For the four years that Pat Lykos was the Harris County District Attorney, there was a blog that ran salacious rumors about the department. Anonymous commenters were allowed to posit wild stories and theories about the department. After Mike Anderson took office in January, the blog and its commenters have gone on a hiatus. Some people have missed that type of yellow blogging, so I’ve decided to fill the market niche, at least until they return. So until they return, I’m going to be filling you in on some of the happenings in the office and court system.
I thought I’d start with an easy one, one that any member of the system down there can verify by simply asking the players. Because the players think they have a great idea and I doubt they are going to deny the existence of the plan, although they’ll probably disagree with my opinion of it.
On any given day in Harris County, there is a backlog of capital cases in the courts of approximately 250 cases. Lots of reasons for that – judges don’t particularly care for them so they reset cases over and over again, defense lawyers know they can make more money if they can lengthen the cases, and defendants would rather sit in a jail cell than lay on a gurney in Huntsville. Of course the taxpayers are stuck with the additional costs of delaying these cases, so it would be nice if someone figured out how to speed the process up and reduce the backlog.
The good news is that Judge Susan “Runaway Grand Jury” Brown, Republican on the 185th bench, as well as the administrative judge for the courts, recognizes the problem and wants to do something about it. The bad news for defendants is that Judge Susan “Runaway Grand Jury” Brown, Republican on the 185th bench, as well as the administrative judge for the courts, recognizes the problem and wants to do something about it.
You see, Judge Susan “Runaway Grand Jury” Brown has a wee bit of a bias for the prosecution. As do most of the judges in Harris County but we’ll save that for another day. If you don’t think the bias exists, you probably don’t believe that judges routinely have dinner and drinks with the chief prosecutors of their courts. And if you don’t believe that, then you really wouldn’t believe that judges routinely have drinks and dinner with members of their grand jury. Oh, and did I mention that they have these dinners and drinks with the prosecutors and grand jurors at the same time? Heck, it’s so brazen that they do it in very popular places. Hmm. Brennan’s comes to mind. Doesn’t it GK?
Anyways, Judge Brown, former judge and now Harris County District Attorney First Assistant Belinda Hill, and former judge and now Director of the Harris County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council Caprice Cosper got together and came up with a plan for the backlog. Notice who is missing from this cast of former and current judges and prosecutors?
Okay, so their plan is to create four specialty courts that deal solely with capital cases. The rub is that they get to pick the judges and the prosecutors for the courts. Again, who is missing from this cast?
Basically what they want to do is form a “needle express”, rushing defendants through a court with handpicked judges and prosecutors in order to eliminate the backlog. Ah, justice, sweet justice in Harris County. Just like the good old days we heard so much about when Mike Anderson was running for the office and the rumor blog was running amok.
The three recently approached Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia with the plan, hoping that he would fund the eight bailiffs necessary to run the courts. Uh, no thanks, said the much more politically astute Sheriff.
For the third time, who is missing from the needle express cast?
Okay boys and girls, that’s it for this round of Harris County criminal court follies. Don’t worry, there is plenty more to come. Why, just today I filed a PIA to find out who the two people are that are getting raises so large that the Commissioners Court had to approve them last week. And to find out who the lucky person is that lost their car allowance (okay, so I know it is the general counsel) and who was the recipient of his loss!
This might be fun!
Whoops! Almost forgot my bonus question of the day!
For extra points, name the current judge who was the attorney for Robin Sue Cooper, and tell us why Houston Chronicle reporter Brian Rogers refused to name this judge in his article about the dismissal of charges?
If you’ve got a tip for me about the Harris County DA and court system, send it to [email protected]. Remember! Don’t use your work email or any equipment supplied to you by the county!
Aww Dave,
I didn’t know that you missed me so badly! I tried to ask you a question on one of your earlier post but you must have missed it since you were never able to answer. I guess you don’t have an explanation for the blatantly erroneous post you made.
I’m sorry if my absence took you by surprise. I told my readers I had to go out of town for a little bit while working on that TNT show with Kelly Siegler. I see you haven’t gotten any more knowledgable about the criminal justice system. This latest post seems to be a bit — rambling.
Have no fear, I’m back in town and we are done filming season one. I’ll try to get back to writing so hopefully you can learn a little more. You are not doing so hot thus far.
By the way, I’m waiting to hear which one of those “rumors” that I wrote about that ever turned out to be disproven. I don’t think there was one, but if you want to call it “yellow” journalism, go right ahead.
Give my love to your newest correspondent.
Sort of funny that I didn’t mention any names but you decided that “yellow blogging” was about you Murray.
Are you holding your breath waiting for me to answer your question about the Democratic women running the HCDA while Anderson is out for health reasons? Tell you what. Why don’t you tell us who Judge Susan Brown’s grand jury commissioners were for the Runaway 185th Grand Jury? K? 😉
What, you didn’t want to answer the bonus questions? C’mon, gotta play to win!
Lot’s of stories happening over at the DA’s office. Wanna bet you don’t mention them?
Please, Dave. Don’t act like a child. You are about as subtle as a brick with your writings when you describe me. Yet you still managed to dodge all of my questions, including the one about the “Democratic women”. Yes, I’m holding my breath waiting for your answer to that question. I’m betting you don’t have an answer because either a) you are deliberately trying to mislead whoever reads this blog; or b) you are grossly misinformed by your “courthouse correspondent”.
Unlike you, I’ll answer your questions directly. I don’t know who the commissioners were on the 185th Grand Jury that you claim to have been a “runaway”. No idea. Why does it matter?
And the bonus question? I looked it up on line and it looks like Judge Guiney was a previous appointed attorney on that Robin Sue Cooper case. So what? She was appointed on a lot of cases before she was elected judge — with your support, I might add. I really don’t get what you are insinuating.
