Convicted school district contractor seeks high court audience

More than two years after a Beaumont jury found former Beaumont ISD electrical contractor Calvin Walker guilty of deceptively securing more than a million dollars in taxpayer funding meant for the education of the community’s children, the embattled defendant and his attorneys are still staving off ordered confinement penalty – as well as over $1 million in restitution – with motion after motion in the criminal appeals circuit. Walker has now placed an argument to be heard by the highest criminal court in Texas. The court has yet to rule as to whether the justices will entertain Walker’s plea.

The criminal cases of Texas v Calvin Gary Walker are now eight years past presentation to a Jefferson County grand jury, and a decade past when the alleged offenses occurred.

July 2014, the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office secured six felony indictments against Walker, including four charges of securing a document by deception and two charges of money laundering.

According to the indictments, from December 2008 through September 2009, Walker submitted fraudulent invoices to both BISD and the city of Port Arthur.

“The fraudulent invoices resulted in Walker being compensated for labor, materials and other expenses, which were never incurred concerning his work as a contractor on various projects, including temporary campuses at BISD’s South Park and Regina Howell schools, a softball field at Ozen, and Port Arthur parks,” an announcement from the prosecuting agency detailed.

Walker was given a jury trial in 2019, the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office alleging the defendant secured payment of $1,172,656.92 that he was not entitled to via deceptive tactics utilized to separate the money from Beaumont school district officials charged with being stewards of the education funding. After a lengthy presentation from the prosecution and defense, jury deliberation resulted in a guilty verdict and subsequent sentencing.

Handed down in the punishment phase, Walker was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine on top of $1,172,656.92 in restitution, serve 10 years’ probation in lieu of a 10-year prison sentence, and serve 180 days in jail that can be accomplished by reporting for weekend confinement.

To date, Walker has not fulfilled any of the imposed criminal sentence. Instead, the Ninth Court of Appeals has been fielding a litany of motions, requests for time extensions to file even more motions, and arguments over settled arguments – for two whole years. Feb. 9, the opinion for the three-panel justice board hearing Walker’s appeal upheld the jury verdict – but the appeals process wouldn’t stop there.

In February, Jefferson County First Assistant District Attorney Pat Knauth speculated that the Walker defense team would continue the appeals process, even after roughly a half a dozen rulings in favor of the state’s case at the Ninth Court of Appeals. Knauth speculated then that Walker could file a motion for reconsideration or apply for discretional review by the Court of Criminal Appeals.

“That will take some time,” Knauth said. Knauth added that his office stands ready to fight for justice for the community defrauded by Walker’s criminality. “After learning if the court grants further consideration, we will do what we need to do.

“When that timeline has run, then a mandate will issue. Once that occurs, Walker’s sentence will be issued.”

Knauth said the state will never be able to recoup the man hours and funding that has been used to prosecute this case for almost a decade, but the seasoned prosecutor is satisfied with the $1 million-plus in restitution, $10,000 fine and six months upfront jail time Walker will be required to serve – either all at once, or on the weekends.

“We’re looking forward to him starting his sentence sometime soon,” Knauth said. “He’s been waiting for justice for a long time, and this is long overdue.”

After yet another request for more time to file more motions, Walker attorneys Dick DeGuerin, Colby DuBose and Bryan William Garris filed a petition for review with the Court of Criminal Appeals.

Filed June 27, Walker’s 77-page petition to the court begins with a request to allow oral arguments, “as the issues are complex, and involve not-often-explored areas of the law,” even though, as the document further states, it “involves a continued presentation of specific issues raised before both the trial court and the Ninth Court of Appeals” – issues decided in favor of guilty findings in Walker’s criminal case.

Walker presented nine legal issues on direct appeal, including: his constitutional challenges to the statute and indictment, that the trial court erred in denying his requested jury instructions, that the restitution order was unlawful, that the state presented false and misleading evidence, and that the trial evidence was legally insufficient to support the verdict.

Prosecutors have not filed a rebuttal to the request for discretionary review, and Walker’s request had not been set on the calendar to be heard as of press time. To read the Walker filing in its entirety, visit www.theexaminer.com.