Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center

I wish everyone from our Little CJC Family a very Happy Thanksgiving! It's been a tumultuous and crazy year, but we've all got so many things to be thankful for. I'm thankful for every last one of you guys and, as always, I'm proud to work with you. Happy Thanksgiving!

I happened to stumble across a new blog (as in created yesterday) that is written from the perspective of a new prosecutor. I look forward to reading it in the days to come and I've linked to it in the side bar. I've also been meaning to let you guys know that Defense Attorney Herman Martinez also has a blog about what we do around the CJC that is worth a read.

Tomorrow will be Felony Trial Bureau Chief Lyn "Big Poppa" McClellan's last day in office. To say that his departure from the Office will be a tremendous loss is like saying that the Titanic took on a little water back in 1912. Lyn was one of a handful of prosecutors that I had heard about and read about prior to my joining the Office in 1999. One of my early mentors in life was a former HPD Homicide Sergeant named Gil Schultz who had his biggest case tried by Lyn and Rusty Hardin. It was the Cynthia Campbell case that was documented in two books -- Daddy's Girl by Clifford Irving and Cold Kill by Jack Olsen. If you haven't read them before, I highly recommend both books. For those of you who have read them, you know there is a priceless photo of Lyn in one of them. Shortly after I started at the Office, Lyn became the Division Chief of Misdemeanor, meaning he was one of my supervisors. It was hard to fathom that a prosecutor of Lyn's stature would be super

For those of you who had not heard, Dick Wheelan passed away this morning after a courageous battle with cancer. I'm hesitant to post the notice of a person's passing on something as impersonal as this blog, but I received a request to do so from some people very close to him. I hope this doesn't offend anyone. I've known Dick since I've worked in Harris County, but I know that so many people knew him much better than I did. The Dick Wheelan that I knew was the ultimate Gentleman, a skilled attorney, and a person whose word was his bond. He was a very kind man who led a very interesting life. As one person just wrote me: "While his life was cut short, he sure made the most of the time that he had. He learned to fly fighter jets in the Navy, was a New York City police officer, then homicide detective, then lieutenant. A corporate lawyer living in Hong Kong, and then a defense attorney here. Very few people could claim to have done as much in a lifetime.

The final votes were tallied today, and C.O. Bradford conceded the race for District Attorney , making former Judge Pat Lykos the new boss at the D.A.'s Office. And immediately around the Office, rumors of changes and firings and hirings began to swirl. I'm reminded of a story that one of my favorite professors at U.H. Law School, the late Yale Rosenberg, told his students before their first law school final. We were all extremely nervous. He relayed a story of going with his big brother to Coney Island when he was a little kid, and subsequently freaking out on one of the roller coasters as it approached its first big dive. Professor Rosenberg said that his brother looked over at him and told him the following words: "Sit down. Shut up. Hold on. And it will all be okay." His words applied very well to a room full of nervous law students. I think that they apply here very well, too. Change is always scary, folks. But the anticipation of it is much often worse tha

Interesting article by Lisa Falkenberg this morning on her analysis of the 351st Judicial Race. Um. not quite sure what to say about it, so I'll let you guys do the talking. On an unrelated side note , I will be legally changing my name to Joe Kickass .

I've made mention in several of my posts that I'm hardly anonymous anymore. When asked if I'm "The Blogger", I never deny it [anymore]. I just don't officially state on the blog who I am for various and sundry reasons. I'm willing to bet that the vast majority of the people who read this Blog know who I am, so I figured I would post a poll and see if I'm correct in that assessment.

From Ellis McCullough today after a particularly hectic day of fighting with the CJC Elevators: "I hope I live long enough to see this building imploded." Well said, Ellis. Well said.

I've gotten a couple of comments on why I haven't posted lately. No particular reason. Just didn't have a lot to say. I'm still taking in all of the ramifications of the November election and still trying to figure out what exactly happened at the Voting Booths. I may post on those thoughts a little bit later. But in the meantime, I thought I would let you guys know that I'm still alive.

Wow. What a wild night. At the moment, I'm still rather speechless at the county-wide rejection of some of the finest Judges in the Country. It is incredibly sad to me that Judicial Races still carry partisan titles with them, because that (and only that) is the reason the races ended today in the way which they did. Excellent judges were swept out by uninformed voters that pulled straight ticket. I'm still slightly confused by how one survived when the rest didn't (although I'm happy for Judge Ellis). As I've discussed before ( ad nauseum ) the race for District Attorney was a tough one for me to evaluate. Ultimately, I'm satisfied that Lykos won the race, because I know that she will continue to prosecute as the job dictates that she should. I sincerely wish her luck in the job. It's not an easy one, and given the circumstances, it's going to keep getting tougher. As for me, I believe that I will get up tomorrow morning and go do my job.