Getting credit where credit isn't due

A man who puts out a fire on his neighbor's property should be commended for his actions. Going out of one's way to help someone else is a noble deed. Even more so when that person places his life in danger in coming to the aid of another.

But when the man putting out the fire is the same man who set it - well, that's a different story altogether.

And so it goes down south of Houston in Galveston County.

Y'all may remember my post a couple of weeks ago about the Galveston County Jail recording conversations between inmates and their attorneys. Galveston County DA Jack Roady said he would get to the bottom of the cess pool and stop the recordings.

Well, Jack didn't exactly move at the speed of light to insure that the rights of inmates in the county jail were protected after State District Judge Susan Criss shone a little light on the problem.

"What's to prevent a sheriff's deputy from listening to a call and finding other evidence that was illegally derived and then it's given to the prosecutor?  - Gary Trichter, TCDLA President

To his credit, Mr. Roady did ask his prosecutors if any of them had ever listened in on a conversation between an inmate and his attorney. Only one raised his hand. Whether that means that no one else did, or that no one else is willing to admit it, I don't know. I certainly hope that it's the former.

Of course we'll never the know the full extent to which Galveston County violated the rights of those it held in custody. The mere fact that the conversations were recorded violates the right of the accused to have privileged communication with his or her attorney. If they're taping phone calls between inmates and attorneys, what other rights are being trampled on down along the coast?

And, what's this - the Harris County Jail is doing the same thing?

The Harris County Jail also has been routinely recording all conversations, including those between attorneys and clients, but is trying to change the practice, sheriff's spokesman Alan Bernstein said. Bernstein said the jail has been programming defense attorney phone numbers into the system over the past few months. 

These are the same folks who want to install a video conferencing system to cut down on the cost of in-person visits. These are the same folks who swear up and down that they won't be recording or listening in on privileged communications on the proposed system. But here they are making a mockery of the right to converse with an attorney in confidence.

There is no need to praise Galveston County Sheriff Freddie Poor or Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia (or whatever PR flack he puts out in front of the cameras) for ending the practice. No one involved in this mess should be lauded for doing the right thing and putting an end to an illegal practice.

What else aren't we being told? Hmm, might want to get on that right away and let us know.

Listening in

While Harris County is looking to install video conferencing in the jail and promising that the integrity of the attorney-client relationship will not be compromised, the word on the street is that the Galveston County Jail was recording phone calls from the jail between inmates and their attorneys. And, as if that's not bad enough, some of these recordings were forwarded to the Galveston County District Attorney's Office.

Of course Jack Roady, the Galveston County DA, claims that the procedure is being stopped. Excuse me, Jack? "Being stopped?" Really. Either the phone calls are being recorded or they aren't. It's quite easy to stop the procedure.

The very fact that those calls were recorded raises the question of whether or not an agent of the state listened. And what about those cases in which the DA didn't request recordings of jail house phone calls? How many people had their right not to incriminate themselves infringed upon by Galveston County? How many had their right to privileged communication with their attorneys violated?

Now it's time for the DA's Office to come clean and notify defendants and their attorneys on all cases in which these recordings were made and forwarded to the prosecutors. If there is any honor in the office, Mr. Roady should sign off on orders granting writs of habeas corpus in each and every one of those cases.

The actions of Galveston County are reprehensible and call into question the validity of the criminal (in)justice system on the island.

Here's a little Blondie for y'all.

Adventures on the island

I was down on the island the other afternoon to visit a client in the Galveston County Jail. Now for anyone who's ever been down there to visit clients in jail, you know that it's a lot less hassle than trying to see a client in the Harris County Jail (well, except for the drive).

I checked in at the front desk and the officer on duty took my driver's license and bar card. He handed me a visitor's badge. He asked me if I had a cellphone and I told him it was stashed in my car (a colleague of mine had his disappear while he was in the back meeting with a client so I refuse to take mine inside). He then asked me if I had any keys.

I told him I did and he asked me for them. I asked him why (figuring I was going to hear a tale of how some inmate was caught with a set of keys). He replied that some attorneys had left the jail without returning their visitor's badge.

Um, Einstein, how about you just not return the driver's license and bar card until you've got your badge back in your hand?

Let's see Bear Grylls get out of this

This morning while down on the island I stopped by the Galveston County Jail to consult with a client. Due to the nature of his case it was best that we meet face-to-face rather than over the video monitor system.

So, with my badge on my lapel I took my briefcase and entered the facility. Down the hall I walked to the command center and then down the wing to the attorney booth. I ran into a deputy on the way and we talked a bit about the current number of inmates in the jail and the jail's capacity.

