Although any prosecutor (or other employee) of the Harris County District Attorney's Office is too smart to risk being fired by supporting anyone other than Pat Lykos for D.A. in this election, there are some signs of rebellion coming from the Office.
In this post, I suggested that any prosecutor who wished to remain anonymous (and support Mike Anderson's campaign) could donate $49.99 and not have their name disclosed under the law. This morning, I learned thus far, there have been 65 donations to the Mike Anderson campaign in that exact amount.
Thinking about how many prosecutors were willing to give their hard-earned money to the Anderson campaign in the hopes of bringing better leadership to their jobs got me to thinking about the prosecutors who left during the Lykos tenure (or in immediate anticipation of her arrival).
These are the folks who Lykos waived off as being the "normal rate of attrition." I thought it might be worth taking a closer look at those individuals who, if not but for the Lykos Administration, would most likely still be working there today.
1. Bert Graham (Retired) -- former 1st Assistant who offered to stay on briefly and help with transition, but was rebuffed by Lykos Administration.
2. Lyn McClellan (Retired) -- former trial bureau chief.
3. Marie Munier (Retired) -- former trial bureau chief
4. Murray Newman -- Felony District Court Chief. Contract not renewed under Lykos. And then fired again!
5. Luci Davidson -- Felony Division Chief. Contract not renewed by Lykos.
6. Joe Owmby -- Felony Division Chief. Contract not renewed by Lykos.
7. Vic Wisner -- Felony Division Chief. Contract not renewed by Lykos.
8. Craig Goodhart -- Felony Division Chief. Contract not renewed by Lykos.
9. Mike Trent -- Felony District Court Chief. Contract not renewed by Lykos.
10. Donna Goode -- Bureau Chief.
11. Stephen St. Martin -- Felony District Court Chief & Special Crimes Prosecutor.
12. Kristin Guiney -- Felony District Court Chief.
13. Dan Rizzo -- Felony Division Chief.
14. Lester Blizzard -- Felony District Court Chief.
15. Mark Donnelly -- Felony District Court Chief.
16. Don Smyth -- Felony Division Chief.
17. Carvana Cloud -- Felony Two.
18. Edward Porter -- Felony Chief.
19. Shirley Cornelius -- Appellate Senior Prosecutor.
20. April Silva -- Misdemeanor Chief/Felony Three.
21. Warren Diepraam -- Felony District Court Chief & Head of VATS Team.
22. Brent Mayr -- Felony District Court Chief.
23. George Weissfich -- Felony District Court Chief.
24. Craig Feazel -- Felony District Court Chief.
25. Sylvia Escobedo -- Felony District Court Chief.
26. Will Womble -- pretended to be a Felony District Court Chief, but actually a Felony Three.
27. John Craig Still -- Felony District Court Chief.
28. Paria Rafiee -- Felony District Court Three.
29. Jim Norris -- Bond Forfeiture Division.
30. Jeremy Gordon -- Misdemeanor Chief/Felony District Court Three
31. Ann Lee Mosley -- Felony District Court Two
32. Sean Teare -- Misdemeanor Chief/Felony District Court Three
33. Matt Campbell -- Misdemeanor Chief/Felony District Court Three
34. Michelle Mishoe -- Not sure of Seniority Level
35. Erin Jackson -- Misdemeanor Chief/Felony District Court Three
36. Nathaniel Pitoniak -- Misdemeanor Chief/Felony District Court Three
37. Marti Samuel -- Not sure of Seniority Level
38. Andrea Perrard -- Not sure of Seniority Level
39. Tonya Rolland -- Misdemeanor Chief/Felony District Court Three
40. Michael Moore -- Misdemeanor Chief/Felony District Court Three
41. Brad Means -- Misdemeanor Chief/Felony District Court Three
42. Jacquelyn Stewart -- Not sure of Seniority Level
43. Kris Moore -- Juvenile Felony District Court Chief
44. Priya McMorrow -- Felony District Court Two
45. Yvette Feay -- Not sure of Seniority Level
46. Girija Bhargava -- Not sure of Seniority Level
47. Billy Skinner -- Not sure of Seniority Level
48. Kelly Selinidis -- Misdemeanor Chief/Felony District Court Three
49. Coby Henson -- Not sure of Seniority Level
50. Kimberly M. Miller -- Misdemeanor Chief/Felony District Court Three
51. Kurt Hopke -- Misdemeanor Chief/Felony District Court Three
52. Katie Sweeten -- Not sure of Seniority Level
53. Suzanne Emilady -- Felony District Court Two
54. Marc Brown -- Felony Division Chief.
55. Philip Perez -- Misdemeanor Chief/Felony District Court Three
56. Rifi Newaz -- Felony District Court Two
57. Daphne Newaz -- Misdemeanor Chief/Felony District Court Three
58. Denise Bradley -- Felony Division Chief
59. Jack Roady -- Senior Appellate Prosecutor
60. Andrew Leuchtmann -- Felony District Court Two
61. John Jocher -- Felony District Court Chief
62. Will Graham -- Felony District Court Two
