Horace Marquese Harris, 20, is not a nice young man. Just look at his record:
- In December 2016, Harris was charged with assault on a public servant in Hidalgo County.
- In March 2017, Harris pleaded guilty and got six years of probation.
- In October 2017, Harris was charged with capital murder.
- In November 2017, his probation was revoked.
- In April 2019, Harris was sentenced to two years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for assault on a peace officer. He had already served 589 days in jail.
- In May 2019, he was sent to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
- In June 2019, he was released from prison.
Add to that the pistol-whipping and carjacking of a woman less than a month later.
Harris and Marqui Lamon Davis, 20, pistol-whipped and carjacked Manuela Mora in northwest Houston after the mother of six got home from work around 1:40 am on July2. Each was armed with a gun and urged the other to shoot Mora.
Harris and Davis drove off in the Jeep Cherokee but the police were able to locate it because it had a GPS tracker. During a 10-mile long chase, two Houston police cars crashed into each other, sending one careening into a used car dealership and damaging at least four other vehicles. The chase came to a stop when Harris and Davis crashed into a tree.
Harris jumped out of the Jeep after the crash but tripped and fell. He was pinned down by the cops just as he started to reach in his right front pocket where the police found a pistol.
Davis, the driver, was found hiding under a horse trailer by a K9 who bit him (ferociously I hope). He had a pistol that had been stolen in a burglary.
Houston Police Officers Union President Joe Gamaldi tweeted, “Suspect who pistol whipped/car jacked innocent woman, then lead officers on high speed chase was out on bond for Capital Murder. DAs office, based on his history Agg Robbery/Assault Public Servant, and threat he posed to public requested No Bond, but Judge R. Johnson gave him 1 anyway.”
HPD Chief Art Acevedo said, “One was a capital murder suspect free on bond to victimize us and the other has two prior robbery convictions. Our community deserves better than revolving door justice for violent criminals who are being let out on personal bonds, low bonds and are being given deferred probation when they have repeatedly shown an absolute disregard for the law.”
Harris had been charged with capital murder for the deadly shooting of Melton McGee on Oct. 23, 2017. McGee was shot in the head while sitting in his SUV at an apartment complex in Atascocita. Just eight months earlier Harris had been released on probation from Hidalgo County for beating up two peace officers who were guards at the juvenile detention center where he was being held.
At first the Harris County DA’s office had requested that no bail be granted for Harris, but prosecutors soon accepted District Judge Robert Johnson’s decision to set bail. Judge Johnson, a black Democrat, granted the dangerous black thug a $100,000 bond even though court records showed he had violated his probation and then parole for assaulting the two juvenile detention center guards. Harris posted bond on the capital murder charge in November 2018.
While a $100,000 bond may seem rather high, it is actually far from that. Both Judge Johnson and DA Kim Ogg knew very well it would take only 10 percent of that to make bail and that someone might raise the $10,000 for that dangerous thug’s release.
And shame on the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. If Harris was given credit for the 589 days already served in jail, he still had 141 days left on his 2-year sentence. And yet, the authorities released him on parole after only one month in prison when he should never have been paroled with a capital murder charge hanging over his head.
McGee’s stepbrother James Cox slammed Judge Johnson, saying “For you to release somebody from jail on capital murder and put him back into society, you obviously don’t really care.” McGee’s mother added, “Because if he’s letting them out, you never know when you’re going to come across them. I know this lady [Mora], she didn’t know she was going to come into contact with someone who killed someone and has a long record, and is still walking around.”
Public safety gets flushed down the toilet when a person charged with capital murder who has a prior record of assaulting peace officers is granted bail.
Bad dude. Imagine having a young Horace Harris in your classroom. Now imagine him in a classroom with 28 other students, some of which are stupider than him. However, I’d rather be a teacher than a cop.
Isn’t the minimum period of parole 2 years?
Come on now its Bail Reform. Got to get with it. Innocent until proven guilty. Remember?
