Okay, so for my last prediction, I guessed that the contempt hearings for two prosecutors and two court reporters would be delayed with a Motion to Recuse.
I was right about that.
I also predicted that this morning's proceedings would be interesting.
I was kind of wrong about that. They were actually pretty dull and filled with bench conferences that most of the audience could not hear.
So, here is what I was able to gather from the morning events. It was a very packed courtroom with members of the media, the defense bar, and the prosecution occupying every available seat. Jim Leitner and John Barnhill were there. Pat Lykos was not. Special Prosecutors Jim Mount and Stephen St. Martin were present, but not directly involved in the bench conferences.
Randy and Josh Shaffer were there on behalf of Steve Morris. Bill Hawkins was there for Carl Hobbs. Brad Beers was there for both court reporters. Hawkins, Beers, and the Shaffers conferenced with Judge Brown for lengthy periods of time. My understanding is that Brad initially filed a Motion to Recuse Judge Brown, but then withdrew it.
At some point during the hearing, it was pointed out that on the day that Hobbs, Morris and Shaffer were kicked out of the Grand Jury, Judge Brown told one of the court reporters to just make a record of any testimony taken that day.
Nothing wrong with that. She was just saying "keep a record and we'll figure out what needs to be done with it later."
But, in doing so, she made herself a fact witness. That doesn't mean she did anything wrong. She did the right thing by instructing that a record be kept. However, it does probably mean that she shouldn't be presiding over the Show Cause hearing, because she is, potentially, a fact witness.
So, Judge Brown did the prudent thing and recused herself from hearing it. It will now go to another Judge to hear. I don't know who and I don't know when.
But I have a prediction.
My guess is that there is some ambiguity surrounding the circumstances of when the record of testimony was made and when the District Attorney's Office came into possession of it. If there is ambiguity, that probably means that nobody is going to be held in contempt.
So, I would guess that once this case lands in front of a new judge that the new judge will not find anyone in contempt and this entire situation will blow over. As far as the contempt charges go, this whole episode will fade away.
But the 185th Grand Jury will keep marching on.
28 comments:
Who was there for Pat Lykos? Nick Lykos whose faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings.
I was wondering how much of the taxpayers money Lykos has blown since she has taken office?
I was wondering if Pat Lykos is still conducting an arson investigation in reference to Up-To-Date Cleaners on West Gray? Shall we ask Sue Lovell?
Many of the higher-ups overseeing misdemeanor and the BAT van issues testified last Thursday. We are hearing that they are trying to serve Lykos, but that she is doing all she can to avoid service for as long as possible. We'll see if she manages to duck it again tomorrow. And I wonder who Lykos has hired as outside counsel? Surely she has outside counsel by this point.
Anon 8:36 is that you Scott?
Who is paying for the court reporters representation? I very seriously doubt either did anything wrong other than they followed the instructions of Hobbs and Morris who were following instructions from someone else. I am still at a loss as to how Hobbs and Morris came into possession of GJ transcripts. Anyone who has ever been with the DAO knows nothing is transcribed by the court reporters unless the transcript is ordered.
Still waiting for answers.
AS A CITIZEN WITH NO AGENDA, AND NO TYE'S, I'VE BEEN MONITORING THIS SINCE IT BEGAN. IT IS BECOMING VERY CLEAR THAT THERE IS A POLITICAL MOTIVE ON SOME OF THOSE INVOLVED. TONIGHT AFTER WATCHING THE NEWS, MY WIFE STATED THAT THIS IS AN ELECTION MOTIVATE ATTACK AND SHE DOESNT EVEN KEEP UP WITH WHAT IS HAPPENING. I AGREE THAT BROWN SHOULD STEP DOWN, BEFORE BROWN GOES DOWN. JUST MY THOUGHTS.
This site is totally one sided
Anon 10:01 & 10:03,
Always glad to have new readers, but you may want to do a little more research before commenting. Just FYI.
Pretty easy to serve Lykos; just wait in the CJC parking garage. She goes down there every hour or two on a smoke break...
Anon 10:01
Are you kidding me? Have you read anything on this blog before putting your two cents in. I got my laugh for the day. Thank you!!!!
Anon 10:03
Really!!
It was a very packed courtroom with members of the media, the defense bar, and the prosecution occupying every available seat.
All but the one I was in.
If there is ambiguity, that probably means that nobody is going to be held in contempt.
Which is a shame. It's kind of like a prosecutor using false evidence during a plea negotiation/trial. The more involved he becomes in the fraud, the more immune he becomes. Even Scalia didn't like that.
Some things just speak for themselves.
Murray, I don't know about 10:01, but 10:03 has it right. I say that without any judgment, but it's pretty much accurate.
Rage
As the Elected DA of the fourth largest city in America, it sure is interesting that DA Pat was no where to be found.
Since this directly involves the DAO and its integrity, shouldn't the DA herself be involved directly and there to be heard and seen?
If there is a grand jury subpoena out there for testimony from Pat, should she, as the elected official, do the right thing and be served?
Anon 9:56,
"Who is paying for the court reporters representation? I very seriously doubt either did anything wrong other than they followed the instructions of Hobbs and Morris....".
