Robb Fickman Attacks the Blawgosphere

Everyone who practices within the Harris County Criminal Justice Center has, at one point or another, run into the legendary personality that is commonly referred to as Robb Fickman.  

He is one of the finest Criminal Defense Attorneys that I have ever met.  His intellect and devotion to his clients are matched only by fearlessness in the face of adversity.

He is also the maker of some of the wildest and most bombastic statements known to the Harris County Legal Community.  He is the self-proclaimed "Czar of Provocation."

Several months ago, Robb created his own Twitter account.  At the time, I wrote:

"I wake up this morning to learn that @rfickman has joined Twitter.  This may be the greatest thing to ever happen to Twitter.  Or the worst."

Robb has now expanded his horizons by starting his own blog, and I echo my earlier sentiments.

You can read his rantings by checking out http://blog.fickmanlaw.com/.  It is likely to offend and amuse  and educate all at the same time.  

I highly recommend checking it out.

Charles "Jim" Newman

My great-uncle, Jim Newman, passed away last week at the age of 87.  He was the brother of my paternal grandfather, Louis Newman, whom I've written about on the blog several times.

I remember Uncle Jim from when I was just a little kid, and I thought he was really cool because he drove 18-wheelers for Central Freight.  I didn't see him quite as much as I saw my grandparents, but every time we would get together, he was the sweetest guy in the world.  He was always so excited to see us and he placed such a strong emphasis on family.

He was outstanding at chronicling the events and history of our family.  When I got interested in looking up my family tree several years ago, I was amused to see online that Uncle Jim had already mapped everything out for me and anyone else interested in our family.  He had posted photographs that I didn't even know existed of my grandparents and great-great grandparents.

Amazingly, Uncle Jim also did a fantastic job of keeping a record of his time in the Navy serving on a submarine during World War II, writing a book that now resides in the National Museum of the Pacific War.  The local newspaper in Bryan/College Station wrote an article about it today.

It is fascinating.  You can read it by clicking here.

Reading the article made me laugh and think about my grandfather again.  It my grandfather (whom I called "Pa") that had gotten Uncle Jim a job at a pig farm right out of high school.  That sounds exactly like something my grandfather would have done.

And it made me very glad that Pa wasn't in charge of my career planning when I got out of high school.

I think Uncle Jim, like so many of the time, truly embodied the essence of the Greatest Generation.  I'm so grateful that he took the time to commit his memories to writing.

And I'm very proud to tell people he was my great uncle.

Tonight's Reasonable Doubt (11/29/12)

Please join me and our host Todd Dupont for tonight's Reasonable Doubt at 8:00 p.m.  We've had a ton of things to talk about since resuming regular episodes after the Election, and we haven't even scratched the surface yet.  Our special guest tonight will be Harris County's Favorite Public Defender Alex Bunin.

We've had Alex on the show before and he is one of our favorite guests, so please call in with your questions and commentary.

As always, you can tune in to watch it live streaming by clicking here.

ADA Applications

I was contacted today by a person on behalf of District Attorney-elect Mike Anderson, who asked me to forward on the following information:

Applications are now being accepted for those interested in applying to be an Assistant District Attorney in Harris County next year.  This applies only to people currently outside the Office and does not mean that all those currently working as prosecutors are supposed to contact this e-mail address.  Apparently, there had been numerous job applicants over the past several months who were told the Office wasn't hiring.

Judge Anderson would like to see people applying again.

If you are interested in getting information about applying to be a prosecutor, please contact Harris.DAO.hiring@gmail.com as soon as possible.

Return of the Jedi

Some of you on the 6th Floor might have had a flashback if you happened to run into former First Assistant District Attorney Bert Graham or attorney Dick Bax today.

Both men have been asked by District Attorney-elect Mike Anderson to come in to be a part of the transition team as he prepares to take office on January 1, 2013.

District Attorney Pat Lykos has followed in the footsteps of former interim District Attorney Ken Magidson by allowing the incoming District Attorney's transition team to begin work on the Monday after Thanksgiving.

It was a decent and classy move by Lykos.  Yeah, I said that in print.

Allowing Judge Anderson's transition team to come in early will help eliminate any confusion that could potentially take place on January 1st.  She didn't have to do that, so kudos to her for allowing it.

