Carol Vance's Boomtown D.A.

I normally don't do much advertising on this blog for a variety of reasons, but I thought some of my readers who were interested in the historical aspects of the Harris County District Attorney's Office, as well as the Harris County Criminal Justice System in general might be interested in reading former District Attorney Carol Vance's book, Boomtown D.A.

I was recently provided a copy by the kind folks over at Whitecaps Media, and I've started reading it. Unfortunately, given my schedule these days, I'm a little behind in my book lists.

I have read the first couple of chapters, and it is a very interesting book, especially to me as a former-prosecutor. The salaries and the (lack of) manpower that the office had back in the late 1950s is a stark contrast to what there is today, and it is hard to imagine Harris County ever being so small that that would be manageable. It is kind of like if they were doing a Mad Men version of the D.A.'s Office.

Back when I was a brand new felony Two in Judge Ted Poe's court and Caroline Dozier was my chief, Judge Poe got frustrated with the prosecutors and barked out: "Ms. Dozier, I want you, Newman, and the Mullet in my chambers right now."

At the time, I thought that Poe had come up with a wildly hysterical and original insult for our then-Number Three (which, I would have completely agreed with the Judge at that point on his description). I laughed about that moment for years.

But after reading a bit of Boomtown D.A., I learned that the "Mullet" was what the Three in a court used to be regularly referred to.

In the first couple of chapters, that is what makes for such enjoyable reading in the book. I look forward to reading the rest of it as Mr. Vance covers a very transitional time in Harris County. His tenure as a prosecutor would span through the 1960s and 1970s and encompass the period of time of some of Houston's most notorious crimes -- from the Joan Robinson Hill case to Dean Corll & Elmer Wayne Henley & David Brooks.

I look forward to finishing reading the book, and if you want to get a copy of it yourself, you can get it from the link to Whitecaps Media (above), or through Amazon.com. (NOTE: The link to Amazon.com also references a book called The Man with the Candy by Jack Olsen, which is also an outstanding book about the Corll/Henley murders. I read it a long time ago, and I highly highly recommend it.

Let me know what y'all think.

Black Ink's Latest

Black Ink has a new blog post that you can read here.

The post is excellent in its own right.

Black Ink's comment at 8:17 a.m. is downright inspiring.

Speaking of Lykos Investigations . . .

Hey Pat,

Have you wrapped up this one you announced yet? It has been over half a year and I'm still waiting on the results of your analysis.

Sincerely,

Commissioner Gordon

The Shamelessness of Pat Lykos

In this morning's Houston Chronicle, there is an editorial entitled "Laurels for Lykos".

In the editorial, the author of the editorial lauds Lykos from clearing out the DNA backlog (which was underway long before she got there) and for her launching the investigation into the death of Asher Brown (which I mentioned in the post below).

The praise that they are heaping on Lykos becomes so frenzied that the author even has to blurt out: "It's hard to imagine Lykos' predecessor, Chuck Rosenthal, concerning himself about such an issue [Asher Brown]. The DA's office has certainly changed, and for the better."

Well, the author of that is kind of correct about that, actually. Chuck Rosenthal wouldn't have launched an investigation into Asher Brown's suicide.

Because Chuck Rosenthal would have known that there wasn't a crime to investigate.

Asher Brown committed suicide because he was being bullied at school. The bullies who picked on him for being small, poor, or gay were despicable beyond imagine. They should be suspended from school. They should have to be known for what they did to that poor little boy for the rest of their lives.

But under the laws of the State of Texas and the laws of the United States, they committed no crimes. Under the First Amendment, which protects the rights of the Weak Minded to spew out idiotic opinions (like the Editorial Board of the Chronicle does every day), those nasty children that tormented Asher Brown can say whatever they want and be free of prosecution from the government.

And Pat Lykos knows that.

She also knows that Asher Brown's death is something that will garner National Media Attention. Announcing that there will be "an investigation" does nothing more than hitch Pat Lykos' bandwagon to Asher's death.

There is certainly nothing substantive that a criminal investigation will lead to.

Jeff Cohen over at the Chronicle should know better. He's married to a defense attorney. Hell, even Brian Rogers is an attorney.

