Official report to the House of Representatives of the 58th Legislature of Texas Page: 77 of 94

Q. And describe the length of that memoranda.
A. Well, I wouldn't have been able to give you the length of it I
suppose from memory. I am sure I couldn't but I had
occasion to see a copy of it within the past few months and
it consisted of 26 pages single spaced typewritten matter.
Q. And that was the memorandum of June 23, 1953?
He then.discussed some civil suits that were filed against slant-well operators, and
the fate of those suits when they came under the jurisdiction of Judge David Moore.
A. . . The civil suits that were filed in the Smith County District Court,
the 114th District, there were two different civil suits filed. I believe
they were filed in 1954. The first suit was filed by Mary Robinson
against Blane Dunbar and others involving two wells on the Skipper
Lease and then somewhat later after depositions and after directional
surveys were made, a collateral suit was filed also by Mrs. Robinson.
A second suit naming Reid Allgood and the drilling contractor, Mr.
Weber Winberly, was filed but it involved the same civil suits as
the first civil suits.
Q. And it appears that Judge David Moore acquired jurisdiction over
that case, is that correct?
A. Yes, he did.
A. I will say that I am quite familiar about it. A Plea of Privilege
was filed by Mr. Allgood, was sustained and the case was transferred
to Gregg County in a short time after the record was
transferred to Gregg County, a Motion for Summary Judgment
was filed by Mr. Harry Harrington on behalf of Reid Allgood.
That Motion was set down for hearing, oh, pretty close to the
end of the ten-day notice period. The Honorable Craven
Beard and I was or were Counsel for the plaintiff in that case.
We had some conflicting setting so we had to get a new setting
on the hearing and on that Motion. We were unsuccessful in
getting local Counsel in Gregg County to our satisfaction, that
is to say we didn't succeed in making arrangements to have
local counsel actually employed in the case but in undertaking
to secure local counsel we discussed the matter with Judge
Sharp and he very graciously agreed to help us get a deferment
with the understanding that he could not accept employment but
he would be glad to accommodate us and that was very nice of
him and we were very glad to have his assistance.
Q. When is the first time that you learned that the matter had not
been passed?
A. I think it was the next day after the hearing date we received
notice that the Motion for Summary Judgment had been
sustained.
Q. And it was that event that gave rise to it?

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