Please join me and host Todd Dupont on Thursday, December 13, 2012 at 8:00 p.m. for Reasonable Doubt, where our guest will be Harris County District Attorney-elect Mike Anderson.
On the heels of yesterday's announcement about Judge Belinda Hill, Judge Anderson has also been meeting with various people involved in the Criminal Justice System to let them know his plans for the future of the District Attorney's Office (which begins in t-minus 19 days). He's answering all questions and he looks forward to answering any calls the viewers might have.
So call in with your questions.
As always, you can catch us live streaming by clicking here.
9 comments:
Suggested questions:
What changes will be made regarding prosecution of trace drug cases with less than .01 grams of residue in paraphernalia? If he's changing the policy, does he believe those cases justify taking up jail space, crime lab capacity, etc.? Why isn't the paraphernalia statute more appropriate, which is how the state's other large jurisdictions charge those cases?
His new first assistant has publicly advocated that the Legislature reduce the charge for less than a gram drug cases from a state jail felony to a class A misdemeanor. Does he agree with her?
Will he immediately discontinue DIVERT? What will happen to defendants presently on DIVERT supervision?
Ask what he thinks the asset forfeiture fund should be spent on, and seek more detail/clarification on the brouhaha over Judge Krocker's mental heath court.
Good questions, Scott, and I hope you will call in.
He's been pretty clear that he will begin filing trace cases again, but has added that he feels that it is a way for getting people help through probation. I'm sure you disagree, but that's his position.
DIVERT will definitely be discontinued, but he is honoring all the deals for those presently on DIVERT. He has also not ruled out true pre-trial diversions on DWI cases.
He's actually a big fan of the mental health courts, the veterans' court, etc. and wants to keep them running. Lykos has been wreaking havoc with the budget in her final months, so he's going to have to do some untangling when it comes to what money she has left in the coffers.
Again, I hope you will call in.
Anderson was the Admin Judge when the mental health courts were created!! He is a supporter of them. If he wanted to do away wtih them, he could have done it then.
It was Crocker who is to blame here... She missed the deadline for her grant that kept it going in her court. She screwed up her application and didnt get it fixed in time....
what kind of process will judge anderson use to hire new misdemeanor #3 prosecutors? will he bring back a true pre-commit program? will there be more than a single 20-minute interview required to get hired?
Murray,
Think you could ask Judge Anderson when the transition team is going to announce moves? Also, will he be changing the structure of the office (cutting departments, adding departments, etc)? Lastly, is he going to require all ADAs to come to the swearing in? (even though everyone who is in town will go just out of pure excitement).
Thanks!
Informative show. One complaint... I love Womble as much as the next person, but this was a anticipated show and it would have been nice to have allowed more time for some serious questions from a variety of people.
I missed the show. Can you give us the highlights?
Anon 12:56,
That wasn't Womble's fault (this time). We only had two callers last night -- Womblina and a recent law school grad. I'm surprised more people didn't call in. I did get a lot of questions in advance, however, and I thought it was very informative.
Anon 12:56
Womble actually asked a question for me, as I wasnt't able to watch the show live. And if you ever watched the show before, they normally stop what they are talking about to take calls. Dupont litterally has an orgasm with the phone rings....
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