And if you don't believe me that there isn't a charge to file on the bullies who taunted Asher, pick up a copy of the damn Penal Code.

What Pat Lykos did by announcing her "investigation" into Asher Brown's death was to stand over the grave of a poor and desperate child and attempt to turn it into a campaign rally. She hijacked a tragedy for her own selfish purposes.

It's called exploitation for you morons over at the Chronicle, and you are applauding her for it.

The editorial wraps up with this: "Her concern over Asher Brown's tragic suicide, and her decision to examine its causes, is a reminder that, even in Harris County, a DA can be both tough on crime and compassionate."

No. Not quite. As a matter of fact, during her tenure, Lykos has proven that she is neither tough on crime nor compassionate.

She is just a politician.

A politician who wants to ride on the shoulders of a dead 13-year-old into a second term.

With the Chronicle cheering her on all the way.

Bullies

By now, I'm sure that you have heard about the tragic story of Asher Brown.

He was a 13-year-old eighth grader at Hamilton Middle School out of Cy-Fair who committed suicide last week by shooting himself with his step-father's handgun.

The reason for what in the world could cause a 13-year-old to truly believe his young life was no longer one worth living?

Bullies.

Apparently, young Asher was taunted mercilessly "for his small size, because he didn't wear designer clothes and because he was Buddhist".

It seems that since the Dawn of Time there have always been bullies in one form or another. I'm sure you dealt with them growing up. So did your parents. So did their parents.

There never seems to be a shortage of people who hold more power, strength, or popularity than someone less fortunate who elect to use said power, strength, or popularity to abuse. It isn't limited to 8th graders, either. In another highly publicized case this week, 18-year-old Rutgers University student Tyler Clementi committed suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge in New York City. The reason for his suicide was, again, bullies picking on him.

I think most of us were brought up to have nothing but disdain for those choose to be bullies. We are taught from a young age that bullies are usually people born out of insecurity regarding themselves. How many of us were taught cute little overly-idealistic methods of dealing with bullies when we were kids?

"Just ignore them?" or my personal favorite: "Try to be their friend!"

The bottom line is when it comes to dealing with bullies that the only truly effective method of dealing with one is to stand up to one. How often do parents preach that to their children anymore?

And how many times a day to we bypass the opportunity to do so?

How many times a day do we bypass the opportunity, maybe not to stand up for ourselves, but to maybe to stand up for somebody else who is being bullied?

It is very easy to cry on TV, hold a solidarity march (which changes nothing), or announce you are going to launch an investigation which will ultimately yield nothing (other than possible charges against the parents). But here again, you are talking about doing too little too late.

As lawyers, we have the opportunity to combat bullying more so than most. Prosecutors have the ability to stop some bullies by putting them in prison. Defense attorneys have the ability to stop some bullies by standing up for their clients' rights. Prosecutors have the ability to say they aren't going to follow an arbitrary policy that over-punishes someone for a minor crime. Defense attorneys have the ability to say we'll take it to trial if you try.

But there is always more that can be done.

Moments like this make me think of my friend, Mark Bennett. Mark, to be sure, often beats to the tune of his own drum, and has never been shy about espousing an unpopular opinion. But the guy has never been bullied out of his opinion, and he's never been shy about standing up against people he thinks are being bullies, either.

For that, I admire him. Even when we disagree.

When you ignore it, you become nothing more than a coward who condones it. When you stand against it, you'll often find many will stand beside you.

I know this is probably seeming kind of rambling, but what happened to Asher Brown and Tyler Clementi has got me kind of worked up today, I suppose.

So, I guess I'd say that my message today to bullies would be "grow up and knock it off".

And to the rest of us, I'd say we've got a duty to stop it where we can, and not be afraid of being bullied ourselves. To paraphrase The Once and Future King, it should never be Might that makes Right, but Right which makes Might.

Nobody should ever die over bullying.

Certainly not teenagers like Asher and Tyler.

Um, Mom?

So, I had the following e-mail exchange with my 60-something year-old mother on Facebook on Monday. She was writing from College Station.

MOM:

Mur-

[My friends] and I went to the Adult Bookstore Friday. We had a great time. I told them you worked on a murder there. They were impressed.

