austin Gentry, which were held on September 4, 2011, Trenton Garmon called the Gentry home and spoke to Brandon Gentry.  Mr. Garmon had no previous contact or relationship with the Gentrys; he had not known them or represented them, was not kin to them, and, in fact, did not know anyone who did have contact with or a kinship to the Gentrys.  Mr. Garmon had seen a newspaper report of the death of Austin Gentry, and identified himself to Brandon Gentry as “a pastor and an attorney.”  Mr. Garmon attempted to establish a connection to the Gentrys by claiming a separate relationship with a Phillip Gentry, asserted by Mr. Garmon to be a cousin.  Phillip Gentry was in fact not a cousin of Brandon or Christie Gentry, but was a name given to Mr. Garmon by Freddie Kitchens, who performed various Services associated with Mr. Garmon’s law practice.  The Gentrys did not know either Phillip Gentry or Freddie Kitchens, nor have any connection to either of them.  Brandon gentry testified that he was certain that Mr. Garmon identified himself as both a pastor and an attorney, and that Mr. Garmon stated that he would like to meet with the Gentrys to discuss their legal rights.

Brandon Gentry further testified that Mr. Garmon followed up with a subsequent call, and then Mr. Garmon called a third time, on which occasion he spoke with Christie Gentry.  Mrs. Gentry was indignant about the calls, and was clear that Mr. Garmon again used the reference to the alleged cousin and to Mr. Kitchens to gain access to the Gentrys, and stated to Mrs. Gentry that he had talked to her husband about their legal issues and would like to set up a meeting at which he could come to see them, or would meet with them in his office.  Mrs. Gentry advised respondent that she was related through marriage to the District Attorney of Marshall County, and that she would report the matter to him.  While there are other details of the conversation that were disputed by the respondent, including his denial that he identified himself as an attorney, Mr. Garmon acknowledges making the initial call to Brandon Gentry and the subsequent call to Christie Gentry, although he did not recall the intervening contact with Mr. Gentry.  Mr. Garmon testified that he did not call to solicit employment for monetary gain, but was reaching out to act as a referral to a local evangelist named Rick Burgess.

Christie Gentry testified that respondent Garmon made no effort to inquire about the need for counseling, her church affiliations or the Gentrys’ spiritual resources. Mrs. Gentry testified that she resented the calls, and that it was clear that Mr. Garmon was “trying to make money” off of their family tragedy, and that his conduct was cruel and despicable.

The Panel heard all of the witnesses, and has weighed their credibility and finds the facts as testified to by the Gentrys to be true and accurate. . .”

The nature of the allegations about Moore are obviously very serious and troubling but the players on Team Moore and their stories are getting weird.

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