What does Harris County justice look like? Right now, as I type, law enforcement officials are desperately searching for Brandon Flores, a 20 year old man charged with capital murder for the killing of Alex Chavez, 18, and Jarvis Morgan, 17. Chavez and Morgan were missing for more than two weeks when their bodies were found near a bayou in Chambers County.
Two other men, Valentin Lazo, 27, and Richard Gonzalez, 21, have been arrested for their participation in this capital murder. I only found eleven prior Harris County criminal cases for Lazo, including a pending failure to stop and give information that he is on bond for out of Harris County Court 13, Judge Don Smyth.
But, the real question is who is Brandon Flores? (click here to view Brandon Flores’ criminal record)
Brandon Alejandro Flores was born in Mexico on July 7, 1994. His adult criminal career began when he was charged with criminal trespass and criminal mischief on August 6, 2012 in Harris County Court 12. This criminal trespass complaint says that Flores entered a woman’s habitation without her consent. Criminal trespass of a habitation is a class a misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to one year in jail and a $4,000 fine. In criminal parlance, criminal trespass of a habitation is usually short for attempted burglary of a habitation.
Criminal mischief is a crime where the offense level is dependent on the damage done to the victim. In this case, Flores is accused of kicking the victim’s door. Since the value of the damage was over $50 and under $500, the offense is a class b misdemeanor punishable by up to 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine.
For these crimes, the probable cause paperwork completed by the magistrate asks, “If you are not a United States citizen, you may be entitled to have us notify your country’s consular representative here in the United States. Do you want us to notify your country’s consular officials?” On August 7, 2012, Flores answered “YES” to this question and listed “Mexico” as his country of citizenship. So, he is a self-identified Mexican citizen, living in Baytown, Texas.
On August 16, 2012, as the result of a plea bargain with Harris County prosecutors, Flores pled guilty to criminal trespass and received 60 days in the Harris County Jail. The criminal mischief case was dismissed.
On December 1, 2012, Flores was again charged with criminal trespass – this time, in County Court 15. A third misdemeanor charge in five months. That same day, while still in the Baytown jail, Flores was granted a $1,000 bond. Flores made his first court appearance on December 7, 2012. Click here to read a KHOU 11 article about the arrest.
Then, on December 13, 2012, Flores was charged with burglary of a habitation, which was filed in the 177th District Court. The probable cause statement provides a bigger picture of Flores and his co-defendant, Roger Boose.
When Flores and Boose were arrested for the December 1, 2012 criminal trespass, which was really an attempted burglary of a habitation, they were interviewed by the Baytown Police. Both confessed to burglarizing a home on October 31, 2012. In this case, the victim came home to a strange vehicle in her driveway and her front door open. She saw two men run from her house and leave in the vehicle parked in her driveway. The victim reported that two gaming systems, a television, laptop, keyboard, jewelry, and cash were taken from her home. On December 18, 2012, Flores made a $10,000 bond. While on bond for this burglary, Flores was filed on for a second burglary of a habitation.
Flores made 16 court appearances on the Court 15 criminal trespass before the case was ultimately dismissed on January 10, 2014. The stated reason for the dismissal is “[t]he Defendant was convicted in another case” and lists 1385501 as the case number. But, is this really accurate?
What really happened is that Flores, on his fifteenth court appearance on the first burglary of a habitation case, received a plea bargain from the prosecutors, which was approved by Judge Ryan Patrick, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s son. On January 10, 2014, Flores, an admitted Mexican citizen, was given five years deferred adjudication (not a final conviction) on a second degree felony, which holds a punishment range of two to twenty years in prison. The subsequently filed burglary case was dismissed with the same stated reason as the trespass – “[t]he Defendant was convicted in another case.” Flores was not convicted – rather, he was given deferred adjudication.
I bet right about now you are wondering about Roger Boose. Boose, a few years older than Flores, has the following local criminal history: one dismissed felony drug case, a misdemeanor car burglary case where he received deferred adjudication, and, then, the criminal trespass and two home burglaries where he was a co-defendant with Flores. (click here to view Roger Boose’s criminal record)
On January 6, 2014, four days before Flores pled, Boose pled guilty and asked Ryan Patrick to determine his sentence. Patrick sentenced Boose to three years in prison. Boose, a young black man . . . and a citizen of our country.
