Forensic Evidence From Crime Labs Is Not Scientifically Sound: Will Texas Judges Take Note of Latest Warning From Experts?

Forensic evidence isn't scientifically sound and this is a truth that has been heralded for years by criminal defense attorneys - but maybe this cruel reality will get more attention in 2013 after a major editorial was published in the newspaper serving the state capitol this past weekend.  In the Sunday edition of the Austin American Statesman, a former forensic guru with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and a professor at Texas A&M joined together in an editorial entitled, "Make forensic evidence meet standards of science."


What is forensic evidence? 

Forensic evidence is essentially the stuff that comes out of a crime lab and is used by prosecutors to put people behind bars as they argue that the forensics are reliable and sound evidence in their case.  It's what makes up television shows like the CSI series and it's what has convicted many men and women who were unwavering in their protests that they were innocent. 

Forensic evidence includes things like:

• fingerprint evidence
• glove print analysis
• ballistics
• bloodstain pattern analysis
• footprint evidence
• facial reconstruction
• video analysis 
• trace evidence
• profiling.

Forensic evidence is not trustworthy nor is it scientifically sound

Scientists have already warned that DNA evidence can be fabricated. Fingerprints are not reliable either as evidence in a criminal case seeking conviction with jail time or worse.

Crime labs across the country are notorious for being "seriously deficient," to quote a study performed by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in 2009.  The American Bar Association has joined in the concern that bad evidence is being used by prosecutors to convict people and that American crime labs are not to be trusted. 

The Innocence Project has delved into the failure of forensic science as it has exonerated innocent victims of bad evidence and finds that in:

"...90-95% of crimes, DNA testing is not an option - so the criminal justice system relies on other kinds of evidence, including forensic disciplines that may not be scientifically sound or properly conducted....[M]any forensic testing methods have been applied with little or not scientific validation and with inadequate assessments of their robustness or reliability.  Furthermore, they lacked scientifically acceptable standards for quality assurance and quality control before their implimentation in cases. ...." 

The 2013 Warning to Texas Judges and Texas Courts

This week's editorial comes from Professor Cliff Spiegelman and FBI veteran forensic scientist William A. Tobin. These two men are well known for their expertise in forensic circles and their joint effort is slowly spreading over the web (Grits for Breakfast picked it up  already, so has Charles Smith).

What are Professor Spiegelman and FBI scientist Tobin warning?  From their editorial:

For decades, largely unrealized by judges, many of the forensic practices admitted into judicial proceedings have been without scientific foundation or any other logically acceptable basis other than observational (inductive) study by experimenters untrained in experimental process.

Most troubling are the declarations of certainty associated with proffered expert opinions in those unfounded practices as expressed by examiners in criminal proceedings, such as in firearm/toolmark identification....

When examiners confidently declare individualizations (specific source attributions) between crime scene evidence and evidence seized from an eventual defendant without adequate foundational statistical studies, the testimony constitutes nothing more than intuited opinion or speculation, even if an educated guess, rather than evidence-based testimony.

Let's hope that some judges read the newspaper or surfed the web this week.  And perhaps the public at large will gain more insight into the dangers of forensic evidence that criminal defense attorneys know all too well:  those TV shows aren't reality, and stuff coming out of crime laboratories here in Texas isn't beyond suspicion.

Former CrimeStoppers Head, Veteran Dallas Cop Theadora Ross, Sentenced After Stealing $250,000 From CrimeStoppers Reward Fund

From 2006 to 2010, Dallas police officer Theadora Ross was the respected head of the Dallas area Crime Stoppers program.  You know Crime Stoppers:  there are branches of Crime Stoppers all over the world, dedicated to solving crimes by allowing people to provide information that may lead to an arrest of an evildoer without having to directly deal with the police face to face. 

Crime Stoppers Organizations Are Big Deals These Days, With Big Reward Funds

Being able to share what someone knows without having to give their name has proven to be an invaluable tool to law enforcement, and Crime Stoppers is viewed as a major crime-fighting tool in most law enforcement circles.  Part of its reputation has come from the ability of Crime Stoppers to bring new information to police when investigations don't have much to go on, using money:  Crime Stoppers offers rewards to folk who come forward and spill what they know.  You've probably seen an advertisement or two, where a reward is offered for information in an unsolved case. 

Dallas Cop Sentenced for Taking $250,000 From Dallas Crime Stoppers' Pot of Reward Money

Which means that Crime Stoppers has money in a pot for those rewards, something that Theadora Ross found just too, too tempting there at the Dallas Crime Stoppers office.  Never mind that Theadora Ross was a Dallas police officer, who had sworn to perserve, protect, and defend:  Officer Ross was sentenced this week to 46 months incarceration in a federal pen for income tax evasion and conspiracy to commit wire fraud (she pled guilty back in August 2012, there was no trial). 

Dallas Police Department Senior Corporal Theodora Ross was arrested back in June 2010 by Dallas police while setting in her Crime Stoppers office; seems her pal, Malva Delley, spilled the beans on Ross after Delley was questioned by police.  How did the cops find out?  An observant bank teller became suspicious after seeing Delley collecting more than one CrimeStoppers reward, and picked up a phone.

Delley and Ross were both arrested, and Delley pled guilty back to one count of conspiracy to make a false statement to a financial institution in May 2011. 

While Dallas citizens (and Dallas police) trusted Theodora Ross to run Crime Stoppers, seems that the Dallas police officer was busy creating fake tip numbers to be paid on Crime Stopper cases.  These tip numbers are the tools to allow CrimeStoppers to pay rewards to anonymous tippers: present the tip number to the bank, and you are paid the reward in cash.  It was an easy scheme:  Delley would use Ross's fake tip number to collect the money from the bank as a Crime Stoppers reward. 

The rewards added up.  By the time that these two grifters were caught, they had taken a quarter of a million dollars from the North Texas Crime Commission, which funds the Dallas Crime Stoppers (along with Dallas court fines, Collin County court fines, fundraising efforts and charitable donations to Crime Stoppers).  That's right:  $250,000.00.

Ross Ordered to Pay Back the Money and To Pay Her Income Taxes, Too

Luckily, the money may be recouped.  Ross has been ordered to pay $274,304.00 in restitution as part of her sentencing.  That's covering losses to Crime Stoppers as well as taxes due:  over a four year time period, it was found that Officer Ross failed to pay around $38,000 in income taxes on the $175,000 of income she received in her conning.  That's right:  the IRS expects to be paid even if the income is from an illegal grift.

Here's a question that hasn't been answered in the news coverage or the court opinions or FBI press releases:  is that bank teller whose tip lead to the discovery of this huge fraud on CrimeStoppers going to get a reward for calling in her suspicions?  Just wondering. 

