Double Standards

I love being a member of the Defense Bar.

And I remain eternally appreciative of the help that I have received from other members of the Harris County Defense Bar over the past two years as I began a defense practice.

I've been honored to work alongside some of the best in the criminal defense business.

And I've been a very enthusiastic and dedicated advocate to those clients who have entrusted me with their cases.

Contrary to the belief of some, this wasn't all that big of a transition from my job as a prosecutor, which I held for a little over 9 years.

I never relished in the misery of a defendant that I was prosecuting.  I was always keenly aware of the repercussions prosecuting somebody had on collateral matters such as a defendant's family, his job, etc.  I've written here before about one of the most memorably heart-breaking moments of my career was when a small child came waddling up to me moments after his father had been sentenced to life in prison as I had requested of the Court.

That's a memory that makes me incredibly sad.

But it doesn't change the fact that the defendant in that particular case deserved a life sentence.  He had ordered the death of a 17-year-old kid and that death had occurred.  He had ordered two other murders that had not.

I guess I'm rambling, but the point that I am (poorly) trying to make is that prosecutors often do jobs that are heart-breaking and sad, but nonetheless, important.  And necessary.

Somewhere along the way, people picked up the erroneous perception that prosecutors, and by extension, police officers do their jobs because they just truly enjoy ruining people's lives.  They enjoy the power trip.  They enjoy the chaos.

I am sure that there are probably some prosecutors and police officers that fit that description.  And maybe I'm naive, but I truly believe they are in the small minority.

I hope they are.  The ones that I worked with during my time with Harris County certainly weren't representative of that.  At least not to my knowledge.

But for some reason, some of my brethren in the Defense Bar regard prosecutors and police officers as power-mad authoritarians who do their jobs solely for the reason of suppressing the rights of citizens who were simply minding their own business.

Those same defense attorneys, who will gladly stand by any accused murderer, rapist, or pedophile, will vocally celebrate if a police officer or (fingers crossed!) a prosecutor gets arrested for anything.  Die-Hard civil libertarians who will (rightfully) proclaim any citizen's Presumption of Innocence, suddenly forget that standard if the person accused is a public servant enforcing the law.

It is a double standard beyond comprehension to me.

If every Defense Attorney ultimately fancies themselves to be a modern-day-Atticus-Finch, why do they forget the principles Finch stood for solely because it is a prosecutor or police officer charged?  If they were truly devotees of the principles of Atticus Finch, it would seem to me that the more unpopular a person or more scandalous of a charge they faced, the more they would dig their heels in to stand beside them.

The irony of the situation is stunning, because as members of the Defense Bar celebrate and rebroadcast the arrest of a prosecutor or police officer, they are abandoning the most sacred principles of the Constitution.

First, they are presuming them guilty.

And second, they are relishing in the idea that they should be treated more harshly under the law because they are different.

We've all had friends who have been arrested.  Today, I had a friend who was arrested for DWI.

Unlike 99.9% of the population, his DWI arrest made the paper.

Unlike 99.9% of the population, he may lose his job simply because he was arrested.

Unlike 99.9% of the population, morons will have the opportunity to make idiotic comments about him on the news blogs.

Unlike 99.9% of the population, many people will be hoping he is guilty.

Why?  Because he just so happened to be a prosecutor at the time of his arrest.

For those who will comment on this blog about me still being a prosecutor at heart, go ahead and knock yourself out.

But, I can do my job as a Defense Attorney every day without having to vilify my opposition, or rejoice in their troubles.

I will look any prosecutor in the eye and tell them that I think they are wrong about my case and I will fight them tooth and nail in a courtroom.

But I will never think that they are bad people deserving of trauma in their lives simply for being prosecutors, because that is nothing short of absurd.

And I would never take pleasure in the troubles.

Just like I would never take pleasure in the troubles of those I prosecuted.

Lykos 2010: A Year in Review

JANUARY

January 4 – Upset that her goddaughter, Rachel Palmer, didn’t get the free walk to a judgeship that she wanted for Christmas, Pat Lykos asks Palmer’s opposing candidate, ADA Don Smyth, to switch races.  He declines. Moments later, Smyth is approached by Jim Leitner and asked when he is planning on retiring from the Office.

January 12 – A massive earthquake strikes the island-nation of Haiti, ultimately causing the death of approximately 250,000 Haitians.  Arch-conservative Pat Robertson and Republican sleaze bag activist Terry Lowery argue that this is punishment from God.  Lykos takes the high road, announcing there was no earthquake, but that 250,000 deaths was the “normal rate of attrition” for Haitians.

January 15 – Longtime legendary Administrative Assistant Barbara Eaglin retires after decades of harassing baby prosecutors that have come through the Office.  Lykos and the Gang celebrate.  Their initial plans to fire all popular members from previous administrations had been thwarted by Barbara, who they worried might kick their asses.

FEBRUARY

February 3 -- Houston Press writer John Lomax does an article on HCDA’s criteria for filing vehicular homicide cases.  Fearing a panic attack from Leitner, the Office has Catherine Evans explain their policy to Lomax.  Evans handles the interview knowledgably and competently.  This immediately places her on Lykos’ Enemies List.

February 6 – Following a weekend of a larger than normal number of homicides, Lykos describes local area law enforcement as negligent and incompetent and declares she will be launching her own investigation into this.  She and the Gang Who Couldn’t Shoot Straight quickly create their own Harris County Justice League of Super Heroes to roam the streets fighting crime.

February 7 – The Harris County Justice League disbands after Lykos cannot find tights that are flattering to her.

February 15 – Still despondent over the break up of the Harris County Justice League, Lykos launches a new investigation into who (if anyone) had accessed a highly top-secret HPD offense report relating to Deputy Dawg and Lykos favorite Rachel Palmer and her fiancée, Don Hooper.  The resulting investigation is a huge success with numerous office members disciplined for accessing the offense report.  NOTE:  As of this writing, there has still been no investigation by Lykos into whether or not Palmer or Hooper did any wrong-doing, or whether or not Palmer herself pulled a copy of the offense report.  Just saying.

MARCH

March 2 --  The Texas Primaries are held, and faith is renewed that sometimes the good guys do win, as political newcomer Don Smyth handily trounces the heavily supported-by-Lykos favorite Rachel Palmer.  Lykos consoles Palmer by promising to buy her a pony.

March 5 – Judge Kevin Fine stuns Harris County and the rest of the Nation by declaring the Death Penalty unconstitutional.  A confused Lykos angrily insists that although she doesn’t really use it anymore, the Republicans would be furious with her if the death penalty is abolished on her watch.  She vows to talk to Judge Fine the moment she can figure out where his courtroom is.

March 19 – In the wake of the demolition of the Palmer Campaign, die-hard Lykos loyalists put their support in for former (fired) prosecutor Danny Dexter, who is running against Assistant D.A. Marc Brown for the 180^th District Court Bench.  Dexter, who has a penchant for inflating and out-right lying about his record as a prosecutor, is a natural favorite for Lykos, who announces that voting for Dexter is the best thing she’s done since she cured cancer.

