Big Jolly Politics

politics in Harris County and Texas

Wayne Dolcefino – A public discussion on public corruption

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Wayne Dolcefino
Wayne Dolcefino
Don Hooper
Don Hooper

I have been bugging Sophia Mafrige for over a year to invite Wayne Dolcefino to the Downtown Pachyderm. And, this past Thursday, Wayne gave a tremendous presentation.

For those of you who may be new to Houston, Wayne was the investigative reporter for Channel 13 Eyewitness News for 27 years. Over that time, he won 30 Emmy awards, including the prestigious Edward R. Murrow award, for his investigative reporting.

Wayne gave the group a glimpse into the world of investigative reporting, including his focus on public corruption. It is clear that Wayne had two jobs during his time at Channel 13: (1) investigative reporter and (2) Pseudo-Public Integrity Chief for the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District and the local district attorney’s offices, including Harris County.

Much of Wayne’s talk was focused on the fact that local law enforcement fails to prosecute public corruption – unless forced to by public shaming. Think about it for a second. Jerry Eversole – investigated by Wayne and subsequently prosecuted. Victor Trevino – investigated by Wayne and subsequently prosecuted. HCC. HISD. You get the picture.

No public figure was ever immune to Wayne’s investigative power and indictments usually followed his stories. Law enforcement was always a reactionary force after Wayne’s stories went live. Following Wayne’s reporting, Constable Trevino was charged with four felonies involving public corruption and eventually pled guilty to one felony. He is very lucky not to be serving a lengthy prison sentence. We can thank Susan Brown for this very light sentence.

Wayne began by talking about the good old boy network, which is something that led to Trevino’s trouble. Barbecues that force employees to spend a good amount of their small salaries on event tickets are passé thanks to Wayne’s reporting. Wayne was clear: Harris County elected officials should not be allowed to force their employees to sell tickets or participate in their fundraising and political campaigns.

The point is that investigative journalism is near extinction in Houston. The crooks are happy but what does it say about us?

Wayne spoke at length about the fact that the majority of libel law in Texas is filled with case styles including the name Dolcefino. It sure cost Channel 13 a lot of money; but, the news organization was well represented at the time by Chip Babcock. As Wayne said, the appellate courts usually corrected unfriendly rulings and verdicts in the trial courts. Now, all of the local stations are self-insured, which, in their own mind, prevents the hard-hitting investigative reporting that was the moniker of Wayne Dolcefino.

While local newsmakers leave much to be desired, all is not lost. Voters have the opportunity to elect a district attorney interested in prosecuting public corruption and white collar crimes.

To sustain the reporter’s privilege, Senator Huffman is sponsoring Senate Bill 627 that codifies a protection for journalists. Under this legislation, as long as the journalist can prove that the allegations were made and accurately reported, litigation against the journalist will not prevail. Senator Huffman also authored the Anti-SLAPP statute, which was further strengthened by the Texas Legislature in 2013. Channel 13 recently used this statute to win and obtain attorneys’ fees against a plaintiff in Harris County.

I agree that the reporter’s privilege should be protected for honest reporting. My beef is with reporters who use dishonest sources, which produce dishonest results. My bigger complaint is with reporters who disseminate untruthful stories and then fail to correct the record.

Wayne is a very hard worker and conducted thorough research on his stories. While Wayne seems to enjoy his time away from television, he is greatly missed.

Downtown Houston Pachyderm Board with Wayne Dolcefino
Downtown Houston Pachyderm Board with Wayne Dolcefino

Why I voted for Kim Ogg for District Attorney

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Don Hooper
Don Hooper

Commentary/Opinion by Don Hooper

While some lifelong conservatives, like me, have voted for Kim Ogg this fall, others may be hesitant because they are conservatives and doesn’t a good conservative always vote for the Republican candidate? Of course, that line of thought begs the question: What does a conservative prosecutor look like?

Before I begin, I would like to address the elephant in the room. I do not like the Anderson administration or their cronies and they do not care for me very much either. When I met my wife, she was a hardworking Harris County Assistant District Attorney. Over the last few years, I saw the Anderson cabal use a fake scandal to gain power. In doing so, they did everything they could to tarnish my wife’s professional reputation, including using Chip Lewis to file a baseless civil lawsuit. For many years, the cabal has used Murray Newman to speak ill about my family. Instead of sitting on my hands, I decided to do something about it and started my own website. That being said, I want to see the Harris County District Attorney’s office return to the people of Harris County and I proudly support Kim Ogg for District Attorney.