MY REPLY:

Um, that's great, Mom. I won't ask why you were there.

MOM:

Oh, it is a great new Mexican restaurant now. We will have to go the next time you are in Bryan.

Good to know.

The Race for District Clerk (With Updated Links)

As election season is rapidly approaching, I realized that there probably wasn't going to be time for me to write the big, comprehensive reviews of candidates like I did in 2008 and in the primaries of this year. I'll put something out eventually, I'm sure. I may even focus on some races in particular, but I just don't have time to write the voluminous stuff I've written in the past for every race.

But, I did want to write something semi-voluminous about the Race for District Clerk, because it is a position that affects both lawyers and citizens across the board.

And for the past year or so, District Clerk Loren Jackson has been doing a freaking amazing job as District Clerk.

Prior to Loren Jackson taking over the Office, you probably would have been fairly hard pressed to come up with the name of the District Clerk of Harris County. Now, Jackson's name is one of the most recognizable for a Public Servant in Harris County.

And with good reason.

Jackson took the helm of the Clerk's office and has taken it into the 21st Century. His efforts to streamline public records in an easily accessible manner on the Internet has been nothing short of monumental.

And he's achieved the goals he set forth.

Both prosecutors and defense attorneys marvel at what Loren Jackson has done with the District Clerk's office. As you can imagine, in the legal world, needing documents and records is an extremely frequent occurrence. Getting those documents used to be like pulling teeth. You would have to go to your computer and search for a case number associated with the name you were looking for (and Lord help you if you didn't have the exact right name and spelling during your search). You would have to find the volume and page of where the records could be found. You had to put in a written request to the clerk of your court for those records.

And then you would have to wait for several days for the clerk to pull that information up for you and certify it.

It was not a good system, but at the time, there was nothing better.

Loren Jackson now has alleviated the workload on his clerks by giving attorneys the ability to search for the information online without the assistance of a clerk, and we can now print out copies of those court documents on our own printers in our own offices immediately.

That may seem like a small thing to some people, but it is literally saving hours, days, and weeks worth of legwork that were so commonplace just five or ten years ago. The work he's done to improve his office has been nothing short of Monumental.

In addition to the technology side of what he's done for the Office, he's also brought a level of enthusiasm to his job that makes it so much more than just an elected spot for somebody to hold onto before running for County Commissioner or something. He goes and greets both the morning and the afternoon jury panels that come over daily.

I've never even met Loren Jackson, but I'm a tremendous fan of all that he has done for that office. It is (and I'm not exaggerating in the slightest) absolutely amazing.

Loren Jackson is such an amazing District Clerk that anybody who would want to run against him is actually doing the public a very large disservice.

But, of course, somebody is running against him.

Because Loren Jackson is a Democrat, the Republicans have found a candidate to run against him named Chris Daniel.

And where they got this guy, I'm not real sure. Based on his campaign website, it just appears that his major credentials are being very adept at having his picture taken with famous politicians. I used to want to have my picture with famous NFL athletes when I was a teenager -- and they still didn't let me play in the NFL.

It is also very transparent from Mr. Daniel's resume that he is just looking to use the District Clerk's position as a springboard to higher office.

I've got a big issue with that -- especially since Loren Jackson is kicking butt and taking names with how well he is doing with the Office now.

Only a die-hard Republican who was completely unfamiliar with the job Jackson is doing would think of voting against him.

Voting for anyone other than Loren Jackson for District Clerk of Harris County would not only be foolish, it would be cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Please tell your Republican family and friends who vote in Harris County to stay away from the straight-ticket vote, and actually pay enough attention to the ballot to vote for the far-and-away best candidate for the job.

Get the word out.

For more input on the Race for District Clerk, check out the Houston Chronicle's article here and Mark Bennett's post on it here.

Another Friday, Another Good Prosecutor Leaves

Today marks the last day of prosecutor Sean Teare, who is leaving the Harris County District Attorney's Office to join the world of civil practice. Sean leaves as a second-time Felony Three in the 339th District Court. (ON A RELATED NOTE: We are currently now looking for a foster parent for Ryan Mitchell.)