APRIL

April 13 --  In yet another triumphant moment, ADA Marc Brown defeats Danny Dexter for the bench of the 180^th District Court, despite Dexter’s endorsements from Gary Polland, Steve Hotze, and low-rent political whore Terry Lowery.  Ironically, the 180^th Bench was once held by none other than Pat Lykos herself.  Lykos is heard grumbling in the hallways:  “So those damn voters are looking at qualifications now, are they?”

April 25 – Given the recent decisions to not prosecute crack pipe cases or to follow the law in DWI cases, Lykos lets the general public know in an editorial that she is going to start prosecuting some selected crimes such as Failure to Stop and Give Information.  Having no understanding of the fact that there is already such a law on the books or how it works, she asks DA Office counsel Scott Durfee to write the paper and let her sign her name to it.  Some speculate that this is how Lykos actually got through law school, too.

April 26 – Despite an absolutely crippling budget crunch that affects the entire county, Lykos uses office funds to send herself, Bridgwater, Chow, and Leitner to the Bench Bar conference in Galveston.  Very few other prosecutors are allowed to attend.  Lykos is seen polishing off a Jack and Coke before dragging Leitner onto the dance floor to “Party Like It’s 1899.”

MAY

May 4 – Despite the fact that Lykos is up-in-arms over Judge Kevin Fine’s abolition of the Death Penalty, Lykos pleads Capital Murderer Randy Sylvester to Life in prison despite the fact that he kidnapped and burned his two children to death on Father’s Day of 2008 and announced he would fake insanity to beat the rap.  When asked why she even needs the death penalty since she never uses it, Lykos responds: “Well, we need it in case somebody actually does something really bad.”

May 9 – After downing a couple of Jack and Cokes, Lykos goes on Channel 11 for an interview with Mark Greenblatt.  During the interview, she tries to turn the tables on Greenblatt by making him state his name, accusing him of fuzzy math, and then stating he has initiated a “urinating contest”.  Lykos then “pulls a Leitner” and storms out of the interview.

May 13 – As part of a large set of moves, Lykos creates the Capital Trial Divison.  She also adds the position of Co-Deputy Dawg of Misdemeanor.  Other meaningless positions created are the “Prohibition Study Coordinator” and the “Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping Review Team.”  Lykos also moves Don Smyth to the less-than-prestigious welfare fraud, and is later heard telling Rachel Palmer, “See what I did to that mean old man who beat you in the election?”

JUNE

June 11 – In an effort to stem the bleeding of prosecutors fleeing the Office, Lykos attempts to convince prosecutors to stay with the Office by offering them promotions.  When confronted with the possibility that inexperienced people in higher positions might cause problems, she responds, “Dude, I’m the f*cking D.A. and I’ve got no idea what I’m doing.  How bad could it be?”

June 25 – Former Memorial High School quarterback and child star Will Womble announces that he will be leaving the Office.  Womble’s gamble is that the long-sought-after promotion to Misdemeanor Two will be offered to him under Lykos’ new promotion policy.  Instead, Lykos offers to let him “help out Carl in maintenance” as a new job.

JULY

July 1 – Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland issues a controversial memo stating that no HPD officers are allowed to talk to defense attorneys without the express consent of a prosecutor.  Despite prior promises of “transparency,”1^st Assistant Jim Leitner clarifies by insisting that officers can only talk to defense attorneys with a prosecutor present.  When informed that this idea smacks of witness tampering, Leitner lamely admits his clarification on the rule was because he was lonely and just wanted to be included on something.

July 12 -  Long-time Judge of the 180^th District Court, Debbie Stricklin retires slightly early, leaving the post open, briefly.  Long-time lawyers noting the vacancy point out that the court is still run more professionally, knowledgeably, and courteously with no judge on the bench than it ever was when Pat Lykos had held it.

July 30 – After 33 years of distinguished service, ADA Don Smyth retires from the Office.  In an obligatory going-away party, Lykos tells Smyth that she hopes to have as lengthy of a career as he did, as long she won’t have to do any of those “trial-thingies.”

AUGUST

August 4 – The mother of a child sexual assault victim is charged with child endangerment after complaining to KHOU about the District Attorney’s Office’s handling of her daughter’s case.  Lykos and company deny that they would ever file charges on anyone as retaliation for that person speaking ill of them in public.  They then go back to preparing their 5,432 count indictment against local blogger,  Murray Newman.

August 31 – After a few too many Jack & Cokes, Lykos decides it would be a great idea to no longer provide reasonable accommodation to prosecutors with exceptional needs, such as long-time ADA Shirley Cornelius (who is the primary caretaker of a son with special needs).  As icing on the cake, Lykos henchwoman Hannah Chow attempts to get Shirley to illegally alter her timesheet as a budget-saving measure, which Shirley refuses to do.  Instead, Shirley resigns, pointing out to Lykos that it is actually important to follow all this “law stuff” that Lykos has sworn to uphold.

SEPTEMBER

September 2 – Local media seems to finally catch on to the fact that the Harris County Criminal Justice Center is poorly constructed with a bad elevator system that could create a tremendous danger to human life in the event of a fire.  Seeing the public interest, Pat Lykos suddenly declares that she is opposed to people being killed in a dangerous building – unless, of course, those people are illegal aliens.

September 16 – Despite limited funding and a now desperately low amount of prosecutors staffing the courts, Lykos publishes her long-awaited campaign propaganda piece paid for by taxpayer expense memorandum on all of her accomplishments during her first year in Office.  Accusations of Lykos committing plagiarism arise when somebody points out that all of her “accomplishments” were stolen from another book – the Texas Penal Code.

September 29 –The Houston Police Department issues a public warning that a possible serial killer may be on the loose, after the murders of three women in the Downtown area.  Lykos assures the public that there is no serial killer on the loose Downtown, and that the deaths are just the “normal rate of attrition” for women in Downtown Houston.

OCTOBER

October 6 – Never one to shy away from capitalizing on a tragedy, Pat Lykos announces in the wake of a teenager’s suicide that she will be launching an investigation and prosecution into those who commit “bullying.” The investigation seems to stall out after someone points out to her that if bullying was a crime, Lykos herself would be the new Charles Manson.

October 18 – Despite budgetary cuts across the county, Lykos begins changing the layout for business cards held by the Assistant District Attorneys.  The former cards which had printed the title “Harris County District Attorney’s Office” across them are now replaced with campaign propaganda piece paid for by taxpayer expense cards that read “Office of Patricia R. Lykos,  District Attorney.” The move is actually the first intellectually honest thing Lykos has done during her tenure, since she never really was looking out for Harris County’s best interest.

October 30 – Former ADA and 2008 District Attorney Kelly Siegler makes national headlines after clearing former-Death Row inmate Anthony Graves of the capital murders he was charged with.  An infuriated Pat Lykos screams at Baldwin Chin and Alicia O’Neil, “You nimwits are going to sit in your office until you’ve found and exonerated somebody off of death row for ME!!!!!!!”

NOVEMBER

November 2 – Republicans rejoice as they sweep the elections in Harris County.  Pat Lykos cautions her party to “not get too excited,” citing that it wasn’t as much of a Republican sweep as it was the “normal attrition rate for Democrats” in a non-Presidential year. 

November 15 – Alexander Bunin is named as Harris County’s First Public Defender.  Lykos, despondent over the idea of not being main media darling for the Houston Chronicle, takes out her aggression on her underlings.  While holding the Office dog, she asks the Tuesday morning meeting: “What has four legs, is neutered, and is always sniffing my ass?”  She then cackles and tells the group,  “Roger and Jim!”

