Affidavit of Douglas H. Parks
In the Criminal District Court No.3
Dallas County, Texas
DARLIE LYNN ROUTIER
No. F96-39973-MJ IN THE CRIMINAL
DISTRICT COURT
NO. 3 OF
DALLAS COUNTY, TEXAS
AFFIDAVIT OF DOUGLAS H. PARKS
STATE OF
TEXAS
COUNTY OF
DALLAS
Before me,
the undersigned notary, on this day, personally appeared Douglas H. Parks. a
person whose identity is known to me. After I administered an oath to him, upon
his oath, he said:
1. My name
is Douglas H. Parks. I am over twenty-one years old and I reside in Dallas,
Texas. I have never been convicted of a crime, and I am capable and fully
competent to make this Affidavit. I have personal knowledge of the facts stated
in this Affidavit, and those facts are all true and correct.
2. I am a
practicing attorney duly licensed and in good standing in the State of Texas,
Dallas County. My State Bar No. is 15520000. My practice is located at 3300 Oak
Lawn Avenue, Suite 600, Dallas, Texas 75219-4269. My telephone number is (214)
521-2670.
3. On June
28, 1996, I was appointed counsel for the defendant Darlie Lynn Routier in the
case of Texas v. Routier, No. F-96-39973-J and A96-253 (Kerr County), in which
Ms. Routier was alleged to have caused the death of her son, Damon Routier. I
continued to serve in that capacity until the substitution of counsel on
October 21, 1996.
4. It is my
professional opinion - and was at the time that I represented Ms. Routier -
that a zealous defense of Ms. Routier necessarily involves implicating her
husband, Darin Eugene Routier, in the death of Damon. At the time I represented
Ms. Routier, I fully intended to introduce evidence that would implicate Darin
Routier at trial, such as, for example, a pair of Mr. Routier's undergarments
stained with blood on the elastic waistband.
5. On October
21, 1995, Attorney Douglas Mulder was substituted as counsel for Ms. Routier.
One month earlier, on September 20, 1996, Mr. Mulder had represented Darin
Routier in a contempt-of-court hearing involving the possible violation of a
court order restricting publicity.
6. I had
learned that Douglas Mulder was considering whether to accept employment as
counsel for Darlie Routier several weeks before October 21, 1996. Upon learning
of this possible employment by Darlie Routier and Mr. Mulder's representation
of Darin Routier, I became concerned that Mr. Mulder would be unable to
represent both Darlie and Darin Routier without breaching his duty of loyalty
to one or both clients.
7. I
communicated my concern orally to Mr. Mulder several weeks before his employment
on October 21, 1996. I explained to Mr. Mulder that Darin Routier was a viable
suspect in the murder of Damon and that Darlie Routier had not waived any
conflict of interest between herself and her husband. Mr. Mulder indicated that
he did not believe that Darin was involved in Damon's death, despite the fact
that Mr. Mulder had not, at that time, had an opportunity to review the results
of defense counsel's investigation.
8. I
reiterated my concern to Mr. Mulder in writing on October 24, 1996, after the
motion of substitution of counsel had been granted. I explained to Mr. Mulder
that I continued to believe that Darin Routier was a possible perpetrator of
the offense, and the the court had not addressed the possible conflict of
interest generated by simultaneous representation of Darlie and Darin Routier.
I sent the letter, in part, because Mr. Mulder had suggested in chambers of the
trial court on October 21, 1996, that he was not yet fully familiar with all
aspects of the case at that time.
[signed]
______________________
Douglas H.
Parks
STATE OF
TEXAS
COUNTY OF
DALLAS