I'm sure that the next few weeks will be filled with rumor and gossip as names are dropped for who will be doing what under the new administration. That's natural, and, in some ways, kind of exciting.  I look forward to hearing who Judge Anderson will choose for his Leadership Team.

Congratulations to Pat Lykos

As Pat Lykos wraps up her notorious reign as Harris County District Attorney, it seems only fitting that she be given some sort of award for her 4 years of "service."

Thankfully, the good folks over at the Houston Press were all over this and didn't let our friend Pat sneak out the door without a presentation.

In their most recent edition, the Houston Press kindly awarded Pat Lykos the Criminal Justice Turkey of the Year.

Congrats to Craig Malisow for putting onto one page what it has taken me four years to put down in writing.

He nailed it.

A Soft Landing for Leitner Revisited

And speaking of Jim Leitner, apparently he just can't break away from Harris County.

An item on the Commissioners' Agenda for the Harris County Sheriff's Office for Tuesday is as follows:

Wow.  That's some pretty nice money there, Jim.  I'm guessing this cushy contract won't prohibit him from working on other cases as well.

No word yet on whether or not they will give him a badge to wear on his belt.

A Return to the Grand Jury

The third floor of the Harris County Criminal Justice Center seems to be a very busy place this morning.  As expected, one of the Grand Juries meeting today is reviewing the case against Precinct Six Constable Victor Trevino.

What was not expected, however, was the presence of the Texas Rangers who were last seen investigating the Lykos Administration for their involvement in stalking investigating the members of the 185th Grand Jury.  In addition to the Rangers, former foreperson of the 185th Grand Jury, Trisha Pollard present, along with former-Chief Investigator for the D.A.'s Office, Don McWilliams, and former-1st Assistant (and bench pressing champion) Jim Leitner.

I have to admit that I'm surprised.  Based on what I had been hearing for some time, I thought the Rangers' investigation into Lykos had tapered off.  As noted in this post, I was skeptical about whether or not criminal charges would be filed on this in the first place.

This may be much ado about nothing.  Perhaps the Special Prosecutor on the case is just presenting his findings to the Grand Jury to wrap up his investigation.  The only thing that is confusing about that theory is there is not an explanation as to why they would be calling witnesses.

I'll keep you posted.

Dress Code Violations

It's frightening enough when I find myself thinking like Mark Bennett.

You can only imagine my terror when I find myself dressing like Mark Bennett.

Tonight's Reasonable Doubt (11/15/12)

Please tune in tonight for Reasonable Doubt with me and host Todd Dupont.  Our guest will be HCCLA President Chris Tritico.

As always, you can tune in and catch it live streaming at 8:00 p.m. by clicking here.

Please call in with your questions and comments.

Brad Hart and the 248th Appointment

As I noted in my election recap last Wednesday, one of the worst kept secrets in the CJC at the moment is that Judge Joan Campbell is planning on retiring from the 248th District Court bench no later than the end of the year. Obviously, her retirement from the Bench necessitates that Governor Perry appoint a replacement.

The field of candidates that the Governor will select from depends on who puts in to be considered.  As of this morning, I understand that Brad Hart and Robert Summerlin have publicly stated they are going to put in for the 248th.  An e-mail that Roger Bridgwater sent to his fellow judicial candidates seemed to indicate that he would be putting in for it (and if you read between the lines, Roger seems to think he'll be getting the appointment easily).

Others may put in for it, as well; however, the three Republican candidates who ran in the 2012 election are probably the most prime candidates.  If I hear of others putting in their names, I'll let you know.

Of the three potential candidates now, here are my thoughts:

Roger Bridgwater
Bridgwater is the former Judge of the 178th District Court, where he was appointed by Governor Perry prior to the 2008 election.  As we all know, the 2008 election did not go well for him, and he lost his bench to Judge David Mendoza that November.

As a close personal friend of Pat Lykos, Bridgwater was hired as a Bureau Chief at the District Attorney's Office, where he proceeded to heavily damage his reputation with those who had known him previously.  He was notorious as the architect of the controversial (and not-so-legal) DIVERT program, and he alienated his co-workers with an ill-advised confrontation with highly-respected Bureau Chief Donna Goode.

