Money Well Spent

7.5 million dollars.

According to the Austin American Statesman, that’s how much money it cost the state of Texas for the first 19 days of the raid of the YFZ Ranch in Eldorado and ensuing boondoggle aftermath. I had a few other words to describe this situation, but this is a family friendly site.

And that’s just the first 19 days. It’s been roughly five weeks since the raid out in West Texas. Who knows what the costs are up to now.

To make matters worse, the local government’s are a little leery about how whether or not Austin is going to foot the bill.

State Comptroller Susan Combs told Dewhurst, Craddick and Perry in a letter that she plans to work to “utilize funding allocated in the current state budget to cover the allowable emergency costs.”

But some government officials aren’t sure what “allowable emergency costs” include, and that’s making them nervous.

Tom Green County Treasurer Dianna Spieker said: “We’re operating under faith” that the county will be reimbursed. She said last week her county had spent $70,000 on everything from overtime for law enforcement to paying the road and bridge department to set up barricades.

State Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, a member of the finance panel, said the operation is largely a state responsibility.

“We should reimburse local agencies as soon as possible for any action they have taken that is state responsibility,” she said.

Technically, many of the court costs are the responsibility of the counties, but state leaders say they plan to use state money.

“We can’t wash our hands from it — we’re the ones who did it,” said state Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, a member of the Finance Committee. “I hope it turns out it was the right thing to do.

Same with some of the many attorneys who have graciously volunteered their time to help out.

Some lawyers who volunteered to represent the children are now wondering what they’ve gotten into financially. Susan Hays of Dallas, an attorney for a young girl, said she’s spent nearly $1,000, mostly on gas to visit her client in East Texas and the client’s mother in San Antonio.

“We were all told it was a one-day hearing,” she said. “My case is now spread out all over the state. The Legislature is going to have to do something.”

Did the state of Texas have any plan as to what they were going to do with all these kids, all of which would be needing legal representation? While its great to see so many in the legal community volunteer their time, surely the State had some other plan. I would hope so, especially for a county of just over 100,000 people out in west Texas

To top it off, according to Grit’s latest post on the subject (which by the way, his coverage has been excellent), there was ample evidence that the call sparking the whole mess didn’t come from Texas and didn’t come from anyone credible, and the authorities just ignored it.

Authorities knew before the raid that Dale Barlow was in Arizona, had spoken to him, but made no effort to have him arrested or detained by his probation officer.

The caller mispronounced the name of the town (there’s a long “a” in Eldor-A-do), used terminology that did not match FLDS religious lingo, and only gave details about the group and the ranch that could be easily gleaned online.

Authorities knew the calls to the shelter didn’t come from Texas, and with minimalist investigation would have identified the caller as a routine hoaxer.

So what have the citizens of Texas gotten for our 7.5+ million dollars?  A whole lot of nothing.

Hide and Seek

My practice takes me to three different counties on a fairly regular basis, giving me six different offices to deal with.  Three County Attorneys and three District Attorneys.  And each one has a different interpretation on just how much information they have to give me.  One of the offices will basically let me come in, grab the file I need from the filing cabinet and make copies of whatever I need.  On the other hand, I’ll ask another office if I can see a file, not even make copies - just read it for myself, and instead they’ll just give me an executive summary.  Great, I’m getting a biased summary of an already biased police report.  Sadly, most of the offices are more like the latter.

This refusal to share frustrates me to no end for a couple reasons.  First, I came to Texas from a state with a much more liberal interpretation of Brady, where the DA’s were basically forced to hand over everything at the start of a case.  Oh no, not Texas.  It was a bit of a shock for me when I got down here.

Second, to me it seems like an incredibly inefficient way to operate.  One office will let me look at the file, but instead of making copies, I’m only allowed to take notes.  So rather than having a complete picture of the case that I can read at my convienence, I have to spend my time trying to decide what’s important enough to write down, and then having to read my own writing a week later when I look at the file.  And if I decide I might want more information, I have to go back to the DA’s office (at a time that’s convenient for them) and make more notes.  Wouldn’t it be a better use of everyone’s time to just let me make a copy of what I need?

So why do the prosecutors make getting information as tough as they can?  I really can’t think of any better reason for them besides, under the law, they can.  Which is a pretty crappy reason.

Because I Got High

People who skip out on jury duty make me mad. First off, it’s your civic duty. Suck it up and miss work for a couple days. Second, I really want to be on a jury and will probably never get to. And while the Homer Simpson method for getting out of jury duty is my favorite, “the trick is to say you’re prejudice against all races,” a lady in Houston had a pretty good way to avoid it.

Judge Sherman Ross tried to assemble a jury of peers for a woman accused of possession of a marijuana on trial Tuesday.