So, in the court where our Lieutenant Governor’s son presides, an illegal alien received a better sentence than a young black man. When Ryan Patrick was appointed by Rick Perry in August 2012 to serve as a District Court judge hearing felony cases, Patrick had been a licensed attorney for six years, which barely met the minimal qualifications.
Is this just an isolated incident? Does Ryan Patrick routinely punish blacks more harshly than others? Do citizens always get worse deals than illegal aliens in his court?
Now, the United States Marshals are likely forced to intervene and bring Flores to justice. Actions speak louder than words – too bad Harris County Republicans cannot rely on their boy wonder. No tweet can solve this series of poor decisions.
There is, of course, a difference — one sentence was the result of a plea deal negotiated by the DA, while the other was not. I would argue that the real question is why the DA didn’t offer a similar deal to Boose. Or maybe an even better question is whether or not Boose had effective counsel who sought a plea deal.
I suspect that Flores rolled over on Boose and got off light as a result — a pretty common occurrence when “partners in crime” are caught and one cooperates with authorities.
A judge is not bound by a plea bargain – in fact, they must either accept or deny the plea bargain on each and every plea. Especially when, four days before the plea, he gave a similarly situated (as far as criminal history) co-defendant prison time. Also, it has long been a policy of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office to not offer probation or deferred adjudication on burglary cases. As a former prosecutor, the judge is well versed on this long standing policy. And, the argument cannot be made that the burglary cases were weak because, according to the probable cause statement, the defendants confessed.
Are these rhetorical questions?
If you ask someone who has read the penal code, or defended people accused of crimes, there are simple answers to them.
Whether five years deferred is a better deal than three years in prison depends on the defendant.
If a person successfully completes the deferred, it is better.
But if he doesn’t, the deferred sentence can quickly become eight, ten or even twenty years in prison.
When the prosecution and defense come to an agreement on punishment, it is rare for any of the 37 criminal judges in Harris County to refuse to accept it.
The system wouldn’t work without plea bargains.
Everyone in the system knows that when you plead guilty without an agreement, or go to the judge for punishment after a jury verdict of guilty, you are rolling the dice, and will be stuck with whatever the judge decides.
If Flores had refused the agreement, and asked Judge Patrick to sentence him, he could have gotten the same three years in prison Boose got.
He may have gotten more.
He may have gotten less.
He may have gotten ten years deferred instead of five.
But one thing Judge Patrick did get was a capital murder case attracted to his Court.
I’m Tom Zakes and I approve this message.
By the way, Boose did not have a dismissed drug case.
The Roger Boose with the dismissed drug case was born in 1973.
Tom, you are correct about the drug case dismissal – that is an older Roger Boose. The problem is, that makes the situation even worse!
There are two primary issues at work in this situation. First, one co-defendant, a young black man, received a vastly different sentence than his counterpart, a young Hispanic man. Second, a non-citizen received a better deal than a citizen. As a criminal defense attorney, you know that, generally, when the defense pleads to the court for punishment, they are looking for something better than the State is offering their client. Here, Roger Boose pled guilty and asked the judge to assess his punishment. The judge gave him three years in prison. Four days later, the same judge accepted a plea bargain on the co-defendant, a non-citizen, and sentenced that defendant to deferred adjudication. The judge could have refused to accept the deferred plea bargain for Flores and, then, Flores would have the option to renegotiate a plea bargain with the State, ask the judge to assess his punishment, or go to trial.
Judges have the authority, power, and often do question plea agreements. It is their job. Of course the system would not work without plea bargains – I think you may be missing the point. Most Harris County judges will not accept plea bargains that give a non-citizen offender probation or deferred adjudication.
And, no, the judge did not get a capital murder case attracted to his court because the capital murder cases are being prosecuted in Chambers County. What did happen is, on Friday, he filed a motion to adjudicate Flores.