Some say that they would only support a conservative for any office; so, I would like to look at Devon Anderson’s record and ask the question: What does a conservative prosecutor look like?

In early 2013, Philadelphia physician Kermit Gosnell was convicted of three counts of murder in the deaths of three infants born alive. Shortly after that conviction, the news broke that Harris County authorities were investigating Douglas Karpen, a local doctor accused of performing late term abortions. Four former employees of Karpen accused him of delivering live babies during the third trimester and killing them by snipping their spinal cord or twisting their necks. On December 20, 2013, on Devon’s watch, a Harris County grand jury no billed Karpen. This no bill occurred as soon as Devon knew that she would have no primary opponent.

Much has already been written about our poor grand jury system in Harris County. Most of the judges use a key man system, which means that the judges select commissioners who choose the grand jurors. Using this process, rather than selecting the grand jurors at random from the jury pool, allows bias to enter the criminal justice system. New York judge Sol Wachtler was famously quoted in The Bonfire of the Vanities that “a grand jury would indict a ham sandwich if that is what [the prosecutor] wanted.”

In Texas, a prosecutor presents a case or investigation to a grand jury and the defense attorney is not permitted to enter the room. So, if a prosecutor, a hired persuader, presents a case to a pro-government, key man grand jury, what is the likely result?

Devon used the key man system when she was a judge. Devon and her husband continuously recycled certain grand jurors, such as Tricia Pollard.

Now we know that Denise Pratt, former judge of the 311th District Court, was operating a dysfunctional court. It is alleged that she backdated orders and dismissed hundreds of pending cases. If proven, these acts would be deemed criminal. Instead of being “one tough prosecutor” and vigorously prosecuting Pratt, Devon presented the case to a grand jury and used the grand jury as leverage to force Pratt’s resignation.

Meanwhile, the appearance of impropriety was grand. Devon and Pratt shared a political consultant, Allen Blakemore. If you are not familiar with Blakemore’s shenanigans, I ask that you listen to Michael Berry’s take on the man and his ethics. Pratt was represented by Blakemore buddy, Terry Yates. It is amazing that Terry Yates still associates with Blakemore. In 2010, Blakemore’s nasty tactics ruined Terry’s wife’s re-election campaign. Now, Leslie Brock Yates is a regular visiting judge down at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center. Devon is just mimicking Chuck Rosenthal as Blakemore also served as Chuck’s political consultant.

Let’s talk about Devon’s most recent campaign press release issued through Allen Blakemore. Allen and Devon claim that Kim Ogg was late on her latest campaign finance report. That statement is a complete lie. A simple gander at the latest report shows that Kim’s report was mailed on the due date, which is permitted by the rules. If Devon would permit this sort of distortion in her campaign, what is she doing as the interim District Attorney?

In 2012, Mike Anderson used the Houston Police Officers’ Union to publicize his campaign for District Attorney. Anderson and the union used Pat Lykos’s “trace evidence policy” to label Lykos as soft on crime. The truth is that policy was in place for two years prior to the aired complaint. Prior to implementation of the policy, Lykos had gotten the buy in of law enforcement and the judiciary, which included Anderson. This is a great example of the trickery and distortion often used by Blakemore.

During that campaign, Anderson also criticized the DIVERT program, which was a program implemented by Lykos that allowed pre-trial diversion for first time driving while intoxicated offenders. Anderson proclaimed that program was illegal. After he took office, he retained the DIVERT program (giving it another name). Today, the DA’s office continues this pre-trial diversion program. In fact, Devon has implemented a pre-trial diversion program for drug offenders. So, has she implemented illegal programs?

Just this week, Devon announced that she granted pre-trial intervention to an HISD principal and another HISD administrator for failing to report sexual abuse of a child. It is interesting to note that the HISD administrator was represented by Billy Belk, one of the attorneys appointed by Susan Brown to “prosecute” my wife in front of the 185th grand jury.