That’s right Paul Most of these people want all of their rights , like 2nd amendment, and 4th amendment, but they dont want others that are not members of the privileged classes having their 8th amendment rights. Not everyone charged with a crime is guilty sometimes people are politically targeted because they dont belong to the right union or trade organization or family. Denial of bail is really akin to pre-trial punishment, an unconstitutional act. I worked 15 years as a law enforcement officer, I have also been falsely accused of a criminal allegation, six years later proven innocent, should I have spent that 6 years behind bars unable to support my family and denied bail? Should bail have been withheld so the state could extort a guilty plea with a promise of release on probation? If the person is a prior offender and presents a danger to the community place conditions on the bond that are enforceable by the bondsman. So many rules and statues limit the bondsmans ability to the defendants jailer while out of jail. Give the bonding agent more authority over the bondee and you will reduce the infractions while they ate out.
This, in part, the result of the election of Kim Ogg as DA, who was supported by some on this forum. To those who endorsed her: How do you like her now?
Is the state seeking the death penalty on Harris? Because Article I, section 11a of the Texas Constitution says he’s entitled to a bond if the state is seeking the death penalty and it presents “proof evident” at a hearing to deny bond. There is nothing in the district clerk’s records showing the state is seeking the death penalty. And, prosecutors hate having “proof evident” hearings because it gives defense lawyers like me a chance at their witnesses under oath and on the record before trial.
He was first held no bond then, on May 21, 2018, the state and defense agreed to the $100,000 bond. All Judge Johnson did was approve the agreement. The bond was posted on November 22, 2018, while he was in prison. You’ll have to ask his bondsman why they posted a bond on a guy in prison on another case but I’ve seen bondsmen post bonds and take the client’s money knowing there was an ICE hold and they would be released to the feds. Getting $10,000 for no risk isn’t bad.
The clerk’s records show that Harris was arrested and booked into the county jail on June 3, 2019. He was picked up at TDC, so the prison released him into the custody of the Harris County sheriff.
As of today, he is held no bond because he is alleged to have committed a felony while on bond for a felony. There also is a non-bailable parole revocation warrant holding him in jail. He’s not going anywhere. He’s also got a hold on him from ATF, indicating the feds have charged him with a weapons offense.
Before you get loopy at a judge like Judge Johnson, a person I don’t know, you ought to know the facts. In the absence of a proof evident hearing, Harris was entitled to a bond as a matter of law. At the time the bond agreement was entered and at the time he posted the bond, he was in prison. I have never heard of a judge not accepting a bond agreement between the parties.
Chalk this one up to a bad decision by the DA’s office on the bond agreement, not the judge. The police union head and the police chief ought to get their facts straight before they go attacking people. You would have thought they would have learned a lesson earlier this year when they attacked two people killed in a police raid only to find out later the police probably lied on the affidavit to get a search warrant.
In the first paragraph, i dropped a “not.” He is NOT entitled to a bond if the state is seeking the death penalty and the proof is evident. The state has to up it’s as to both guilt and likelihood of a death sentence at a hearing to deny him bond.
Tom, you’ve just proven what a sorry ass Kim Ogg is as District Attorney. Of course the parties representing Harris jumped at having a bond set which would take only $10, 000 to get that worthless piece of shit back out on the streets. And don’t try to defend Judge Johnson because you have never heard of a judge not accepting a bond agreement between the parties. When he saw Harris’ record, he could have and should have set the bond much higher. In this case, Johnson and Ogg put the safety of the public at risk and a mother of six nearly got killed because of what they did.
Joe Gamaldi and Chief Acevedo got it right, and so did James Cox and McGee’s mother.
As for me not getting the facts right, then all the print and TV media outlets, both local and national, did not get them right either. Now that you’ve made that gripe about me, you should also complain to the media.