ANALYSIS:  If part of the Republican mantra is that we don't like Judges who legislate from the Bench, then Bridgwater has got a lot of explaining to do about his DIVERT program.  Although the program was popular with members of the Defense Bar, it basically gave first time DWI offenders a chance for a "do over."  That can't sit well with Governor Perry, who is going to want a candidate that follows Republican ideals and hasn't done anything that has ticked off Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Additionally, his inexcusable attack on Donna Goode showed a lack of judicial temperament that should leave all attorneys hiding under their desks.  He abused his power in accusing her of insubordination and he did everything in his power to ruin her distinguished career at the Harris County District Attorney's Office.  Fortunately, Donna landed in a better place as First Assistant in Galveston County.

Also, I'm sure Governor Perry noticed that Bridgwater lost his election by 25,623 votes in 2012.  I believe that is the largest margin of defeat by any of the Republican Judicial candidates.

Roger Bridgwater doesn't appear to be electable -- and with good reason.

Robert Summerlin
Summerlin is a former prosecutor who started at the D.A.'s Office when I did.  As I've mentioned before we were once pretty good friends.  He left the Office shortly after becoming a Felony Two and went into private practice for a few civil firms.  He reappeared in the criminal realm a couple of years ago (as a defense attorney) and then almost immediately announced his candidacy for judge.  He has close ties to Jared Woodfill who unsuccessfully pushed forward Summerlin's candidacy. He lost to incumbent Ruben Guerrero by 8,919 votes.

ANALYSIS:  Summerlin can correctly point out that of the three candidates listed here, he had the most votes in the General Election.  However, that isn't saying much when you take into account the fact that his opponent wasn't all that popular to begin with.  If you couple that with the fact that all of the Jared Woodfill/Gary Polland-supported candidates faired extremely poorly in the criminal races, Summerlin's political influence tends to diminish.  From a practical standpoint, Summerlin never tried any serious cases as a prosecutor nor as a defense attorney that would give him the experience to be a Criminal District Court Judge. His recent return to the Criminal Law realm seems like a disingenuous attempt to merely gain some minor credentials before becoming a judge. Additionally, his demeanor as a prosecutor did not go over well with many of his female peers, who greatly question his potential judicial temperament.

Brad Hart
Brad Hart is a Felony District Court Chief prosecutor who is currently assigned to the elite Special Crimes Bureau of the District Attorney's Office.  Many moons ago, he actually served as one of my (and Robert Summerlin's) first supervising chiefs.  He has the well earned reputation of a prosecutor with the highest integrity and intelligence.  He was supported by not just prosecutors, but defense attorneys as well during his run for the 339th District Court.  He is known for his calm demeanor, open and fair-mindedness, and solid judgment by everyone he deals with.  He is a loyal member of the Republican Party who worked hard to do everything he could for the party during the 2012 races.

ANALYSIS:  Hart's loss to incumbent Judge Maria Jackson was devastating to his friends, family and supporters who knew what an outstanding judge he would make.  It was also stunning.  His hard work and devotion to his campaign had helped so many other Republican candidates who were running alongside him.  Unfortunately, Judge Jackson's groundswell of support from her days as a Municipal Court judge in Houston brought an unanticipated result in the General Election.  None of that reflects poorly on Hart.

While Bridgwater and Summerlin bring a significant amount of baggage to the table, Hart has nothing short of a sterling reputation.  Based on qualifications alone, he should be the clear choice for the appointment.  Additionally, he is an active and tireless campaigner who would work hard to make the Republican Party better in every way possible.

Brad Hart is the best choice for the appointment.  He needs to be a Judge.  The Criminal Justice System needs him to be a Judge.

If you would like to have your voice heard on the appointment process, take a few minutes out of your day and write an actual letter referencing the 248th District Court Judge Appointment.  You can send it to:

Governor Rick Perry
Appointments Staff
1100 San Jacinto
Austin, Texas 78701

Feast of Fashion III

Next Friday, November 16th marks the third annual Feast of Fashion put together by our friend and defense attorney Julie Jones.

The last time I spoke with Julie, she was almost sold out of tickets, but some may still be available.  Even if she is sold out, donations are accepted.  It is for a great cause.