Speaking of Susan Brown, has anyone ever learned why Susan Brown gave $2,925 to Anderson & Thomas, the former law firm of Devon Anderson and Brock Thomas, on December 29, 2010?

Back to the HPOU. Did you know that Devon is endorsed by the HPOU? It is odd to note that Devon does not discuss this endorsement. Why? Is she worried that citizens would draw the dots between her support of the police and the actions of the DA’s office? Does support from a police union make Devon conservative? If you wonder why the Houston Police are still in the crime lab business, look no further.

Now, Devon is up on television during this campaign. Her commercial focuses on her prosecution of a capital murder [on videotape]. While the Victor Trevino case is continuously reset, it is almost like she tried the capital murder [on videotape] to use in her campaign commercial. Is it conservative to use a defendant as fodder for a political campaign?

Shortly after Mike Anderson took office, he hired Ann Johnson, fresh off her campaign against Republican Sarah Davis for House District 134. Johnson was hired as the “human trafficking specialist” at an annual salary of $110,000. Was that a conservative move?

Belinda Hill gave up her bench to serve as the first assistant under Mike Anderson. A lot of folks thought this was a strange move. Why would a judge with broad authority resign to become an assistant district attorney? Once Mike’s illness was announced, it seemed obvious – Belinda would succeed Mike in office. The Houston Chronicle thought so. Surprisingly, Devon was appointed by Rick Perry. Recently, Devon said that Mike wanted her to take his place.

Chip Lewis has been a visible figure throughout the Anderson administration. He was involved with the 185th grand jury and even told Harris County Commissioner Steve Radack about his forthcoming subpoena. Following Devon’s appointment, he said this: “I understand that Judge Anderson and Judge Hill discussed this [Devon’s appointment] extensively. They both believed that this was in the best interest for Harris County and their families to move forward with this arrangement.” Meanwhile, he is representing Victor Trevino and seems to be getting a lot of favorable results for his clients with the Anderson administration.

Kim Ogg certainly has Republican minions running scared. I received word that a political consultant was looking to see if Kim ever represented a Muslim so that could be used as slime against Kim. Note to this consultant: you may want to first run Devon’s bar number through the Harris County District Clerk’s website before you decide to throw stones. This is the type of garbage that certain people resort to when they have nothing else. Thankfully, Kim Ogg is above that trash.

I first met Kim Ogg in 2009 at a fundraiser for my wife, then a Republican judicial candidate. I will never forget the conversation that I observed between Kim and Dodie Osteen – Kim was thanking Dodie for praying for Kim’s mother at Lakewood.

While some conservatives may have reservation about voting for a democrat, I am confident that Kim Ogg is not a partisan figure. The Ogg administration will be true justice for all Harris County citizens. Think of it this way – a vote for Kim Ogg is a vote against Allen Blakemore.

 

Odds and ends and HCRP follies

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Still catching up after a nice vacation on the emerald coast. A few things caught my eye.

First is the “investigation” into Judge Alicia Franklin’s billing practices by local attorney Greg Enos. I’m not certain what Enos is trying to accomplish in this one. He did well in helping to expose Judge Denise Pratt’s incompetence behind the bench. But this one puzzles me – he initially was going to go after former HCRP Chair Gary Polland for his billing practices but is now honed in on Judge Franklin.

It appears to me that Enos wants to change the way attorneys bill Harris County for their CPS appointments. Which is A-okay with me if they are over-billing or fraudulently billing. Thus far, he hasn’t proven his case, focusing instead on total hours billed daily. Look, clearly no lawyer can bill 32 hours in a 24 hour day. Duh. The practice has been for lawyers to bill for the time their firms spend on cases, i.e., sure, Franklin billed 32 hours for xxx date but a large portion of that time was for the associates in her firm. If Enos is right and this practice is illegal, it will affect most all of the attorneys that have been appointed for these cases.

If his goal is to eliminate the practice of billing for associate hours, that’s good if it is indeed what the state legislature wants. If he finds actual wrongdoing on the part of Judge Franklin or anyone else, kudos to him and hopefully the full force of the law will be applied. If he wants sympathy from me, well, I can give him some because Franklin refuses to talk to me about the issue and instead has hired a PR firm, Begala/McGrath, to speak for her. Funny how she was willing to meet with me when she was looking for votes. Go figure.