As for the “lots of stories” that are happening over at the D.A.’s Office, I’m aware of a few of them. However, as I mentioned earlier, I’ve been out of town for some time. I don’t have details. Let me see what I can do for you on that one.
Of course, you sure seem to know a lot. Why aren’t you writing these stories? Don’t tell me that you don’t have faith in the veracity of your “courthouse correspondent.”
Heh, I didn’t expect such a quick reply from a big Hollywood celebrity.
Ya know, I think mentors and bosses and such are overrated when it comes to helping employees along the way. But since you bring up bricks, I had a boss one time that told me that sometimes, you gotta break a window to get something done. Bricks are awesome for that purpose.
Windows have been and will continue to be broken. No idea who the commissioners were, eh? Don’t worry, I know who they were. In due time, Murray. In due time. 😉
Darn, Murray, I was so surprised to get the quick reply from a celebrity that I almost forgot!
Ding, ding, ding! You’re the winner! And yes, I supported KG and even gave her some gas money. Can’t win ’em all.
Now, you sorta forgot the rest of the question: why would Rogers leave that part of the story out?
Triple bonus: What role does Chip B. play in this one?
Although, in fairness, KG was the most qualified. I just didn’t know how tied she was to the runaway grand jury at the time. Ya know, abuse of process trumps qualifications. Don’t ya think? But hey, like I said, I didn’t know. Fool me once and all that.
By the way….you wouldn’t happen to know who is on her grand jury, would you? Let’s see. Would the initials PP or DD mean anything to the runaway grand jury? Surely not…. 😉
Keep up the good work David. Newmans little castle keeps crumbling a little at a time.
Hmm. A poster that uses a pseudonym and has bad grammar/punctuation skills. I wonder who that is.
Although, I have to give him credit for finally finding an appropriate nickname.
This Newman is arrogant!
Murray,
Your an idiot and I am not Siverlinnig. I have not said one word about your Brady violation in a murder trial or anything else including the depos from the Culberson case. You missed a lot of great stories, nothing about Wendy, the 185th, the 179th, Mike Anderson’s admission to a hospice, nothing in your Catch-up post.
There are a lot of great stories out there and many involve you. I am feeling the urge to start writing again.
Hey, why don’t you write about Dr. Karpen being represented by your buddy Chip Lewis. I am sure that will illicit a few responses.
First off, Donald, I think you meant to write “You’re an idiot.” Just because you are a mean spirited lunatic doesn’t excuse bad spelling and grammar.
Are you really taking joy in the fact that another person is suffering from cancer? I understand differences in opinions and not liking each other, but your “Tick Tock” comments on your own blog seem to illustrate you taking delight in physical suffering of a husband and father. I have no idea whether or not Mike is in hospice, but if he is, why does that make you so damn happy?
Dave, is that really the type of thing you agree with too?
As for Wendy, the 185th, the 179th and Dr. Karpen, what would you like to hear about? The only thing I’ve heard lately about the 185th is you causing some sort of commotion and harassing one of the former members of what you and Dave like to call the “Runaway Grand Jury”. Is that what you are talking about?
Also, you might want to check your homework before accusing me of a Brady violation. You wouldn’t want to be committing libel on a website that runs under the heading of “Because the Truth matters”, now would you?
Grow up, Don. The war is over.
Murray, I’ve told you before – why do you expect that Don would not respond to your taunts? Notice that he said nothing before you taunted him about “Silverlining’s” comment. And yeah, you’ve used that so much in the past that anyone would know who you are talking about. But you know what? You are completely wrong about Silverlining. Different person.
As for your comment about Mike, Don said nothing inappropriate. Wondering why one of Anderson’s biggest supporters wouldn’t mention his current status is natural, don’t you think? No one is cheerful about Mike’s predicament, including Don.
Let me ask you something that I’ve struggled with: is it appropriate to discuss the problems at the Harris County District Attorney’s office that have resulted from Mike’s illness? That’s a hard one for me, which is why I’ve been very quiet about it, with only a couple of passing references. A lot is happening down there as people fight to take advantage of the vacuum in leadership, which shows the character of the people that Mike hired to run the place. Is that off limits?
Really? Wondering why I haven’t been writing about Mike’s medical is normal?
How about Mike and his family’s privacy? Or the recognition that there are things out there that are so much more important than who is running what at the D.A.’s Office? Does that really need clarification?
Don posted that Mike is in hospice. That’s more information than what I’ve heard and considering the source, I highly doubt the veracity of it. Do you truly think Hooper posted that here out of legitimate concern? If so, don’t bother asking me what’s “off limits” for you to write about, Dave. You’ve already made up your mind.
Its your blog and you can obviously write what you want. I’ve told you that I would have concerns about any information that was brought to you by Don Hooper, but you’ve disregarded that.
My mistake was trying to reason with you in the first place.
Yeah, I figured as much. Cheers.
Mr. Jennings you cant reason with a fool. As the previous pollster stated Newmans castle is crumbling.
Murray, aka Ken Anderson Jr.,
Before you sue me, and I am real scared, aren’t you the least bit curious to find out whether Chip and Amanda survive the SLAPP motion? Just think of the Discovery and admissions we already have.
My guess you will have to go to someone outside of Harris County to take your case too. Please leave your BLOG up and I will call it Exhibit 1. So when I sue you back and a jury hears all your BS what do you think a jury will do? Do you think they print that much money? This of course assumes you survive the SLAPP motion. I invite you to sue me!
Wasn’t Anderson invited to the party?
Did Anderson need the job for the medical service insurance that is likely paying the hospice bill?
Inquiring tax serfs want to know.