Dallas Police Officer Shoots Man 41 Times, Other Officers Investigated for Taking and Trying to Destroy Witness's Video and Photo Evidence

Last month here in the Dallas area -- actually, in the city of Mesquite, which sets smack dab inside Dallas' city limits -- a man named Michael Vincent Allen got into a high speed car chase with the police and it's reported that there were times that speeds exceeded 100 mph as police cars from various law enforcement jurisdictions joined in the chase.

Police Officer Crashes Patrol Car Into Suspect's Vehicle - And Shoots Him 41 Times

It lasted around 30 minutes, according to news reports - Mr. Allen behind the wheel of a pickup, speeding along - and it ended when Mr. Allen turned into a cul-de-sac and, according to the police officers that were there, then tried to exit the cul-de-sac by slamming his pick up through two police sedans that had slammed into position, blocking the cul-de-sac's exit.   Mr. Allen's truck didn't push aside the two patrol cars, and the chase was over.  However, other reports are that after Mr. Allen turned the truck around in the cul-de-sac, a Garland police officer named Patrick Tuter slammed into the pickup to prevent Allen from driving any further.

This second version of things has been verified by the police in an updated version of events issued several days later, with confirmation that Tuter's dashcam video confirmed the patrol car crashed into the pick up truck to stop it, and that Allen didn't try to slam his GMC pickup into the police car.


That was not the end of the story.  Because then Mr. Allen died - died after being shot there in the driver's seat of his pick-up truck, blocked by the patrol cars in a Mesquite cul-de-sac.  He was shot by Officer Tuter who fired over and over and over again: Mr. Allen was shot with police bullets FORTY-ONE TIMES.  (You can see video of the truck in the aftermath online here.)

41 times: it means that the police officer had to stop, think, reload his weapon, and keep shooting.  Some reports are that this took three clips from Officer Tuter's gun to achieve.  Which means he reloaded TWICE.   It's not disputed that Mr. Allen was not armed.  There was no gun in the pickup truck.  No one shot first at an officer. 

Officer Tuter defends his actions as not being excessive force but instead a reasonable response as he feared for his life.  (Read about Texas law and excessive force on our web site reference pages.)  Right now, he's on restricted duty.

However, as bad as this story is - and it's very bad - it gets worse.

Police Officers Take Mobile Phone From Witness -- and Destroy Video/Photos On It

Because other police officers on the scene are alleged to have tried to destroy evidence of what happened on that cul-de-sac.  Seems a man who lived in that cul-de-sac not only watched what was going on, but took video and photographed the event.  According to this man, Mitchell Wallace, he didn't see the shooting but he did see the female passenger (who was not hit by the bullets, wow) being pulled from the truck's cab by the cops and he did see the police send their dog into the cab, where the dog bit Mr. Allen on the neck and then drug him out of the truck to lay face down on the street.  Wallace documented all of this, plus the police turning the body over to check for a pulse.

Here's the thing:  Wallace's mobile phone video and photos were taken by law enforcement at the scene, and when the phone was returned to him, this stuff was missing from it.  Gone.  Erased. 

So now there are other law enforcement officers being investigated for messing with evidence.  As well as destroying property that didn't belong to them.  (There's some stories that the evidence may still be available and some investigator just took the SIM card out of Mr. Wallace's phone.)

Under Texas law, the police do not have the right to take personal property like Mr. Wallace's phone or anything inside it unless there is probable cause to believe it's been part of a crime that has been committed.  No one is arguing that Mitchell Wallace, using his phone from his own home to document what was happening on the street outside, was committing any crime.

It's being called not only a case of Excessive Force against a Texas citizen on a summer night here in Dallas that ended in a man dead on the street, but a cover up by his colleagues who didn't want to have filmed evidence of what happened that night. 

For more information, read our posts:

• Dallas Has Record Number of Police Shootings in 2012
• Dallas County Sheriff Arrests Motorcyclist For Refusing to Turn Over His Helmet Cam Video of Police

Do not let these stories stop you from using your phone to document things that you believe are important to record.  

Dallas 911: How Reliable Is It and What's Dallas Police Department Doing About Making 911 More Reliable

911.  We depend upon those numbers, and we teach our kids to call 911 in case of emergency almost as soon as they learn to tie their shoes.  However, the reality is that calling 911 may not bring much, if any help, in today's real world.  Particularly here in Dallas, as the tragedy of Deanna Cook's death is still being grieved here in our community.

A few weeks ago, a young and pretty woman named Deanna Cook called "911" from her apartment here in Dallas.  It wasn't a short call:  Deanna was on her cell phone with 911 Dispatch for 11 minutes.

Eleven minutes.  That's a long time.

The 911 recording has been played over and over again now: even Cook's family has had the opportunity to hear it.  Had to have been very difficult for them: Deanna Cook can be heard to be screaming, terrified, as her ex-husband, a man named Delvecchio Patrick, is heard telling Deanna that he is going to kill her.  Cook tells the 911 operator the name of her attacker.  Cook is obviously in fear of her life and her attacker can be heard on the call as well.  

Sadly, no one came to rescue Deanna Cook from her attacker and she died that day.  Dallas Police did show up at her door, though.  They knocked.  They left. 

Dallas Police Department: Acknowledges Mistakes Were Made 

According to Dallas PD, there were problems. (Obviously.)  First, since Cook called from a cell phone there was no automatic identification of Cook's location and it took nine minutes for her location to be pinpointed by the police officers en route.  

Question: why didn't the 911 operator get the address of Cook's apartment during those 11 minutes she was on the phone with the murder victim?

Another problem according to Dallas police: no one answered the door.  That's right: when they arrived and they knocked and Deanna didn't welcome them into her home, they left.  (They did peek in the windows.)  According to the officers, this was because they understood this to be a domestic disturbance call - a spat - and the silence meant to them that the disturbance had been resolved.  (Yes.  It had been resolved in bloodshed.)  Dallas PD explains that the 911 Operator never explained that Deanna Cook was being attacked to the officers who were responding.  

Victim's Family Came to Her Rescue, Not Police: They Were Too Late

When did Deanna Cook's murder get discovered?  Two days later - when water was gushing out of her apartment and her family couldn't get inside because the doors were locked.  The police were called a second time to Cook's home: the family was told that the police couldn't help them - that they needed to call the hospitals and the jails to find Deanna. So, Deanna's family broke down her door and found her body laying in the bathtub.  Cook had been dead for two days.

Understandably upset, Deanna Cook's family is asking a lot of questions about the Dallas 911 service -- as are a lot of other people.  Dallas Police Chief David Brown told the public that the event would be investigated.

Dallas Police Chief Responds to Public Concern: Hire More 911 Operators

At an August community meeting held to address a number of community concerns about the Dallas Police Department, Chief Brown said that the 911 Call Operator's actions did fail to prevent this crime - if the 911 operator had told the police that the caller was being attacked, things would have been different.  