About Enos’ request for an independent prosecutor, I hope he isn’t holding his breath. Current Harris County DA Devon Anderson showed how she can circumvent that system by her handling of HPD detective Ryan Chandler’s case. We’ll have a separate article about that on BJP but just remember this – she gave Chandler’s case to a former HPOU Union rep. Well, actually she didn’t, she had her friend Judge Susan Brown do that. Like I said, more to come on this one.

Speaking of DA Anderson, it looks like she threw respected Family Law Judge Lynn Bradshaw-Hull under the bus in this article by Kiah Collier in the Houston Chronicle. That article is so one-sided bad that I had to look three times at the byline – Collier is a good reporter and most of the time plays it straight. But this one, wow. We’ll definitely respond to the article as it relates to Judge Bradshaw-Hull but why on earth would the DA throw a respected family law judge under the bus? I mean, we already have a weak slate of candidates, why help the Democrats?

Of course, I can’t really complain about that, being a Republican office holder of sorts (Precinct Chair) and publicly supporting Anderson’s Democratic opponent. On that note, I received a call today from a high profile Harris County Republican wanting to help Anderson’s opponent, Kim Ogg, behind the scenes. Seems like a lot of Harris County Republicans are waking up to the fact that the current DA is…well, let’s just say that some people don’t like corruption. Is that cool?

But perhaps the weirdest (funniest?) (most ironic?) thing I’ve read about the local Republican party is that Carl Pittman is making another run for Sheriff in 2016. This is especially weird (funny?) (ironic?)  during a news cycle that features wife beating Ray Rice, formerly an NFL player of note. First, I see on my friend Karen Townsend’s Pondering Penguin that Pittman is running in 2016 and that of all the Republican groups out there, a Republican Women’s club had him as a speaker. Wow.

Then I see this advertisement for him when I log on to Facebook:

carl pittman with rick perry

Geez freaking Louise!!!! Right is right and wrong is wrong, no matter who does it???? Are you kidding me??? I’d suggest that you read up on Mr. Pittman before you think he should be Sheriff. Sheesh.

I think I’ll hang around town this week. Too much happens when I’m gone!

 

Harris County Grand Jury System needs reform

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Patricia Pollard: An example of a system gone wrong

There are many cliques around the Harris County Criminal Justice Center. In 2012, we saw these factions unite to support a false narrative about then District Attorney Pat Lykos and tarnish many good people in the process.

In the old days, for example, the courtrooms of Mike and Devon Anderson were used as dunking booths for certain prosecutors. They could make or break careers at the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. If the Andersons did not like a prosecutor in their court, they would simply send an email or make a call to the sixth floor of the DA’s Office and the prosecutor was forever marked as a dud.

Having heard a few of these stories, it is hard to understand why some of these duds actively supported Mike Anderson’s campaign for District Attorney in 2012. Perhaps we can chalk it up to Stockholm Syndrome. As time has passed, it is becoming clearer every day that these people simply want to protect the system and good ole boy/gal network at all costs.

Lisa Falkenberg, Houston Chronicle, and Radley Balko, Washington Post, recently wrote a series of stories about the Harris County criminal justice system (links to Lisa Falkenberg’s Houston Chronicle series 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and Radley Balko’s Washington Post stories 1,2 ). They illustrate their argument through the view of Ericka Jean Dockery, a former girlfriend of an alleged cop killer, Alfred Dewayne Brown. We don’t know if Alfred Dewayne Brown is guilty or innocent; but, that is not the point. Some would like to label opponents of the current (in)justice system as lovers of cop killers; however, basic logic demonstrates the fundamental flaw in that claim. If you want the criminal justice system to be fair and just and convict the guilty, read on.

