New Post on Jessica Tata on the New Website

Okay, I'm not a full-fledged tech geek, so I'm not entirely sure what cross-posting is exactly, but I just published a new post on Criminal Background on Jessica Tata.

You can read it by clicking here.

For my more blawgosphere savvy friends, does that count as cross-posting?

Lisa Falkenberg's Article from Yesterday

Most of you have probably already read this, but in case you missed it, the Chronicle's Lisa Falkenberg did a great article yesterday on the D.A.'s Office's handling of the Tata case.

In case you missed it, you can check it out by clicking here.

I'll Take Diversions for $1000, Alex

In a story on CNN today, Pat Lykos announced that she will be asking a court to declare George Rodriguez factually innocent of sexual assault charges that he was previously convicted for.

The move comes seven years after Rodriguez was freed from prison by a Court of Appeals and one day after she was called into question for the Office's possible fault in allowing Jessica Tata to flee the country to escape responsibility for the deaths of four children.

Just Saying

Yesterday, Channel 13 reported that when they went by Jessica Tata's house to interview family, construction crews were already working on repairs to the house (four days after the fire).

Channel 11 reported that a classmate said Tata set fires when she was in high school.

I sure as hell hope somebody at the D.A.'s Office is subpoenaing when the hell the work orders for that construction were placed.

Let's All Play the Blame Game!

With Jessica Tata absconding off to Nigeria (and totally undermining my attempt to achieve a more Ghandi-like view of the Criminal Justice System with my previous post), a War of Words has broken out between the Harris County District Attorney's Office and the arson investigators with the Houston Fire Department.  It was inevitable, really.  The deaths of four children and no one to hold accountable for it is a tragedy, and God forbid a tragedy ever happen that we couldn't blame on somebody, right?

So, let's do a quick breakdown on some of the things that are notable with the Tata escape.

Point 1 --  There is generally nothing wrong with the D.A.'s Office wanting to make sure a case is well-built before accepting it from a Police Agency.
Houston Fire Marshal Richard Galvan is blaming prosecutors for Tata's flight because they were being too picky about what they wanted done on the case.  Galvan cites that investigators with the Arson had to make four approaches to the D.A.'s Office before charges were accepted.
Whichever prosecutor was handling the case for the D.A.'s Office wanted to make sure that the case would stand the test of time once it got filed.  Asking the investigating agency to do more work on what is going to be one of the more high-profile cases is smart.  Avoiding the knee-jerk reaction of filing something because it is high-profile is even smarter.
Advantage:  D.A. Office


Point 2 --  That being said, an Injury to a Child case with this fact pattern isn't going to be all that tricky, in the big scheme of things.
They weren't investigating Tata for Arson (at least, not yet).  They had to answer one simple question.  Was she home or not when the fire broke out?  In the article DA Spokesperson Donna Hawkins states that they wanted to establish that no other adults or workers were in the house either.
Ok.  Fair enough, but how much time do you really need to spend doing that?  It would seem to me that a preliminary investigation that satisfies Probable Cause against Tata could have been done within a couple of hours and at the scene of the fire.
Its nice to have a well-made case, but being too picky on charges is not good.
Advantage:  Arson Bureau


Point 3 --  The D.A.'s Office disregarded information that Tata was about to leave the country
Wow.  If this is true, I don't know how much defending can really be done for the D.A.'s Office.  The Special Crimes and Intake Division are open year round, 24/7.  A warrant could have been drawn up pretty quickly on exigent circumstances and Tata could have been brought into the fold.
Advantage:  Arson Bureau


Point 4 --  If the Arson Bureau had a tip that she was going to flee, why weren't they sitting up on her?
I know that manpower shortages affect us all, but when we are talking about a potential fugitive who is going to be taking off and leaving four unaccounted for dead children in her wake, do some surveillance dammit.  This isn't a case where somebody burned up a Ford Pinto in the hopes of getting insurance money.
Advantage:  D.A. Office


Point Final --  the real person to blame for this is Jessica Tata.  She is clearly a responsibility-avoiding low-life.  Could more have been done to make sure she stuck around?  Yep.  But at the end of the day, she's the one that ran.

I hope some day they catch her.  I hope she faces Justice.

But in the meantime, I don't see a whole hell of a lot of good in playing the Blame Game.

Fear versus Anger

One of the sagest pieces of advice that I ever received during the time that I was a prosecutor was from Judge Caprice Cosper, whom I consider to be the best Judge I ever had the honor to practice in front of.

The case was a mildly high profile case where two working parents had left their five year old child in charge of their three year old child for an hour while their work shifts overlapped.  During the space of one tragic hour, the five year old daughter had played with a lighter and inadvertently set the family home on fire.  The five-year-old had escaped the flames.

The three-year-old had not.

I had been working the intake desk when the call came in.  As a new father, I was incensed, and (now, in retrospect) very reactionary.  I filed the case as a first degree Injury to a Child that had resulted in death against both parents.  A Grand Jury downgraded those charges to the State Jail Felony of Endangering a Child.

Both parents pled guilty to a PSI (Pre-Sentence Investigation) hearing before Judge Cosper (which is the equivalent of throwing yourself on the Mercy of the Court).

In my time as a prosecutor, I looked at countless crime scene photographs and attended many autopsies.  Thankfully, very few of those memories stick in my mind.

Sadly, the photographs of the aftermath of that fire have never been able to leave my mind.  I think the effect of being a father to a small child has enhanced that.

I argued to Judge Cosper that the parents both deserved the maximum sentence of two years in a State Jail Facility.  She disagreed and gave them probation, and she then told me, very kindly, the following words that guided me as a prosecutor in the short time I had remaining as a prosecutor.

"Mr. Newman," she said, "in this job there are those people we deal with that we are mad at and those that we are afraid of.  You need to learn the difference."

And she was right.  I did.

As a parent, I was upset, and, quite frankly, outraged at the results of what happened to a defenseless three-year-old due to her parents' horrible mistake in judgment.

But they weren't threats to Society.  That was a fact that escaped me at the time.

A few months earlier, I had seen the crime scene video of the home of Andrea Yates.  I wish to God that I never had.  To this day, I can be giving my son a bath and an image of Noah Yates will flash through my mind.  The sickening feeling is something that I don't think I can really translate to you, unless you've seen the video.  Just suffice it to say that it is heartbreaking.

I was all for prosecuting Andrea Yates to the fullest extent of the law.  All the way to the ultimate penalty.

Why?  Because I was angry about what she had done.

There wasn't a single thing about her that indicated she would be a future threat to society.

Today, the District Attorney's Office filed the charges of Injury to a Child with reckless intent causing serious bodily injury against Jessica Tata for the deaths of four children under her care when a fire broke out at a daycare she was responsible for.  I don't know any more about the case than anyone else who has followed it in the media.

As a parent, I applaud the decision, because I am furious with Jessica Tata for her role in the deaths of tiny little children who had no ability to save themselves from fire -- just like I feel fury against every person charged with hurting any child.

But, I'm not scared of her.

The Defendants that we are scared of are so much easier to deal with, aren't they?