Thursday, January 12, 2012

Tonight's Reasonable Doubt (1/12/12)

Please join me and host Todd Dupont for tonight's Reasonable Doubt with special guest, Staci Biggar.  We've been working on getting Staci on as a guest for several months now to talk about Mental Health and how it is dealt with in Criminal Law.  It's going to be a great show and we look forward to taking your questions.  As always, you can watch it live streaming at 8:00 p.m. by clicking here.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Today's Headlines - long-time Harris County Previnct One Constable Jack Abercia has been arrested along with his Chief Lieutenant Weldon Kenneth Wiener and Office Chief Michael Butler following the return of a 13-count indictment...". I'm only hoping we read similar headlines next month relating to her majesty DA

Anonymous said...

Murray,

You need to add a video sidebar in your show called "inside the mind of Scott Pope"....thought provoking and demented....

Anonymous said...

Mental Health - Perhaps you and your guests can speak on the issue of narcissism. megalomania, bullying and the effects they all have on employees who serve in county government. It wouldn't be too difficult of a task. Simply display an image of Lykos and have a few ADA's on as guests.... Of course you will have to pixelate their faces.

Election time is coming and there is talk of a contribution "fund" going around the office to collectively give to Anderson's campaign without Judge Lykos seeing the individual names on a list of donors.

I heard she tanked at her speech with the "C" club the other night and is becoming increasingly worried abut her chances in March. Thank God!!!!!

Can March get here soon enough? Not for those of us left who still hold out hope for some good leadership and restoration of our good reputation!!

Will see ya on the TV tonight!!

Anonymous said...

HCDAO Employee PAC?

Anonymous said...

The primary has been moved to April 3rd, due to redistricting court fights. It may get moved even later if the courts don't make decisions quickly.

It is coming though. Don't lose heart. More time to get the word out.

Republican Activist

Anonymous said...

Staci is an bad-ass! Ask her about her work in Veterans Court!

Anonymous said...

U-Verse channel 99 says the video is not available and when clicking to watch it online, it doesn't come on like usual, what kind of rinky dink operation is this? Not my normal Thursday night now.

Murray Newman said...

I let Mark Pirtle, our producer know. He said he would look into it. Thanks for letting us know.

Anonymous said...

This post has nothing to do with any topic you've written about, I actually just discovered this site and thought it would be a good place to seek some advice. I'm about to start an academic internship with the DA's office. I took the position because I love this kind of work. And it wasn't until recently that I realized this. During law school, I had developed this terrible feeling of dread, thinking about what my future was going to be like as an attorney. No shit, you can't read an article about law school without coming to the conclusion that you made a terrible decision, taking on $100k+ in loans, putting yourself through hell, landing in a god-awful job market. It's cut throat, and discovering a field of law that I was actually good at, that actually interested me, has been extremely reassuring for me.
To the same extent, I'm extremely anxious about my career and where I'll end up, because it is so competitive, not to mention the fact that I attended a lower tiered law school out of state. I'm hoping that this internship will provide me with a start to my career. Am I being naive about this thing? Do these internships ever lead to permanent employment as an assistant DA? Or are they just exploited volunteer positions?...a chance for supervising attorneys to get some free help. What are some things I can do to increase my chances at receiving a job offer at the end of this thing?...if the chance exists. I appreciate any advice you can give. Don't sugarcoat it.

Anonymous said...

Dear Intern,

You'd be better off doing an internship with animal control. You'll learn more there than working in the DA's Office.

Anonymous said...

I went to the "Ethics" class taught by Lykos. What a joke. It was a politcal speech and about how she "cleaned" up the DA's office. What a fricking joke. She'd should've been teaching "Unethics."

Anonymous said...

Dear Intern,

Read the past blogs and comments. Wait till Anderson becomes DA and really learn something.

Anonymous said...