On April 3, 2003, Alfredia Jones, an employee at a check cashing store, and Charles Clark, a Houston Police Department Officer, were murdered during a store robbery. Ericka Dockery, Brown’s then-girlfriend, testified for the State during Brown’s trial. The following is an explanatory excerpt from an opinion from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (emphasis added):

Erika Dockery, who testified for the State, was appellant’s girlfriend at the time of the offense and lived with him at the Plum Creek Apartments. Her testimony established that appellant demanded that she lie to the grand jury investigating the crime and provide him with an alibi. She obliged, but later admitted that she had lied. She was charged with aggravated perjury, a fact that was made known to the jury, and she admitted to drug use. Dockery also testified that on the day of the crime, appellant was acting very unusually. He telephoned her and told her to watch a news broadcast regarding the crime, and she testified that when she saw him later that same day, he appeared nervous and was moaning and crying. Most importantly, Dockery testified that she had regularly visited appellant at the jail after his arrest, and on the last day she visited him, she pleaded with him: “I need – – I want to know the truth. Did you do this? . . . I want to know. Did you kill the lady? Did you shoot the policeman? I need to know. Did you do it?” Appellant eventually responded by putting his head down and saying, “I was there. I was there.”

On August 22, 2003, Dan Rizzo, an Assistant District Attorney, filed thee cases of aggravated perjury against Ericka Jean Dockery in cause numbers 959250, 959251, and 959252. On the complaint, Rizzo listed the following probable cause for the cases:

Affiant Pat Smith, a Harris County District Attorney Investigator read the official transcript of the grand jury testimony of the defendant Eric[k]a Jean Dockery where the defendant testified before the 208th Grand Jury of Harris County, Texas on Monday, April 21, 2003[.] Affiant read that the defendant testified on two occasions before the above grand jury that her then boyfriend, Alfred Brown, was present in her residence at 8:30 am on April 3, 2003[.] Affiant further states that said Alfred Brown is charged with the capital murder of Houston Police Officer C Clark and civilian A Jones that is alleged to have occurred on April 3, 2003 at 9:45 am. Affiant believes that the testimony of the defendant is material in that it is inconsistent with Alfred Brown’s guilt in that it would help give Alfred Brown an alibi for said capital murder[.] Affiant further read the Houston Police Department offense report concerning the above[-]described capital murder where two of the charged co[-]defendants of Alfred Brown admit that they committed an aggravated robbery with Alfred Brown on April 3, 2003 where he, Alfred Brown shot and killed Officer C Clark[.]

Affiant further read the official transcript of the grand jury testimony of the defendant where the defendant testified on April 21, 2003, before the 208th Grand Jury of Harris County, Texas and denied making a telephone call to one of the co[-]defendants of Alfred Brown, Eljah Joubert, at 10[:]26[ ] am on April 3, 2003. Affiant reviewed a detailed list of the cell phone activity of Elijah Joubert for the date April 3, 2003, which showed that Joubert received a call from Alma Berry’s home at 10[:]26[ ]am on April 3, 2003[.] Affiant read the Houston Police Department Offense report concerning the capital murder described above where Alma Berry said that on April 3, 2003, the defendant worked as a health care provider for Alma Berry at her home[.] Ms[.] Berry stated that she never called Elijah Joubert’s cell phone on April 3, 2003[.] Ms[.] Berry also stated that the defendant was present in her home working on April 3, 2003[.] Affiant believes that the statement where the defendant denies calling Joubert as material in that the defendant is attempting to [provide an] alibi [for] Brown, by saying that Brown and Joubert were not together during the morning of April 3,2003[.]

Let’s review the timeline so far. The murders occurred on April 3, 2003. On April 21, 2003, Dockery was brought before the 208th Grand Jury. Rizzo filed three aggravated perjury cases against Dockery on August 22, 2003. These three cases were indicted by the 351st Grand Jury on October 10, 2003.

On April 5, 2003, Rizzo filed two criminal complaints against Brown in cause numbers 0944751 and 0944752. The officer listed as the affiant is Houston Police Department officer Breck McDaniel, the husband of Assistant District Attorney Katherine McDaniel. These cases were indicted by Mike Anderson’s grand jury (262nd District Court) on July 16, 2003.

On July 26, 2005, the 228th Grand Jury (re-)indicted Brown for capital murder in cause number 1035159. This indictment was likely Rizzo’s effort to change the charging instrument’s language prior to trial. Previously, Rizzo filed two separate capital murder cases for each victim. The new indictment merged both victims into one capital murder charge: robbing Jones and killing Clark, a police officer.

