Latest / WCHS Network Podcasts / 05/30/2024 Ask the Lawyer with Harvey Peyton

Transcript

05/30/2024 Ask the Lawyer with Harvey Peyton · WCHS Network Podcasts

0:00
Unlock your dream property with meex Realty Group, where Rich the realtor makes real
0:04
estate dreams a reality, whether it's residential or commercial. We've got Charleston to
0:08
Huntington covered. Your key to exceptional real estate experience is start here Meeks Realty
0:12
Group. Contact us at Meeks dot us. The views and opinions expressed on
0:17
this program do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of five adwchs it's employees
0:23
or WVRC Media. Put the power of Payte on the side. We have
0:30
the court room experience that you need. We never give up. We're prepared
0:37
to fight for your rights. When you need action, count on us.
0:45
Put the power of Bagson on your side. The power of Babe eight twenty
0:51
two on five eighty sehs the Voice of Charleston this Thursday morning. I'm Jeff
0:55
Jenkins and good to have you with us this morning because it's Harvey Payton time,
0:59
and that means you can give us a call three O four three four
1:02
five fifty eight fifty eight three oh four three four or five fifty eight fifty
1:07
eight any questions about the law. Harvey Peyton, prestiged prestigious attorney is well,
1:14
I say I've become respectable. And in a matter of which John Houston
1:18
in the movie Chinatown said, Oh, of course I'm respectable. I'm old.
1:22
Old prostitutes and old buildings are respectable. Everybody's respectful. I'm old.
1:26
You know, I've been doing this for fifty years. Although the introduction is
1:30
saying it's Harvey Peyton time because I'm old. That brought back memories of when
1:34
I was five or six, and it's how to do It's how I was
1:40
not making that connection, but well, I made it in my mind,
1:42
and I hope, I hope it didn't flash through the mindes. There's too
1:45
many in the general public. So listen, I'd like to start out one
1:49
a little bit this morning. You know, I'm a pretty big proponent of
1:53
Putnam County, and that's where our office is situated, in the nitro,
1:59
the Putnam County Nitro, And honestly, i'd say sixty percent of the practice
2:05
that I've carried out over the fifty years has been in the Pottnam County Courthouse
2:09
over in the Mason County Courthouse when they were a part of the same circuit.
2:14
The other forty percent in Canawlla County, the federal courts, other agencies
2:17
where we try cases and represent people who injured. And first of all,
2:23
really proud of the folks in Putnam County because we had two levy issues on
2:29
the ballot, one for emergency services and one then for the school board and
2:35
both passed overwhelmingly, which doesn't happen everywhere. And I think it's a really
2:38
good People say well, why why is Puttnham County such a good place to
2:42
live? Well, because of the people who lived there, And I've said
2:46
before there are any number of really great citizens who have helped make Putnam County
2:50
what it is and families, and particularly because I'm associated with the Bailey family.
2:58
Bailey's from Poka District area. Virgie and Bennett Bailey were sort of the
3:05
patriarch and matriarch of the clan. Bennett Bailey actually is mentioned in Ken Heckler's
3:09
book about West Virginia government as a democratic wheelhorse in the fifties. They had
3:16
several children, one of whom was my father in law, Sonny, and
3:21
then he had a two daughters, one that died years ago, and Helen
3:24
Sayer, who is sort of the matriarch of the clan. You know,
3:28
her children come to her house every Sunday and some of her grandfathers every Sunday.
3:35
They respect their mother. She fixes dinner. That's d d Deed.
3:39
He's now Ddee Payne. She married Tommy Panne and you got Butch and Denny.
3:44
Denny died a couple of years ago, and Kenny and Randy, and
3:47
so Helen's in hospice. You know, she's ninety one years old. And
3:53
so if you're out there and you think about the Bailey family, which had
3:55
you know, when Vergie passed away. In her obituary there were ninety one
4:02
lineal descendants listed in the obituary. Now, obviously that is a good family
4:06
to know if you want to run for office. And Helen was always a
4:12
good person to know if you were interested in some politics in Putnam County.