So, what's being done?  Yesterday, Dallas PD posted job wanted ads on Facebook for more 911 Call Operators.  That's right: they are going to hire more people to handle 911 calls here in Dallas.  No details on how these new hires will be trained.  Or how those 911 Operators already on the job, like the one who answered Deanna Cook's distress call, will be trained in the future.  

Feel safer?  

Texas Crime Labs Are Not Trustworthy And Texas Crime Lab Evidence Still Needs To Be Questioned

Back in January 2010, we published a post that still ranks very high in Google results which discussed some of the reasons why Texas criminal defense attorneys cannot trust the test results that come out of Texas crime labs to be presented as forensic evidence against defendants in Texas criminal cases.  You can read that post here.

Here it is, 18 months later, and Texas crime labs are still a hot spot of controversy and national news media are still finding news stories in the testing being done in crime labs across our state.  It's only those who aren't following these stories and those who aren't involved in criminal justice or criminal defense across the state of Texas that assume laboratory work in Texas crime labs are scientifically accurate and as trustworthy as the work being done in TV labs like those on CSI, Rizzoli & Isles, or Law & Order (pick a version).

Massive 2012 Federal Investigation Into Crime Lab Errors in Hair Samples

This month, the Department of Justice and the FBI issued a joint statement that their offices will be reviewing "thousands" of cases where people have already been convicted of crimes based upon forensic evidence because the federal government now has reason to believe that the crime lab testing of hair samples was flawed.   The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Innocence Project are working with the feds here, with the Innocence Project double-checking the FBI's findings when they arrive.

 Tarrant County Crime Lab Turns Itself Into Authorities

Yesterday, it was reported that the Tarrant County Crime Lab got a pat on the back from the Texas Forensic Science Commission because the Tarrant County Crime Lab turned itself into the oversight commission (filed a "self-complaint") after one of the lab supervisors found that two rape kit tests that had been tagged as tested ("screened") never, ever had their seals broken.  No one had opened up the packaging in order to test a darn thing.

You would think that a lab would rarely have something fall through the cracks as being tested while it hadn't been opened, right?  You'd be wrong. It is such a commonplace occurrence that it has a nickname: they call it "dry labbing."

Fort Worth Crime Lab Back at Work After Doors Shut for 10 Years 

Meanwhile, the Fort Worth Police Department Crime Lab just got the okay to start up its DNA testing once again, after the police crime lab had been sending out its DNA testing since October 2002 (that's right, almost 10 years ago) because there were concerns that the Fort Worth Crime Lab wasn't releasing accurate and valid DNA test results.  

Austin Crime Lab Okayed After Complaints From Lab Employee and Dallas-area Lab

And, down in Austin, the Austin Police Department Crime Lab just got the go-ahead from the Texas Forensic Science Commission to ramp up its testing again, after the commission cleared the lab of any errors after two separate complaints were filed against it: one, by a Dallas-area lab that tested the same stuff and found different results and two, by a former employee at the Austin Crime Lab who reported that the Austin lab was cutting corners in its testing.

Bottom line:  criminal defense attorneys still have to be skeptical of any evidence that is coming out of a government crime lab these days because this stuff just isn't trustworthy and reliable simply because a "lab" has reported they've tested the stuff.  Crime lab results in Texas criminal defense cases still have to be questioned. 

Dallas Police Department : 6th Officer - Involved Shooting in the Past 5 Months as Oak Cliff Traffic Stop Ends With Driver Shot in the Back

Today, the Dallas Morning News is wondering about what is going on with the Dallas Police Department -- as a lot of people are these days -- but according to reporter Tanya Eiserer, Dallas Police Chief David Brown isn't talking to the press right now. 

Maybe Chief Brown needs time to get his ducks in a row, since Dallas seems to be having more and more shootings involving the police shooting citizens.  Like the officer-involved shooting this past Saturday in Oak Cliff, where the Dallas Medical Examiner has confirmed that the man was shot in the back by the Dallas police officer.

That's right.  Shot in the back.  

Dallas Police Traffic Stop for Failure to Use Turn Signal Ends Up With Driver Dead

John Robert Husband died on Saturday from a Dallas police officer's bullet after the police pulled his car over because Husband reportedly didn't use his turn signal.  He was 21 years old. 

So, in a routine traffic stop someone died.  [Read more about traffic stops on our web site resources page.]

The reports thus far are that Dallas police officer Leland Limbaugh smelled marijuana as he approached the vehicle and accordingly ordered Husband to get out of the car.  The passengers, Xavier Bryant and Derrick Epps, remained inside.  

Conflicting Stories on What Happened in Saturday Night's Officer Involved Shooting

As Dallas officer Limbaugh patted down Husband, the officer's story goes, Husband started to resist when Limbaugh tried to cuff him and tried to pull a pistol from his belt.  Limbaugh feared for his life, and accordingly drew his weapon and shot Husband in the back, the bullet entering his body via his left shoulder blade.

The two passengers don't agree with this version of events. Their story is that Husband got scared and started to run from the car, and the Dallas police officer pulled his gun and shot the young man in the back as he ran away.  No struggle.  No reason for the police officer to "fear for his life."

What about the electric eye, the dashcam video?  Wouldn't it solve the conflict between the officer's version of events and the witnesses' accounts?  Sure it would: but this police car didn't have a dash cam installed.  

On Monday, the Dallas Police Department published its official statement of these events on the DPD Facebook page.  The Dallas Observer provides that statement online in its coverage here, for those who don't access Facebook. 

Husband's Death is Sixth Fatal Officer-Involved Shooting in Dallas in 2012: What's Going On?

Saturday's shooting brings the tally of Dallas Police Department officer-involved shootings of citizens to six (6) since this year began -- a ratio of someone dying from a Dallas law enforcement bullet approximately every 2.5 weeks in 2012. 

That's unacceptable.  That's scary.   

When is Dallas Police Chief Brown going to talk to us about this?  

Mistrial Declared in Criminal Trial of Dallas County Constable Derick Evans

A jury had been chosen and opening statements had been given by Marquette Wolf as Special Prosecutor and the defense for Dallas County Constable Derick Evans and on Tuesday, the trial had witnesses on the stand in the criminal trial where Constable Evans faced charges of engaging in organized crime.

There were some problems: one juror was late, another called in with an emergency and had to be replaced with an alternate, and witness Jim Foster, former Dallas County Judge, couldn't respond to his subpoena to appear and testify because he's in the hospital having just had serious lung surgery.

But nothing was as big a problem as what happened to cause the trial court to declare a mistrial in the case.  Seems that after the prosecution put on its case and Evans presented his defense, the jury was sent back to deliberate and got stuck.

Judge Tracy Holmes got a note from the jury room that the twelve jurors were "hopelessly deadlocked," and then another one, and then a third.  Deadlocked, Deadlocked, Deadlocked.  Stubborn folk on both sides of guilty versus innocent.  (The Dallas Morning News reports they were 7 to 5, guilty vs. innocent.)