According to the notes on the Harris County District Clerk’s website, jury selection in Brown’s case occurred from August 29 through September 16, 2005. The trial began on October 10, 2005. On October 24, 2005, Brown was removed from the courtroom during the trial because he loudly proclaimed his innocence during the prosecutor’s closing argument asking the jury to take Brown’s life. Specifically, Brown shouted, “He’s trying to take my life away for something I didn’t do. It’s hard sitting here and listening to him trying to take away my life for something I didn’t do.” The jury returned a death verdict for Brown on October 25, 2005.

On November 4, 2005, Dockery received two years of deferred adjudication (a type of probation) in the 351st District Court in cause number 959250. On the dismissals in cause numbers 959251 and 959252, Rizzo checked the reason for dismissal as “The Defendant was convicted in another case.”

April 3, 2003

Alfredia Jones and Houston Police Department Officer Charles Clark murdered in a check cashing store robbery

April 5, 2003

Rizzo files two cases of capital murder against Brown

April 21, 2003

Dockery brought before the 208th District Court

July 16, 2003

Mike Anderson’s grand jury (262nd District Court), led by Patricia Pollard, indicts Brown in two capital murder cases

August 22, 2003

Rizzo files three cases of aggravated perjury against Dockery

October 10, 2003

351st grand jury indicts Dockery in three cases of aggravated perjury

July 26, 2005

228th Grand Jury re-indicts Brown a month before trial begins

August 29 – September 16, 2005

Voir Dire in Brown capital murder case

October 10 – 25, 2005

Trial in Brown capital murder case

November 4, 2005

Dockery receives two years of deferred adjudication for one case of aggravated perjury

From all accounts, the evidence against Brown at trial included testimony from two star witnesses: (1) a co-defendant who received a deal that saved him from the death penalty and (2) Dockery, a woman who was charged with aggravated perjury after questioning from a grand jury. While Falkenberg and Balko’s reporting has focused on Dockery, we believe that the story is much bigger than one case.

On a rotational basis, the 22 felony district court judges in Harris County select three to five grand jury commissioners. These commissioners are charged with compiling a list of citizens to be summoned as grand jurors.

Five grand juries actively serve at any given time. Beginning in January of each year, five judges, on a numerical rotation, select and empanel a grand jury, which consists of twelve Harris County citizens. These citizens meet for two days each week for three months. To qualify for service, a grand juror must not have served on a grand jury within the last year. In other words, a citizen may serve on a grand jury every other year (e.g., 2014, 2016, 2018).

In the Dockery/Brown cases, we know that Dan Rizzo used three different grand juries in 2003. So, immediately following the murders, in April 2003, Rizzo questioned Dockery in front of the 208th grand jury. 102 days after Rizzo filed the two capital murder cases against Brown, the 262nd grand jury indicted Brown in both cases. Then, in October 2003, Rizzo presents Dockery’s cases to a third grand jury, the 351st grand jury, and they indict her in all three aggravated perjury cases. Why would Rizzo wait so long to present Brown’s case to a grand jury? The answer may be in the composition of Mike Anderson’s 2003 grand jury.

The foreman of Mike Anderson’s grand jury in the summer of 2003 was an individual named Patricia (Tricia) S. Pollard. That name should sound familiar to you.

To date, Pollard has served on six Harris County grand juries: five as foreman and one as assistant foreman. In her online bio, Pollard touts her service as grand jury foreman in May 2003. She claims that, under her leadership, the 262nd grand jury handled the greatest number of cases in Harris County Grand Jury history. How does she know this? And, why is she proud of this?

Pollard’s 2003 grand jury included Andy Geffert, a former Houston Police Department Officer. In 2004, Anderson came under fire for putting Geffert on a grand jury, especially one that returned indictments in Brown’s case, which involved the capital murder of a Houston Police Officer.

Following Pollard’s 2005 service, she wrote a letter to Governor Rick Perry and all members of the Texas Legislature claiming that she had discovered massive Medicaid fraud during her tenure on the grand jury. On January 18, 2006, she was asked to testify before the Senate Finance Committee. In her letter, Pollard alleged a “widespread, massive and repeated” fraud. During the hearing, several senators pushed her on this strong statement. Ultimately, Pollard conceded that she had no evidence to substantiate her allegation. Watch the video and see Pollard in action for yourself. As stated during the hearing, Mike Anderson was made aware of Pollard’s letter; so, he knew that she was a loose cannon as early as 2005 – 2006.