November 20 – Brian Rogers decides to make himself the “Bad Boy” of the Houston Chronicle by writing an article that is less than flattering of Pat Lykos.  In it, Lykos explains the approximately 20% rate of experienced prosecutors leaving under her tenure as the “normal rate of attrition.”  In a related story,  Jim Leitner has to be treated for bumps and bruises after being trampled during the mass exodus that occurred in November.

DECEMBER

December 7 – The showdown over the Death Penalty reaches its zenith in Judge Kevin Fine’s court, as Judge Fine opens a pending case to testimony over the unreliability of capital punishment.  Lykos successfully lobbies the Court of Criminal Appeals to stop Fine’s hearing by begging on her hands and knees and saying:  “Please, for the love of God, don’t let that moron take away the death penalty!  My Republican supporters will kill me!!!”

December 13 --  In lieu of the Office Christmas party, Lykos instead sponsors numerous thirty minute mini-get-togethers which she calls “holiday cheer.” During the party, Lykos is seen talking to two children in front of a gingerbread house.  Unfortunately, the children are never heard from again.

December 29 --  The first Assistant District Attorney of Collin County is indicted for Tampering with a Government Document for doing THE EXACT SAME THING that Hannah Chow had ordered Shirley Cornelius to do.  Lykos is seen consoling a very rattled Chow by assuring her that the guy from Collin County wasn’t actually indicted – that was -- you guessed it -- just the "normal rate of attrition"  for prosecutors in Texas.

December 31 – An angry Pat Lykos adds count number 5433 to local blogger Murray Newman’s proposed indictment after reading this re-cap.

Happy New Year, everybody!

Merry Christmas Eve to All

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas Eve to everybody down at the CJC.

As per tradition, I have begun the morning by the Ceremonial Firing of Myself. I know it is a late start, but if anyone wants to do the 12 Days of Lykos for 2010, feel free. You can seek inspiration from past lists here and here.

Or, you could just enjoy the day with friends and family, which is what I'm planning on doing.

Whatever you choose to do, I hope you all have a safe and happy holiday season.

Merry Christmas,

Murray

Rifi Newaz

Unfortunately for the citizens of Harris County, the departures at the District Attorney's Office are now coming in so rapidly that I can't even keep up on the official "obituaries" that I've been doing for the Assistant District Attorneys who are leaving. The past couple of weeks have seen the departure of Environmental Law prosecutor Will Graham, Felony Prosecutor Samantha Cox, and Misdemeanor prosecutor David Zeitzoff. There may be more I'm not aware of.

This week has seen prosecutors Colin "Judo" McLaughlin and Daphne "Jazz Hands" Newaz turning in their resignations. Judo and Jazz Hands are headed to be prosecutors in other regions -- Tarrant County and the U.S. Attorney's Office in El Paso, respectively.

Felony Two Abraham Hamilton is also having his last day today as part of the "normal rate of attrition".

All of these guys were/are great prosecutors.

Also leaving along with Daphne, will be her husband, Rifi Newaz, who will also be joining the Feds in El Paso.

Now, as most of you know, Rifi and Mark Donnelly were both the victims of, single-handedly, the most chicken shit thing that Pat Lykos has done during her two year tenure. But I don't want to focus on what that Old Goat did last year for the purposes of this post -- she can deal with her own demons over a few Jack and Cokes while boycotting Christmas.

Mark left the Office in October of last year and is enjoying a successful career with the Feds. Rifi's last day will be December 24th. NOTE: I'm just assuming that Rifi picked that day as a symbolic gesture of solidarity, since that was the day I got canned the second time.

But on a serious note, man, the Office is losing an absolute Class Act when Rifi leaves. And all of us, on both the prosecution and defense side, will be losing a good prosecutor and friend.

I first met Rifi in the early part of 2006. I had just transferred into the 209th District Court as the Two. Mike Trent was the Chief and Rifi was the Three. I had seen Rifi around the Office, but I had never heard him speak a word. Although he had been around for awhile, we were really first introduced on the day I started in Judge McSpadden's court.

I had been a Felony Two in several courts by the time I landed there, and I had worked with some great Threes, good Threes, and some downright bad Threes. The work that Rifi did on a day to day basis of just managing the docket brings to mind the term "brutal efficiency". Every docket was always together. Every "to do" was always done. It seemed like he had the facts of every case he handled memorized and could discuss them with defense attorneys without even having to refresh his memory. He knew the law that applied to his cases because he researched it ahead of time.

Even though I got to know Rifi a little better at first, he still didn't say all that much. I didn't figure that such a quiet man would be a very good litigator.

Boy, was I wrong.

I first observed Rifi in trial when he fought an uphill battle on a case against Tucker Graves. Although the State didn't prevail in the end, Rifi's closing was excellent. Sadly, I guess he just couldn't overcome Tucker's poster that read "Wang is Not Right". You'll have to ask either Tucker or Rifi about the rest of that story.

Over the next several months, I learned that Rifi could actually be quite talkative, and pretty damn funny, too. As a practical joker myself, I had great admiration for Rifi's placement of an Annoy-A-Tron in a co-worker's office. Needless to say, Rifi and I became good friends. His dry sense of humor and his sad devotion to losing sports teams like the Houston Texans, Houston Rockets, and Texas Longhorns were things that I could identify with.

And we stayed friends after I left the Office.

When what I shall refer to as the "Dark Moment" happened to Rifi and Mark, saying that I was beyond outraged doesn't scratch the surface on describing the anger I felt for what Pat Lykos did. And the response of support and solidarity that both Rifi and Mark received from both prosecutors and defense attorneys showed that I wasn't alone in my outrage.

Rifi and Mark handled the incident with their typical class. Although upset about the damage to their reputations that Lykos had done, neither immediately resigned, nor did they complain publicly. They kept on serving the Citizens of Harris County to the best of their ability -- and with their heads held high. They both knew that their reputations would survive intact and they were right. It would be Lykos' reputation that was forever doomed within the Office.

Rifi ultimately would return to the Trial Bureau -- landing as the Two in the 337th District Court.

And it was here, that Rifi and I would do battle. A lot of freaking battle.

Rifi and I ended up on opposite sides of a murder case most familiarly known as the "Baytown Five". At the beginning of this year, Rifi and I picked a jury on the case.

Or at least, we tried to. You see, being in trial against Rifi is like a chess match. Every question he asks, every comment or objection he makes is strategic. And it was without a doubt one of the most mentally grueling duels I have ever been in for a trial.

On the first jury panel, Rifi eliminated so many potential jurors for cause that we "busted" the panel before I even got to speak a word.

So, we brought a new panel over the next day. This time, I got to do my portion of voir dire, too, but the results were the same. We busted that panel too.

So we brought over a new panel, and busted it again, but this time we kept those still eligible venire members and combined them with a fourth panel that we picked the next day. It was only then that we were able to seat a jury for trial.

Which, of course, after a week-long battle of wits, ended in a hung jury.

So, later this year, we picked our fifth freaking panel on the same case. And of course, we busted it too. It got reset to April now.