But authorities say prospective juror Cornelia Mayo might have taken that concept a bit too far after she was caught smoking a joint outside the courthouse during a break.

The 49-year-old Houston woman was one of 20 people in a jury pool in Criminal Court at Law No. 10.

Ross said he realized something was wrong when juror No. 2, Mayo, didn’t return from a 45-minute break. Before the judge could file a bench warrant for the missing juror, his bailiff got a call from police notifying him that Mayo was being booked on a charge of smoking marijuana outside the criminal courthouse.

“I’ve had prospective jurors get lost before, but it never occurred to me that they might be getting ready for a marijuana trial by, allegedly, smoking marijuana,” Ross said.

I just want to know what her thought process was, what could have possibly lead her to think firing up a doobie outside the courthouse was a good idea.

It’s Fun To Do Bad Things

I suppose with Grand Theft Auto IV coming out last Tuesday, this is an appropriate post.

Let’s review here.  We’ve got a 7 year old who:

• Looks like he’s ready for a triple-bypass.
• Has friends who smoke.
• Jacked a car, causing plenty of property damage.
• And tells the reporter that “It’s fun to do bad things, drive into a car;” “I wanted to do hoodrat stuff with my friends,” and suggests an appropriate punishment would be “No video games for a whole weekend.”

Is there any doubt this kid’s future is the doing time in the pen?

Lock & Load

Just as an aside, tonight is one of those nights that makes me glad I live in Texas.  I’m sitting out on my back deck typing this.  It’s 70 degrees with no humidity.  I’ve got Radio Free Texas streaming (thanks to my neighbor’s wifi he didn’t password), a bottle of Shiner Bock, and a Kinky Friedman cigar.  Yes, life is good here in the Lone Star State.

I caught an article in the Houston Chronicle today that a barbecue joint owner in Baytown shot and killed an apparent burglar.

An alarm company contacted the owner of Four Corners BBQ, 7735 Decker, shortly before noon to report a possible break-in at the business, sheriff’s deputies said.

The owner, whose name was not been released, saw a broken window when he arrived and then saw a man inside, authorities said.

“The business owner told the male inside to stop, (but) he continued moving,” said sheriff’s Sgt. L.A. Davis.

The owner fired once from outside the building, fatally wounding the burglar. Davis said the owner, who is licensed to carry a concealed handgun, kept a shotgun and pistol inside the restaurant and may have been concerned that the intruder had them.

That in and of itself really isn’t that interesting.  While I don’t know the statistics of how many criminals, potential criminals, and/or alleged criminals are killed each year by private citizens, it probably happens more often than we think, especially in a pro-gun state like Texas.

What I found interesting were the comments at the end of the story by Chronicle readers.  I don’t really want to say the readers were happy about what happened, but I can’t think of any other word to describe it.  Gleeful might be a little better, but that’s essentially the same as happy.  Consider the following:

YAY FOR THE RESTRAUNT OWNER!!!!! The thieving piece of scum got what he deserved.

Well I want to get in my two cents worth before some bleeding heart comes on here, more concerned for the criminal’s rights than the victim’s.
I truly hate ANYONE getting killed, BUT if this happens enough, any one with even an INKLING of smarts would GET IT.
They need to KNOW that if they rob or attack someone on their property, they run the risk of losing their lives and decide whether their lives are worth more than a lousy $150 or less.
MAYBE, this will make them get out and get a REAL job….NAW….they will just keep on with their criminal activities and we will watch the headlines. Folks, if you know anyone that leads this kind of life, take out a life insurance policy on them…it could pay off!

I get off when a good guy kills a bad guy. I have no love for sub-human ghetto thugs.

This made my day, I hope to hear a similar story tomorrow. I also hope the families of the Ghetto Thug are suffering because they deserve it.

That is awesome!!!! That piece of trash got himself eliminated from the gene pool!!!! Way to go !!!!!!

You break into someones home or business then you assume the responsibility of getting killed! Thats That! I catch somebody breaking into my house and this place will sound like a shooting range! I have guns in every room! Come on punks! Getya some! Better yet! GET A JOB! earn your own sh*t!

Yeah…

I’ll admit, based on the facts as I know them, I’m not inclined to have a whole lot of sympathy for the deceased.  I feel bad for his family, he was a son to someone, maybe a brother, or a husband, or a father.  There’s got to be at least one person who there who cares about the deceased.  I’m sure expressing those sentiments on the Chronicle’s website would get me labeled a “criminal coddler” or something equally clever.  But sympathy for the guy killed, there’s not a whole lot for me.

But, I’m not going to go dance on his grave, so what leads to the attitude seen on the Chronicle?

The obvious answer is that its the internet, and any moron with a keyboard can post their thoughts, this blawg is a perfect example.

There has to be more than that though.  I don’t know what.  Any thoughts?