Archive for the ‘TCDA’ Category

Random notes: August 14, 2013.

Wednesday, August 14th, 2013

Ford stopped making the police variant of the Crown Victoria in 2011. We’re now in 2013, and police departments are starting to retire the last of the Crown Vics.

Law enforcement is a practical, left-brain business of protocol and procedure. But a discussion of the Crown Vic brings out a romantic side. The traditions and symbols of life behind the badge become intertwined with its tools. Two tons of rear-wheel drive and a V-8 engine up front made for a machine that could feel safe at any speed, a reliable nonhuman partner when things got crazy.

I have flirted from time to time with the idea of purchasing a former cop car as a backup vehicle. (“It’s got a cop motor, a 440 cubic inch plant, it’s got cop tires, cop suspensions, cop shocks.”) Problem is, the state surplus store wants nearly $6K for used DPS cars; at that price, I could go get a used Miata or Outback instead.

The 1933 double eagle is on display at the New York Historical Society. I’ve written previously about the strange history of the 1933 double eagle, and the linked NYT article contains a good summary, too.

If you have nothing to hide, why do you object to being stopped and frisked by the police being recorded by a camera?

Yet another reason why Rosemary Lehmberg should resign.

Guess who’s getting a raise?

Thursday, July 18th, 2013

No, not your obedient servant.

The State of Texas has approved a $15,000 a year raise for all local DAs and district judges.

Including Rosemary Lehmberg.

Lehmberg is already the highest paid elected official in the county, making $125,000.00 per year in state funds. The county pays her $35,298 giving her a total salary of over $160,000.00.

From the legal beat.

Tuesday, June 11th, 2013

I have previously written about the strange case of Carolyn Barnes, the local lawyer who was accused of shooting at a census worker, sent to the state mental hospital (where she continued to represent at least one client) and was later ruled competent to stand trial.

Ms. Barnes was convicted yesterday of assault with a deadly weapon.

She could be sentenced to up to 20 years in jail, though I have serious doubts that she will be given that much time.

In other news, the Statesman is reporting that Governor Perry is threatening to withhold funding for the “state’s Austin-based ethics-enforcement unit” unless Travis County DA Rosemary Lehmberg resigns. As you may recall, Ms. Lehmberg was convicted of DWI back in April and sentenced to 45 days in jail.

I apologize that the link stinks. The Statesman‘s new paywall goes into effect today, and I have been unable to find a link to this story elsewhere. (Edited to add: Link? What link? Seriously, I griped about the Statesman link but forgot to actually include it. Here’s a story from the HouChron “Texas Politics” blog that reports the same thing: the HouChron blogger suggests that this is part of an effort to cut off “a criminal investigation into the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas”.)

I haven’t decided what I’m going to do about the Statesman yet. Paying for digital access would give me a tax write-off for Low Fat Heavy Industries. On the other hand, the cheapest subscription is $9.99 a month. I already subscribe to the NYT and LAT for you, my readers, and I find it hard to justify $10 a month for the Statesman.

Good time.

Thursday, May 9th, 2013

Travis County DA Rosemary Lehmberg is out of jail.

Lehmberg, who was sentenced April 19, served half of her jail term under a law that gives two days credit for every day served for good behavior.

(I think that’s pretty much SOP, but I Am Not A Lawyer. Just want to make it clear that I don’t think she got any special treatment.)

“In the coming days, Rosemary will be making arrangements to seek professional treatment and better understand her behavior,” the statement said. “She will also meet with members of her staff with whom she been communicating throughout the last 3 weeks.”

Letter from Travis County Jail.

Sunday, April 28th, 2013

Travis County DA Rosemary Lehmberg says she’s not going to run for re-election in 2016. She also says she plans to seek “professional help and guidance” once she’s released.

It may seem that I’ve been gloating about this case. I’m not. Truthfully, I feel bad for Ms. Lehmberg. I’m not an expert in substance abuse, but if she had blown a .09, I could chalk that up as the kind of mistake anyone could make. Driving around with a .239 BAC and an open bottle of vodka in the passenger seat makes me think there’s a problem. I respect Ms. Lehmberg for standing up and taking responsibility for her actions – including entering a guilty plea right away, rather than forcing a trial and all the conflicts that would result from her office prosecuting her. I think she’s doing the right thing by seeking professional help.

But I also feel that her actions have compromised the office. And as I’ve said before, the law is the law, and says she can be removed from office for intoxication. There’s no “good person” exception.

