From Brian Rogers's and James Pinkerton's article in tomorrow's Chronicle about the DA's new immigration plea policy:“We think the impact would be minimal, and we should be able to handle that difference,” said Kenneth Landgrebe, who heads ICE detention and removal operations.If the impact (!) on ICE detention and removal operations would be minimal, and if the effects on the criminal justice system (including less due process,

I was called for jury duty today. Strangely, none of my 100-or-so fellows in the jury assembly room seemed nearly as excited about the prospect of serving as I felt. When I made it to the courtroom (the 180th District Court, Hon. Debbie Mantooth Stricklin presiding) and saw that Caroline "Wonder Woman" Dozier, one of my favorite prosecutors, was prosecuting the case, I thought I might actually

I was relaxing on the front porch of Bennett Manor with a glass of good single-malt when the telephone rang. It was my private line -- the number I don't give out to anybody. Caller ID showed an unfamiliar overseas area code. I answered it.-Hello?Pssst. Mark.-Mr. X? Where are you calling from?I'm here in town. I'm routing this call through Bulgaria so they can't listen in.X, my

The Dallas Morning News reports that Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller, who recently whined about not getting Chip Babcock appointed to represent her in the Commission for Judicial Conduct's suit against her, "failed to abide by legal requirements that she disclose nearly $2 million in real estate holdings" in a sworn statement to the Texas Ethics Commission last April.The sworn statement Keller was

From Houston's Fox 26 News: Pat Lykos regrets using the word "incompetent."

Commenting on Sharon Keller's whining about being denied the right to counsel because she has to choose between representing herself and paying Chip Babcock's full fare, the Chronicle's Rick Casey writes:The judge should know better, especially in these tough times, than to ask us taxpayers to agree to a lawyer whose usual and customary fees can lead to a ruinous legal bill. However, I personally would be

It's an encouraging sign that, when two prosecutors this week used seven of their peremptory challenges to strike black potential jurors, resulting in a sustained Batson challenge and the dismissal of the jury, Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos disciplined them. Forcing a prosecutor who uses peremptory challenges on the basis of race to start over with a new jury panel is like throwing him in the

(Inside joke. Sorry.)

Early this morning, my telephone rang. I answered it.Psst. Mark.Through my REM haze: Mr. X, is that you?Shhh. Yeah, it’s me. Listen, Mark, I’ve got something for you.I was immediately awake — X has always provided interesting stuff in the past; some of it pure gold. I’m listening.Okay, Mark, here it is. Jim Leitner went around to the misdemeanor courts. Told them to pick a whale. He’d

Here's Sharon Keller's sworn answer (h/t The Houston Chronicle, without which we would be a news-free town) to the Texas Commission for Judicial Conduct's Notice of Formal Proceedings against her. She spends several paragraphs reiterating the facts of Michael Richard's case (the "he had it coming" defense), explains that Richard was not seeking not to be executed, but rather not to be executed using the current protocol