Howie: at the time the bond was set on the capital murder case, the only criminal record was a revoked assault on a public servant where the trial court in the Valley had sentenced him to the statutory minimum. That’s not a bad criminal history
Not a bad criminal history? The public servant Harris assaulted happened to be two peace officers and not a clerk at the driver license office. You do not need to have a record of a dozen arrests for a “bad criminal history.” Anyone who has attacked a peace officer has a ‘bad criminal history’ and should be considered extremely dangerous as shown by the pistol-whipping of Manuela Mora.
As for setting bail, take the case of Bayron Rivera, 18, charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and two counts of aggravated assault in connection with the July 4th road-rage shooting at a truck which ignited some fireworks and badly burned two adults and two small children. What was the bond amount a judge set for Rivera? $50,000? No! $100,000? No! Rivera, who was not charged with capital murder, turned himself in when he learned about the children. So, what was his bail set at? It was $400,000!
And how much bond was set for Larry Woodruffe,24, who is charged with capital murder in the shooting death of 7-year-old Jazmine Barnes on December 30? $100,000? No! $400,000? No! $1 million? No! Woodruffe was denied bail!
Tom, you ought to stop wasting your time trying to defend Judge Johnson. With the cooperation of Kim Ogg’s office, he set the bond way too low for Harris. That makes Johnson and Ogg equally responsible for the pistol-whipping of Manuela Mora. And God only knows how many other crimes Harris committed since his release on bail.
Tom, tsk tsk tsk , trying to pull a defense lawyer fast one on us. You wrote “Article I, section 11a of the Texas Constitution says he’s entitled to a bond if the state is seeking the death penalty …..”
Now I’ve looked at Section 11a several times and can find no mention of the death penalty. 11a deals strictly with DENIAL OF BAIL AFTER MULTIPLE FELONIES. It lists a number of felonies “less than capital” but not with capital murder itself.
Furthermore Section 11 reads “All prisoners shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, unless for capital offenses, when the proof is evident.” That clearly states bail can be denied to capital murder defendants, and in the case of Harris, the proof that he shot McGee to death was evident.
Tom, if I ever need a criminal defense lawyer, it will be you. I think you would get me off because you will try to con the jurors out of their shorts and panties.
Howie: You’re right, it is Article I, section 11 It still isn’t treated as a capital crime unless the state is seeking the death penalty. And, how do you know the proof is evident? I don’t know and neither do you. That’s why there re proof evident hearings when the state tries to deny bond.
For decades, the Harris County DA’s office has been sloppy on getting no bonds on defendants. The most common screw up is failing to hold a hearing on habitual criminals or people who are are charged with a felony while on bond for another felony. Yep, the DA’s office files its motion and gets a no bond but forgets to have a hearing within seven days after the arrest like the constitution requires. So, the defendant is entitled to bond.
I remember a case while Johnny Holmes was DA where my client on bond for a felony and arrested for a new felony didn’t have his hearing, so I got him a bond. Then while on bond for two felonies, he got picket up yet a third. And, you guessed it, no hearing and a bond gets set. As I recall, it was his third or fourth new arrest before the DA’s office got around to scheduling a hearing.
Sloppy lawyering isn’t new to the Ogg administration. It’s long been a traditional way for the Harris County DA’s office to operate that way.
Some day, get a few drinks in me and I’ll tell you how in my first murder case an assistant DA screwed up and turned a 25-life habitual offender case into a 2-20 case and how the ADA was shocked when I objected to her amending the indictment mid trial to make it 25 to life again. That prosecutor went on to a 20-yer career as a district judge.
So the police union is playing a game with the current DA. Its two sided and HPD is using anything they can to discredit the DA ,mainly because she dosnt support the disparate interpretation of the private security act that keeps HPD at the head of a monopoly on armed security. for years HPD has eliminated their competition by arresting them on false criminal charges and the former DA’s went along with it in order to get campaign funds from the HPD union PAC fund , and a block of votes from union members. Now HPD officers are showing up on scenes and not presenting the facts of the cases in their entirety to the intake ADA , so when charges are declined the officer on scene says its the DA that is at fault. They have all been instructed to do so by the union. Now the union can say look , it;s Kim Oggs fault, and create the illusion that shes done something wrong. I have news for you all , it’s HPD’s greed that is turning criminals back out on the street. I have proof that will develop over the next few months just watch the news.