Proceeds from the Fashion Show go to the Jeanette Williams Foundation which sends children with serious illnesses to summer camp.  The event itself features judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys putting on a fashion show over a fantastic lunch.

The event is at noon on Friday at the Magnolia Hotel.  I hope all can attend or donate.

Three Related Elections

While I'm quite comfortable writing about the Elections that are for positions within the actual building of the CJC, I'm much more reserved in commenting on races outside of it.  I don't usually comment on Nationwide elections or even Statewide ones.  I don't talk about the various Courts of Appeals because I don't do Appellate Law.

I make exceptions every once in a while when a member of our CJC community (whom I know well) is venturing off the lily pad to run for a non-CJC office.

This year, I profiled Mark Bennett's race for the Court of Criminal Appeals and Ann Johnson's race for State Representative.  I did not do a post on HCDA prosecutor  Gene Wu's run for State Representative, but not because I don't like Gene.  I just don't know him as well as I know Mark and Ann.

In the end, Gene should be grateful for the lack of attention, as it appears my support may have been the kiss of death for my friends outside of the CJC.  Gene won his race handily.

Congratulations to Gene on his new job description and his lovely new bride, Miya Shay.  Gene is passionate about helping out this community and I have no doubt that he will be a persistent and driving force in politics for years to come.

In regards to Ann's and Mark's races, I'm so very proud of both of them for the races they ran.

Anyone remotely familiar with Ann's campaign knows that she redefined the word "tireless" for the past several months.  She poured her heart and soul into making phone calls, attending events, and walking neighborhoods.  She ran for all of the right reasons and she had a grassroots campaign that loved her for it.  She is a true example of what I wish all politicians exemplified.

Brother Mark ran for the right principle, too.

He's a smart guy and knew that running as a Libertarian was not likely to carry an election for him -- especially not one where he went mano y mano in a Statewide race against an incumbent Republican.  But as he articulates very thoroughly in this post on his blog, winning wasn't the goal -- getting his voice heard was.

Mark's point was to show that a Third Party candidate can directly affect the two major parties in their races.  Mark got 22.1% of the vote.  There was no Democratic candidate.  If there had been, Mark would have been a game changer.

You may not always agree with Mark Bennett.  Lord knows, I don't.  But I think you can agree with the principle that there is something worth discussing when it comes to taking judicial elections away from partisan machines.

I will be interested to see whether or not Mark takes his Libertarian campaign to a county-wide race in 2014.  He may just be onto something.

Congratulations to Gene Wu on his victory and congratulations to Mark and Ann for their well-fought races.

All of you have so much to be proud of.                                                                

Reasonable Doubt Returns (11/8/12)

HCCLA's Reasonable Doubt returns to the airwaves tonight after a six-week hiatus.  A couple of developments have occurred over the break that might provide for some interesting discussion, including the small matter of Tuesday's election.

Our guest tonight will be Gemayel Haynes, who graciously did not have his agent sue us when the episode we were supposed to have on September 20th got unexpectedly cancelled.  We look forward to hearing his thoughts on the election and how it will affect everybody around the CJC in the next four years.

As always, we go live at 8:00 p.m. on Houston Media Source.  You can watch it live streaming by clicking here.

If you recall in our last cliffhanger episode, I was considering a toupee and our host Todd Dupont was planning on converting to Hare Krishna.  Tune in tonight, and all will be revealed.

Please call in with all of your comments and questions.

Celebrations and Sadness

Ah, Election Night.

I love it almost as much as I hate it.  Watching months (if not years) of hard work come to a final conclusion in the course of an evening can be as jubilant as it can be devastating.  That the work of motivated, intelligent, and hard-working candidates gets decided by the largely uninformed masses is just a frightening fact of life.

I'm not going to really talk about the Presidential election.  My voice here is about as influential in that arena as when I'm screaming what play should be run at a Texans game.  I will say that I never thought Obama was going to be defeated.  I didn't think Romney would even get close.  I thought differently for a while after that first debate, but in the end, there was no way Romney could prevail.

I never had any doubt after the primaries that Judge Anderson would win the election in November.  He is too good of a candidate and Lloyd Oliver was too much of a joke.  Quite frankly, it stuns me that Lloyd got any votes, let alone 47.66% of them.  I remarked to one person last night that Lloyd was such a terrible candidate that I was surprised he even voted for himself.

