LEAGUE CITY — The case of a former League City mayor and former attorney accused of mishandling clients’ funds is scheduled today for trial.
Leonard Arthur Cruse, 68, was indicted in 2007 on a charge of misapplication of fiduciary responsibility.
The indictment, which was amended in February, states that from Sept. 24, 2003, to July 29, 2004, Cruse intentionally, knowingly or recklessly misappropriated $20,000 to $100,000 at a substantial risk of loss to Deborah Tressider, Lorenza McCoy and Stewart Smith.
State law requires private-practice lawyers to maintain accounts where litigation proceeds are deposited. Funds in those accounts are used to pay attorneys and clients.
For a June 28, 2007, story in The Daily News, Galveston County First Assistant District Attorney Joel Bennett said it appeared Cruse “treated client funds in a way that’s contrary to how he should have been treating them.”
Cruse’s attorney Greg Russell countered that the clients were paid in full.
Cruse was jailed July 9, 2007, and released on $15,000 bond. Cruse, who served a term as mayor in the 1970s, was disbarred in 2005.
The case is expected to begin at 9 a.m. today in Galveston’s 56th District Court. Lonnie Cox and most other judges know Cruse personally, so visiting Judge David Walker from Lufkin is expected to preside. Walker is a retired judge from the 159th District Court in Angelina County.
