The Chron pens a harsh editorial.
DA Devon Anderson
Although a spokesman for the district attorney’s office has admitted this miscarriage of justice should never have happened, Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson defends the prosecutor involved in the case. She says the prosecutor tried to find a suitable place for the sexual assault survivor to stay after her breakdown and even paid for a night in a hotel out of his own pocket. Calling it “an extraordinarily difficult and unusual situation,” the DA said there were “no apparent alternatives” that would ensure the victim’s safety and that she also would appear to testify. Coming from a district attorney who presents herself as a champion of crime victims, that’s mighty hard to swallow. Throwing a mentally ill rape victim into jail because there’s supposedly no other place for her to go should shock the conscience of every citizen of Harris County.
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Voters will pass final judgment on Anderson’s handling of this matter. With the district attorney up for re-election in November, the incident already has become a political issue.
Meanwhile, we call upon our elected leadership to ask the U.S. Justice Department for a federal investigation of this case. The DA and the sheriff have offered their own explanations, but an independent inquiry is absolutely essential.
We also urge Harris County Judge Ed Emmett and county commissioners Jack Cagle, Gene Locke, Jack Morman and Steve Radack to take the time to read the lawsuit the victim’s lawyer filed. It’s a frightening document outlining an unimaginable perversion of justice. We hope they lose sleep thinking over what they need to do about it.
See here and here for the background. We absolutely should be hearing more from Judge Emmett and Commissioners Court – including Sen. Ellis – on this. Do they support a federal investigation into what happened? We need to know.
and yes, this is a campaign issue.
District attorney candidate Kim Ogg on Tuesday again pushed for reform in the treatment of crime victims, criticizing the controversial jailing of a rape victim by Harris County prosecutors to ensure the woman would testify in court.
Ogg said the district attorney’s office could improve how victims are detained if prosecutors are worried witnesses might fail to show up in court. She also suggested the creation of a new division in the district attorney’s office that would be responsible for prosecuting people who commit sex crimes.
“I will never put a crime victim in jail to secure a conviction,” she said at a Tuesday press conference. “There are so many other things we can do … There is no excuse for putting this woman in jail.”
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Ogg called last week for an independent investigation of the case and has now made crime victim treatment a campaign priority, saying her proposed reforms would be implemented if she is elected in November.
Sheriff candidate Ed Gonzalez has also been speaking out about this. You may say, we shouldn’t politicize this. I say District Attorney and Sheriff are political offices for a reason, and it is ultimately on the voters to decide how and when to hold the people who serve in those offices accountable when stuff like this happens. DA Anderson and Sheriff Hickman have given their responses to what happened. We get to decide how we feel about that. That’s how it’s supposed to work.
speaking as someone who generally leans right Anderson is absolutely terrible. She deliberately “misinterprets” law for her advantage or political gain. She is anti transparency and fights legal open records requests for basic information. She doesn’t work with those that strongly disagree with what she is doing. Everything she does is trying to balance not alienating potential voters from the left or right. All that has done is make her base support look for other options. I know a lot of R voters that are at least planning on undervoting. If Ogg could at least alleviate some concerns and gain clear support from law enforcement and commit to fair and strong prosecution of criminals I think she could peel off enough R’s to win easily.
The DA’s handling of this matter was abysmal. Anderson should certainly be required to deal with political implications.
However, the fact that the Harris County Jail is inappropriately used as the county’s largest psychiatric facility (and has been for decades) is the responsibility of the Harris County Commissioners.
There is already a long-standing federal investigation and lawsuit over the horrific conditions in the Harris County Jail. Another federal investigation over this particular matter is not what is needed.
What is needed is for citizens and the media to hold the Harris County Commissioners politically responsible for their failure to address the problems of the Harris County Jail. Addressing such problems (as well as the problem of flood control) may not be as popular as dithering over retrofitting the Astrodome. But addressing such issues will go much further in making the Houston area a civil place for its citizens to live.
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