I got to know Sean on the day he actually learned he had passed the Texas Bar exam, and I didn't really get the chance to work with him as a prosecutor.

I did get the chance to work with him as a defense attorney, however. Sean was a damn good prosecutor who had the cajones to make a call on a case based on what was right or wrong, and not out of fear of getting in trouble with schmucks like Bridgwater and Leitner (who lately can't even seem to decide what their policy actually is.)

Over the past year and a half, I've noticed (with concern) as senior prosecutors were leaving and the experience level that was leaving with them. Sean's departure actually shows that Lykos and the Gang are burning the talent pool at both ends. Prosecutors like Teare (and Womble before him) at least gave some of us hope that there were good lawyers coming up through the ranks.

Now Lykos and Crew are running off the Next Generation of Prosecutors as well.

Pretty soon, the Office will be filled with nothing more than those who have successfully managed to suck up to either Lykos, Leitner, Chow, or Bridgwater. The promotion requirements will be based only on who you know and not how you do the job.

So, good luck to you, Sean. You'll do great in the civil world.

And soon a Legion of Palmers will have filled your spot at the Office.

Pat Lykos' Accomplishments

For those of you who may have missed it, apparently Pat Lykos took time out of her busy schedule to have her staff write up a memorandum on all of her "accomplishments" she was able to achieve during her first year. Now, never mind the fact that it took her and the Gang Who Couldn't Shoot Straight until freaking September to come up with what they had done so great in 2009, I think it is kind of cute that she did that.

I was especially moved by Lykos' latest sound byte:

"Justice is the highest good and injustice is the worst of the bad," Lykos said.

Lykos then followed that statement by thanking Hannah Chow for being her "bestest friend".

After reading over the review of herself (in which she gives herself very high marks for awesomeness), I realized that old Snooks sold herself short. So, I thought I would help her out with the following Top Ten list:

TOP 10 ACCOMPLISHMENTS LYKOS FAILED

TO RECOGNIZE HERSELF FOR

10. Lost no arguments over the validity of the sodomy law in front of the Supreme Court.

9. Making the office feel safer by having Leitner wear his badge on his belt and introducing him to people as "Festus, my chief deputy."

8. Has successfully boosted morale despite a hiring freeze by the handing out of creative titles in lieu of actual promotions (according to Rear Admiral Roger Bridgwater).

7. Totally kicked Chow's ass in the "upper echelon putt-putt match".

6. Created her own weight-loss video: Chain Smoking to the Oldies.

5. Made Special Crimes truly special by having Bureau Chief Joni Vollman give a hug to all visitors.

4. Instituted the punitive method of "double secret probation" to punish erring prosecutors that was so secret that not even the erring prosecutor would know whether or not he or she was on probation.

3. Successfully invented CrimeStoppers in March.

2. Drastically increased fairness to defendants by encouraging experienced prosecutors to quit.

1. On October 3rd, 2009, she received no letters of resignation.

What I Remember from 9/11

There isn't anything particularly moving about my particular experience on September 11, 2001. I didn't lose a loved one. I had never even been to New York City before.

But I received an e-mail about that day from a friend of mine this morning, and I guess I just wanted to write about what I remember from that day.

When citing moments of historical importance that "everybody remembers where they were when they heard", people who were born after the assassination of John F. Kennedy often cite the Challenger disaster or when Ronald Reagan was shot. I don't think those moments, although tragic, even begin to scratch the surface of the National Shot-in-the-Heart that we all felt on the morning of September 11th.

The Harris County District Attorney's Office at that time was under flood conditions. Tropical Storm Allison had knocked out the CJC. After a month or so of the entire Office being crammed into the early voting offices of the 1319 Texas Avenue, the felony divisions had moved back into the old District Attorney's building at 201 Fannin. Some of us were lucky enough to even have our own office.

I was a first time felony three in the 263rd District Court. My chief was Jeff Laird and my two was Valerie Turner. We still were very limited on available computers, so internet browsing was highly discouraged if it wasn't necessary for the job. So, I had foregone my morning routine of browsing all the news websites after pulling the docket together.

I got there at seven o'clock that morning and pulled my docket together, as my position required me to.