William, if what you say is true, a recording of their discussion would provide exactly the kind of evidence that would be needed to show which side was telling the truth. As such, I favor the legislature passing a law removing any sanction from such a recording as long as at least one party to a conversation was physically present. I extend this to recording cops and other officials as a means of preserving the truth for the public.
explain why HPD policy (not DA policy, not state statute ) prohibits officers from recording the conversations with DA intake? If yojur an HPD officer and you dont turn your camera off while presenting the charges to DA intake its automatic suspension time, but policy requires every other part of the scene to be recorded. Believe me I’m not a fan of the DA, but I;m no fan of HPD or their union either, both entities are the cause of our current crime wave. I work in the middle of it, my life is on the line 6 nights a week catching some of the worst criminals around, just to watch HPD come out and make a mockery of what I do because I compete with them in the private market, and most of the time I get treated like suspect. HPD has been doing this for years to security and police officers from other agencies that work extra employment in Houston. HPD and their union act like they own the private market here, but what do you expect from a bunch of union socialists. I truly fail to understand why the liberal socialist DA cant get along with a left wing socialist organization like a union. Texas is a right to work state, unions are really meaningless here in Texas, so why do we give so much presidence to this public service union. The union dosnt do anything to benefit the public or the tax payers of Houston, it solely protects the private interest of its members who are supposed to be public servants, not our masters. Take an officer like Goins, who in my opinion is just as bad as the subject of this article Horace Harris, and add the fact that the union protected him for years, allowing him to blossom into an arrogant untouchable thug. If you work for a public agency, then you should look out for the interest of the general public, not your own, if you cant do that then you dont belong in public service.
William, after Ogg took over, her person in charge of intake started denying charges for many suspects. When the cops complained to their supervisors and unions, not just HPD, the DA’s office would claim the cops were at fault so some of the cops started recording the conversations to serve as proof. There was considerable egg on the face of Ogg and one of her staff named Denholm (sp?) so they threw a fit to demand no more recordings be made. Given the recordings support the working cops, I am sure that they feel such measures are needed for the transparency of the situation, the people at the top of their organization who have likely never filed a charge in Harris County or haven’t done so in many years probably see less benefit as they seek to appease the DA.
As to the rest of your rant, when police agencies start regularly acting according to their own policies and state law, unions won’t be needed. Until then, they are charged with negotiating contracts and protecting their members from the lynch mob mentality you display, go ask HFD’s union just how willing city administrations have been to disregard laws or agreements when it suits them. But whatever political leanings unions may show, both HFD and HPD’s unions support a lot of right wing conservatives after all, their members are rarely socialists in the slightest. Should the rest of us bow down to what these unions claim, at least without proof or a valid argument? Heck no but swallowing the lies told by politicians or those with an axe to grind makes no better sense either.
lynch mob mentality? its the HPD union with the lynch mob mentality. HPOU is part of the larger FOP , an organization started in New York as a police union, but started with a mob mentality. Apparently you like the way these east coasters do business, because they brought their business here to Houston. Soon it will be like New York or Chicago or worse even Gotham City. Unions have no place in a right to work state, and especially have no place in public service. Quit crying about these public servants not being paid enough, because they are making 15 times what their private sector and non union police make. The majority of HPD officers retire as multi millionaires , and all from public tax money. As to supporting right wing conservatives there are what is called national socialists also that are neo right wing, maybe thats who you have in mind. Im strictly independent and dont follow any group.