4:16
Her brother, Harold, my wife's uncle, was the sheriff down there,
4:19
and then Harold worked for years as a probation officer. But so our thoughts
4:24
and prayers are with Helen's family. Jan and my wife went up to see
4:29
her yesterday, and you know, it's kind of company when someone says,
4:31
well, I just want to go see Denny and my mom and Dad,
4:35
no fear, just the expectancy of something better. So I want to get
4:43
that out of the way. Now. We've got a couple of things going
4:46
on. The big thing I think in the state of West Virginia. And
4:49
this hasn't reached the court stage yet, but it is interesting from a legal
4:54
standpoint because a lot of what lawyers, particularly lawyers on the paytent law firms
5:00
out of the equation do is we have to develop a case. We have
5:06
to investigate facts, We have to put together a story, a scenario.
5:13
We have to see if things make sense, to determine if there's a case
5:17
in which we can help someone successfully. You know, you don't do anybody
5:23
any favors if you undertake litigation or the presentation of acclaim without getting all the
5:29
facts. So one of the things we learn after years of experience and after
5:34
a lot of study, a lot of seminars, is how do you launch
5:40
an investigation in a certain set of facts. I mean, you know what
5:43
the outcome is someone's heard or injury. How do you determine the root cause
5:46
of that? Well, and I listened to the questions on the radio this
5:53
morning that Brad mcalhanney of this station posted the governor, which Brad's been a
6:00
know, a reporter, a journalist long enough to know that. First of
6:02
all, if you're going to launch an investigation, which the governor says there's
6:05
an investigation, well who runs it? Things don't run themselves. I mean,
6:12
if you just call a bunch of agencies at random and say we want
6:16
your quote information, well what information do you want? Someone has to be
6:21
in charge. Someone has to you know, it could be Brian Abraham,
6:27
it could be any They could get independent counsel, right, they could get
6:31
Robbie Cunningham, he's head of some department up there has to do with cybersecurity.
6:35
And then you get Mike Warner he I mean he knows how to do
6:39
those things. Or get his brother they were in military intelligence. Somebody to
6:42
be the central figure, and well, we know what happened. You know,
6:46
a fourteen year old child was found at a home and Boon County.
6:50
Now we haven't seen any post mortem examination reports probably won't that's private, but
6:57
described as in a severe state of emaciation. So you would think it was
7:00
some malady related to malnutrition or to some underlying medical condition. But and then
7:09
you've got to say, okay, where do we start. What are we
7:12
looking for? We're looking to find out Number one, did the CPS have
7:15
any information about this? Number two? Was this homeschool situation where there was
7:19
no way nobody checked on the child. If there was somebody that was supposed
7:24
to check, that fall through the cracks. So here are the five or
7:27
six things we've better look into. Now what do we need to get Well,
7:30
you go get me the head of this agency. I want an interview
7:36
with superintendent schools in Boone County. Now here's what we're interested in. Now
7:41
you tell me how this goes down. What do we need? Did file
7:45
the reports? Did they know well what is supposed to be done in this
7:48
situation? And then you get somebody from CPS. You go to the CPS
7:53
office in Boone County, you go to the retired state trooper, you go
7:58
to his commentat that's just the sort of things you do. But I don't
8:01
know how you do that if you don't have some sort of and people hate
8:05
this word bureaucracy, but you have to have it. You have to have
8:07
it in place if you're going to get a timely and meaningful result. I
8:13
was quite disappointed in the governor's response, just this why we're going to look
8:16
into this, and we find out what we're looking into, then we're going
8:18
to let you know what we're looking into. And then when we find out
8:22
what we're looking into, and we're looking into that and everything else, you
8:24
know, and everything else, then we'll let you know. I mean,
8:28
I'm just disturbed because this is the second time this has come up in months.
8:35
You know, we had two children, allunched now to have been involuntary
8:39
sir, held in involuntary servitude in a shed somewhere here in Kanawa County,
8:45
malnourished. I've heard this morning again there was a case of a child found
8:50
in another home in West Virginia deplorable and unsanitary conditions. I mean, do
8:54
we need to look at do we need to tak at homeschooling for one thing?