So Judge Holmes declared a mistrial and Constable Evans went back to work and the prosecution told the media that they're not giving up.  Another trial is being scheduled for April 2012.

What Did Dallas County Constable Derick Evans Allegedly Do?  

Formally, Constable Evans has been accused of participating in organized crime.  Sounds very TV Law and Order, doesn't it, until you learn that he's purportedly run a raffle to get funds to run his election campaign and allegedly pressured his deputies and staff to buy and promote the $50 raffle tickets.  Under Texas law, only certain groups (like churches) are legally allowed to run raffles to raise money.  Now, it's sounding less like TV's Law and Order isn't it?

And, here's a big question -- what about the media reports about other local campaign raffles, are they going to get prosecuted as well?

Cornelius Dupree Freed as Innocent Man after 30 Years in Texas Jail: The Unreliability of Eyewitness Testimony

This week, a fifty-one (51) year old man walked out of a Texas courtroom a free man, after serving over 30 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit. Cornelius Dupree was officially exonerated on Tuesday by Dallas County Judge Don Adams with the simple sentence from the bench, "you're free to go."

What Got Dupree Behind Bars

Mr. Dupree was arrested in 1979 on rape and abduction charges for a sexual assault involving two men that happened on IH30 near Dolphin Road, where a man and woman were forcibly taken from a liquor store and the woman later raped. Dupree and his pal, Anthony Massingill, 49, were going to a party when the cops stopped them because the police thought these two guys matched the description given in another rape case.

Both victims would later give eyewitness testimony that Dupree and his friend were the perpetrators of the crime. And yes, Mr. Dupree is African American.

What Got Dupree Released

DNA cleared Mr. Dupree. Through the efforts of the Innocence Project and with the support of local D.A. Craig Watkins, DNA testing was done on old evidence in the case, which resulted in scientific proof that Dupree was not guilty.

According to the Innocence Project, Mr. Dupree is third in line for the dubious record of having spent time behind bars before being exonerated: only 2 men in the United States spent more time in jail than he did before being proven innocent via DNA testing. In Texas, Dupree is the 41st individual to be freed based on DNA evidence since 2001.

Lesson Learned, Again: Eyewitness Testimony Isn't Reliable

Once again, we have another example of how eyewitness testimony should not be considered as quality evidence in any case -- but particular the key evidence used to put an individual behind bars.

Photo lineups and the like are not good tools toward finding the truth, regardless of how they appear on Law And Order (pick your version). People just don't remember things accurately. Emotions get in the way. Victims want to catch the perpetrator and are understandably influenced to a rush to judgment. Police officers, however innocently, can suggest who to pick in a lineup and many victims are scewed to pleasing the police, however unconcious that predisposition may be.

When are we going to learn in this country that eyewitness testimony isn't trustworthy?

One last thing: As for Mr. Dupree's friend that day back in 1979, Mr. Massingill has already been cleared in the present case via DNA testing; however, he is not free today. Massingill is still incarcerated, and serving a life sentence, based on another crime.  Let's hope that this conviction was based on more than finger-pointing.

Sheriff Arvin West: the Man Who Busted Willie Nelson for Pot over Thanksgiving Weekend

Hudspeth County, Texas, is located on the Texas - Mexico border, and for several years now, Arvin West has been the local sheriff there.  Lots of folk are getting to know Texas Sheriff West this week - maybe you already recognize his name. 

After all, it was Sheriff Arvin West who was responsible for pulling over Willie Nelson's tour bus at a border partrol checkpoint on the day after Thanksgiving.  Instead of getting an autograph, though, law enforcement ended up arresting the 77-year-old country singer for possession of six (6) ounces of marijuana. 

Nelson was booked - the mugshot is a popular online item this week.  Willie was then released on $2500 bond and not long thereafter was back on the road again, going home to Austin.  If convicted, Willie Nelson faces a possible two years incarceration in a state facility. 

Who is Sheriff West anyway?

Sheriff Arvin West has testified before Congress about the growing problem of drug distribution by drug cartels in his jurisdiction - you can read his testimony online from a February 2006 presentation he gave to the Committee of the House of Representatives.  It's got a title:  "Armed and Dangerous: Confronting the Problem of Border Incursions."  

Sheriff Arvin West also regularly appears on the national news shows.  You can read the transcript of his April 2010 interview by Greta Von Susteren at FoxNews telling Greta that the Texas-Mexico border is "wide open" and that he's been telling farmers and ranchers in his jurisdiction to arm themselves against the dangers of drug runners, since his Sheriff's Department only has 17 deputies to cover 5000 miles.  Sheriff Arvin West has also appeared on Nightline in July 2010 (click the link to watch the video), calling the area as being under "siege" and that his fight against Mexican drug lords as "war."

Already, the Texas Tribune (among other news sources) are looking into Sheriff West and his own "Texas legend" status (quoting Glenn Beck).  According to their investigations, Sheriff West may have his own agenda for busting Willie Nelson -- it brings more media coverage, it boosts what some argue is Sheriff West's goals of maximizing state and federal funding for his department. 

So, there is a growing distrust of Sheriff West and his motives for busting Willie Nelson on the day after Thanksgiving. 

Willie Nelson Starts the "Teapot Party"

However, Willie Nelson may have an agenda of his own.  Shortly after his arrest, he started the "Teapot Party," which favors legalization of marijuana with the arguments that it cuts back on the criminal operations, and gives a new tax base to fund governments in sore need of revenue. 

If you didn't know this was a real news story, you might think you were reading an Elmore Leonard novel -- where the Texas Sheriff wearing the big white cowboy hat and the Country Music Legend wearing the bandanna were secretly friends who had cooked up this media plot.  But that would just be fiction, right? 

Ex-Judge Samuel Kent Wants Out of Jail: It's Been a Cruel and Abusive Experience. Surprise.

We've posted about Samuel Kent before -- following his path from a setting federal district judge in Galveston, Texas indicted for sex crimes, through his incarceration after he entered into a plea agreement (he was also the subject of impeachment, but that's a rabbit trail at this point). 

He's always been rather creative and surprising in his legal strategies -- remember when he resigned one year in advance, in a fight to keep his pension?  -- and this week's filing is no different. 

Former Federal Judge Kent Finds Life Behind Bars "Cruel" so He Files Motion for Release

This week, Samuel Kent has filed a former request that his sentence be vacated and corrected. Why? Kent argues that the Bureau of Prisons has allegedly ignored the "intended sentence," entered in May 2009 by (1) denying him admission into the substance abuse program (for the reason that Kent had been sober for a full year before he was arrested); and (2) classifying Kent as a "sex offender" because the prosecution dismissed the sex allegation charges against him. Among other things.

While an inmate in a Florida facility, former judge Samuel Kent provides such facts to support his request as (1) he has suffered from listening to another inmate as the inmate was being raped; and (2) he was forced by a Florida prison official (a "sargeant") to do calisthenics in the nude. 