I hope Ms. Lehmberg gets help, and I hope she remains a respected member of the Travis County legal community. I hope she uses this experience to help other people in similar situations. But I believe she needs to do so as a defense lawyer, not as an elected prosecutor.

Radio silence.

Thursday, April 25th, 2013

There just hasn’t been much newsworthy in the past day or so. I’m having trouble working up energy to write about TMQ’s mock draft column (further proof that Easterbrook is more funny to himself than he is to real people). I’m also having trouble with the latest Travis County DA development:

More than 170 Texas attorneys filed a brief Thursday in support of jailed Travis County district attorney Rosemary Lehmberg.
Austin criminal defense attorney Betty Blackwell said that Lehmberg, who pleaded guilty Friday to driving while intoxicated, has received a harsh sentence of 45 days in jail, a $4,000 fine and a 180-day drivers license suspension.

“Hey, Rosemary? Betty. How are you doing?”
“Oh, I’m so glad to hear that. Listen, Rosemary, I need a favor.”
“Well, Rosemary, I’ve got this client…”
“Look, Rosemary, when you were in jail and needed a hand, I stood up for you. Now you’re not willing to help me out with a little deal here?”

This is exactly the kind of thing I was afraid was going to happen. And, you know, I’m not sure it makes a difference. The petition to remove Lehmberg is based on the law, and the law says you can get thrown out for being intoxicated. Lehmberg’s confessed to DWI. As far as I know, the law doesn’t say you can get thrown out for being intoxicated unless you get a bunch of your friends to testify about what a great person you are.

Anyway, instead of content, have a couple of photos.

austin1

This is the Austin skyline, facing south from the 27th floor observation deck of the Main Building at the University of Texas. (Yes, that observation deck.) Taken at 1/60 and f/22, with the Nikon 55-200 VR zoom at 55mm. Just to the right of the Capitol, you can see the Frost Bank Tower, or as some of us like to call it, “the nose hair clippers”.

capital1

This is the upper portion of the Capitol, taken at 1/30 and f/22 with the same zoom at 200mm, and cropped some in iPhoto.

Firings, obits, and other things: April 23, 2013.

Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013

Firings: Mike Dunlap, Charlotte Bobcats head coach. One season, 21-61.

Obits: Richie Havens. NYT. LAT. A/V Club.

E. L. Konigsburg, noted author (From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler). NYT. LAT.

This is one of those little tidbits that I find fascinating: “From the Mixed-Up Files…” won the Newbery Medal in 1968. That was Ms. Konigsburg’s second book. Her first book, Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth was the runner-up that year. (She won a second Newbery medal in 1997 for The View from Saturday.)

Mrs. Konigsburg, who spent a year teaching high school science, was an unabashed information-pusher. Children’s books, she once said, are “the key to the accumulated wisdom, wit, gossip, truth, myth, history, philosophy, and recipes for salting potatoes during the past 6,000 years of civilization.”

There will probably be more to say about this tomorrow, but Allan Arbus has also passed away.

In other news, while I was out and about having fun, Lawrence was working. Specifically, he’s been posting video of the Travis County DA being arrested for DWI, and of the DA in jail.

And what do I have to offer to compare with that? Pictures, maybe?

IMG_0607

Here we see the elusive Mike the Musicologist. While Jim attempts to throw a net over him, let me tell you about Mutual of Omaha…

And one for my great and good friend Weer’d Beard: ducks!

ducks

DAs Gone Wild!

Friday, April 19th, 2013

Order now! Only $19.95!

Lehmberg had been placed in an isolation cell for protective custody but she refused several orders to stop kicking the cell door and was put in “the emergency restraint chair,” the records say.

More:

According to an inmate incident report, Lehmberg also resisted a pat-down, refused to comply with officers, tried to scratch and grab an officer’s hand and yelled.
She was handcuffed and “leg-ironed,” according to the report.

And updating: in addition to the 45 days in jail, she was fined $4,000 and her license has been suspended for 180 days.

I know what you’re wondering: who will run the show while she’s doing hard time? Answer: “operational aspects of the office will be handled by senior staff“.

But DA Lehmberg isn’t the only local DA who has run aground on the shoals of the law. And at least she didn’t hurt anybody.

Former Williamson County District Attorney Ken Anderson was ordered arrested and booked into jail for the “intentionally harmful act” of hiding favorable evidence to secure Michael Morton’s 1987 conviction for murder, the court of inquiry found.
“This court cannot think of a more intentionally harmful act than a prosecutor’s conscious choice to hide mitigating evidence so as to create an uneven playing field for a defendant facing a murder charge and a life sentence,” District Judge Louis Sturns ruled.

