Kim Ogg
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said Monday it will be at least another 60 days before a decision is made on whether to re-try the murder case against former Katy football star and Alief coach David Temple.
Temple’s conviction was tossed out last year after the state’s highest court ruled that prosecutors withheld evidence in his 2007 murder trial. He was sentenced to life in prison for the grisly shooting of his pregnant wife, Belinda Lucas Temple, in 1999.
On Monday, Ogg said she needed more time to review the massive file before deciding whether David Temple would face trial again. She also said she had not ruled out giving the case to a special prosecutor.
“There’s been a number of requests, from the victim’s family and their supporters, for us to recuse ourselves,” she said. “It’s all under consideration.”
She said she was looking at whether the office has a conflict of interest, or the appearance of a conflict. And if the decision is made for a retrial, she said she is weighing whether a special prosecutor should do that.
“It’s an important case to me,” said Ogg, who took office Jan. 1. “It’s an important case in terms of how prosecutors behaved under the past administrations and how that affects future prosecutions. That’s why I’m handling it personally.”
See here for the background. One of the things this story discusses is a recent fundraiser for Ogg to which some of David Temple’s attorneys contributed, as this may present a conflict of interest for her. The Press, which has been foursquare in the “David Temple is a murderer who needs to be locked up” camp, is all over this. Ogg has not ruled out bringing in a special prosecutor to review the case and make the decision to proceed or not with it. Given how tainted this case is, that may be the wiser course of action for her. We’ll know more in sixty days or so.
I am confidant that no matter which way it goes Kim Ogg will make sure justice is done. No complaints here.