9:00
Do we need to beef up? Now? You know why I have
9:03
a right to homeschool my child, Well, not necessarily, not if there's
9:07
a truancy law. Not if the public policy is for the good of the
9:11
whole community. That's the mandatory that you're a child attend public school unless there's
9:15
some valid religious exemption or medical reason. But we've done away with that to
9:22
a degree here in West Virginia. Well okay, but does that put children
9:26
at risk? Can just anybody go say I'm going to homeschool, keep a
9:30
child at home, abuse them so they don't. The first contact with a
9:33
child is the teacher or the counselor or the school nurse. That's where they
9:37
say, are you all right? Why do you have life? Why you
9:41
don't seem to be seem to be hungry when you come to school? I
9:43
mean, things of that nature. So we'll see. I mean, if
9:48
it's just to look and see who did something wrong and not why we've got
9:52
kids that seem to be falling through the cracks in two really bad cases,
9:56
maybe a third based off, then it's just a waste of time. It's
10:00
just a waste of time, misdirected public relations, deflect, waste of time.
10:07
So we'll see. I'll be interested. But it's distressing to me to
10:13
hear that sort of answer, because I know, and I've been doing this
10:16
for fifty years, I know how to root out the fights. I mean,
10:18
I served as a actually Charlie King made me a special prosecutor down here
10:22
one time to look into an issue with regard to something happened at the Prosecutors
10:30
Institute and did that filed report mad a case. The thing was resolved,
10:35
and you know it's I mean, good lawyers know how to do that.
10:39
Good lawyers who maybe they've got somebody over there. I know they've got Kelly
10:43
Talbot. She was over there in the Attorney General's alfice. She knows how
10:46
to do it. I mean she's been around. Well, we'll see,
10:48
we'll see what happens. I just hope that I think Brad and Michael Mahoney's
10:52
to be commended for the work he's doing as well as your station. And
10:56
I've just like to see what keeps going on with that here his question,
11:00
it's a well thought out question, Oh yeah, and as well thought out
11:03
and patterned after the steps that should be taken to conduct a meaningful and realistic
11:13
and transparent investigation. Did you do this? What about this? What about
11:16
this? What about this? The reverse pyramid, you start with the most
11:20
important and you dribble down. Okay, generally the responder will start at the
11:26
bottom of the pyramid with the least important work up and hope that you forget
11:28
what's at the top and that's kind of what happened. Is there a reasonable
11:33
in Harvey Payton's with this Peyton Law firm in nitrophones are always open three or
11:37
four three four five fifty eight fifty eight three oh four three four five fifty
11:41
eight fifty eight. Is it a reasonable possibility to think, you know,
11:48
I don't want to jump ahead here, but a regional possibility, that just
11:52
possibility that this fell through the crocks, that this that there were some signs
11:56
with this girl that you know that, I mean from what we know that
12:01
you know, maybe well something happened. Yeah, something happened. A fourteen
12:05
year old child was found dead in an emaciated state. So the first question
12:11
is, well, how did this child not leave this house for almost two
12:18
years according to neighbors, what was done? Well, it could be that
12:22
there was just a gap in the system, and if there is, it
12:24
ought to be fixed, and it ought to be fixed right now. There's
12:30
also the unpleasant possibility is somebody just passed the buck and didn't think it was
12:35
a big deal and didn't do what maybe they should have done, didn't know
12:37
the extra yard, or maybe it's a situation where this case was on a
12:41
list with a child protective service worker who's got ninety other cases when they should
12:48
only have thirty. They have ninety because they don't get paid and they don't
12:50
get their resources. And then there's also the thought that you know, which
12:54
I mean, I'm not king of the world and I'm not the attorney's own
13:00
or of West Virginia. But you know, special grandjuries have a way of
13:05
rooting out things too. And you can in Panel one in Boone County right
13:09
now and to look into this and to see what if anything, and it
13:11
may can turn out with the reporter as well. There was no crime here,
13:15
There was nothing, but you'll get the facts. You know, you
13:16
can get a special grandeury in panel today in Greenbrier County to find out why
13:22
the hotel has been collecting sales tax from customers for looks like now eight or
13:28
nine months and not remitting it to the state of the two to three million
13:31
dollars who took the money. But that's just not happening. That's one of
13:37
the problems with unified government. You've got a sort of supermajorities here. And
13:41
I mean, you hate to think that politics plays a role in any administration
13:48
of justice, of politics plays a role almost everything, particularly in West Virginia.