I did not write a lot about the Michael Morton case and the court of inquiry into Anderson’s conduct because…well, I was a little distracted at the time, the case is complex, and it was being well covered by other people. Texas Monthly did a two-part series on the case itself, and covered the court of inquiry as well.

The short version of the story: Morton came home from work one day in 1986 and found his wife had been murdered. Morton was charged with and convicted of her murder, and served 25 years in prison. In 2011, DNA testing established another man committed the crime: Morton was released from prison, exonerated, and the other man was convicted of the murder in late March of this year. During the proceedings leading to Morton’s release, there were accusations that Anderson and the Williamson County DA’s office had intentionally withheld evidence from Morton and his defense during the original murder trial: these accusations resulted in the court of inquiry and the charges against Anderson.

Breaking!

Friday, April 19th, 2013

Not Boston: Travis County DA Rosesmary Lehmberg has pled guilty to DWI and been sentenced to 45 days in jail.

The Statesman reports she had a 0.23 BAC when she was stopped. The significance of this:

First-offense drunken driving is a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by as much as six months in jail and a $2,000 fine. But last legislative session, lawmakers upped the charge to a Class A misdemeanor if a suspect’s breath or blood test shows a blood alcohol level of 0.15 or above. A Class A misdemeanor carries a sentence of up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine.

Random notes: April 17, 2013.

Wednesday, April 17th, 2013

“anyone who has lived in Travis County for six months” and “is not currently under indictment”.

Heh. Heh. Heh. Personally, I would have waited until she was actually convicted, but that’s just my strategic thinking.

(Hattip: Lawrence.)

The “not yet named as a suspect” in the Kaufman County DA shootings had “more than 20 guns” in a storage unit. Or, as we call that in Texas, “just about average”.

And the firearms included two or three handguns and seven assault rifles.

I’d like to see these “assault rifles”; I don’t trust the NYT to know which end the bullets come out of.

Edited to add: Well. Well, well, well. Well. How about that Aryan Brotherhood?

Speaking of trusting the NYT on guns:

With no requirements for background checks on most private transactions, a Times examination found, Armslist and similar sites function as unregulated bazaars, where the essential anonymity of the Internet allows unlicensed sellers to advertise scores of weapons and people legally barred from gun ownership to buy them.

More:

The Times assembled a database and analyzed several months of ads from Armslist

Whooop! Whoop! Journalist with a database alert!

I have to head out the door shortly, but may come back to this NYT article later on.

Obit watch: Pat Summerall.

Random notes: April 16, 2013.

Tuesday, April 16th, 2013

So here’s the latest on Travis County DA Rosemary Lehmberg: she says she plans to plead guilty to the DWI charge and accept whatever punishment the court gives her. No word on whether she’s going to hire a lawyer or act as her own attorney.

But. There’s a catch.

Chapter 87 of the state’s Local Government Code lists among the “general grounds for removal” of a district attorney and other county officials “intoxication on or off duty caused by drinking an alcoholic beverage.”
Under that law, a removal petition could be filed by anyone who has lived in Travis County for six months and is “not currently under indictment” for a crime here. The petition would be filed with a district judge, and a trial would be held on the charge — with a jury to determine the official’s fate, according to the law.

“anyone who has lived in Travis County for six months” and “is not currently under indictment”. You don’t say.

And I said “What about ‘Breakfast At Tiffany’s’?”
And Patrick Healy said “Closing on Sunday.”

Boston Globe. Boston Herald.

Edited to add: Joe Huffman, the man behind Boomershoot and someone who knows his way around explosives, has some informed speculation on what might have been used. Short version: it doesn’t look like a commercial or military grade explosive.

Speaking of crimes, remember the Kaufman County DA killings? Remember how people were suggesting the Aryan Brotherhood was involved? Yeah. About that.

Phone blogging stinks.

Saturday, April 13th, 2013

Travis County DA arrested for DWI. More later.

Edited to add 4/14: Longer story from the Statesman.

The document indicated Lehmberg participated in a field sobriety test but refused to complete portions of the roadside exam. It was also unclear Saturday whether the arrest was captured on patrol car video.

Lehmberg told arresting deputies that she had two vodka drinks and that she had taken 20 milligrams of propranolol, a blood pressure medication. The document said the smell of alcohol on her breath was moderate and that her eyes were “watery, bloodshot and glassy.” Deputies found an open bottle of vodka in the car’s passenger side, the affidavit said.