Morgan and his former wife divorced in 2008 – a heated battle that would grow to absorb other parties and spawn new litigation, consuming the courts for years to come.
At some point, Morgan faced a criminal charge of making a false report to police. A court at law judge entered an order against disclosure of the case record.
In December 2014, the judge amended the order to apply specifically to certain persons, including Sheryl Johnson-Todd, the attorney who represented Morgan’s ex-wife.
Morgan sued Johnson-Todd, alleging she violated the order and defamed him. And while the Ninth Court of Appeals remanded the defamation suit for dismissal in October 2015, the case did not immediately end.
Court records show Johnson-Todd hit Morgan with a legal action, seeking to sanction him for filing groundless, frivolous pleadings.
On April 21, the trial court orally denied a Morgan motion to dismiss Johnson-Todd’s action, prompting him to file an appeal seeking a stay.
Finding they had no jurisdiction, Ninth Court justices dismissed the appeal on April 28, court records show.
That same day, the trial court dismissed all of Morgan’s claims against Johnson-Todd and awarded her $40,000 in attorney’s fees, in addition to sanctioning Morgan $25,000 to deter him from filing similar actions in the future.
Johnson-Todd is represented by Jeffrey Dorrell and Matthew Hansel, attorneys for the Houston law firm Hanszen LaPorte.
Jefferson County Court at Law No. 1 case No. 128,841
Ninth Court case No. 09-17-00134-CV