Listening to Pat Lykos on Michael Berry's show tonight, she blamed her loss in the 2000 D.A.'s race on Johnny Holmes "anointing" Chuck Rosenthal to be his successor.
It wasn't the first time, I've heard it said that Mr. Holmes "anointed" Chuck. The Chronicle has referred to it by those terms, too.
I was around in 2000, and I kind of remember things differently than Lykos and the Chronicle.
I remember that Chuck announced his candidacy the day the Mr. Holmes announced he wouldn't run again. I also remember that soon after that, Mr. Holmes said something to the effect that he wasn't going to endorse anyone unless an unqualified candidate (I believe his term was "nincompoop") was running. As a matter of fact, I remember Mike Stafford even quipping about it during a debate.
Stafford (at one of the debates) laughed that Holmes ended up endorsing Chuck soon after he (Stafford) had entered the race, and he jokingly stated that he hoped he wasn't the "nincompoop" Holmes had in mind when he made the original statement.
Mr. Holmes didn't "anoint" Chuck for anything.
In fact, he didn't want to endorse anyone. He even told Jim Leitner that he wouldn't.
What changed Mr. Holmes' mind in 2000?
I don't know, but it came after Pat Lykos entered the race . . .
7 comments:
nincompoops they calls us they do snookems. Nasssty AHCL, hatess her we do.
Ron is feeling feisty this morning!
Some insight into why Holmes backed Rosenthal in 2000...
http://www.houstonpress.com/2000-03-09/news/justice-on-the-block/full
Thought you'd be interested in today's email blast from Siegler's campaign.
Records: Lykos was soft on child sex predators
Seventy predators given light sentences in her court in one five-year period
HOUSTON – Pat Lykos, a former judge seeking the Republican nomination for Harris County District Attorney, gave light sentences to 70 defendants accused of indecency with a child or sexual assault of a child during one five-year period when she was on the bench.
According to records in the Harris County’s Justice Information Management System (JIMS), the child sex predators were all placed on deferred adjudication probation, which is one of the lightest forms of punishment – a sentence that allows defendants to avoid conviction if they successfully complete the terms of probation.
The records show the predators in question were sentenced in Lykos’ court in 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992 and 1993 – before she left the bench in 1994 to make an unsuccessful bid for Texas Attorney General and long before she made a failed run for District Attorney in 2000.
“Judge Lykos makes it a point to say she’s ‘tough’ and ‘fair,’ ” said veteran prosecutor Kelly Siegler, who is also seeking the Republican nomination for District Attorney. “As Judge Lykos likes to often say, she personally approved every plea deal in her court. Well, voters now know she wasn’t tough on child sex predators and wasn’t fair with their victims.”
What is most disturbing, Siegler said, is that many child sex predators are inclined to continue hunting victims, even if they’re on probation. It is risky to go soft on predators that generally have high recidivism rates.
“The risks are too high. I’ll never gamble with our children’s safety,” said Siegler. “The people of Harris County want a chief prosecutor who will remain focused on aggressively prosecuting our worst criminals and fighting for victims.”
Siegler said people especially want a District Attorney who will fight for the most helpless of victims – children traumatized by predators.
“Running an office of prosecutors is all about seeking justice,” Siegler said. “It’s not an experiment in social work. Someone with experience as a prosecutor would know that. Judge Lykos doesn’t have one day of experience as a prosecutor.”
aaahhh... I just had a daydream about leading Lykos into a dark cave, to a big spider that sticks her with some venom so she falls asleep for the next few weeks.
Until the spider eats her.
Thank you, ron, for the little mental vacation.
I think "Incompetent nincompoop" was the phrase.
Mr. Holmes always had a way with words. I miss his candor and I often wondered how he would have handled situations like the HPD DNA lab crisis, the Flood, and Andrea Yates.
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