Rep. Sylvester Turner takes aim at one of Perry’s vetoes. Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, said he would propose a House Concurrent Resolution advocating restoration of funding for the Public Integrity Unit of the Travis County district attorney’s office, which was vetoed by Gov. Rick Perry last week. [...] This morning on the floor of the [...]
Posts Tagged ‘District Attorney’
TPJ alleges Perry broke the law when he threatened to veto Public Integrity funds
Well, now isn’t this a nice little can of worms. In a complaint sent to prosecutors today, Texans for Public Justice alleges that Governor Rick Perry potentially committed several criminal offenses related to his recent threat to use his discretionary power to withhold money from the Travis County District Attorney’s office unless DA Rosemary Lehmberg [...]
Perry will veto Integrity Unit funds unless Lehmberg resigns
This could be checkmate for Rosemary Lehmberg. Gov. Rick Perry will veto financing for the public integrity unit — the state’s ethics enforcement division — unless embattled Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg resigns, an official close to the governor said Tuesday. The Austin American-Statesman reported Monday night that Perry would use a line-item veto [...]
Another petition filed against Lehmberg
The filer is a former colleague as well as a former opponent of Travis County DA Rosemary Lehmberg. Rick Reed, who ran against Lehmberg in 2008 and is now a defense attorney in Austin, filed the petition with the district clerk’s office Wednesday. In all, it claims 16 counts of official misconduct ranging from coercion [...]
Mike Anderson reveals that he has cancer
Very sorry to hear this. Mike Anderson, Harris County’s district attorney, informed his staff Thursday that he has been diagnosed with cancer. “I have great doctors and am undergoing treatment. I fully intend to beat this,” said a brief email sent Thursday and signed “Mike.” “Many people have asked how they can help me. I [...]
Reed for AG?
This is one of the stranger “draft somebody” movements I’ve seen. A movement has been building among local Republicans over the past few months to encourage Susan Reed to run for state attorney general in 2014. Reed, the hard-nosed, four-term Bexar County district attorney, would be the first female AG in the state’s history, a [...]
Lehmberg out of jail
Her incarceration may be over, but Rosemary Lehmberg’s problems are far from it. Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg was released from jail early Thursday after serving half of a 45-day jail sentence for pleading guilty to driving while intoxicated. Lehmberg, who was sentenced April 19, served half of her jail term under a law [...]
What to do with a problem like Rosemary?
The Austin Chronicle has a great overview of the Rosemary Lehmberg situation. All speculation aside, Lehmberg has vowed that she will not resign. In a letter to Travis County residents (apparently dictated to friends from jail and posted to her official website and to her Facebook page), Lehmberg reiterated that she intends to stay in [...]
Weekend legislative threefer
That sound you heard on Friday was Rick Perry stamping his feet if he doesn’t get his way. Gov. Rick Perry is warning state legislators that it could be a long, hot summer in Austin if they don’t pass his top priorities: funding water and transportation projects and cutting business taxes. With a month left [...]
Who resigns after a DUI arrest?
The Statesman asks the question and gets some answers. In 2006, District Attorney Tim Cole had a decision to make. The then-chief prosecutor for Montague, Clay and Archer counties had been arrested for drunken driving after a day of July Fourth celebrating at a lake across the state line in Oklahoma. It didn’t take him [...]
Lehmberg pleads guilty, gets 45 days
Off she goes. District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg has pleaded guilty to drunken driving, was sentenced to 45 days in jail and immediately taken into custody. Lehmberg’s blood alcohol level registered at 0.23 when she was arrested April 13, her attorney David Sheppard said. Sheppard said the the punishment is “without a doubt” the “harshest” sentence [...]
Should Travis County DA Lehmberg resign?
Perspectives on that are colored by politics right now. While Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg sought to put her weekend drunken driving arrest behind her, debate over her political future reached the State Capitol on Monday, where lawmakers weighed in on whether she should resign and how a replacement might be chosen. Some officials [...]
Travis DA Rosemary Lehmberg arrested for DUI
Oops. Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, arrested and charged with drunken driving overnight, plans to remain in office and will not resign, according to a spokeswoman. According to county records, Lehmberg, 63, was arrested by Travis County deputies in Northern Travis County near RM 2222 and FM 620 and booked into the county jail [...]
Going after human traffickers
This is a great story about Ann Johnson, the Democratic candidate in HD134 last year, who is now back with the District Attorney’s office fighting against pimps and traffickers who prey on kids. Johnson, a 39-year-old juvenile law attorney, is fluent in the language of the street, rattling off facts about Houston’s tracks, where pimps [...]
The Lykos era officially ends
That’s all she wrote. A grand jury scrutinizing former District Attorney Pat Lykos and her administration declined Thursday to indict Lykos regarding allegations of misuse of public resources. The Harris County grand jury’s decision to end its term without action ends a yearlong probe. It was initiated when the Texas Rangers asked for a special [...]
No increase in jail population as yet
Good to hear. When Harris County District Attorney Mike Anderson toppled incumbent Pat Lykos in last year’s Republican primary, some county budget hawks got fidgety. The campaign’s central issue, after all, was Anderson’s opposition to a Lykos policy that treated cases with drug residue of less than 1/100th of a gram as misdemeanors. Lykos was [...]