I now can recite Rifi's voir dire in my sleep, I've heard it so many times -- especially the Wheel of Fortune part ("I suppose it could be 'banana splot'") and the West Side Story dance moves.

Sadly, I won't get to hear it again, since Rifi is finally leaving the D.A.'s Office. Part of me is glad that I won't have to face him in trial again, because damn, he is without a doubt, the best prosecutor I've faced off against in my time as a Defense Attorney.

But the other part of me is very sad to see my friend leaving the Office, no matter how happy I am for him to get out of that increasingly toxic environment.

Hell, part of me will even miss hearing that damn "banana splot" analogy one more time.

Best of luck to you and Daphne, Rifi.

You'll be missed around here.

Interesting Moves

Today, the District Attorney's Office issued the memo on moves across the board for their personnel. It is an interesting read. Quite frankly, I don't know that I've ever seen as massive of a shift in positions since I've been in Harris County. Some of the moves are great calls. Some are reflective of the budget crunch. Some are just downright bizarre.

Here's my take.

1. The promotion of Wes Rucker and Jon Stephenson to Felony Chief was an absolutely outstanding move. These two guys represent everything that is right about being a prosecutor. They are honest, straightforward, and fair. They need more prosecutors in leadership positions like them.

2. The promotions of Amy McCauley, Lauren Bard, Amanda Skillern, and yeah, even Scott Pope to Felony Two are also solid decisions. All four (even Pope) are hard working and dedicated prosecutors who will be good down the road. I'm glad the Office finally recognized that.

And here's where things get weird . . .

3. Misdemeanor Division Carl Hobbs is now the Division Chief of Grand Jury in addition to remaining the Misdemeanor Division Chief.

Huh? He's a double Division Chief now? That's a big move for somebody who started out the year as the chief of the relatively obscure Welfare Fraud Division, which is now being run by Felony Two (and Lykos-hire Alex Azzo).

If you are worried about Carl getting overwhelmed at being a double Division Chief, have no fear, because we have Bizarre Move # 4 . . .

4. Felony Chief John Jordan is being moved from his position in Child Abuse to be the "Section Chief" of Misdemeanor.

Um, "Section Chief"? What the hell is a Section Chief? I mean, if the Gang is going to be making up new titles, couldn't they come up with something cooler? Like Squadron Leader or something? Seriously. What in the world is this move? Did they make John an honorary Deputy Dawg? What happens to Keiter and Palmer?

Is this a promotion, demotion, lateral move, or just a bad acid trip on Lykos' part? I'm so confused.

But the most Bizarre Move of the Day, absolutely goes to . . .

5. Bill Hawkins is the head of the Capital Murder Division AND the District Court Chief of the 178th.

Holy Split Personalities, Batman. So Hawkins, (who has dutifully served as soon-to-be-Judge Denise Bradley's intern in the Capital Murder Division since its inception -- just kidding, Bill) will be a Division Chief and a District Court Chief serving in an actual court.

The funny part about this idea is that Hawkins is a very senior Division Chief who is highly respected amongst the rank and file prosecutors at the Office. He is the leader of all things capital murder, and yet he will also be doing the day to day grind in a court. One of the people that he is senior to is Julian Ramirez. Julian, who is less senior, will ironically, be Bill's supervisor since Julian is the Division Chief over Bill's court.

Sound stupid? Well, it is. I have a mental image of Bill and Julian taking turns evaluating each other at the end of the year.

I guess that hard financial times are calling upon some desperate measures.

In a related move, I hear that Hannah Chow will be in charge of custodial, and Bridgwater and Leitner will now be spending their lunch hours working the food line in the cafeteria.

Life is very strange at the D.A.'s Office these days.

Strange days, indeed.

Holiday Cheer- Every Half Hour on the Half Hour!

Back in the Olden Days, when the Harris County District Attorney's Office used to resemble an actual pleasant place to work, we used to have these things called Christmas Parties. No tax payer money was spent. Funds were collected from the prosecutors, secretaries, and investigators, etc.

And the parties were fun. It was a great time unwinding with the people you worked with and getting to meet their families.

This has now, apparently, been replaced by the Lykos version known as "Holiday Cheer".

Well, I'll agree that it is a holiday, but "cheer" might be something in shorter supply than prosecutors around that office lately.

The funniest thing to me is that the "invitation" to Holiday Cheer has been regimented down to half hour increments that each floor has gotten where they will be allowed the honor of hanging out with the Gang Who Couldn’t Shoot Straight Executive Leadership Team. The 1st & 6th floor get to celebrate from 2:00-2:30 p.m. The 5th Floor gets to party from 2:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m. The 2nd Floor gets the 3:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. shift, and the 4th Floor gets that ambiguous 3:30 p.m. -- ??? invitation,

What will happen during this magical 30 minutes of Holiday Cheer? Do you get to sit on Snookems' lap and wish for a new D.A. for Christmas? Do you meet Hannah Chow under the mistletoe? Do you have some alcohol-free egg nog with Bridgwater? Do you get a gift from Leitner or one of the other elves?

I don't know what magic is in store for you, but you better get it done in under 30 minutes and then you have to hit the skids.

Making Positive Changes

You know, I have never over-estimated the influence of this blog. I write to inform. I write to amuse. I write to hopefully make some positive changes every once in a while.

Those positive changes are often few and far between, but when you do write something that was so influential that it changed someone's life, you never forget that moment. Today is one of those days. Clearly after writing this post last month, I helped change the life of one of our elder generation of lawyers.

Today, my heart was warmed to see this positive change:

It does my heart good to see that, working together, we can make the CJC a better place.

You're welcome, Pete. And from all the pimps who now have clothes for the winter, thank you for your donation.

The 177th's Death Penalty Hearing

The media (especially the Houston Chronicle) has been abuzz this week over the hearing going on in Judge Kevin Fine's court about the death penalty. Specifically, this morning, the Chronicle seems aghast that District Attorney Pat Lykos would order her appellate division (represented by Alan Curry) to remain silent during the hearing.

The Chronicle calls Lykos' move "bold".

I'll call it something else -- smart.

Yes, I know you are probably shocked that I agree with Pat Lykos on something, but let's look at what other choice does she really have in this matter at this point? The Harris County District Attorney's Office has registered their objection to the hearing taking place at all. They have put those objections in writing and Judge Fine has overruled them and is proceeding with the hearing anyway.

So, the move Lykos and Company are making is really the only one they can play now. They don't believe that the hearing has any legal value because it isn't something authorized by the Code of Criminal Procedure. Legally and respectfully, they aren't going to justify its existence by participating in it.

And, in this, I think they are taking the right tactic.

When I was in law school, I interviewed then-District Attorney Johnny Holmes about the Death Penalty. One of the many things he pointed out to me when I interviewed him that afternoon was that he would never participate in a Death Penalty debate, despite the fact that he was constantly bombarded with invitations to do so. The point that Mr. Holmes made to me was that the Death Penalty is something that is such a hot-button issue that it is deeply ingrained in the way a person thinks and feels. Much like issues of abortion or anything else that ties into a person's definition of religion and/or morality, one's feelings on the Death Penalty aren't going to get changed by a debate.

He was right, and the Lykos crew is treating the hearing in Judge Fine's court as a very public debate in a courtroom. What is the point in entering into it?