13:52
Right, that's just one of the problems we'll find Hopefully we will find
13:56
out because this is such a horrendous circumstance, you think that all the members
14:01
of the press are going to keep dogging this thing until some answers are turned
14:07
up. Hopefully three oh four three four five fifty eight fifty eight. Three
14:09
oh four, three four five fifty fifty eight. Harvey Payton is here answer
14:15
any questions about the Lord wol take our break and come back to some big
14:18
jury deliberations that are taking place. Yes, indeed, you'll talk about that
14:20
in a moment. This is five eighty whs Hey, it's stay valid for
14:24
Parmar stores. And now that the warm weather monster here, you know where
14:28
you need to be. Your local Parmer store heading to the lake, the
14:33
ball field, or your favorite picnic site. Are just working around your place.
14:35
Parmer has everything you'll need from gas to grocery, snacks and much much
14:41
more. Download the Parmar app and sign up for the Parmar Rewards car Ohio,
14:46
West Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. If there's
14:50
not a parm Our store near you now there will be center. Stay ahead
14:56
of the political curve with Meet the Press, the legendary political time talk show
15:00
that has been a mainstay of American television for over seventy years, is also
15:05
on the radio. Get unique insights into the complex world of politics with thoughtful
15:09
analysis and in depth interviews that never fail to deliver. Don't miss a single
15:15
episode of Meet the Press Sundays at noon on five eighty WCCHS. Put the
15:24
power of Peyton on the side. We have the court room experience that you
15:31
need. We never give up. We're prepared to fight for your rights when
15:37
you need action. Count on us. Put the power of Payson on your
15:46
side, the power of Bass And it's a thirty seven on five aby WCCHS.
15:50
The Voice of Charleston. I'm Jeff Jenkins with Harvey Payton at the Peyton
15:54
Law Firm in Nitro. Give us a call. Three oh four, three
15:56
four five fifty eight fifty eight three oh four, three four fifty eight.
16:00
Some of the things we do here talk about the news of the day.
16:03
We've been doing that, and of course we've got big jury deliberations taking place
16:08
in the Donald Trump hush money trial. Well, there are big jury deliberations
16:15
in New York City only because of the party who's involved. Obviously these it's
16:21
actually a case about false entry in records, and there doesn't seem to be
16:26
any dispute that if the money was paid to Stormy Daniels. That's the President
16:33
Trump is accused of being a part of a conspiracy or a combination of folks
16:41
to catch and kill, that is, to suppress a story that he allegedly
16:45
had an illicit affair with another woman while his wife and newborn were at home
16:52
and he was at a golf tournament out west. Well, that certainly is
16:55
embarrassing. Actually why the man would want to suppress it and where he just
16:59
in and in private life. It's nothing wrong with it. I mean,
17:07
it's extortion. If she came up and demanded some money, it could be
17:08
a criminal charge. But you know, I can just tell you from practical
17:12
experience. I've had matters in which clients paid people settlements that they said,
17:18
I don't really know this, but I don't want this, I don't want
17:21
to live with this pay And it wasn't anything criminal about it. It was
17:25
personal issues. But the next step then is because at the time these payments
17:30
were made. President Trump was a candidate that he made the payments not just
17:37
to keep an embarrassing story, to avoid personal embarrassment and embarrassment to his wife
17:42
and family, but to keep the information from the voting public to influence the
17:48
outcome of the election. So it's a two part proof. I mean,
17:52
as I understand it, and I think it was just my thoughts that the
17:56
weakness in the case is, you know, it certainly is an embarrassing thing
18:03
to have someone talk about your personal conduct, and particularly if the conduct is
18:07
anything like the alleged mistress or whatever you'd call her, Paramore said on the
18:14
stand. But it was that done? Is it just a temporal relationship that's
18:19
serendipitous. It just so happened that it was in twenty sixteen, twenty fifteen,
18:26
or was it specifically his intent to catch and kill this story, or
18:33
at least a part of his intent to catch and kill this story to keep
18:37
the voting public from hearing this, which would hurt his chances for election.
18:42
So what New York is saying is, so the payments which were made,
18:47
I mean a question, were campaign expenditures that were not legal, and that
18:52
because the false century of accounts was done to promote the illegal campaign contributions,
19:02
that it's a felony otherwise false entry of accounts. The statue long since around
19:06
on this charge. What's the jury going to do? Yesterday they started their
19:11
deliberations and after four hours the bell rang. They had a question, which
19:17
is not at all uncommon. I've tried. I would say a couple hundred,
19:22
maybe more. Tom and I combined probably three hundred cases to a jury
19:26
from start to finish the verdict. It maybe thirty percent of their questions asked
19:33
jurors sit there and listen to a lot of testimony, they have a question,
19:34
Well, in this case, they wanted to hear some testimony from one
19:40
of the first witnesses, who was the man who owned the tabloid who bought
19:45
the story and didn't publish it, and the others from this fellow Michael Cohen,
19:52
who was President Trump's lawyer at the time, who alleged he was a
19:57
conduit for the money he got the money, he gave it to David Pecker.