There's lots more.  Suffice to say, ex-Judge Kent's filing has a lot more juice to it than anything Lindsay Lohen has filed in the past six months. 

Read the details for yourself in the Memorandum filed in concurrance with the Motion yesterday.

DPS Trooper Shoots Driver After Pulling Him Over For Speeding

Yesterday morning -- very early, about 1 AM -- on Interstate 45 in Montgomery County, not too far from Willis, Texas, a DPS Trooper was setting in his squad car, monitoring the radar as traffic rolled past him.  Weather reports show that while the area had seen lots of rain in the aftermath of Hurricane Alex, it wasn't raining at the time. 

Zip, zip:  a car sped by.  Radar clocked it at 100 mph. 

The Department of Public Safety officer drove off in pursuit, and soon enough the race ended.  The speedster stopped his car on I 45, just north of the Interstate 45 and Longstreet intersection. 

No crash.  No weaving through rush hour traffic.  Guy was driving fast at night on a lonely stretch of road, got caught by radar, and DPS was about to give him a big, fat ticket.  

But then, something happened -- and we're still not sure what that was except that the Montgomery County media has been informed that a "physical altercation" happened there on the roadside between the Trooper and the driver.  MyFox Houston is reporting that the guy tried to "resist arrest."  No source given.   The Houston Chronicle is reporting that the man exited his vehicle after being pulled over, and somehow the Trooper "feared for his safety" and shot the guy.  No source given.

What we are sure about:  the driver was shot.  By the DPS Trooper. 

And it was a serious gunshot wound:  first, the wounded driver was taken by emergency medical crew to Hermann Hospital in the Woodlands.  Later, he was LifeFlighted to Hermann Medical Center in Houston, and at last report, he's remains in critical condition.

Critical, as in this guy almost died and he's not out of the woods yet. 

It's reported that several agencies are investigating this incident.  The Texas Rangers are involved.  So is the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department, and the Montgomery County District Attorney.

No reports that the driver was armed in any way.  No weapon -- and it's pretty safe to bet that if this guy had a gun, or a knife, or some wild Martial Arts gizmo, that the DPS representatives would be hot to give the press that info at the get-go. 

So, looks like the guy was not armed. 

No dashcam video has been released, which might help to explain things -- and one has to wonder what story that camera may tell.  Remember the beatings caught on video when the Beaumont cops pulled over the two men over in a routine traffic stop?  It took two years before that video was released to the public (watch it here).

Why Did the Trooper Choose the Hand Gun Over a Stun Gun?

What about those Tasers?  We've reported cops tasering drunks, grandmas, the mentally ill, a pastor, and even their spouses -- if the Trooper "feared for his safety" wasn't this the perfect opportunity to use a stun gun?  The phrase "excessive force" comes to mind ....

We've already written about Montgomery County's problem with tasers -- the Sheriff's Department was involved in the Taser death of suspect Robert Lee Welch, 50 years old, and it was ruled a homicide by Taser last February. Does this mean that the Trooper was so wary of using a Taser that he pulled his GUN instead?

What's to learn here? 

Cops are humans with weapons that can kill you, strapped to their sides.  When they pull you over, you need to be careful.  They can shoot you.  We know, because they do. 

Dallas Police Officer Indicted by Grand Jury for Oppression and Tampering with Police Report

Dallas police officer Daniel Babb was indicted yesterday by the Grand Jury, so he's officially facing criminal charges now.

Officer Babb expected this already -- he had turned himself in to authorities on May 24th. Today, Daniel Babb's already out on bail ($2500) and off the streets under administrative leave.

The Dallas Grand Jury charges Officer Babb with two things: official oppression and tampering with a government document.

How did the Dallas cop become a criminal defendant? This all started around two years ago, when a 14 year old was hurt as a man named Jorge Torres, 21, allegedly held the boy while another man hit him. After the dust settled, the boy tells the story that this was all "horseplay" that he himself began - but at the time of the incident, law enforcement had a different perception.

The cops were thinking a crime had occured: injury to a child.

According to the reports, Dallas police were called to a domestic disturbance. Once there, Officer Babb - on the job around two years at the time this is going down - told Jorge Torres he could stand up from the curb where he was sitting during questioning, because ants were crawling on Torres' hands.

Texas ants. We all know what they can do. So far, so good for Officer Babb.

What happens next, according the reports, is where things go haywire. In his police report, Officer Babb states that he "felt threatened" by Torres after Torres stood, so Babb "used a balance displacement technique." This "technique" made Torres fall backwards over the curb and onto the ground. No news on where the ants were.

Torres Suffered Minor Injuries From Officer Babb's Actions

The police reports confirm that Torres got some medical attention at the scene, so we know he suffer some kind of minor injury here. However, other cops at the scene also reported that Officer Babb lost his temper at Torres, and shoved him to the ground without just cause.

The public integrity unit investigated, and found that Officer Daniel Babb had used excessive force. They also ruled that he had fudged his police report about what had happened.

So, Officer Babb's three year career as a Dallas Police Officer is in question right now. Of course, he's still on the force (though he's not on the streets) and he's still got a defense to present.

What Happened to Torres?

Jorge Torres got three days in jail because he refused to give the police his name when all this went down. The injury to a child charges? Dropped. The 14-year-old boy told the police that he started the whole thing, he wasn't a victim here.

One lesson learned? When reading Dallas Police Department records, note that the definition of "balance displacement technique" is "shove."

Cops Admit that Dallas Crime Records Are Not Accurate

We need to be thankful that we have a great local newspaper here in Dallas, because they may be the only ones that are caring enough to give us the real skinny about crime in our community.

The Dallas Morning News has been waving the red flag for awhile now, telling anyone who would listen that the Dallas Police Department was NOT keeping track of crimes committed in our area according to FBI guidelines. And now, Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle has confirmed this, quoted in the paper as saying that he doesn't believe that the FBI guidelines should be followed "...like they were in the Bible."

What About Uniform Crime Statistics Across the Country?

There's a reason for the FBI guidelines. If everyone follows them, then there's a basis for organizing all the different records from all over the nation so comparisons can be made.

It looks like Dallas is monkeying with how it reports crimes so that the Dallas Police Department doesn't look like its dealing with as many serious crimes as it might be. The Dallas Morning News already reported on how auto burglaries weren't being included, so that the cop statistics looked better, and how Dallas PD tallies some assaults as lesser offenses -- which keeps Dallas' violent crime rate skewed lower than the truth in national studies.

Dallas Cops v FBI?

The Federal Bureau of Investigation isn't above taking on an entire city's police department. They're doing that right now, down in San Antonio. With all this number-crunching manipulation, will Dallas be next? You gotta wonder.

Cop Watch: What's With All the Gunfights Down in Pleasant Grove?

Pleasant Grove is a small community located in southeast Dallas -- lotsa folk here just call it "the Grove." And that may be a really accurate moniker these days because it appears that some very UNpleasant things are happening there.