63. Samantha Cox -- Misdemeanor Chief/Felony District Court Three
64. Brionna Ketchum -- Misdemeanor Chief/Felony District Court Three
65. Layne Thompson -- Misdemeanor Chief/Felony District Court Three
66. Brad Loper -- Felony District Court Two
67. Jon Stephenson -- Felony District Court Chief
68. Eileen Bogar -- Felony District Court Chief
69. Michael LaMendola -- Felony District Court Two
70. Shreya Shukla -- Felony District Court Three
71. Kate Skagerberg -- Misdemeanor Chief/Felony District Court Three
72. Jamie Collier Burns -- Felony District Court Three
73. Charissa Sloan -- Misdemeanor Chief/Felony District Court Three
74. Stacy Matthews -- Misdemeanor Chief/Felony District Court Three
75. Darrin Darby -- Felony District Court Chief
76. Kevin Petroff -- Felony District Court Chief
77. Leah Shapiro --Felony District Court Two
78. Scott Pope -- Felony District Court Two
79. Elizabeth Whited -- Misdemeanor Chief/Felony District Court Three
80. Bill Hawkins -- Felony Division Chief
81. Josh Hill -- Senior Appellate Prosecutor
82. Alison Secrest -- Misdemeanor Chief/Felony District Court Three
83. Neelu Lambert -- Felony District Court Chief
84. Jeannie Dickey -- Misdemeanor Chief/Felony District Court Three
85. Jessica Estrada -- Felony District Court Two
86. Gemayel Haynes -- Misdemeanor Chief/Felony District Court Three
87. Laura Killinger -- Felony District Court Two
88. David Nachtigall -- Felony District Court Two
89. Kimberly D. Miller -- Felony District Court Two
90. Stephen Pierce -- Not sure of Seniority Level
91. Colin "Judo" McLaughlin -- Misdemeanor Chief/Felony District Court Three
This list is not all-inclusive, but it should give you an idea of why I could never keep up with writing "goodbye posts" AKA "Office Obituaries."
"Normal Rate of Attrition," my ass. Lykos is running good and experienced prosecutors out of that Office at a staggering rate.
39 comments:
Jamie Collier Burns, Shreya Gulamali, Paria Rafiee, and Will Womble were felony 3s. And Katie Knorr is now Katie Williams and works in asset forfeiture.
Kelli Selinidis needed to go. Don't claim her as a good prosecutor that left.
Mayr was never a chief.
WOW !! Now, if only some of them would come back "under new management".
Chuck Noll was also a class act we lost. Senior division chief
Just learned that Ed Emmett has posed for Pat on a new mail-out endorsing her. He needs to get in line behind those prostitutes in Cartagena for whoring his reputation out like this.
You disgust and disappoint me Mr. Emmett. Come re-election time, your actions will be remembered. Hope it was worth caving in to the party-line. I really thouught you were better than that.
Anon 1:50,
With the exception of Bert Graham none of the other former ADAs worth a shit will return. Now the gubment dead wood, well that's a different story.
New management would bring some back, hopefully. We need some of them back! The scary prospect is how many will leave if the office stays under the same management.
I just went and voted and boy did it feel great. Went to the Admin Bldg and it was a breeze. Was talking to a friend of mine afterwards at lunch, and she told me to "just tell me who to vote for and I will go do it." Every vote for Mike Anderson counts, don't underestimate it!
I took a long lunch today and walked up and voted. Mark one up for Anderson.
Missing at least five off the top of my head.
Why do you think there hasn't been a new office photo in years? Go take a picture of the office photo on the sixth floor and start crossing people out (after a consult in misdemeanor to fill in the gaps on this list). You'll be shocked.
You listening, Zack?
Thanks for the corrections, guys. I tried to do the best I could from memory. I think Chuck Noll left before the Lykos circus arrived, as did Ted Wilson. I tried to just include people who left as a direct result of her arrival.
I do not have people on there who were hired and subsequently left under her administration.
Anon 2:11,
Just tell me how to live and breathe and I will go do it. BTW do you think they will come if I build a baseball field in a corn patch this Fall?
Google, "pathological liar", buy a mirror and get back with us.
Also, the investigstor exp that left when hurricane Lykos was approaching, some shortly after. Add that to the ADA group plus analyst. It will take years to re-staff and recover.....
In the private sector she would have been fired a long time ago. Something has to be way off to lose that many people in that time frame. I just don't get how seemingly intelligent people would not look at all of this and get her the hell out of there.
It feels good to be #89.