I made my way to the attorney booth, pushed the buzzer and was let in. Now ordinarily I put a business card in the door so it won't lock behind me - but today I left the house in a hurry and didn't have any cards with me.

My client and I discussed his case, the state's "offer" and what he was willing to do. After we finished I stood up and walked over to the wall to push the buzzer to be let out. My client did the same thing on his side of the glass. After about a minute the door opened and my client stepped out to be taken back to his cell. I waited for my door to open.

And I waited. And waited. And waited. I pushed the buzzer again...and again...and again. Still the door wouldn't open. I saw maintenance staff leave one pod and enter another one so I knew some of the buzzers worked.

Still I waited. I banged on the window and I kicked the door. Still nothing. I pushed the buzzer another dozen or so times. The door remained locked. Finally I heard a cart coming down the hallway. I had to be ready to get the driver's attention (all those hours of Man v. Wild were going to come to good use).

Then I saw the deputy I had spoken to earlier. I motioned to him and he came to the door, found his key and unlocked it.

Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, I was free at last!

Will video kill our access to the courts?

The "open courts provision" of the Texas Constitution guarantees people in Texas access to the courts.

All courts shall be open, and every person for an injury done him, in his lands, goods, person, or reputation, shall have remedy by due course of law. - Texas Constitution, Art. 1 Sec. 13

In most courthouses in Texas, those who are accused of committing criminal acts are still brought before a judge in open court to enter their pleas. There is one exception, however.

If you are charged with a misdemeanor offense in Galveston County and you cannot post bond, your first court appearance will be on the misdemeanor jail docket at the Galveston County Jail. Every afternoon a fresh group of inmates are brought into a large room where they wait for their court-appointed attorneys to talk to them about their cases. In most instances a plea is negotiated -- but this is where the similarities end.

For the inmates on the misdemeanor jail docket are brought before a judge in a courtroom. The judge takes the plea from his chambers while the inmates stand before a video monitor in the county jail. A two-way camera, microphones and speakers connect everyone. Keep in mind, we're not talking about arraigning folks who were just arrested before a magistrate on a video monitor (which is not at all uncommon). We are talking about the actual disposition of a criminal case.

Is it really that big a deal, though? It is far more convenient to be able to sit down and talk to a client at the jail rather than squeezing through the benches in the courthouse. But is Galveston County violating their right to have their plea heard in open court? Do the inmates care?

I don't know. I understand why it's done like that on the island and there are some advantages - for both inmates and attorneys - in doing it this way. But I wonder if the practice is slowly eroding our access to the courthouse. Is the camel sticking his nose under the tent?

Sound off regarding the inmates at the Galveston County Jail

If you, too, are disgusted at the callous disregard Galveston County Judge James D. Yarbrough showed our fellow citizens being held in the Galveston County Jail, let him know. These men and women are being held in a fetid swamp with no air conditioning, no water and nonfunctioning toilets on an island that the mayor urged everyone remaining to evacuate.

Local officials are now blaming the feds for the lack of generators at the jail -- anything to deflect attention from their indefensible decision not to evacuate.

Judge Yarbrough's email address is James.Yarbrough@co.galveston.tx.us.

The new capital punishment

On August 1, 2008, Arturo Chavez, a 17-year old illegal immigrant and student at Clear Creek High School, was stopped by League City (TX) Police and arrested for driving without a valid Texas driver's license. He was taken to the League City police station where, according to the cops, he ran out a door and tried to climb a fence. Arturo, who stood 5'3" and weighed about 125 pounds, was beaten by four League City cops and tasered multiple times.

EMTs took Arturo to the hospital for treatment of his injuries and then returned him to League City officers for processing into the Galveston County Jail. No officers reported any injuries. At the GCJ, Arturo was placed in solitary confinement. Despite being warned that Arturo was suicidal, GCJ officials left him alone in his cell.

Three days later Arturo was dead. He had hung himself with a blanket.

It wasn't the first time that an inmate in the GCJ ended up dead. On February 6, 2008, a 24-year old Galveston man who had been picked up on municipal warrants died in custody after suffering multiple seizures.

Capital punishment is authorized in Texas for capital murder and aggravated sexual assault of a child under the age of 14, not for driving without a license or not paying municipal traffic tickets.

Galveston County isn't the first county to kill off its inmates due to incompetence, negligence and neglect, and it won't be the last. The Harris County Jail has been investigated for over 100 inmate deaths since January 1, 2001.

While going to jail isn't a pleasant experience -- it shouldn't be a deadly experience. As no one in Austin or Washington, D.C. wants to be labled as being a defender of those in custody, the only means we have at our disposal to bring these stories to an end is to obtain judgments against those ultimately responsible for these senseless deaths.