The Backstory: a Gunbattle Last Month ....

Just last month, the Dallas Morning News had a report on December 12, 2009, of a "gunbattle" involving a young man named Jae-Ron Andrews. According to media accounts, shortly after lunchtime on a Friday afternoon, Jae-Ron was meeting up with a drug dealer to buy some illegal substances (presumably in preparation for a fun weekend). Things turned sour, and 23 year old Jae-Ron pulled a pistol on the dealer. The dealer pulled his own weapon, and the two began exchanging gunfire. Jae-Ron was killed in the skirmish.

... Next, Fifteen Cops Vs. An Injured Nineteen Year Old

Then, right before the New Year, DMN reports on another gunbattle in the Grove -- less than three weeks after the first one. And this one is scary because it involves thirteen (13) Dallas cops and two (2) more police officers from Mesquite drawing guns and giving fire in an altercation with a single individual, a teenager from Dallas who was killed during this onslaught.

Nineteen (19) year old Dontell Mitch Terrell died on the night of December 29th at the Dallas County Medical Center of multiple gunshot wounds. His sixteen (16) year old cohort, also shot, did not sustain life-threatening injuries -- he was shot in a separate incident, by a Mesquite officer.

Dontell was shot when the 15 law enforcement officers "opened fire" (quoting DMN) on the teenager after he allegedly failed to drop his weapon. Reports aren't revealing how many times Dontell was hit, but the Dallas Morning News has seen fit to list the names of every single law enforcement officer that pulled his gun on Dontell Terrell.

Dontell was a troubled kid

Allegedly, Dontell and two pals had been robbing the local Papa John's pizza joint and the police caught up with the three on the road, after they'd left the scene driving a white Chevy. A high speed chase began, ending with Dontell jumping from the car and running -- getting hit in the process by a Mesquite police car. Injured, he ran into a nearby home where there was a standoff with police while he threatened suicide and told his mother over the phone that he wanted to die rather than return to jail.

Here's the question: did Dontell have to be shot down? by 15 different shooters?

Assuming that Dontell was suicidal and refusing to put down his weapon as a way to commit "suicide by cop," did that mean that 15 cops needed to fire upon the teenager? The listing of each cop involved in the shooting, together with their years of experience in law enforcment, suggests that this blog may not be the only place where the question arises: couldn't an injured 19 year old have been protected from his own suicidal wishes? Or is the Grove its own little version of the Wild West today?

JUDGE WATCH: Former Dallas Judge and TYC Ombudsman Faces Felony Indictment

In the 1990s, Catherine Evans sat as a state district judge here in Dallas County. Maybe you remember her from her days on the bench.

Maybe you know her as the chosen "ombudsman" for the Texas Youth Commission (TYC) -- a couple of months ago, Gov. Perry named Cathy Evans as the person responsible for insuring that minors confined in the state's juvenile facilities were kept safe. (In between these two stints, Evans served as a commissioner of the Texas Juvenile Probation and on both the Dallas County Juvenile Advisory Board and the TYC Advisory Board.)

And that's where the story starts to get strange. Really, really strange.

Keeping kids safe who are under the lock and key of the Texas Juvenile Justice system is important, and it's scary to think how often these children are NOT safe while in the state's care.

Back in March 2007, there was a national scandal surrounding the Texas Youth Commission -- and the entire TYC Board was forced to resign as a growing number of criminal allegations were being made against Commission staff, and media reports were escalating about the improprieties within the juvenile correctional system. It was a Major. Big. Deal.

Part of the TYC Fix was the Appointment of an Ombudsman

The number of stories of the 2007 abuses in the care of minors in Texas lockups is simply too numerous to mention here. It was amazing in its horror, and the description that the system was in "shambles" was not an exaggeration.

So, when the Ombudsman position was created, it would seem like the Head of the Cavalry had been identified. In this job, Catherine Evans was to investigate complaints and problems within the juvenile lockups. You can almost see one of those "The Buck Stops Here" placards on her desk, right?

So, What's the Ombudsman Doing Allegedly Smuggling a Knife, a Cellphone, and Drugs into a TYC facility?

According to the felony indictment, Ombudsman Evans was found trying to smuggle a knife, a cellphone, and prescription drugs into the TYC unit in Crockett, Texas. Officially, she is charged with "possession of a prohibited item in a prison facility" and if convicted, she faces 2 to 10 years imprisonment.

Remember now: Cathy Evans was a state district judge for several years before being appointed to this job by Gov. Rick Perry. What the heck is going on here?

Evans has denied any wrongdoing. She agreed to resign and her replacement will be named "as soon as possible," according to the Governor's Office.

And, it's being reported that the knife was a Swiss Army Knife; the cellphone was hers; and the "white powdery" substance found in a vial in her purse that tested positive for amphetamines turned out to be dish washing detergent.

Sounds like she was just lax in checking out her bag before going into the facility, right? Except it's STILL a felony to bring this stuff in, she's not in a position to claim ignorance (if that was an excuse, which it's not), and she's still gonna face felony charges.

Texas judge. Felony. Wonder if the newspapers re-use the same headlines, and just change the name, to save time these days?

Crime News: Bernie Madoff Scandal Kills DNA Testing for Wrongfully Convicted

The biggest Ponzi scheme in history has reached Texas - and it's very bad news.

This week, while Bernie Madoff sits on house arrest in his plush NYC condo, the Innocence Project of Texas was forced to announce that while they can finish up their scheduled DNA testing for folk who have been wrongfully convicted, they don't have the cash to continue.

JEHT Foundation Closed Its Doors on December 15, 2008

Seems the Madoff scandal forced the JEHT Foundation to shut down, and this was the organization that paid for all these DNA tests.

An acronym for Justice Equality Human dignity and Tolerance, JEHT has been the work of New York philanthropist Jeanne Levy Church and her husband, Kenneth. JEHT focused upon criminal justice reform nationally, and just last year the Levy Churches gave $29.9 million via the Foundation for this Dallas DNA testing endeavor. Madoff's evildoings put an end to JEHT's cashflow, effective December 15th.

There is some good news here. According to the Dallas Morning News, JEHT gave $400,000 to the Innocence Project of Texas and the Project is legally free to keep that cash, and pay for DNA tests already on its calendar.

Just forget the $15,000,000 that JEHT was negotiating to invest in Dallas justice over the upcoming year ....

What Happens With the Innocence Project of Texas?

First, after what is reported as an initial "panic," their leadership has regrouped and after determining that they can keep the $400,000, they're going to try and spread that money over the DNA testing on schedule and hope that this will cover the years of questionable verdicts currently under scrutiny.

They're also talking about where else they can go for funds, and how they can organize fundraisers, etc.

Finally, their executive director reportedly told the Dallas Morning News, " I think it's going to turn out okay."