What is scary about these numbers is that 40% of the people leaving were district court chief level or higher; essentially 10 senior level people per year under this asinine administration. In the twenty-five years that I worked for the office I suspect that the number was never greater than 3-5 per year at that level. By the way why does Jim Barr advertise that he is Judge Barr in his commercials? Have I missed something and that he is "judging" again? These perpetual titles that these people assume (it seems that most of them do it)is disingenuous. Query: a general question only to those election law experts out there - is calling oneself a particular elected title, regardless of the office, when that is no longer the case possibly a Class A misdemeanor under 255.006(b) of the Election Code?
Calvin A. Hartmann
Murray - please do a post on your blog letting people know that tomorrow is the last day to early vote, to inform those who don't make it to the comments section. Early voting is an easy way to cast your vote. Once early voting ends, you have to deal with lines, a specific voting location, and no back up dates if you happen to miss it. Vote early, no matter who you support!
Anon @ 2:01 ... love her, hate her or indifferent, she's gonna win. Emmett knows that and is sealing the deal for the party.
The damage that Lykos has done to the office is appalling. How long will it take to recover? Let's get back to the "frat house" days. At least during those days the "boss" didn't treat everyone like they were an idiot.
I hope we're partying next Wednesday. If not, it will seem like an eternity till November.
In my opinion Squatty Lyons was probably the last member of Commissioner's Court with any integrity - that quality on the Court apparently died with him.
Calvin A. Hartmann
Billy Skinner and Stephen Pierce were Misd 2s. And Jeremy Maldonado was a Felony 3.
Calvin,
This Commissioners Court has zero personal integrity. By supporting Lykos when they know how unqualified and dishonest she is, proves they are no better than her.
Emmett is the House Madam and the Commissioners are his working girls. Harris County deserves better.
Calvin you hit the nail on the head with that one.
please get out and vote early. Life happens and you can get stuck in trial, stuck with a sick kid, a flat tire. Do not wait for the last second to vote!
Don't forget the investigators!
Alot of those you mention were ment to to be gone. They were not made of a Prosecutors cloth. Thanks for letting us know who could stand and deliver and those who could not.
Last day to Early Vote. Vote 7-7 Friday at any early voting poll. Locations and sample ballot: http://harrisvotes.com/
Considering most of the investigators have been retired from actually working, save some time thinking and just list most on the organizational chart, Murray. Start with the two country rednecks from Liberty County.
Why do you call them rednecks? Just because they keep a box of shotgun shells sitting on their kitchen table doesnt mean they are rednecks.
Anon 12:54 AM,
I am on that list, and, as a prosecutor, I could definitely "stand and deliver"... I was just sick and tired of bending over and taking it. In fact, the vast majority of the people on Murray's list were upstanding prosecutors who sought only to do justice. So, don't paint too broadly with your brush. Some people that are still at the office can't "stand and deliver" (many of Lykos' personal hires), and the ones that can are anxious for Lykos to go.
Anon 12:54
Among the individuals on Murray's list are prosecutors who successfully tried a former District Court judge for bribery. Also included on that list is a prosecutor who tried and convicted a former Harris County Sheriff's Deputy for murder. That list included prosecutors who handled some of the most heinous crimes in the county. It also includes some of the most astute legal minds to have ever graced the hallways of 1201 Franklin. Contrary to the assertions made by some, convictions in Harris County aren't automatic (just ask Clint Greenwood...twice). That list includes someone who is now the Galveston County DA, at least 3 Assistant US Attorneys, prosecutors in other jurisdictions, several Harris County District Court and CCL judges and successful criminal defense attorneys. That list also includes Kelly Siegler. Since she lost in the 2008 Republican primary, she secured a death sentence for someone who shot and killed a Texas Game Warden, and she helped secure the release of Anthony Graves. I don't know what they smoke on the planet that you're from, but the collective wisdom and experience on that list rivals no other collection of prosecutors that I've ever been associated with. I am sad that those men and women are no longer employed by the Harris County DA's office. I am happy that most of them have gone on to bigger and better things.
12:54 's idea of "stand & deliver" involves sitting and taking the Fifth!
Look at the bright side. If you want to kill someone and get away with it, Harris County is looking more and more like the perfect place to do it. Thanks, you incompetent narcissistic bitch!!!
Leitner telling people he has a list with the names of forty people to be fired June 1. Hope all forty have their friends and families voting May 29.
3:41: if that's true, regardless of the primary outcome, what fodder for November. Not very bright Jimbo.
When that little he/she (taller than Jimbo) loses on Tuesday, Jimmy L should go ahead and fire himself.
When did Jim get smart? I thought he lost his backbone and brains when he cut a deal with Lykos.
Hey anon 3:41, is this info from the bunker? We haven't heard from the bunker in a while...
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