You say when police agencies start to act according to the law unions wont be needed, well friend its the unions and trade associations that are allowing these agencies and officers to go rogue. These unions and associations provide attorneys to these rogue officers with almost unlimited defense funds, and defend their criminal actions so that when a citizen is wronged they cant possibly get justice or accountability from them. Unions and trade associations bribe our crooked legislators to enact disparate laws that stamp out competition and create monopolies, legalizing what the union members do and criminalizing it for any one else. Recently there has been a supreme court case settled and the hand down showed trade associations paying legislators to enact unfair statues that promote trade restrictions as unconstitutional. I am soon presenting a constitutional challenge in federal court that will change the police and security industry in Texas in a big way, It sounds like you may have something to loose by this, and you may think you are one of the entitled, but that entitlement is about to run out. The HPD union and Harris County DA have been oppressing people in the security industry and police officers from less prominent agencies for 35 years, and its about to stop. Whos left to champion you? Shimek is gone, Porter is gone and least missed of all Greenwood is gone and so is his little protoge Carter. All terminated from Harris County and state employment. Union monopolization is in violation of federal anti trust laws, and the Ricco act. They are engaging in organized crime by using their public authority and color of law to arrest their competitors, and intimidate private business owners to use their services instead of a legitimate licensed contractor. They are operating outside of the occupations code without a license to operate guard services. The so called exemption they operate under is unconstitutional both state and federal and will be challenged. The case is already filed in federal court, and the pleadings are being amended to include this challenge. Why should you have everything and the rest of us that work hard every day have nothing to show for it ? You are the one with the axe to grind, you are the fox in charge of the hen house, your the one that lives in the glass house only the windows are not transparent.
William, while your comments will always be welcome, I think we’ve had about enough of your self-serving attacks on HPD and the police union.
William, while your latest rant was entertaining fodder, it was full of your usual inconsistencies and unsupported accusations. First off, I never said they were underpaid, never supported their previous membership in the FOP which they dropped years ago, and never even championed their union(s) other than to point out what the rest of us are aware of-city and county officials routinely play politics with employees that are in direct violation of state law or binding contracts they have. The biggest offenders are the liberals you claim these organizations are in bed with, then you flip flop to claim any right wing types they support are “neo right wing” which I’m sure would surprise the Governor, Lt. Governor, and many other well respected members of the state GOP. Apparently, anyone that they support is heavily flawed and/or anyone that supports them is equally tainted, an outrageous embellishment even for a guy like you with such a large chip on his shoulder.
But we get it, your special interest group feels deserving of being paid better since the deputies of the HCSO and officers of the HPD are paid better and were successful in convincing the legislature to make changes impacting private security laws. When the Texas Supreme Court or SCOTUS rules such changes as unconstitutional, they will fall under that designation but until then it is just your personal accusation as yet unsupported by law. I have hired numerous people over the years and frankly, the quality of private security out there falls far short of the average HCSO deputy or HPD officer, by far in fact, which is why I do not use them despite saving a little money, their cost is nearly the same but much of the cost goes to the private company instead of the individual. Let’s be honest that if your quality level warranted better pay, you’d get it in this right-to-work state but your inability to secure employment with one of the better trained policing agencies or garner the type of wages you seek as a non-union employee does not equate to their lack of worth. And none of my extra detail deputies or officers ever had to arrest your type so leave the jealousy behind, my decision to pay $30 to 35 an hour for trained, licensed peace officers versus the same for wannabe security guards where the bulk of the money goes to your company owner is all mine. If I could hire the security guard for the amount he takes home which is less than half what I have to pay his employer, and had the same quality as well as the same civil liability coverage, I’d consider putting some of you to work but it’s just not the case.
So good luck with your lawsuit and should you run into any of those imaginary “multi-millionaires” on the banks of the French Riviera, be sure to say hi from me. In the meantime you can go back to supporting criminals getting released without having to pay bonds so they can terrorize the community under the guise that they might be innocent, or wring your hands that some local cops might not treat you as a convicted criminal like you were superior to them. As for me, I’ll just go back to employing the best choices I can afford while shaking my head at the audacity of convicts demanding equal perks who blame everything bad in their life on unions and the real police.
Im not attacking anyone , Im just fighting for some fairness and equity. Apparently you support oppression for your own personal benefit.