I like Judge Fine, and I think his heart is in the right place. I also think he has courage in his attack on the Death Penalty. It is certainly not going to be the most politically savvy move he has made on the bench.

But he knows that.

And he's proceeding anyway.

I find his principles admirable, even though I don't really agree with what he's doing.

I had a talk with Pat McCann last night over, um, coffee, about whether or not the hearing in the 177th would actually change anything. We disagreed over whether or not it would. Personally, I think the hearing will bring a lot of attention to the Death Penalty in Texas, but I don't think it will change anything directly.

But, I could be wrong about that. I have been before.

In the meantime, grab some popcorn and sit back and watch. It should be interesting.

John Jocher

Friday marks the last day of 248th District Court Chief John Jocher from the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

Out of all the prosecutors who have left the Office over the past two years, for some reason, John's leaving has kind of brought about a melancholy feeling for me. I couldn't be happier for him as he heads to the Federal side of the street, and I know that he'll be happy there. But John is like a brother to me, and seeing him leave that place for good almost feels like losing family.

John and I interviewed for the job of Assistant District Attorney on the same day back in the summer of 1999. We'd never met before, and we didn't actually meet that day either. I remember seeing him waiting for his interview with the hiring committee, though. A few weeks later, on August 16th, we both started on the same day as prosecutors.

I was sent to the Justice of the Peace Division and he went the Juvenile route. We didn't really get to know each other until we all returned to the Misdemeanor Division around November of that year. John was a little bit older than the rest of us in Misdemeanor and he was clearly more sophisticated than folks like myself, Summerlin, Exley, and certainly DeLeef. (Just kidding, Peter).

John was polished, more mature, and smart. He was the very picture of what you would think of as a prosecutor. He was ethical, reasonable, yet unafraid of trial.

And more importantly, John was family.

When I left the D.A.'s Office at the end of 2008, the thing that I knew I would miss the most was the sense of that family in my co-workers. Nobody seemed to understand and exemplify that to me as much as John did.

He and I "grew up" in the Office together -- although some may make the argument that John was already grown up, and I never quite achieved that.

We became Misdemeanor Twos, Felony Threes, Misdemeanor Chiefs, Felony Twos, and ultimately Felony Chiefs together. Often times on the exact same day.

When I got married in Mexico, John and his lovely wife, Betsy were the first to say they were hopping a plane and coming down for the reception. The next year, John and I went to a book signing together. I'll never forget that day -- because about an hour earlier, I had just found out I was going to be a Dad.

John was always there for all of his friends and the good times. But more importantly, he was there in the bad times too. If a friend had lost a loved one, got a divorce, or was just going through a tough time, John would come by their Office just to make sure that they were doing okay. His concern and care for his friends was since -- and appreciated.

It was those qualities that made him a leader within the Office. In addition to being a damn good prosecutor, he actually truly cared about those he worked with.

And although I always worked with John at the same level when I was at the Office, I would have worked for him without question.

John Jocher is the kind of leader that should be running the D.A.'s Office -- not leaving it.

John, my brother, that place won't be the same without you. It is really the end of our era, I think.

There will be a party congratulating John on his move to the Feds tomorrow (Thursday, December 2nd) at Bubba's on Washington and Westcott starting at 5:01 p.m.

I hope to see you there.

More Holiday Dress Code Violations

Despite last year's public service announcement regarding Courtroom Dress Code Violations during the holidays, it appears the message was lost on some of our more elderly attorneys. This year's violation is ten times worse than last year.

Somebody please alert the fashion police and have them arrest this man on sight.

Adios Andrew

Today marks the last day of Felony Two Andrew Leuchtmann, the Two in the 263rd District Court. Andrew is headed for greener pastures over at the Feds, like several other Assistant D.A.'s have done over the past few months (including a certain sock-tie wearing Chief who shall remain nameless).

Andrew started at the Office several years after I did, and I never had the occasion to work with him when I was a prosecutor. He did have an excellent reputation as a smart, hard-working prosecutor who was good in trial.

Shortly after I left the Office, he was moved to the Special Crimes Division where he worked under John Brewer in the Major Fraud/Identity Theft Division. Like Craig Still before him, Andrew took to the new job division like a fish to water. He was highly respected amongst the Defense Bar as a prosecutor who was knew his cases and what he was talking about, and was willing to work with whatever information an attorney provided him with.

I got to deal with Andrew on a case last year, and I was really impressed with the way he handled the case. He had an extremely strong case against my client, yet he didn't have any type of desire to throw my client under the bus just because he had the upper hand. He worked diligently on achieving a fair resolution to the case that was the right thing to do. He took into account those factors which deserved consideration, and he proceeded with what he thought was best.

His reputation with the Defense Bar for handling ALL of his cases like that is very well known, and that is why he is so highly respected.

Andrew's departure from the Harris County District Attorney's Office is unquestionably yet another huge loss for them. He brought a level of maturity and knowledge to that place that will be difficult, if not impossible to replace. Fortunately for the general citizenry, he has elected to stay in public service.

I wish you the best of luck, Andrew. You will do great with the Feds, just as all the other Harris County departures who went there have done.

My only regret is that you left before we got to try that Bigamy case against each other. I know that breaks your heart.

Brian Rogers "Expose"

In what is clearly the "harshest" treatment of Pat Lykos by the Houston Chronicle, Brian Rogers wrote an article about the "two sides" of Pat Lykos.

Brian has been working on the story for some time now, and I'm glad to see that the fan club over at the Chron allowed it to actually be published. All in all, it is a pretty fair piece to Lykos, due in most part because they let her rebut (and by that I mean "spin") those negative things said about her.

I'm keenly aware that most fans of Lykos label me and the commenters who blast her as "malcontents" who are suffering from "sour grapes" and who are so bitter over our "reign of terror during the Rosenthal Administration" ending that we can't see that Pat is the second-coming. That's fine. But those who would argue that my motives in blasting the current Administration are somehow tainted never seem to actually rebut the facts and the message that I'm writing. They just throw in the random references to "Chucky" and figure that their point has been made.

And such is the world of politics.

But let's take a critical eye at Brian's article and address some of the things that Lykos has said in her response to some of the criticisms:

1. As Brian points out, "Prosecutors under Rosenthal had much wider latitude on decisions, especially on plea bargains. Shaving years off sentences, lowering felonies to misdemeanor charges . . . are daily decisions that used to be entrusted to line prosecutors . . ."

Lykos responds that "Justice should not be at the whim of any particular individual."

Okay, "at the whim?" Seriously? A prosecutor who has handled the case and worked it up who makes a judgment call on appropriate sentences is NOT doing it on a whim. They are going to be the most informed person employed by the District Attorney's Office about that case. Lykos' recent policy changes have set parameters that her "line prosecutors" know better than to work outside of. This has led to an increase in cases set for trial, which comes with the added side effect of clogging up dockets for months.

Not to mention that this policy of Lykos and the Gang Who Couldn't Shoot Straight is the equivalent of her giving the finger to her prosecutors in the trenches every day and saying that she doesn't trust their judgment to do the right thing. My suggestion is that maybe she should go work a docket one morning and actually handle a freaking case before she makes foolish blanket policy decisions that take the power away from the people who actually know what they are doing.

