Big Jolly Politics

politics in Harris County and Texas

"I can't imagine (the case) having any effect"

by

Perhaps the case had no effect back in 2005 but last I looked, a Governor, Texas media outlets and blogger didn’t cotton too well to elected officials remaining in office after an arrest and / or conviction for DUI or DWI back in 2009 or as recently as April 2013.

From the Houston Chronicle circa 2005:

“U.S. Rep Kevin Brady R- The Woodlands, pleaded no contest Tuesday to a drunken driving charge in his home state of South Dakota…he was convicted and fined $350.”

The account describes the sobriety test given to Brady by the South Dakota state trooper:

“The officer smelled alcohol on Brady’s breath and asked the lawmaker to step out of the car. he administered a breath test and several sobriety tests to Brady, who refused a blood alcohol test, as was his right under state law.”

Gene Green,  D-Houston was quoted as saying “I think he’ll do fine…I can’t imagine (the case) having any effect.”

Contrast the no call for Brady’s  resignation after his DUI conviction, no call for Montgomery County Judge Alan Sadler’s resignation after his 2009 DWI arrest, to the arm flailing, chest thumping calls  for Travis County DA Rosemary Lehmberg to resign after her April 2013 DUI arrest.

Kuffner almost let the cat out of the bag here, but didn’t go far enough in publicizing Texas Local Government Code Chapter 87 (removal of county officers from office; filling of vacancies), Sec 87.013 general grounds for removal (a) an officer may be removed for:

“incompetency, official misconduct, intoxication on or off duty caused by drinking an alcoholic beverage”

…in that Sec 87.012 does not apply to Congress.

Must be another one of those Congressional “loopholes”; something stinks to high heaven IMHO.

If Texans don’t like the law, the proper remedy is to repeal the law or portions of it in the Texas Legislature, not selectively enforce the law to protect your allies and punish others.

Flashback to 2009: Who Called For Judge Alan Sadler To Resign?

by

I’ll tell you what scandal I think is “phony”…

Travis County DA Rosemary Lehmberg was arrested on a charge of driving while intoxicated back in April. KXAN reported the affidavit stated she:

“was described as disoriented with slurred speech. She lost her balance during the field sobriety test and started before the instructions to start.”

YYN described the failed field sobriety test:

“During a walk-and-turn test, the 63 year old veteran prosecutor lost her balance and did not  follow instructions as directed by investigators. Lehmberg told Deputy Ribsam she would not complete any more testing as she declined to stand on one leg.”

Two days after the Friday night arrest, The Statesman reported:

“Much of Lehmberg’s actions during and after the arrest were documented on patrol car cameras and cameras inside the jail, but those videos had not been made public.

After Lehmberg agreed to make an “unconditional” guilty plea and accept any amount of jail time, Governor Perry, the Austin American-Statesman, The Daily Texan and Kuffner called for Lehmberg to resign. (Perry ultimately used a line-item veto to withhold funding of the Travis County Public Integrity Unit unless Lehmberg resigned)

I am just dumbfounded. Isn’t it newsworthy to compare DA Lehmberg’s arrest on drunk driving to say, oh I don’t know, Montgomery County Judge Sadler’s 2009 arrest on drunk driving?

According to videos posted on the Montgomery County Monitor, (that Sadler fought tooth & nail to prevent release of, BTW) Judge Sadler was placed into custody for suspicion of driving while intoxicated, the police dashcam shows he’s clearly disoriented with slurred speech, and appears to have lost his balance during the field sobriety test.

Both Republicans and Democrats love to whine endlessly about double-standards and hypocrisy; what happened to the truth? Who called for Judge Sadler to resign?