20:00
He used his own funds. He went to President Trump. President Trump
20:04
while he was in the White House where at checks to pay him back and
20:08
tagged him as legal fees when he knew they were really legal fees. They
20:11
were reimbursement for this catch and kill hush money. Now what's the judge going
20:15
to do with that? That will be interesting to see this morning. You
20:18
know, generally in West Virginia and the cases in federal course cases I've been
20:23
involved in, the jury has all the exhibits. They can look at and
20:29
read all of the exhibits, the testimony. Generally, the response to a
20:34
request to look, can you read me a paragraph that this witness said in
20:40
West Virginia is well, you know, your vertic has to be based on
20:44
the totality of what you heard, what you find in your mind beyond a
20:48
reasonable doubt, based upon everything. And we don't want to unduly emphasize one
20:55
point or another. That may be something that's important in your mind. I
20:57
mean, it'd be relevant to the instructions that were read. So right now
21:03
the answers, No, you talk to yourselves, You debate what you heard,
21:07
You debate what you think. This wouldn't have said, that wouldn't have
21:10
said. See if you can find consensus. What is your own recollection?
21:14
Right right? What is your own clear recollection? The risk you run if
21:18
you start reading snippets or testament, maybe somebody was asleep, maybe their mind
21:23
was wandering. They don't have their cell phones with them, so they can't
21:26
be sitting in the cheery box playing on the cell phone. But one juror
21:30
may overemphasize a particular fact. Well, this is what it is, and
21:33
if he said this, we have to convict him. Well, it's what
21:37
you remember about the totality of the evidence. They wanted to see. The
21:42
jury asked to hear as I understand the three portions of the tabloid plum publisher's
21:49
testimony. I don't know how many pages they want to read, but they
21:52
don't know how many pages it would be. They just know what was said.
21:56
They don't know what the transcript is. And one portion of the right
22:00
of this Michael Cohen, who was the lawyer who was allegedly the conduit for
22:04
the money instting to see. I guess court convenes up there around nine o'clock,
22:08
so I'll be listening to the radio by ten, because when you guys
22:12
have the news at ten, I mean they are reporters right there in the
22:15
courthouse US. I mean, you get you find out everything that happened at
22:18
this courthouse, you know, which is surely there are more important things going
22:25
on in courthouses all over the United States today, a much greater meaning socially
22:30
than this. I mean, it's just grubby, really, I mean,
22:33
but I mean it is a man who's a candidate, presumptive bombinee of a
22:38
major party for the officer president of the United States. And you know,
22:45
if he is convicted, So if the jury convicts him, and of course
22:49
you've done dozens of federal cases there, I mean they're sentence in guidelines or
22:56
whatever. I mean, someone who's never been convicted, that's the state court
23:00
case, I would say, the same thing would apply. I mean,
23:03
this is not a a hard victim crime. It's a white collar crime.
23:10
I guess it's a crime against the people if you unduly influence an election.
23:15
But the man has no prior criminal record. He has significant contacts with the
23:21
community as a family to which to whom he is close, at least on
23:26
the surface. What would would it be appropriate to send What purpose could be
23:33
served by sending that person in jail? I understand that in other cases like
23:37
this in New York, for first time offenders, it's generally a substantial fine
23:41
and some sort of probation, some sort of restriction on your ability to transact
23:45
business, or restriction on your ability to carry out your affairs in the state
23:49
of New York for a period of time. And I'm I mean, sentencing
23:53
is what it is. It's not you. I mean, the man shouldn't
23:56
be subject of retribution just because he's a politician. If he's convicted, he
24:02
should be treated like everyone else under the same or similar circumstances. I mean
24:06
to me that, I mean I didn't argue the case, not on one
24:08
of his lawyers, but in my mind, I'm thinking, wait a minute,
24:11
that Donald Trump has never made any bones about the fact that he's a
24:17
playboy, that he's a bon Vian. I mean he is. He is
24:21
cheated on and then divorced and had children with woman after a woman after woman.