As I was about to get ready to go to court, my cell phone rang. It was my friend, Peter DeLeef.

Peter, God love him, often has a strange sense of humor. So, when he told me that a plane had hit the World Trade Center, I didn't think much of it. The vision of I had in my mind was something similar to this event when a small plane had struck the Empire State Building. I remember making some comment about the pilot being some "dumb ass" that didn't know how to fly.

I certainly didn't think there was any tremendous significance based on what Peter had told me.

As Jeff and Valerie and I left 201 Fannin to walk over to the courts (that were operating out of the old courthouse at 301 San Jacinto), I think I may have casually mentioned it to them. Their responses at the time were nothing more than mild curiosity.

But, as we got to the street level in front of 201 Fannin, somebody (I don't remember who) told us that a second plane had hit the other World Trade Center. I think at the time, I had so little knowledge of New York City that I didn't even really know there were two towers back then. But when that person told us about a second plane hitting, we all knew that something was terribly wrong.

We rushed over to 301 San Jacinto and got to the 263rd as fast as we could. Because of the flood conditions, the few computers available in the courtroom ran really really slowly. So many people trying to click on www.cnn.com made it even slower. There wasn't any TV that had a connection that we could watch news coverage on.

Jeff was in a murder trial against Larry Douglas, and Judge Robert Jones was visiting that week. The jury was already selected, and I remember Judge Jones giving them all the option to go home and be with their families that day if they didn't feel they could focus on testimony.

Much to my surprise, the jury in the box all said they could stay and participate.

Judge Wallace had a radio in his office, or maybe Judge Jones had just brought it with him. Either way, he tasked me with listening to the radio and to come give him updates during the trial. I remember being stunned as the frantic reporters began to report that the first tower was beginning to crumble. I would dutifully reported it all to the judge. It seemed like everything was happening all at once. The Pentagon. The downed flight in Pennsylvania. The towers falling.

Judge Jones, an ex-military man, took the news stoically, and there was something about that which I found oddly comforting.

I didn't worry much about anything happening to us at the courthouse, but my wife at the time worked in one of the Allen Center skyscrapers. I was worried about her. I called her, and she was extremely emotional. Her bosses were sending them home, and I was relieved to hear that. She went home and began taping the news. She called me throughout the day to give me updates. In all the time that I knew her, I don't believe that I ever saw her so upset.

Later in the week, I picked a jury, and during Judge Jones' voir dire, a woman raised her hand and asked to approach. The attorneys approached with her, and she cried in front of the bench. She told Judge Jones that the events of 9/11 were all she could think about, and she couldn't sit on a jury.

I'll never forget what happened next. Judge Jones, who can easily be labeled as one of the gruffer judges that sit in Harris County, gave her a sad nod.

"I understand," he said. "I lost two of my best friends at the Pentagon."

He quietly excused her.

Last year, I was in New York City quite a bit. I went to the site of where the Towers had once stood. They are doing some rebuilding projects there, and it is pretty difficult to comprehend what had once been there.

It is even more difficult to comprehend what had once happened there.

I don't think it really hit home to me that I was in the place where it happened until I went and visited the New York City Police Museum. The museum itself is fairly small, as museums go, but obviously has a large portion of it dedicated to what happened on 9/11. There is a presentation that focuses on three police officers who had all been photographed at one point or another during the morning.

All three officers profiled had been into the Towers, helped rescue people and bring them out.

All three of those officers went back in.

All three of those officers died when the building collapsed. Their bent and melted badges, their gun belts, their radios are all in the museum.

It was all so simply displayed, yet gut-wrenching to look at.

And at that moment, I think I truly missed not being a prosecutor anymore. The admiration for the bravery of the policemen and firemen who died that day, and the ones who survived were certainly a large part of that feeling. I missed working alongside those men and women that I think so highly of.

But another part was how that was a shared experience that I had with my family of prosecutors -- how we moved forward and adapted to what happened in the wake of September 11, 2001.

I know that what I write of that day is of absolutely no significance to anyone other than myself.

But, as we mark the anniversary of that terrible day, I just wanted to be one of the millions of voices from across our country that still says "I remember".

I remember that day very well.