On September 14, 2006, Pollard donated $5,000 to Texans for Rick Perry. In March 2007, Governor Perry appointed Pollard to a six-year term on the Texas State University System Board of Regents and she was sworn in to this position by Devon Anderson. Pollard made two donations to Devon Anderson’s judicial campaign: one on September 27, 2007 and another on September 4, 2008. So, in 2011, when it came time to take back the courthouse from Pat Lykos, the Andersons went to their go to gal, Trisha Pollard.

Judge Devon Anderson swears in Patricia Pollard to the Texas State University System Board of Regents
Judge Devon Anderson swears in Patricia Pollard to the Texas State University System Board of Regents

During the DA campaign, David Jennings asked Mike Anderson about Patricia Pollard. Jennings documented the conversation.

Mike told me that he first met her about 10 years ago at a Habitat for Humanity event. She told him that she was a retired lawyer and would like to be on a grand jury. He thought that would be a great thing and appointed her to two grand juries during his term as a judge. He then told me that she excelled at the work and that any judge at the courthouse would fight to get her on their grand juries. He stated that she was very efficient and went out of her way to investigate cases. He mentioned one in particular in which she found out that an organization wasn’t doing criminal background checks on their volunteers, wrote a letter to the Governor, and got the policy changed. He also told me that Bellaire is a small community, so he runs into her from time to time but that was the extent of their relationship. I also asked him, if that was the extent of their relationship, why did his wife perform the duty of swearing Ms. Pollard in as a regent of Sam Houston State University? He told me he really didn’t know but in any case it had nothing to do with a grand jury.

Mike Anderson whispers to Patricia Pollard at the King Street Patriots DA debate in 2012
Mike Anderson whispers to Patricia Pollard at the King Street Patriots DA debate in 2012

On December 29, 2010, 185th District Court Judge Susan Brown paid $2,925 to the law firm of Devon Anderson and Brock Thomas for “Legal Services and Legal Research.” Then, in August 2011, the 185th Grand Jury was sworn in for a three-month term and Brown appointed Pollard as the foreman. After Brown held secret meetings with the grand jury in violation of Texas law, the grand jury “went rogue” and began a witch hunt against Pat Lykos under the guise of the breath alcohol testing (BAT) vans. You should know that these BAT vans continue to be used by all law enforcement in Harris County, including the Houston Police Department.

You know the rest of the story. The Anderson campaign and consultant Allen Blakemore used the 185th grand jury “investigation” to defeat Lykos and “take back” the courthouse. Meanwhile, in 2013, Pollard served on yet another grand jury – this time, for Kristin Guiney in the 179th District Court.

May 2003

Grand Jury Foreman

262nd District Court – Mike Anderson, Judge

August 2005

Grand Jury Foreman

262nd District Court – Mike Anderson, Judge

February 2007

Grand Jury Foreman

177th District Court – Devon Anderson, Judge

November 2009

Grand Jury Foreman

262nd District Court – Mike Anderson, Judge

August 2011

Grand Jury Foreman

185th District Court – Susan Brown, Judge

2013

Grand Jury Assistant Foreman

179th District Court – Kristin Guiney, Judge

While these facts are ripe for a John LaCarré or John Grisham thriller, they are the truth about the criminal justice system in Harris County. We currently have an appointed District Attorney who faced no opposition in the primary and apparently thinks that it is acceptable to use career grand jurors to indict defendants and conduct political inquisitions.

Patricia Pollard was given a ride on a Houston Police Department helicopter because she was a grand jury foreperson.
Patricia Pollard was given a ride on a Houston Police Department helicopter because she was a grand jury foreperson.

We need to eliminate the Harris County grand jury system’s commissioner picked “key-man” selection system to insure that the citizens on our grand juries are representative of our diverse community. Harris County is the last major metropolitan area in Texas to maintain this system and it is time for it to go.

(David Jennings contributed to this post.)

Is the needle express coming to Harris County?