2. Brian makes mention of the departure of Donna Goode as an example of the numerous seasoned prosecutors that Lykos has run off from the office. Lykos responds that "the attrition rate is normal".

Um, yes, I suppose the attrition rate is normal if you were to compare it to Pickett's Charge. But other than that, the number of senior prosecutors leaving the office during her first two years of her Administration have been staggering. Life long prosecutors have fled. According to my unofficial numbers, around 60 prosecutors have left during her tenure.

That's roughly about 25% of the Assistant District Attorneys.

I'm sure the uninformed will again say this is a good "house cleaning" of the remnants of the Rosenthal Administration, but those who practice in Harris County know better. A seasoned prosecutor is the one most often to recognize a bad search or the lack of provability of a case. They are also the ones who will stand up and say a policy is bad for criminal justice. More importantly, they are the ones who know that a defendant with two prior pen trips that is caught with 1.1 grams of cocaine doesn't deserve 25 years.

The younger ones are usually the more over-zealous, hang 'em high prosecutors. I know that I was in my earlier days.

But the point is kind of moot, I suppose, since Lykos seems to be running everybody off on all levels of the Seniority Spectrum.

3. Lykos "heralds" herself for the major initiatives that she has put forward. Brian specifically cites the injunctions against Gang Members at Haverstock Hills and now lobbying for a new law to target "pill mills" that prescribe dangerous drugs for recreational use.

I actually find the Gang Member Injunction thing fairly interesting. Kim Ogg is spearheading that project and she'll be good at it. That move has worked in some other larger communities. I would point out, however, that I'm curious as to whether or not the District Attorney has the legal authority to go after them. As someone much smarter than me pointed out, only the County Attorney has the authority to initiate a law suit under the Texas Government Code (see Sec. 43.180 versus 45.201).

The pill mill thing is, again, political grandstanding. Doctors who provide wholesale drugs or prescriptions when not necessary are just as susceptible to be charged under the Obtaining Prescription Drugs by Fraud statute as parties as those who actually get the drugs. Perhaps, Lykos might want to familiarize herself with the laws already on the books before lobbying for new ones. However, Lykos coming up with "new" laws is nothing new for her.

4. Lykos created the controversial DIVERT program, which basically allows for pre-trial diversions for DWI cases. The law, as it currently stands, forbids even a deferred adjudication for an intoxication defense. Lykos has bypassed that law with her program, which was created for some rather iffy reasons.

Brian did a good job on following up on this particular issue by interviewing 25 year veteran and former Bureau Chief of the Appellate Division, Calvin Hartmann. Calvin correctly points out that what Lykos is doing isn't following the law or her duties as a prosecutor. Instead, she is unilaterally deciding which cases not to prosecute. This may make her a darling of the defense bar, but it isn't what she was elected to do.

5. Finally, Lykos points out to Brian that she thinks most people are happy at the office. She points out that if they aren't, they are surely members of "some of the old guard". Brian disappointingly gives her some credence on this issue by pointing out that her critics may not like her because she is "an outsider".

Technically, Ken Magidson was an "outsider" when he took the D.A.'s Office under his command. He had been gone for decades from Harris County, and none of us knew him. But Ken Magidson knew what he was doing as an elected D.A. He didn't politicize or pander. He did his job and the Office generally loved him.

Hell, I loved the guy, and he fired me!

I find it an interesting statistic that early on in the article Brian mentions that he interviewed 12 current prosecutors for the piece. He wraps it up by saying "two prosecutors said they like Lykos and complimented her on changing the office."

Wow. 2 out of 12. That's impressive.

But, of course, I'm sure that the other 76% of the prosecutors are just malcontents experiencing sour grapes.

Veteran's Day

With Veteran's Day tomorrow, and the Marine Corps Birthday today, I wanted to post something about the Veterans in my family that I am very proud of.

My father, Louis Newman, was a Marine Corps Officer who served three tours of duty in Vietnam between the years of 1967-1969. During that time, he earned the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, and two Purple Hearts, amongst other medals. He is, without a doubt, the toughest man I know, and I don't think I tell him enough how proud I am to be his son.

His father before him (also named Louis Newman) was an Officer in the Army Air Corps and a pilot of B-29s (just like the Enola Gay) and he was based off the island of Tinian in the Pacific Arena of World War II in 1945. He flew bombing raids over Japan, and even piloted his plane over the USS Missouri during the official surrender ceremony of Japan to the United States.

My dad was one year old when his father went to Japan to fight. On the day of his first birthday, my grandfather (who I knew as "Pa") wrote him the following letter, shortly before leaving.

In honor of Dad, Pa, and all of those who have served our Country, I thought I would share it with you all today:

CAPTAIN LOUIS M. NEWMAN

Army Air Corps

30 Jan 1945

Lincoln, Nebraska

Dear Louis,

This is your first birthday. One year ago today was the proudest day of my life. I shall never forget it.

I'm writing you this letter because I miss you and because I love you, and most of all, because I want you to know how important you are to me. I would also like for you to know what kind of person I am.

Tonight I was handed the names of seven men. I'll meet those men in the morning, and as I am to be their pilot, they are going to wonder, rather desperately, what kind of man I am.

I think the best answer to that is a small picture I carry in my pocket. It's a picture of your mother, Louis. And she is holding a sturdy little tow-headed, blue-eyed boy in her arms. You are both laughing.

I may show my crew that picture, Louis, and tell them I'm that kind of a man. You see, I've got a son -- I've got you to live for . . . and so I'm not likely to throw those men's lives away because of carelessness, or just to show off. I have also got you and your mother, to die for if need be, Louis -- and I say this with humbleness and all reverence; I don't mean to sound heroic . . . so those men will know that I'm not likely to quit easy or disappoint them.

I pray that whatever happens between this night and the time when you can read and understand this letter, when that time of understanding comes I want you to be as proud of me then as I am of you now. I want to help you build your life. I want to be a good influence in that life. And I want your life to be better, happier and more worth-while because I have lived.

That is the kind of a person I strive to be, Louis. That's how important you are to me . . .

So

Happy Birthday, Young Fellow -- and many of them!

Your Dad

The New Public Defender

Local news stations are reporting that Alexander Bunin has been selected by Harris County to be the new head of the Public Defenders Office.

I am not familiar with Mr. Bunin, but those folks that I've heard from who do know him are giving very glowing reports about him as a defense attorney and administrator.

He's got a big task ahead of him. The PD's office is going to have to find a place to house itself, and then find the staffing necessary to manage the caseload it is tasked with. It will be interesting to see where Mr. Bunin will recruit those new Assistant Public Defenders from. As an anonymous, large, Irish defense attorney friend of mine suggested, perhaps the pool will come from departing Assistant District Attorneys, but I kind of doubt it. Most prosecutors that leave the D.A.'s Office generally leave for the freedom of being their own bosses and the opportunity to make more money. A transfer over to another government entity would seem to negate those goals.

Either way, the months and years ahead are going to be interesting for Mr. Bunin and the Public Defenders Office. I wish him the best of luck.

Congratulations to Jack Roady!

I know that this blog tries to focus mainly on what is going on in Harris County, but I am so very excited about my friend, Jack Roady, winning the Galveston County District Attorney position.