24:25
And he you know, he he's seen with getting his pictures taken with
24:29
these folks, with mafia figures, with Roy Kohane as one of the most
24:34
despicable human beings who ever walked the earth. I mean this, he had
24:40
weathered the what they call the tape Billy Bush tape about his Anne's trying to
24:48
get a relationship with a married woman. I mean, was he thinking that
24:52
this was going to hurt him? Might have thought it would help him.
24:56
I mean, I think it was just a neutral to me. That's just
25:00
the weakness in the case. I would think, like, I just don't
25:03
want to put up with any more. That's because one will take one hundred
25:07
and thirty grand give her the money. I just don't want to hear about
25:11
it. I got too many things on my mind, not consciously thinking that
25:15
somehow this is going to influence the election. Didn't making it was New York.
25:19
He lost New York both times he ran, which sort of tellshit about
25:23
his connections to the state of New York. When he was living in New
25:26
York in twenty sixteen, he didn't move to Florida. I want to talk
25:30
about twenty eighteen. He established wrestlings down there. We'll see. I mean,
25:33
it's going to be interesting to see what the judge does with this testimony
25:38
issue, because I know what my experience is. Now. Maybe some other
25:41
lawyers here in West Virginia have had different experiences, but I've been involved in
25:47
a lot of cases, a lot of trials. We really are good at
25:48
that That's one of the things about the Peyton Law firm, and that's why
25:51
we get really, I think, better results than some other lawyers too,
25:56
because the other side knows, right, these are not people to be trifled
26:02
with. They can try a lawsuit. They can sometimes make something out of
26:06
nothing. I had a lawyer for all of these riverboat companies tell me,
26:10
sometimes, you know that case was nothing, army, nothing until you got
26:15
up and started on that cross examination and final argument. He said, I
26:18
told him what by and Colin Boss said, we've had it right and that
26:22
won't happen again. So but uh, you know, we see what the
26:30
judge does with his testimony. I mean, maybe it's just in New York,
26:33
it's an accepted fashion. Bringing West Virginia, for instance, every judge
26:37
does not give the jurors of the written instructions. Now almost they almost all
26:41
of them do now. But for a long time it was like, no,
26:45
you can't have the instructions, and we well, we'd like to have
26:48
one instruction reread in their position. Well we read them all, which was
26:52
boring. Is watch and paint, right, you've sat in courtrooms, so
26:59
we'll get a little peek into what's going on. Here. Now, that
27:00
doesn't mean the jury is going to decide one way or the other. I
27:03
can't tell. You cannot tell. Listen, we had Tom and I.
27:07
Last case we tried together was down in Huntington. It was a significant case.
27:10
I mean, the man's charged with the attempted murder of police officers,
27:15
two counts of attempted first degree, two counts of attempted second degree. I
27:19
think, I mean it was a serious The jury comes back, so we
27:23
can't reach a verdict. We've decided one count. Well, if they decided
27:29
one count, then some of these others are going to fall into place.
27:36
Well, they were out over two days. Well, now we've decided four
27:40
out of six. Well the court at that point can say, okay,
27:45
bring in the four you've decided, and we'll just mistry the other ones.
27:49
We don't just throw it all out. So you're telling the cloud, okay,
27:52
Well, the one case they said they decided has elements in it that
27:59
are key to these others. So don't be surprised if you're going to get
28:02
convicted here and they walk out and it's not guilty, not guilty, not
28:07
guilty, not guilty, guilty of the least serious offense. I mean,
28:11
you just cannot tell by what Drawers asked Normot, can you tell a boy
28:15
how long it takes? And I mean the press likes to say so,
28:21
and the talking heads like to say so. But that's why they're talking heads.
28:23
They're not down at the courthouse. I mean, the best talking head
28:26
they ever had on TV was Roy Black, the guy from West Palm Beach.
28:30
He represented William Kennedy Smith and he's charged with rabing a woman and Florida
28:37
got him and walked him. Now, Roy Black, he knows what he's
28:41
doing. He's been down there in West Palm Beaches trying lawsuits day after day
28:45
after day, big cases for like forty fifty years. But the rest of
28:51
these guys, I don't put much stock in them, right, Merlin.
28:53
The AVANNAUGHTI guy was the Michael Avnati, the lawyer that represented Stormy Daniels.