Here's your answer: WTF makes court reporters so f'ing special? Do all wrongfully accused get free representation in criminal matters? The jailhouse is filled with innocent people who paid for their legal representation. Your buddies might want to check with the public defenders office for freebies--but wait isn't it true that the Harris County court reporters have a higher annual income with their exorbitant transcript charges than the prosecutors and the District Judge? Why aren't you worried about who's paying for the ADAs legal fees? ADAs just get comp time for after hours work not $10,000.00-20,000.00 for a transcript. Don't you find it odd that Harris County values a junior college typing degree more than a Doctorate degree in Juris Prudence? BTW, the ADAs are also innocent until proven guilty isn't that right?
Scott's counsel
Lykos may be represented by Ron Woods, who attended the hearing. As for why she wasn't there, the answer is that she has no leadership skills whatsoever. And, and her core, she is a bully, and bullies are cowards. The last thing she had the courage to do was face the cameras. Lykos is a spinelss politician with no courage to stand up for anything that might hint at being politically risky.
I feel like I'm watching a magicician at work. " Hey everyone - if you're looking over THERE, you won't notice, or even care what I just did right in front of your eyes! Yep the best defense IS a good offense. Never truly dicected that phrase till I applied it to a foorball game: " If the Offense is always on the field they are getting tired. Meanwhile the DEFENSE is resting up - in some cases even getting bored.
Now back to the original point: Just WHO was the focus of this G.J. ORIGINALLY? Doesn't matter now.........DOES IT. Swoosh! did you see that? I thought not...woops I did it again....
8:56, I don't know who you are, but your post couldn't have said it more clearly or more brilliantly. You're my new hero. And Lykos needs to get her incompetent ass out of that office now while there's a tiny bit left to salvage.
I couldn't have said it better, Anon. 8:56. Amen.
Anon 9:52 AM:
Having observed how keenly you dissected that turn of phrase, I'm inclined to warn others to keep anything linguistically sharp (e.g., piercing words, pointed retorts, assorted cutting remarks, and even some varieties of cheese) from your grasp.
Perhaps you might take another stab at its meaning . . .
To Hobbs from: "can't spell" 9:52 A.M.:
I plead guilty to not properly spelling out the word “dissect”. Other than that distraction to you, any meaningful thoughts on the basic meaning of the remaining portion of the post – sans grammar, spelling, or other etymological matters or was that such a "deal stopper" you couldn't continue reading?
I was wondering if Pat Lykos is related to Noel Neill?
Why did you take your link to Big Jolly down?
This seems very relevant to your postings
http://www.bigjollypolitics.com/wp/2011/11/07/catfight-witch-hunt-inquisition-wth-is-going-on-at-the-harris-county-criminal-justice-center/
Anon 4:56,
I took the Big Jolly link down a while back because there wasn't a lot he had been writing about the CJC.
I don't think that anyone can really accuse me of not publishing opposing views, and actually, Dave and I don't really disagree on too much.
But, I don't mean for this blog to be a political blog. I don't really have a tremendous amount of interest in writing about non-Criminal Justice related matters. I guess now that we are going back into election season with numerous criminal court benches on the ballot, I will re-link to him.
Can anyone give an update on what the 185th GJ was doing today?
"...actually, Dave and I don't really disagree on too much"
Murray - although you use the badger as creative inspiration - unlike Dave, you know that he is not always the most accurate source of information.
Dear "Can't Spell" . . .
I couldn't care less about your spelling. I was simply musing about your take on the saying, "The best defense is a good offense" (It actually means that a good, sustained offense forces your opponent to remain on defense and inhibits his/her ability to mount an effective offense). I absolutely read your entire post and thought it was a hoot!
And then I went on with the remainder of my day.
Hobbes
Anon 7:57
Jolly is pretty damn accurate. And on the rare occasion that he isn't, he corrects it AND publicizes it. Very few bloggers publicize their errors.
Regarding Republican elections, few people read the tea leaves as well. You usually have to catch him at an event because he doesn't blog about it though. He's the only guy I know that goes to old style Republican club meetings and the wacky tea party meetings. If I were Siegler or Anderson or anyone else thinking of challenging Lykos, I'd think twice based on his read of the people that actually vote in Republican primaries. I remember after Siegler almost won the primary in 2008 and everyone thought she was a shoo-in, he continued blasting Lykos on Lone Star Times but if you happened to catch him at a meeting, he'd tell you that Lykos was going to win. He was brutal towards Lykos and then they kicked him off LST for criticizing Woodfill. Pretty damn accurate.
He does have a tendency to support the underdog, so if you see him support someone, you probably should look at the other guy. I heard him telling someone at the Downtown Pachyderm a while back that he had donated to Kristin Guiney's campaign. Good lady but Shadwick has that thing locked up because of the party leaders.
Anyone that votes for Shadwick over Guiney should be beaten, kicked, and flogged. Not necessarily in that order. Feel free to improvise.
Anon 8:27 there is no way poor court reporters make more money than the rich lawyers and judges. I doubt they even earn 5 grand a year for all of their overtime services.
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