As I was going to my vehicle, while downtown today, "what to my wondering eyes should appear" but Lykos exiting the San Jacinto street side of the Criminal Justice Center and lighting a cancer stick along with one of her inner circle. (I trust that individual was using comp time for his smoke). What a class act though for the D.A.! The performance in all probability, however, distressed those "street people" regularly populating the outside premises of the Criminal Justice Center by probably disminishing the cultural and intellectual environment to which they are normally accustomed.
Calvin A. Hartmann

Anonymous said...

Dear Intern,

Pass the State bar exam before you start worrying about inside baseball. THAT is your true job. Objectively, you probably should avoid reading "Blog's" and stick to bar review courses or your next semester's Course outlines or old exams. With all due respect to Mr. Murray, in YOUR specific situation - by getting all "into" the present political turmoil in harris County whereever is like you rented a cabin for the summer and find out the cabin next door has a couple that has a baby, 3 barking dogs, and they argue loudly all the time.

Anonymous said...

Future intern, take the job. It will be a lot of unpleasant work at first but if you like criminal law there is no better place to get experience. The issues with Lykos should not hinder your ability to learn and get experience.

Anonymous said...

To the intern... From someone who has been on a hiring committee at a DA's office, the internship will help you get a job, just probably not one at the HCDAO. When you go to interview at other DA's offices you will at least be ahead of the millions of people that apply with no DA experience or any interest in criminal law. Try to get some solid experience that you can put on your resume or at least speak intelligently about in an interview. Also make some connections with people that can vouch for you and your work ethic. Everyone seems to know everyone in this world and you can bet that any office extending an offer to you will check you out. That will give you a head start. Good luck.

Anonymous said...

To the intern :
Having the intern job will help you a bunch in getting a DA job if you do a good job whether Harris or other county but it is no guarantee. Lykos will eventually melt away from the Office allowing integrity and good judgement to return. Maybe even by the time you finish law school.

Anonymous said...

To the intern . . . do not be crazy. Work at the office. The issues with Lykos really will not affect you. If you are good and work hard you will get alot of work and experience that is very practical. Harris County handles more cases than any other office in the State, so if you want to work somewhere else after you graduate you will have seen a good bit. Since I have been with the office three of my interns have been hired.

Anonymous said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjksD7tUS5Q

Lykos interview - regarding 2012 race.

Fact-checkers anyone?

Anonymous said...

Mental Health - How's the facility coming along - "just a matter of putting the pieces together" since it is a "matter of moral imperative."

So - just how many folks are in this program?

From the article:

TT: Talk about mental health care and criminal justice.

Lykos: In the late '70s, there was this great movement to deinstitutionalize our mental institutions, and so instead of the state housing and caring for people, they’re living under bridges. And we have quite a large homeless population, a third of whom are incapable mentally of caring for themselves. And so they cycle through our jail. Most of them are victims of crime, so they end up in the emergency room. What I’m hoping to do, because they get arrested on nuisance offenses — relieving themselves in public, trespassing, things like that — is to have the foundations, the NGOs, MHMR [Mental Health and Mental Retardation], create residential treatment centers for these individuals where they can reside in what they call single-room occupancy. Medical providers are on staff, and they’ll have their nutrition — it will be sort of a custodial type of facility, so that they’re cared for. And most of these people are eligible for SSI and Medicaid and so forth, so it can actually pay for itself. It’s just a matter of putting all the pieces together. What happens is these individuals keep getting arrested over and over again, they keep getting rediagnosed over and over again, and we’ve squandered so many resources and haven’t really helped them to any sense of normality, so I think it’s a moral imperative.

Link:

http://www.texastribune.org/texas-news-media/tt-interview/an-interview-with-harris-county-da-pat-lykos/

Episode Seven: The Voters Awaken - A One Act -Sci-Fi Play

SCENE:  The Death Star orbits over Downtown Houston. [INTERIOR] The Imperial Council Chambers. EMPRESS OGG sits at the head of a long table ...