Jack started at Harris County about the same time I did, and I can honestly say he is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. He has spent the majority of his time in the appellate/writs section of the Office, so Galveston citizens can expect not just a very kind elected D.A., but also a brilliant one.

For the prosecutors in Galveston who don't know Jack, you don't need to be scared of him. He is going to be a fantastic boss to work for. For the defense attorneys who practice in Galveston, you'll be happy to have him there. He'll listen to everyone's input and carefully consider all sides of the story.

I don't have anything bad to say about the current sitting D.A., because I don't know him.

But I do know that you can't go wrong with a prosecutor like Jack Roady.

Congratulations Jack!

Election 2010

Well, it doesn't look like the 2010 Election is going to be much of a nail-biter. All the Republicans on the criminal bench are easily winning as of this writing. Quite frankly, the only reason I'm even writing this post is to hear your feedback on the elections, because this certainly isn't that shocking news.

I'm terribly disappointed that Loren Jackson seems to be headed for defeat. He truly brings something special to the office of the District Clerk, and I feel pretty confident in saying that he brought about more positive changes during his short tenure than Chris Daniels will over the next four years.

Once again, straight-ticket voting has proven itself to be an evil, evil thing.

However, one thing that does seem to have died during this election is apathy. As sad as I am about Loren, I'm glad to see voter involvement making such a dramatic comeback after 2008.

Hopefully, we'll see this kind of involvement again in 2012. Especially during the Republican primary.

The Sound and the Fury . . .

. . . signifying nothing.

Word is that a jury has just sentenced Susan Wright to 20 years on her punishment retrial for stabbing her husband, Jeff Wright 193 times.

The reality is that the change in her sentence is minimal in the big scheme of things. She received 25 years the first time, and after monumental legal wrangling, she got just a five year discount. She'll be eligible (not entitled) to parole two and a half years early.

I know that prosecutors Connie Spence and John Jordan did an excellent and thorough job.

I know that defense attorneys Jon Munier and Tommy LaFon also did an excellent and thorough job.

But the bottom line is that this case involved trashing the reputations of Neal Davis and Todd Ward, when they didn't deserve it. They did a thorough and good job the first time around. They made judgment calls during the first trial that, quite frankly, I agreed with from a defense standpoint.

Jeff's family, who are some of the sweetest people I've ever met, had to go through this all again. Jeff's children, now beginning to approach their teenage years, may have to be shielded more from the spotlight that the retrial has cast upon them.

All for a five year discount from the first trial.

Hopefully, Susan Wright will be happy that she's at least eligible for parole a little earlier.

Because I think we all know that at the end of the day, we don't want to make Susan angry.

An Aggressive Prosecutor

One of the things that I am not proud to admit about myself is that I do actually have a subscription to the Houston Chronicle. In my defense, it is only a weekend subscription and I have it because I do like to kick back on Sunday mornings and read the newspaper and drink coffee.

This morning's edition, however, has a column in it from Rick Casey that (as of this writing) still hasn't hit the on-line edition, so I guess for once, it at least helped me get a head start on writing a post. The title of Casey's column nearly made me laugh out loud. It read:

My Fantasy: Siegler puts DA on trial.

Now, nevermind the fact that Freud could have a Field Day with Mr. Casey based on the title alone, I was still shocked to see Casey write something that could even remotely be considered complimentary of Kelly Siegler. Let's face facts, the Houston Chronicle wouldn't say nice things about Kelly if she took a dinner spoon, dug a mile into the earth, and rescued 33 Chilean miners completely by herself.

Kelly Siegler represents to the Chronicle and its staff something that they disapprove of: an "aggressive" prosecutor. One who actually knows her job and the law, and enforces it to the best of her ability, regardless of public perception. For some reason, we live in a city where the local newspaper treats the profession of prosecution with same resentment of a high school senior who got caught spiking punch by his teacher.

And in the world of those kill-joy prosecutors, there was never anyone better at it than Kelly.

But damn, what to do when Kelly actually is pointing her accusations at the actions of another prosecutor?

One like Charles Sebesta who truly broke the law, pressured and manipulated witnesses, and sent a factually innocent man to Death Row. A guy who decided that the preliminary readings of a high-profile case were enough to demand prosecution in his small town county, and then bent the facts to meet his theory of guilt. Someone who clearly didn't know what he was doing, but wanted to look good while doing it in the public perception.

Well, then, Rick Casey guesses it would be okay if Kelly were to prosecute somebody like Sebesta. I guess, in Casey's mind, as long as she were feeding on one of her own profession, then it would be okay to let her do her job.

The reality of the situation, however, is that Casey is just finally acknowledging something that most prosecutors have always felt, and that is that bad prosecutors like Charles Sebesta are hated even more by other prosecutors than they are hated by the general public. Prosecutors like Sebesta (and Mike Nifong before him) give prosecutors ulcers because they rock the credibility of prosecutors everywhere.

And yes, before somebody else points it out, Chuck Rosenthal gave all prosecutors a pretty big kick in the crotch with his actions, too.

My point is that while Casey and the Chronicle staffers loved taking potshots at Kelly Siegler when she was running for D.A. because she was too "aggressive", they would suddenly love to have her back to prosecute somebody like Sebesta. It is almost like they are suddenly getting a perspective on what it is like to be a victim of crime and hoping you have a good prosecutor trying it.

And don't get me wrong, an "aggressive" prosecutor is not necessarily synonymous with a "good prosecutor".

But the biggest fallacy in logic that the Chronicle always seemed to make was that being a good prosecutor was mutually exclusive from being an aggressive one as well.

Kelly was always both, and I know that the actions of prosecutors like Sebesta, Nifong, and even Rosenthal made her sick to her stomach. In all the criminals she prosecuted over the years, I can guarantee you that she has much more contempt in her heart for Charles Sebesta than for, say, Susan Wright.

I'm sure that based on this post, I will get my usual taunts from folks like Rage and Grits, pointing out that a defense attorney such as myself shouldn't have any clients since I'm so pro-prosecution.

Whatever.

Yeah, you know what, I'll admit it. I'm very pro-good prosecution. Even when it is aggressive.

I will sing the praises of a good prosecutor who knows the law and knows the facts of his or her case. One who doesn't hide the truth or try to twist the law. One who will sign a dismissal when the facts or even compassion calls for it on one case, and then will turn around and seek the death penalty in the next one. One who, at the ends of the day, strives to do what is right, and isn't even afraid to do it aggressively.

I'm a defense attorney and the job of defending is on me. Dealing with a good prosecutor makes my life and my job easier, believe it or not. Even when that prosecutor is telling me things I don't want to hear. I can't change the facts of my cases, but I'll always respect a good fight with a good prosecutor who I trust.

And for the record, there are still many many good prosecutors left in the Harris County D.A.'s Office.

It strikes me as sad how much disdain the Chronicle had for Kelly Siegler during her 2008 campaign for District Attorney. I never quite understood why they thought Kelly's aggressiveness made her somehow less worthy of the job than a career-politician who was more adept at saying things the public wanted to hear. You would have thought that city newspaper folks would have dug a little deeper into what really makes a truly good District Attorney.

Who is truly the better candidate to be a District Attorney? A pandering politician or an "aggressive" prosecutor?

I'm sure that today Anthony Graves wishes he had an aggressive prosecutor like Kelly Siegler back in 1992.

