Outgoing Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson has dismissed the high-profile DWI case against prominent Houston attorney Tony Buzbee.
It is most unusual for the District Attorney herself to sign off on these types of dismissals. Also, you might recall that Tony Buzbee represented Rick Perry in his abuse of power case. Guess who appointed Devon Anderson as Harris County District Attorney?
It is important to note the reason listed for the dismissal and the Judge (Bill Harmon) who signed off on it.
From Devon Anderson’s website:
Misdemeanor Pretrial Intervention Programs
DWI Pre-trial Intervention (Post-Charge)
If the defendant successfully completes the DWI PTI term, the case is dismissed and may be expunged two (2) years after dismissal.
Begin Date: November 4, 2013
Eligibility: First-time offender, B.A.C. of .149 or below (Class B), must have a valid driver’s license and insurance at the time of the offense and possess sufficient community contacts. The defendant must submit a signed and sworn to application which includes employment and/or school enrollment information, and a statement from the defendant admitting guilt. Accidents are reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
Exclusions: If a defendant has had a previous arrest, has received or is currently on a deferred adjudication or probation, has a conviction for an offense (other than Class C tickets), has previously participated in this program or another pretrial intervention program as an adult, or has a no test/refusal case.
Length of Program: 1 Year
Requirements: The defendant is assessed and supervised by Harris County Community Services and Corrections Department. The defendant must remain alcohol and drug free for the entire term of the agreement, install an ignition interlock device on his/her vehicle and follow the recommendations of the assessment by HCCSCD. A non-driving defendant must obtain a portable breath testing device, Soberlink or SCRAM device.
I’m not sure what Buzbee was required to do because there isn’t a diversion agreement listed for him. I do know that it is impossible to complete a one year program in 8 months. Also, if you check the case records on the District Clerk’s website, the case was reset a total of 7 times.
And if you recall, Judge Bill Harmon was the only County Criminal Court Judge out of 15 that refused to participate in these programs and made a big stink out of it. Click here to read more about that.
Devon Anderson is out of office come January 1st. Judge Bill Harmon is going to be on the ballot in 2018.
Harris County Works. Right?
Further reading:
Prominent Houston lawyer Tony Buzbee charged with DWI
Texas Trial Lawyer Tony Buzbee Leads Gov. Rick Perry’s Defense
Just think, four short years ago Mike Anderson was campaigning against Pat Lykos telling everyone DIVERT was illegal.
Funny how this happens…..
This is the woman that claimed to go against Judge Pratt? If you were too stupid to realize it was all political back then, surely you realize it now.
The biggest incinsistency in this case is found in reading your blog and the Chronicle article. The requirements of the program include the defendant signing a statement that they are guilty. From Buzbee’s comments to the Chronicle, it doesn’t sound like that document exists. Unless he’:s lying…
LT,
There are a couple of inconsistencies. Brian Rogers did a good job laying at the fact that Judge Harmon does not do DIVERT cases in his court. This has been a long ongoing fight with Harmon and when his friends are arrested he transfers those cases out of his court so they can be placed into the DIVERT program. This Blog has written about Harmon’s non-cooperation in the program. The most interesting aspect about this issue is that the Anderson’s campaigned against DIVERT and proclaimed to anyone who would listen that it was an illegal program. Understand, that when Devon was in private practice and before her husband was elected DA she was placing her clients in DIVERT, we wrote about that too.
The most problematic issue in the Buzbee case is that his lawyers Allen Tanner and Paul Doyle reset the case about 7 times fighting the case after his arrest in March. Clearly, Buzbee was not in DIVERT and there is no contract on file that he signed into the program. The reason that it is such a problem for Devon is that someone wrote on the dismissal that he completed the program and the dismissal form is an official government document.
The problem being that tampering with a government document is a crime. The question will be did Devon just sign it, and is that her hand written note on the dismissal, very problematic. It is unusual for the DA to sign a misdemeanor dismissal and I am sure others refused to sign it knowing Mr. Buzbee more than likely never participated in the program. Mr. Buzbee from Europe texted to Brian Rogers saying it was dismissed for lack of evidence. This is clearly not what was written on the form. There is actually a place for that too.
You can see from the story linked below by the Houston Press laying out the campaign contributions from Buzbee’s criminal defense lawyers and Buzbee himself to Devon. One of these lawyers has been involved with other cases written about by this blog. http://www.houstonpress.com/news/da-anderson-personally-dismisses-dwi-case-against-prominent-houston-attorney-9040593