Don:
I’m not really comfortable with comparing sentences of 2 individual criminals and determining the possible racial or ethnic bias of a Judge. There are a lot of variables, including the different defense lawyers involved and the actions/decisions of the prosecuting attorney in each case. Additionally (as I’m sure you are all too aware) typically judges carry extreme workloads and don’t necessarily have the time or resources to do all of the research they might like to.
Whether Judge Patrick is a good judge, or even a competent judge is a different issue – and could not possible be determined by the plea bargained outcome to two low-level criminal cases.
The appointment of a person to an office by a politician, based on political ties and family connections is not a good thing, but it’s been happening for at least 2500 years – I don’t think it’s goon stop anytime soon. It you wish to tar Dan Patrick, God knows he’s provided you with ample material on his own.
If we had a compilation of 200 or more cases out of Judge Patrick’s court where the defendants were divided into groups of Black vs Hispanic vs White vs other, we might be able to make a determination of a tendency toward racism.
Anyone want to volunteer for that degree of digging through mountains of paper?
You could start with those defendants he gave deferred to that went on to commit capital murder or on bond and work your way down;-)
One question that screams to be answered, was Flores here legally or illegally? If he was here illegally how could all of this gone on for so long?
He was here illegally.
Considering that being in the country illegally is a on going criminal act, how does an illegal individual get deferred adjudication that says he must not violate the law for the term of his deferral yet he is in violation of the law as he stands in front of the judge to accept the deferral due to his immigration status and his previous criminal record?
Being here without legal status is a civil violation, not criminal. .
The issue: do we have an incompetent judge who swallows deals pimped by pals still working in the DA’s office?
At the least, Flores should have been bound over to INS for deportation.
But of course I’m just an ignorant mundane w/o the clear legal reasoning talent Judge Patrick possesses.
Hello I’m Roger Boose I am happy I went to prison but I had to change and that was to only way to get my attention but I do feeling like I got treated unfairly
Roger, my apologies for not getting back to you sooner. I am glad you have had a change in your life. I also think you got a raw deal. I was asked to go on a radio show to talk about the story I wrote about your case. Many people felt you got a raw deal and Judge Patrick has made lots of mistakes.
Make a difference in the world and stay out of trouble. I am going to send you my email and if you wish to speak with me feel free to contact me. I want to see you succeed.
Thank you for reaching out.
Don Hooper
Where was the Sheriff of Harris County? The sanctuary policy of Houston is responsible for this. He should have been deported when he was brought in the first time. Now by going to Mexico he cannot be given the death penalty. More time and money will be spent on someone who shouldn’t have been in Texas. He was bad from the first time he was brought in.
just email me my email address is my first and last name @gmail.com thanks
As Roger’s mother I was outraged and was very unhappy with the judges decision. My son is not the criminal he was made out to be. He was rebellious and was acting out and fell into trouble. I did my best to raise him to be a respectable young man and to be accountable for his actions. He has done just that, and I am very proud of him. The judge had promised that Roger would get deferred adjudication if he was approved by the probation department (which he was) and changed his mind minutes before sentencing. Also, I would like to add that Roger has secured a full time job, paying a very descent wage at the time and Flores wasn’t even working. I hope the prejudice and the bias sentencing gets better in Harris County, Texas but in order to protect my children, I moved to help Roger get a better start! Roger is not perfect but he is mine and with the help of God, he will be fine.
I hope the previous comment was not posted………
As Roger’s mother I was outraged and was very unhappy with the judges decision. Roger was offered a plea of 15 years……..which was funny. I am not downplaying his involvement but Flores sought him out because he had a car. Roger was raised in a home where he knew that breaking into someone’s home was wrong and he should have been punished. . He was rebellious, acting out and fell into trouble. I did my best to raise him to be a respectable young man and to be accountable for his actions. He has done just that, and I am very proud of him. The judge had promised that Roger would get deferred adjudication if he was approved by the probation department (which he was) and changed his mind minutes before sentencing. Also, I would like to add that Roger had secured a full time job (had been working for 9 months before sentencing), paying a very descent wage at the time and Flores wasn’t even working. I hope the prejudice and the bias sentencing gets better in Harris County, Texas but in order to protect my children, I moved to help Roger get a better start! Roger is not perfect but he is mine and with the help of God, he will be fine.