Last Day of Early Voting

Just a friendly reminder that today is the last day you can early vote.

For those of us who work Downtown, the ease and convenience of running over to the Harris County Administration Building to early vote is about 5 billion times than tracking down your actual polling location on Election Day. I hope you'll take advantage of that.

I've been excited to see the turnout so far. From what I'm hearing, a lot of the traditionally Republican strongholds around the county are generating the most traffic, which most folks are thinking is indicative of a good year for the 'pubs. I'm hoping that my Republican friends here will still take the time out to

VOTE FOR LOREN JACKSON FOR DISTRICT CLERK

But whatever you do, just get out there and vote.

Tonight's Reasonable Doubt Halloween Episode

Join us for tonight's Reasonable Doubt, which will be a special Halloween episode.

Our guest will be defense attorney and former-prosecutor Mike Hinton, who is going to share with us his memories of prosecuting Ronald Clark O'Bryan -- the famous murderer from Houston who "ruined Halloween" back in the early 1970s.

You can tune to it on live video by clicking here. The show starts at 8:00 p.m.

Have You Early Voted Yet? Loren Jackson needs your help.

Normally, when I send out my reminders on this blog it is because of dismal early voting numbers. From the totals that I've seen so far this go-round, it doesn't appear that you guys need too much encouragement to get out the vote.

The number of early voters has been excellent.

Most folks that I've talked to seem to agree that the conventional wisdom is for a Republican Sweep this year. For the most part, I'd be pretty happy about that.

But as in every election there are several "babies" that we don't want thrown out with the bathwater.

Please please please remember to take your time through the ballot and make sure to vote for Loren Jackson for District Clerk. I don't care if you are so Republican that you make Dick Cheney look like Nancy Pelosi -- Loren has created a model District Clerk's Office that needs his leadership in the years to come.

Please vote for Loren, and remind your friends and family to vote for him too. Even if one of your friends or family members is, in fact, Dick Cheney.

The End of the Harris County District Attorney's Office

Well, you know, I always said that I thought Pat Lykos would destroy the Harris County District Attorney's Office, but I was just using that as a figure of speech.

Apparently, however, according to the new business cards that the Assistant District Attorney's are getting, the institution that I once worked for is no longer in existence.

It has been replaced by The Office of Patricia R. Lykos, District Attorney.

So, what are the artists formerly known as Assistant District Attorneys now referred to as?

Assistant Pats?

Lykosites?

Baby Snooks?

Little Jimmy and the Minions?

I'm so confused.

Oh, by the way, for all of you folks who staunchly defend Pat Lykos and say that the Office isn't just all about her and her ego.

I offer this as Pat's Exhibit 1.

From Our Society Column . . .

Last Friday, many of our Judges, Prosecutors, Defense Attorneys, and other courthouse personnel put together a fashion show at the Magnolia Hotel benefiting The Jeanette Williams Foundation for Children's Cancer Research.

The event, entitled the Feast of Fashion, was for a wonderful cause, and was put together by attorneys Julie Jones, Sherah Miller, and I'm sure a host of other dedicated individuals who worked behind the scenes. The models for the fashion line included court coordinators, defense attorneys, prosecutors, and even Judge Belinda Hill. Julie's husband, attorney Ron Johnson, served as Master of Ceremonies, and attorney Tim Weltin provided the modeling music.

It was a great joint effort by a lot of different attorneys in the Harris County Criminal Justice Community.

Everyone involved looked amazing! (NOTE: Actually Ron and Tim only looked "okay" compared to the models.)

The proceeds of the sold-out event go toward sending children suffering from cancer (many of them terminally) to summer camp. You just can't find many better causes than that.

If you missed the event, I hope you will consider giving your money and time to such a wonderful effort.

In the meantime, a very enthusiastic congratulations goes out to Julie for putting together such an amazing event. She really deserves a round of applause.

Early Voting Begins Tomorrow

Monday, October 18th is the start of Early Voting. As one of my commenters mentioned below, given the confusion following the fire that engulfed the voting machines and who knows what else might cause confusion, the earlier you vote the better. You can vote wherever there is an open polling location during early voting.

The ballot for Harris County is apparently about five freaking miles long, but I hope you will take the time to go through each race one by one in making your selections.

Straight ticket voting is not responsible voting, and there are some great candidates on both sides of the ballot. As usual, the races that affect us at the CJC are going to be fairly far down the ballot. It is worth the extra time to work your way through it, folks!

Frankly, I'm hopeful that the vast majority of the incumbents will be returned to their benches on the judicial side. There are several folks running that have never seen the inside of the courtroom, and have no business being on the bench. Make sure to vote accordingly.

For what it's worth, here are my recommendations:

District Clerk: Loren Jackson (D)

County Court at Law # 1 - Paula Goodhart (R)

County Court at Law # 2 - Bill Harmon (R)

County Court at Law # 3 - Natalie Flemming (R)

County Court at Law # 4 - John Clinton (R)

County Court at Law # 5 - Margaret Harris (R)

County Court at Law # 6 - Larry Standley (R)

County Court at Law # 7 - Pam Derbyshire (R)

County Court at Law # 8 - Jay Karahan (R)

County Court at Law # 9 - Analia Wilkerson (R)

County Court at Law # 10 - Sherman Ross (R)

County Court at Law # 11 - Diane Bull (R)

County Court at Law # 12 - Robin Brown (R)

County Court at Law # 13 - Don Smyth (R)

County Court at Law # 14 - Mike Fields (R)

County Court at Law # 15 - Jean Hughes (R)

180th District Court - Marc Brown (R)

182nd District Court - Jeannine Barr (R)

183rd District Court - Vanessa Velasquez (R)

184th District Court - Jay Burnette (D)

185th District Court - Susan Brown (R)

208th District Court - Loretta Muldrow (D)

209th District Court - Michael McSpadden (R)

228th District Court - Marc Carter (R)

230th District Court - Belinda Hill (R)

232nd District Court - Mary Lou Keel (R)

248th District Court - Joan Campbell (R)

262nd District Court - Denise Bradley (R)

263rd District Court - Jim Wallace (R)

313th District Court -- Glenn Devlin

314th District Court -- John Phillips

315th District Court -- Mike Schneider

Whoever you end up voting for, just please vote. It matters.

The Revelation of Rage?

Rage Judicata.

You know him. If you're an ADA, you probably don't love him.

He and I have had a contentious relationship on this blog. He makes some bombastic statements that I often disagree with. But sometimes he makes some good points and counter-arguments that I think add to the debate.

Rage attacks anonymous posters and the blogger known as Black Ink for their views and insults them for their anonymity. His frequent barbs with the late blogger, Arthur Seaton, were often mesmerizing battles of insults unmatched outside of a marriage.

However, in the comments section of my link to Black Ink's latest post, Rage threw down a challenge to an anonymous commenter that went something like this:

I tell you what, I'll make you the same deal I made Arthur Seaton, and now Black Ink, both of who were too chickenshit to take me up on it--you put your name out there, and I'll put mine.

This morning, said Anonymous commenter revealed his name: Harold Simons.

Nice to meet you, Mr. Simons. Thank you for reading the blog.

Rage, looks like the ball is your court, partner.

And to paraphrase another commenter on the earlier post, somebody please pass the popcorn.