A Suggestion for Bernie - Instead of House Arrest, Put Him in James Woodard's Old Cell

Here's one suggestion that I'm sure lots would agree would be true Texas Justice -- let's move Bernie Madoff from his Manhattan condo, and put him into one of the Texas prison cells in which one of the wrongfully convicted had to reside while Madoff awaits trial.

Maybe Bernie could kick back in the prison cell of James Woodard, who was released at age 55 after serving 27 years for the wrongful conviction of raping and murdering his girlfriend. (Woodard's got the record right now for the longest amount of wrongful time served.)


Sources:

KDBC-TV
http://www.kdbc.com/Global/story.asp?S=9575212&nav=menu608_2_4

Associated Press
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h-61vCWv2M4EBXW8BwYy6jbwm_7wD956ME0O0

New York Times
http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/15/madoff-scandal-forces-jeht-foundations-closure/

Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-dnamoney_24met.ART0.State.Edition2.4a2f9ed.html

Bloomberg
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aPFOinHpCuPo&refer=home

Cop Watch: Austin Police Using DNA to Track Down Burglars in Property Crimes - But What About a Backlog?

It had to be. Just had to be.

Where else in Texas would they start to use DNA testing to track down burglars and other evildoers involved in property crimes, but tech-happy Austin - our fair state's capital city and home of the University of Texas (as well as Michael Dell and all his compadres)?

In Austin, they're using DNA in property crime investigations now ....

Yep, they're doing it. They're taking blood and saliva samples from crime scenes that involve absolutely no murders or rapes or any bodily injury, really, and they are using that stuff to grab DNA to compare with existing databases.

And it's working. So far, they've found 10 suspects out of the 50 crime scenes they've tested. Boo-yah!

Of course, they do mention a slight backlog over at the Crime Lab. Slight.

Yet in the Same Bat City, Same Bat Day, Same Bat Channel ... there's a DNA Backlog?

Seems there's a different lab that law enforcement is using for the burglars than the one over at the Department of Public Safety there in Austin. Two nationally known crime labs in the same town cuz the City of Austin decided awhile back to build its own swanky crime lab.

And, on the very same news day that one lab is touting its use of DNA in property cases, they're reporting over at DPS that they've got a big 'ole HUGE backlog of cases over there. Big. Big. Big.

In fact, DPS doesn't expect to be caught up with all its DNA testing until 2011. That'll be after their nice new lab gets finished and they all keep working really, really hard on getting their backlog all caught up.

You gotta wonder: Williamson County DA John Bradley tells the KEXE reporter that his office expects a six month to one year delay in a case when they ask for DNA testing from the DPS offices in Austin -- while defendants sit in jail with taxpayers paying $25 - $50 per day for their upkeep (Bradley's estimate). And these are the big felony cases: murders, rapes, you get the idea.

Meanwhile, since the City of Austin built its own lab, over at the City's Field Support Services Department, they've got time to test for DNA so they can track down some kid who broke into a car, or to bust a burglar who got away with a stereo and other household goods.

You just gotta wonder here ....

Sources:

KWTX-TV
http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/35281449.html

KEYE-TV
http://www.keyetv.com/content/news/topnews/story.aspx?content_id=b84a446b-da6a-4d99-996d-7696f6a1612a

Austin American Statesman
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/11/30/1130propcrime.html

Crime News: Raymondville is One Happening Place To Be - Dick Cheney, Alberto Gonzales, and Pol Brennan of the IRA

Raymondville - who knew this small Texas town would be making such a name for itself these days? You'd think the berg had its own publicist ....

What's up?

Well, first -- that's the place for the ongoing Juan Angel Guerra story (see the post below for more on Operation Goliath). On Monday, there's gonna be a hearing down there on whether or not Judge Banales should be recused from the local criminal case, where felony indictments were filed against Vice President Dick Cheney and former U.S. Attorney Alberto Gonzales and others.

Hearing to Recuse Judge Banales in the Dick Cheney Felony Case

Seems the Texas Supreme Court has instructed San Antonio Judge Michael Peden to mosy on down to the Rio Grande Valley and preside over Monday's hearing. Should be a media frenzy, and great news for the little town's local economy. Try the carnitas, guys.

Notorious IRA Escapee Pol Brennan Awaits Extradiction Ruling in Willacy County Jail

And, it justs better ... there's also international happening down there in Raymondville as a hearing was going on for a good part of November, about whether or not to extradite Pol Brennan, a former member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), who was convicted for his IRA activities and sentenced to jail in Belfast, Ireland.

Brennan was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment for possession of explosives, and he was part of the infamous escape from the maximum security Maze prison back in 1983 (along with around 30 other blokes).

Seems that after Brennan's escape, he lived on the run here in the US for many years (25, to be exact). He made San Francisco his home, built a career as a master carpenter, got married, even bought a gun under an assumed name.

But the jig was up back in January, when old Pol was pulled over in South Texas as he and his wife were driving to visit his mother-in-law down in South Padre Island. He didn't have good papers, and he ended up busted and sitting in the Willacy County Jail -- where he's still sitting today, awaiting the ruling on whether or not he's going to be booted back to Ireland.

And, you think the Dick Cheney case is big ... well, over the waters the Pol Brennan case is making all the papers. There are organizations raising money for his defense fund, papers in all parts of Europe are covering his story, and he's even got a web site (where he complains about the jailhouse food, among other things).

Raymondville.

Who would have thunk it?

Sources:

Brownsville Herald
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/willacy_92126___article.html/county_dec.html

Associated Press
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jQCZ1qkFyZWoqP9ZvQpAbztkt_-wD94C93HO0

Irish Abroad
http://www.irishabroad.com/news/irish-voice/news/Articles/pol-brennan-deportation191108.aspx

Belfast Telegraph
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/exprisoner-tells-of-maze-escape-14063963.html

DA Watch: In Dallas, You Can't Fall in Love While Out on Bail

Clay Chabot -- doesn't that name sound like something from a daytime soap opera, or a Harlequin romance novel?

Wasn't Clay Chabot one of Erica Kane's husbands on All My Children back in the 1980s?

Um, no.

Clay Chabot is a real man though his story is reading somewhat like a melodrama. It seems that the Dallas County District Attorney's office is seeking to revoke Clay's bond and send him back to jail because they argue he's violated the terms of his release. The revocation hearing was yesterday.

What did Clay Chabot do that was so very bad?

He fell in love with one of his live-in chaparones while living under house arrest in his Cedar Hill home. Who's the lucky lady? She's his sister-in-law's daughter. And, of course, Clay has a MySpace page where the happy couple published photos of their wedding ceremony.

Oh fine, so there's a question of no marriage license even though she's going by "Mrs. Chabot" these days. And, yes, she's 37 and he's 49.

But it's love - the stuff that dreams are made of.

Love as the Basis for Bond Revocation

Meanwhile, the prosecution is ticked off about this marriage. They are moving for bond revocation because, they argue, a sexual relationship may violate the terms of his release.