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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!

Blind justice? Hahaha, this is Harris County!
Blind justice? Hahaha, this is Harris County!

Harris County DA Lykos stands up to runaway grand jury

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Finally, an elected official shows some backbone and stands up to a juvenile attempt to muck rake. As a former not so much fan of Harris County DA Lykos, I can say that she’s growing on me. If you’ve paid any attention to the news, you know she’s taken on some tough issues, issues that heretofore have gone unaddressed, and come up with some good solutions to them. In spite of that, or perhaps because of it, her critics launched an all out assault on not just DA Lykos but the entire Harris County District Attorney’s office by using a runaway grand jury headed up by a Wyatt Earp wanna be named Trisha Pollard. Despite the plain fact that the runaway grand jury couldn’t find diddly squat wrong with the actions of the HCDAO, Ms. Pollard issued a weak attempt designed to embarrass the office and in particular ADA Rachel Palmer. It didn’t work, and in fact only serves to remind us that not all grand juries are created equal. Here is the attempt to embarrass the office and ADA Palmer:

185th Grand Jury Statement 1-31-2012

The Wyatt Earp wannbe comes across as bat guano crazy. Seriously, some members were walking back from lunch and were photographed by an “unknown person”? In what “appeared to be a government issued vehicle”? Whoa, did they see black helicopters too? Nothing about this grand jury was secret primarily because Ms. Earp desired so much publicity. Why on earth would “the government” need to send black ops helicopters and cars on a secret mission to photograph the members of the grand jury when IN THE SAME FREAKING LETTER Ms. Earp says that an “investigator” was stationed outside the door of the grand jury? And people take this woman seriously? Goodness. If you weren’t convinced of the bat guano political craziness of this bunch of hooligans this statement should remove all doubt. What in Sam Hill was Judge Susan Brown thinking when she appointed this woman to head up a grand jury?

Now, to the statement from DA Lykos:

Harris County District Attorney Responds to Runaway Grand Jury Statement

I especially like this line

The entanglements of certain participants are well known and documented, as are their relationships with the Old Regime and with my previous and current opponents.

because it is so true. The people leading this bogus witch hunt are blinded by their hatred of DA Lykos, so much so that they didn’t care that they were impugning the entire office. Even Ms. Earp had to finally say that “There was no evidence of a crime,”. None, nada, zip, zilch. Just as I said at the beginning of this witch hunt. No, don’t start with your “but, but, ADA Palmer took the Fifth”. Yes, she did, and she was absolutely right to do so. After this farce of a “report” there is no question that the DA’s office handled this affair properly, that the “whistleblower” and her attorney tried to obfuscate her own culpability, and that, after reading thousands of pages of emails and other evidence, it is abundantly clear that the only reason Ms. Earp wanted to ask ADA Palmer questions was in the hope that she would make a mistake and that they could charge her with something, anything, to make this witch hunt seem legitimate.

It didn’t work. Fools.

Perhaps now that this is over, we can get on with the DA’s race. DA Lykos does have some things to answer for. I don’t know if it means anything to voters or not, but it is clear to me, after talking to a couple dozen ADA’s, that she is not well liked by the rank and file. That is an issue for Judge Anderson only if he can make it one. As well, I’ve talked to two union reps that insist that she did in fact ask them for their endorsement, a claim that DA Lykos is on record as having denied. I’ve talked to the Lykos campaign spokesperson and asked for a response but haven’t received one. Who is telling the truth? Yet another potential issue.

But honestly, after this fiasco by the anti-Lykos crowd, those potential issues seem like small potatoes. Judge Anderson has his work cut out for him. He could still win this race but not with shenanigans like this runaway grand jury.

You know what I want to see come out of this farce of a grand jury investigation? That no judge ever again appoint Trisha “Wyatt Earp” Pollard to a grand jury. Ever again. Never, never ever. Use the jury pool – you know, like the other grand jury investigating the HCDAO. No complaints, no leaks, exactly as it should be.

I’ll quote myself (is that sorta like talking in third person?) and give some advice to the anti-Lykos crowd:

Smearing the office and the good prosecutors that remain, many of whom you worked with, is juvenile. Maybe it is time to grow up and move on.