Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center

For several months now, those of us who participate in this blog have been speculating about the future of Harris County District Attorney's Office 1st Assistant Jim Leitner .  Every few weeks, there have been (what appeared to be) credible reports that he was turning in his two weeks notice.  The rumors started before the election in May, and have continued fairly regularly since then.  I hear new reports every week or so that he is finally leaving the Office.  I don't even bother to report them anymore. The situation is interesting, however. Since taking over the 1st Assistant position on January 1, 2009 in an unholy alliance with Pat Lykos, Jim has seemed to relish in the role of chief "bridge burner."  He started in 2008 by vowing to his friends in the D.A.'s Office that he would never support Pat Lykos if he failed to make the runoff and then contradicting himself the moment he lost .  His endorsement of Lykos coupled by his later appointment to 1st Assis

UPDATE:  Unfortunately, my co-host Todd Dupont neglected to tell me he was going to be out of town this evening, so we are not doing tonight's show.  We'll have Wayne on in the near future, but the FCC can stand down for now. I realize this makes two weeks in a row that we've had programing changes.  I apologize to our four viewers across the county.  Blame Todd! Please join me and Todd Dupont at 8:00 p.m. tonight for Reasonable Doubt .  Our guest is scheduled to be defense attorney and master joke teller, Wayne Heller.  It should be an entertaining show as we try to keep Wayne contained. The FCC hasn't been this nervous since 2 Live Crew broke up. As always, you can watch it live streaming tonight by clicking here .

For those of you who weren't able to catch Sunday morning's debate between Judge Mike Anderson and Lloyd Oliver, you can watch it by clicking here . It is in four different segments that are about ten minutes a piece. On a related note, I'm looking for a translator who speaks Lloydese.

Early voting begins today for the run-off elections in the Republican and Democratic primaries across the State of Texas, and one of Harris County's favorite alumni could use some help up in my old stomping grounds. David Hilburn, a former Harris County and Brazos County prosecutor, is running for District Attorney in Brazos County.   Although most of you who read this blog vote in Harris County, I hope you will send a link to this post to anyone you know who is a registered voter in Brazos.  The turnout is expected to be pretty small. David is an outstanding candidate for District Attorney and his background makes him the best choice for Brazos County, in particular.  He grew up in Lockhart, Texas before coming to Texas A & M University.  He was an active and popular member of the Corps of Cadets.  During his time at A&M, David knew that he wanted to be a criminal prosecutor and he worked for both Caldwell County and the Brazos County District Attorney's Offices.

UPDATE:  Unfortunately, Dan is unable to appear on tonight's episode and has rescheduled for early next month.  Tonight, our throw-down last-minute  "special" guest will be Franklin Bynum.  With or without the shoes. Please join me and Todd Dupont for tonight's Reasonable Doubt , where our guest will be one of my favorite people on Earth, Dan Cogdell.  Having had the opportunity to have tried a murder case with Dan, I can say from personal observation that he is one of the best attorneys I've ever seen.  He's also one of the funniest people I've ever had a conversation with.  (NOTE:  I think the reason there is a sketch of him on his website rather than a photograph may be because photography had not been invented yet when he first started practicing, however.) It is going to be a great show. Please tune in tonight at 8 p.m.  As always, you can watch it live streaming on the internet by clicking here .

No, I'm not kidding. On Sunday morning, July 22nd, 2012, Fox 26 will be airing the first debate between the Republican and Democrat candidates for Harris County District Attorney.  Former Judge Mike Anderson will be facing off against Lloyd Oliver regarding their ideas for the future of the Office. HCCLA President Chris Tritico played a large part in getting this event together and I'm hopeful that you all will participate. The debate will be taped and then played in segments on Sunday morning at 6:10 a.m., 6:40 a.m., and 7:10 a.m.  Yes, that is very early for a Sunday morning, so don't forget to set your DVRs.  Chris has stated that the debate will be very viewer driven and your questions are welcomed. If you have questions to be posed to either candidate, you can ask them on Fox 26 Facebook page .  Or you can ask them in the comments here and I will forward them on for you. Thank to Chris and Fox 26 for putting this together.  I'm sure this will be interesti

Never let it be said that incarceration can crush a man's sense of style. I had a client this morning (who graciously approved my use of the below photo) who apparently decided that the county-issued orange uniforms were entirely too lowbrow.

Please join me and Todd Dupont for tonight's episode of Reasonable Doubt  where our guest will be the shy and un-opinionated shrinking violet, Brian Wice.  Please call in with your questions. As always, you can watch it live streaming by clicking here .

I'm pleased to report that HCCLA's reading of the Declaration of Independence was a tremendous success yesterday.  Unfortunately, Racehorse Haynes was under the weather and not able to attend, but there was a very strong turnout.  He was very much in all of our thoughts. After the reading, I hopped in the car with my wife and my boy and we headed to my parents' lake house which is about 40 miles north of Bryan/College Station.  She and I are both from around this part of the State.  This morning we decided to go do a little exploring of our family history and ended up at a tiny little cemetery outside of Franklin, Texas called the Henry Prairie Cemetery. She was looking for her ancestors there (yes, we are both Genealogy geeks) and we found a lot of them. As we were looking through this tiny tiny cemetery, I came across this headstone. It was a sobering reminder. I had just written about Iwo Jima two days earlier and remarked about Mr. Haynes' service t

Tomorrow at 11:30 a.m., members of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers' Association will gather in front the Criminal Justice Center and take turns reading portions of the Declaration of Independence in observance of Independence Day. It was an occasion started by HCCLA two years ago, and one that is quickly spreading across criminal courthouses around the country.  For the first time tomorrow, I will be one of the readers, and I couldn't be more honored to participate. I suppose to the average cynic (which I think that many of us who practice criminal law are pre-disposed to be) the event may seem a little hokey and idyllic in front of a building that hears the cases of some of the worst miscreants that Harris County has to offer.  After all, the signers of the Declaration probably had no concept of the heavily tattooed and pierced misbegotten members of the community that walk in and out of the front door of the building charged with atrocities that would make Ghengis Khan