First Assistant District Attorney Terri Moore actually argued at the hearing yesterday that she "didn't believe that the court intended for Mr. Chabot to be permitted a live-in girlfriend, wife, or spouse while out on bond." (Quoting the Dallas Morning News, who reported events from Tuesday's revocation hearing.) According to Moore, "[w]e give him an inch, and he takes a mile."

Chabot Already Victim of False Testimony That Resulted in Murder Conviction

Now, here's where the story goes from silly to serious. Clay Chabot was out on bond because the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals is hearing his motion for a new trial -- because it's been discovered that Chabot was convicted of murder based upon the lies of his brother-in-law. Seems DNA testing has revealed that the brother-in-law actually raped the murder victim.

The District Attorney is claiming that they are going to retry Chabot when his motion is granted, because they still think he's guilty of the crime. Now they're arguing that Chabot and his lying brother-in-law are both guilty of the murder.

Chabot Did Stop at a CellPhone Store on the Way to the Doctor

Perhaps the only real argument they've got here is that Clay did stop at a cellphone store on the way to the V.A. for medical treatment (he's allow to leave his house for doctor visits). However, it wasn't off the beaten path: it was a store on the route from Cedar Hill to the V.A. Hospital -- and please: he wasn't stopping off to gamble, buy booze, or get porno -- he stopped with his sister-in-law at a phone store.

For this, Chabot should go back behind bars after he was wrongfully convicted of murder? Maybe the DA knew this wouldn't be a big enough argument - so she added on this horrible event: Chabot married the woman he loves.

The audacity of it all.

Love Shouldn't Be Penalized

In prisons everyday, there are couples who wed without even the hope of building a life together. It's the story of legend how many penpal relationships have evolved in marriages behind bars. Heck, About.Com has an how-to article online, "How to Marry a Prisoner."

Surely if Texas Cadet Murderer Diane Zamora and Night Stalker Richard Ramirez can marry while in prison for life, then Clay Chabot can get hitched while on house arrest while his wrongful conviction is being ironed out.

Perhaps Clay's sister sums it up best: "He may have fallen in love, but he didn't do anything wrong."

Source:

Dallas Morning News
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/crime/stories/111808dnmetchabot.1c592accf.html

Crime News: Jose Baez Has A Tough Job as Defense Attorney for Casey Anthony

If you read People magazine at all, or watch CNN's Nancy Grace any day of the week, then you're aware of the "tot mom" case: young mother Casey Anthony has been charged with killing her 3-year-old daughter, Caylee Anthony, sometime this summer.

No body has been recovered, and the Anthony family maintains that the little girl is alive and well, having been taken by evildoers.

Heavy Media Coverage Turns to Jose Baez's Relationship with His Client

Media coverage has been heavy in this case; I've already posted about fair trial and due process concerns given the heavy media play (see 09/15/08).

On the web, the Websleuths site has dedicated an entire forum with numerous, active threads specifically dealing with the Caylee Anthony disappearance. The Websleuth forums have heavy traffic 24/7.

During the past week, however, the piercing eye of the press has turned away from Casey, the formal investigation, and the manned searches for Caylee's remains to Casey's defense attorney, Jose Baez. Web chatter has followed close behind.

It seems that Jose Baez hugged his client during two separate jailhouse visits, and jail officials have asked him to refrain.

There were early reports that the Florida Bar Association was investigating Jose's activity for purposes of formal disciplinary action - but the FBA has nixed those reports as untrue.

There have been many unsavory suggestions that Jose and his client have entered into a personal relationship - again, without factual support.

The Unmitigated Gall of Hugging Your Client

A hug might have been a big deal during Victorian times, just like showing the female ankle, but in our present culture, nothing could be more innocent than a hug. Friends hug. Grandmas hug. Colleagues hug. You hug your pet, you hug your pillow, you hug your doctor when he gives you good news and you hug your pastor on Sunday after a particularly touching sermon.

Of course, jail officials will point to past precedent of contraband being passed to prisoners during apparently innocent hugs -- sometimes, yes, by attorneys -- and that this is a legitimate reason for their request to Mr. Baez.

Jose's Defending a Client Who Has Already Been Found Guilty or Crazy By Many People

Jose Baez has the job of representing a woman who, before she has reached the age of 25, faces formal charges of murdering her only child - and possible execution for this crime, if convicted - as well as charges of assorted felony thefts that carry enough jail time that she'll be lucky to get out of jail before she is eligible for an AARP card.

Public opinion has pronounced her guilty, she's been labeled a monster by the masses and armchair psychologists have been busy diagnosing Jose's client as a sociopath, a psychopath, or someone suffering from Antisocial Personality Disorder, Histronic Personality Disorder, or Borderline Personality Disorder.

Jose's Defending a Client Who Hasn't Told the Truth and Has No Support System

In addition to the public arena, Jose has the job of defending a client who hasn't told the truth to authorities regarding the circumstances surrounding her daughter's disappearance (that's all in the recorded interviews and transcripts) and who has lost apparently all her friends, who assumedly feel betrayed by her lies to them. It's one of her former close friends, for example, that pressed the felony theft charges.

Jose's client has not had a visit from family or friends since she was returned to jail, based upon the murder indictment. According to media reports, Jose Baez is Casey Anthony's only visitor.

A Criminal Defense Attorney's Relationship with His Client

It's not the job of a criminal defense attorney to judge his client's guilt or innocence: that's the job of the factfinder, be it judge or jury. Doing so -- making the call on whether or not your client did the deed -- can sometimes hamper your work, in fact.

It is the job of a criminal defense attorney to make sure that a client's rights are protected, and that the prosecution truly proves its case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Defending the accused is an honorable and vital role in our criminal defense system. If you or a loved one are accused of committing a crime, you will want your attorney to defend you, not to judge you.

The Relationship Between Attorney and Client

Representing someone who has had their freedom taken away from them is a heady matter. It's a tremendous responsiblity to defend someone sitting in jail, much less someone facing a death sentence.

You need not be your client's friend in order to feel compassion and empathy with their plight -- and if you hug your client, it doesn't mean you are sleeping with her.

Representing Casey Anthony would be a tough job for the most experienced of criminal defense attorneys, much less one with the years of experience that Jose Baez has. This media exposure places him in the most glaring of lights -- every decision he makes is second-guessed (and often ridiculed) by media talking heads. Still, many of Jose's motions to the court have been granted, and he seems to be holding up well under all the pressure.

Make no mistake -- not only is Casey Anthony's life on the line here, so is Jose Baez's professional reputation. And Jose knows it.

The Paradine Case

Of course, it makes a better story the other way around ... and if you're interested in the plot of a criminal defense attorney falling in love with his client, check out Gregory Peck in Alfred Hitchcock's The Paradine Case. (And, yes - of course the client was guilty of poisoning her husband in the movie, would it be a Hitchcock movie otherwise?)