Trace cases to be prosecuted as felonies again
So says our new DA. Newly elected Harris County District Attorney Mike Anderson said Thursday he will prosecute as felonies drug cases that involve trace amounts of crack cocaine, reversing his predecessor’s stand on the so-called “trace cases.” “If there is enough evidence to test in a lab, then we’ll take the charges,” Anderson said. [...]
Mental health court coup
Interesting. Citing problems with the administration of Harris County’s mental health court, a board of judges has ousted the court’s founder and presiding judge, Jan Krocker, officials confirmed Friday. “There were a lot of valid complaints about Judge Krocker’s administration of the court, and she didn’t like the idea of oversight,” said Michael McSpadden, Houston’s [...]
Anderson’s DWI proposal
You may recall that former Harris County DA Pat Lykos’ DIVERT program for DWI offenders was a major point of contention in the GOP primary fight that was eventually won by new DA Mike Anderson. (If you don’t recall, see here and here for some background, or review the interviews I did with Lykos and [...]
Time for the biennial attempt to de-fang the Travis County DA
Same story, next chapter. The Texas Ethics Commission, long criticized for its lax enforcement of public officials, is considering a plan to take over all ethics enforcement from the Travis County district attorney’s office, which has a long history of prosecuting errant state officeholders. The eight-member Ethics Commission, meeting Thursday in Austin, is scheduled to [...]
What I’ll be looking for tonight
Just a reminder that I’ll be on KPFT tonight starting at 7 PM to talk about the elections. Here’s a preview of the things I’ll be looking for: 1. SD10 – Sen. Wendy Davis vs Mark Shelton: Easily the most important race on the ballot in Texas. Davis has been a progressive champion and a [...]
30 Day finance reports, Harris County candidates
Here’s a look at the 30 day campaign finance reports for Harris County candidates. All reports can be found by going to the Harris County Clerk campaign finance reports page. Candidate Office Raised Spent Loans Cash ========================================================== Garcia Sheriff 192,670 120,957 0 388,197 Guthrie Sheriff 158,700 48,633 171,000 98,152 Alessi Sheriff 1,019 2,007 700 1,719 [...]
What if Oliver wins?
Nothing good, that’s for sure. “If he wins, I’m moving to Fredericksburg” said his GOP opponent, Mike Anderson. “I don’t have anything against him personally, but I can’t imagine what that office would be like.” His criminal history, unusual sense of humor and the unfounded attacks on Anderson, the darling of county prosecutors, mean there [...]
Endorsement watch: The easy calls
The Chron makes an easy call. One of the clearest choices Harris County voters have in the 2012 election season comes in the race to succeed Pat Lykos as district attorney. Mike Anderson, a 30-year veteran of the DA’s office and a former criminal district court judge, is far and away the better qualified of [...]
Oliver to remain on the ballot
Can’t say I’m surprised. Attorneys representing Harris County Democratic Chairman Lane Lewis and the state Democratic Party argued that perennial candidate [Lloyd] Oliver should be kept off the ballot because he violated a party rule prohibiting a complimentary remark he made about defeated District Attorney Pat Lykos, a Republican, but District Judge Bill Burke ruled [...]
Who gets to rule on Oliver’s eligibility for the ballot?
We’re waiting for a ruling in the Lloyd Oliver lawsuit, but before we get a ruling in the case we must first get a ruling on who gets to rule in the lawsuit. Tuesday’s federal court hearing centered largely on arguments between Democratic Party lawyer Chad Dunn and the leader of Oliver’s six-man defense team, [...]
Oliver sues to stay on ballot
We’ll find out who’s right soon enough. On Friday, Houston attorney Lloyd Oliver filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent the Harris County Democratic Party’s attempts to oust him from the ticket. “They’re not going to put any candidate on the ballot. They just shut the whole thing down,” Oliver said. The lawyer called the move [...]
Dems boot Oliver
Here we go. The Harris County Democratic Party worked Wednesday to take district attorney nominee Lloyd Oliver’s name off the ballot, deciding to go forward without a candidate in November’s general election. Whether they can actually take the outspoken and controversial lawyer out of the race remains an open question because state law does not [...]
Birnberg files complaint to force Oliver off the ballot
I’m far from thrilled to have Lloyd Oliver as the Democratic nominee for District Attorney, but this seems a bit much to me. Gerry Birnberg, the former party chair, filed a complaint earlier this month to have Oliver removed from November’s ballot because he praised the sitting district attorney, Republican Pat Lykos. Specifically, Birnberg said [...]
July campaign finance reports for Harris County candidates
You know the drill by now. Office Candidate Raised Spent Cash Loans ============================================================ Sheriff A Garcia 47,025 41,900 357,818 0 Sheriff L Guthrie 70,176 75,646 33,075 157,000 Sheriff C Pittman 11,309 11,566 5,217 24,000 DA M Anderson 73,888 60,980 33,371 0 DA L Oliver 0 150 0 0 County Atty V Ryan 56,571 33,047 145,606 [...]