Thankfully, Judge Anderson won handily, but the fact that there were 537,667 votes actually cast for a previously-indicted moron like Lloyd Oliver is frightening.

In the Sheriff's race, despite Big Jolly's musings earlier in the week, Louis Guthrie never got close to Sheriff Adrian Garcia.  Garcia won by a huge margin.

I was surprised to see how easily Vince Ryan won re-election.  I have been watching Wayne Dolcefino's pieces about Ryan and I thought they would hurt his candidacy worse than they did.  Most Assistant District Attorneys that I've spoken to have expressed that they are secretly happy that Robert Talton was defeated, since he was the rumored safe-haven for Lykos Administration refugees like Rachel Palmer and Leon Wilson.

The Judicial Elections (as of this writing) are still up in the air.

Right now (7:40 a.m.), www.harrisvotes.com is showing 99.15% of the vote is counted.  My understanding is that there are still 9 precincts that haven't reported yet, in addition to 8000 provisional ballots.  They have 7 days to count those, and in some of the Judicial Races, they may actually make a difference in some cases.

In the 174th race, Ruben Guerrero defeated Robert Summerlin by a little less than 9000 votes.

In the 176th, Stacey Bond defeated Shawna Reagin by slightly over 4000 votes.

In the 177th, Ryan Patrick defeated Vivian King by about 8500 votes.

In the 178th, David Mendoza beat Roger Bridgwater by a stunning 25,398 votes.  On a side note, Judge Joan Campbell of the 248th District Court is retiring at the end of this year, which will necessitate Governor Perry appointing a replacement.  Earlier rumors had been that Bridgwater would be a strong consideration for that appointment, but after that resounding of a defeat, I think that would be pretty foolish of Perry.  Why appoint someone that seems so unelectable?

In the 179th, Kristin Guiney beat Randy Roll by well over 4000 votes.

In the 337th, Rene Magee won over Herb Ritchie by over 12000 votes.

In the 338th, Brock Thomas regained his bench from Hazel Jones with just under 5000 votes.

In the 351st, Mark Kent Ellis (the lone Criminal District Court survivor of 2008) handily won over Garland "Mac" McInnis by over 20,000 votes.

The evening's only true shocker came in the 339th District Court race with Maria Jackson defeating Brad Hart for Judge by over 13,000 votes.

Those of us who know Brad are as stunned as we are saddened.  Nothing against Judge Jackson, but Brad Hart is one of the most highly respected prosecutors that the Harris County District Attorney's Office has to offer.

He is loved by both the prosecution and the defense as a man of integrity, fairness, and the highest character.  He was the first candidate to announce he was running in 2012 and he worked tirelessly for the past two years on the campaign.

As happy as we all are about the other elections, the sadness for Brad overshadows it.

What happened in the 339th race is why I absolute despise the fact that Judicial races are determined by partisan elections.  Brad Hart would have been one of the greatest judges Harris County had ever seen. His compassion and commitment to Justice far exceeds that of the average lawyer.  He's the kind of friend who will drop everything in the middle of the night to help somebody who needs him.

As I told him last night, he is literally one of the best people I know.

There is a silver lining to Brad not winning the bench, however.

Mike Anderson has got a tremendous amount of work to do in rebuilding the D.A.'s Office from the Lykos wreckage.  He's going to need prosecutors that lead by example with integrity, diligence, and compassion.

He couldn't ask for a better example of that than Brad Hart.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the Big Day.

I've got to be in Brazos County at 8:30 in the morning and I've got an appointment with the shoulder doc in the afternoon, so this will probably be my last pre-election post.

To all of the candidates who had the guts to run this year (or any year), you have my utmost respect.
 
Prior to the 2008 election, I had no concept of what a candidate has to go through when seeking office.  The toll it takes on a candidate and his or her family is enormous in a way that I can't put into words.  I can't fathom ever doing it myself.  I'm stressed out just watching my friends do it!

I was thinking about the election today, and I realized that there probably isn't a single friend that I have that I agree with on 100% of all the candidates.

But what we all do agree on is how important it is to vote.

I would imagine that if you are actually reading this blog, you've probably already voted.  If you haven't, then make sure to do it tomorrow.  The Election is far from decided and every vote counts.