28:59
He was like the smartest go to guy in the world on MSNBC because everybody
29:07
liked what he was saying until he ended up in prison because he found out
29:11
what he was saying it was all a pack of lies and he was using
29:12
it to steal money from his clients. So I'll trust my own judgement on
29:18
this one. I would it's way better than fifty to fifty. I think
29:23
in President Trump's favorite walk on this deal. Now that's my opinion. You
29:30
got a notorious liar. Now admittedly he was Trump. Trump picked him.
29:34
The prosecutor didn't pick him, and they made that plane. You know,
29:38
if you're going to prosecute the devil, you've got to go to hell to
29:41
find the witnesses. And that's where we found him. But he wasn't our
29:44
guy. He was wallowing around with the defendant. But that doesn't change the
29:48
fact that he's a notorious, convicted liar. I wouldn't have put the president
29:53
on either. He elected not to testify. I think that smart thing to
29:56
do. He is a right not to and you can't make anything of that.
30:00
These people that talk about well he said he was going to do this,
30:03
Well, yes, he's a blowhard, but he is indeed an American
30:07
citizen who has all the rights guaranteed him by the Bill of Rights of the
30:10
Constitution of the United States, and one of those is not to testify,
30:14
and he didn't, and it was a smart thing to do. Give him
30:15
the case against him. We'll see, we'll see, we'll see pile.
30:19
We stand for time. Yeah, we got a couple of minutes here and
30:22
those lines are open. Three oh four three four five fifty eight fifty eight
30:25
three h four three four five fifty fifty Paytent law firm in Nitro helping people.
30:30
Well, that's what we do. That's what we're here for. We
30:33
get calls all the time. I mean, folks are injured in an automobile
30:37
accident, which is really the bulk of the civil litigation we do because that's
30:42
the most common activity that everyone engages in that has the potential for injury or
30:48
serious injury or unfortunately death. We also do litigation relative to disputes over insurance
30:56
policies. You can't get paid, a lender for some reason tries to overcharge
31:03
or is guilty of some misconduct, or you have to interact with a government
31:07
agency and you aren't being treated fairly. Those are the sort of things all
31:11
about the litigation, and there's litigation of another degree. I mean, real
31:15
estate's a really important thing. That's how people's the states are handled. But
31:19
their wills, mean are an important thing. If it's a matter that needs
31:22
to be litigated, we're really good at it. I've done a lot of
31:26
it. You know, we're in Nitro. We are there for the clients
31:30
who want to come and see us. You know, we don't advertise on
31:36
television, and we're not the biggest law firm in the universe, but we
31:40
do really high quality work. It's just me, Harvey Payton, and my
31:45
son Tom Payton. Now he primarily handles the litigation. And listen, he's
31:49
better than I was when I was his age, a lot better. And
31:52
he's one of the best lawyer under fifty that I know of in the state
31:56
of West Virginia. So if you're in Kanawa or Potna, or Mason or
32:00
Lincoln or Jackson County and you've suffered a loss, you don't need to look
32:05
any farther really than twenty eight oh one First Avenue, Nitro. Go online
32:08
Peytonlawfirm dot com. We're here to help you. You can call, you
32:14
can send us an email through the website, you can stop by the office.
32:20
Tom and I spent Paul Tuesday afternoon talking to someone who needed some help
32:23
and had an issue and we needed to find out if there was something we
32:27
could do. And so you come in and we can tell you well here's
32:30
what you need to do. I mean to me, that would be superior
32:34
in my mind to sending some information to an app or a website and engaging
32:39
in an email or a text message with somebody who says we'll upload your medical
32:44
bills and we'll send you a check. I just mean, that's four and
32:47
that's a boring to me from the standpoint of what a lawyer should do.
32:50
There's so much more to helping people. For instance, you know, if
32:53
someone's going to represent you and get you a bunch of money in a car
32:57
wreck, they ought at least be able to say, okay, and well
33:00
I need to write a will. They ought to be able to say,
33:02
well, okay, I can help you with that, and to say,
33:04
well I can't help you with that. I don't do that. I want
33:07
the big money, but don't bother me with anything that involves I mean,
33:09
that's just not right. I mean we do it all the time. We
33:12
help people get money and sometimes it's a lot of money, a lot of
33:16
money, and try to give some advice. But here's where you should put
33:20
it. Here's how you should set up your affairs as far as the state
33:22
planning for your kids. So we can do that all in our office,
33:27
and we do all the time. So at least just think about us.