Make sure your family and friends have voted, too.  Pestering them now will make the difference for the next four years.

Go vote for Mike Anderson for District Attorney.

Vote for Ryan Patrick for Judge of the 177th District Court.

Vote for David Mendoza for Judge of the 178th District Court.

Vote for Kristin Guiney for Judge of the 179th District Court.

Vote for Brock Thomas for Judge of the 338th District Court.

Vote for Brad Hart for Judge of the 339th District Court.

Vote for Mark Kent Ellis for Judge of the 351st District Court.

And, yes, vote for Mark Bennett for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

Whoever you vote for -- just make sure you go vote.



We'll talk again when it is all said and done . . .

Leon Wilson and the Investigator Moves

The Lykos Administration released moves last week that seem to indicate that the inmates are running the Asylum.

Following the departure of Chief Investigator Don McWilliams (which was effective October 31st), Lykos made the odd move of bringing back long-since-retired-former-D.A.-Investigator Walker "Mac" McAnally as chief investigator.  Mac is a great guy and a great investigator.  As far as moral character and investigative skills go, I've got no problem with that move.  However, it is a little strange since he has been out of the business for quite some time.  It would be the equivalent of the Houston Texans announcing that they are bringing in Warren Moon to quarterback.

The far more disturbing move, in my opinion, is the promotion of Leon Wilson to "Assistant Chief Investigator" from wherever he had been before.

Wilson, if you will recall, is one of the political Lykos-hires that she brought over from the County Attorney's Office at the beginning of her term.  Per most of the sources I've talked to, he has been an extreme loyalist to her, and an extreme agitator to his fellow co-workers.  Early on, he inexplicably clashed with some senior and highly respected D.A. Investigators in what appeared to be nothing more than power plays over who had the most clout within the Office.

While other Lykos appointees such as Chief Investigator McWilliams and Dennis Field seemed to have had the respect of the investigators they were supervising, Wilson seemed to have the disdain of most investigators that I spoke with.

Apparently, with McWilliams' departure last week, Wilson finally was able to seize the power within the Office he had been so desperately searching for.  According to my reliable sources, he lobbied for the firing of one of the Captain Investigators and was denied that.  However, he did manage to get that highly respected investigator demoted when he appealed directly to Lykos.

Wilson's promotion to Assistant Chief Investigator for the last two months of the Lykos Administration will give him something to put on his resume, I suppose.  However, his promotion is more akin to being made Captain of the Titanic long after it struck the iceberg.

To say that his new supervisory position is not sitting well with the rest of the rank and file at the Office would be a massive understatement.  It will be interesting to see what other things happen in the final 56 days of the Administration.

There are rumors that if Republican Candidate Robert Talton is elected to the position of County Attorney that he may hire Wilson as an investigator.

I certainly hope Talton does his homework first.

Congratulations to the Pre-Commits

Congratulations to all of the Pre-Commits who passed the Bar Exam this week.  I can remember the stress and trauma of awaiting my results as if it were yesterday and I'm very happy for you having that behind you.

I see that under the latest "Moves Memo" from the Office that you have all been assigned to your respective courts.

Let me give you some advice -- write down the funny stories that are going to be a part of your life in the days to come.  They may never make a best seller, but they will become something fun to tell your children as they get older.

War stories are one of the greatest benefits of being a Prosecutor.

When you become an older lawyer, you will kick yourself for not writing the early stories down when they happened.

Just trust me on this one.

Last Day of Early Voting

Today is the last day for Early Voting.  According to a poll taken by KHOU.com, this race is FAR from decided locally.

Make sure that you've done everything you can to vote and get your friends and family to vote.  If you have any questions, go to www.harrisvotes.org.

Go vote for Mike Anderson for District Attorney!  And vote for Ryan Patrick, David Mendoza, Kristin Guiney, Brock Thomas, Brad Hart and Mark Ellis for Judge!

And yeah, go ahead and vote for Mark Bennett too.

Only Two Days Left

Please remember that Early Voting ends at 7 p.m. on Friday, so you only have two more days left.

If you haven't voted by the end of Friday, you will have to vote at your normal voting location.  Right now, you are eligible to vote at any of them.

Please call your family and friends and make sure that they've gotten out and voted!