33:29
If you know somebody or you yourself has suffered a loss, just think about
33:34
the paidon law firm. We are online. You can call us a three
33:37
or four, seven, five, five, fifty five fifty six, or
33:39
you can stop buy the office where we've got a really friendly and experienced staff
33:44
and we can help you. And if we can't help you, we're honest
33:46
enough to say we can't help you, and here's why, and explain it.
33:51
And a lot of time feels are why I want. I wanted an
33:53
explanation. Well, you can might be no, I don't want to go
33:57
to another lawyer. I understand what you're telling me. That's it done.
34:00
So that's what that's what I have to say. I mean, I mean
34:05
those conversations are important. I mean, I know you. I mean,
34:07
you sit down with people, you learn about them, you have conversation with
34:10
Well, you got to find out a lot more about people today than maybe
34:14
you did twenty five years ago. And I explained to folks, Look,
34:17
I'm not trying to pry, but sometimes you can tell there's something back there
34:22
and maybe it's maybe there's somebody in the family that's got an issue. Maybe
34:25
they're in jail, maybe they've had a problem with drugs, maybe they have
34:28
a problem with stealing. There's summary. Well maybe you know, now that
34:31
we know the whole story, maybe we ought to change the way we do
34:35
some things here, right, And you know, everything you tell a lawyer's
34:38
confidential. Nobody's ever going to use it against you or even find out about
34:42
it. I mean we this is our office now. We don't even enter
34:45
social Security numbers in our database for out the fact that anything can be subject
34:51
to being hacked. And so if you come to the office and you've got
34:57
an issue, an injury, or a a problem, you can't get paid
35:00
an issue you think maybe a resulting litigation. You can expect to spend an
35:04
hour or so with either me or with Tom, with a lawyer, not
35:07
a bunch of emails, but sitting there talking. It's not like going to
35:10
the doctor in the Kanall Valley today. You don't have to go see an
35:14
advanced practice nurse three times and wait seven months to see a cardiologist. That's
35:20
not the way it works at the Peyton Law Firm. We'll see and I
35:23
may be that we'll say, Look, I hear what you're saying, but
35:29
here's where you want to be, Here's what would cost you to get there.
35:31
My advice is try and work this out yourself. If there's a reasonable
35:37
offer, take it. But we don't feel like we can. I can't
35:42
take your money for this, right. I cannot take your money and do
35:44
this. I will not feel good about it. And I mean that's the
35:49
mark of It's not size that matters. It's the integrity and the quality of
35:53
the work that matters when you're dealing with the lawyer. That's my opinion.
35:57
And the best way to get a hold of you, guys, well,
35:59
the best way is law firm dot com. But you can look it up
36:02
on any electric device and send us an email, stop by the office,
36:07
or give us a call three or four, seven, five, five fifty
36:10
five fifty six. Stopping by the office is good. If Tom or I
36:15
aren't there or we're tied up, we can set you an appointment to come
36:19
in talk about he can drop off some papers. A lot of times people
36:22
say, look, I've got at this insurance claim. They won't pay me
36:25
as well, here's what we do so we can have a meaningful conversation.
36:30
You bring all that by the office. You let Melody, our receptionist.
36:32
You'll scan it, copy it, give you back your originals. I'll get
36:36
a chance to look this over. Then we can call you and either talk
36:39
this out or call you and schedule an appointment. When we are here to
36:44
help people. So we tried to make it as easy on the client as
36:46
possible without reverting to just being a digit on a cell phone. Man,
36:51
I just said never. If I have to get to that, well,
36:54
I'll be sending you five years old in September. I guess by time the
37:00
downhill slide, it certainly won't be as long as it has been. But
37:04
Tom's never going to get that either, because he grew up with me and
37:09
he knows how lawyers I believe should act and should help their plans. So
37:15
give us a call. I can't tell you who to hire, but think
37:19
about the Peyton Law Firm in just real quick ten seconds. Congratulations to the
37:22
high school graduates bestly in Putnam Can. Indeed, Well, we had poke
37:24
last night Buffalo Friday, hur Hurricans next Tuesday, next, and Winfield was
37:31
earlier. This was early this week. I've got a dear friend Ruth Anne
37:35
Maynard. His granddaughter graduated. All right, okay, ABC News is next.
37:38
This is five eighty w c HS.