Don’t ever let it be said that Texas Justice is anything less than harsh. Having been the presiding judge of a felony district court, I have seen my share of cases that were horrible and deserved punishment. From murder, enormous thefts and rape, there are some bad folks out there that need to be kept away from the rest of us. Thank goodness we have elected District Attorneys that are willing to do the job and see that justice is served.
In Texas, the prosecutor has one clear duty that is spelled out in section 2.01 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure:
“Each district attorney shall represent the State in all criminal cases in the district courts of his district and in appeals therefrom, except in cases where he has been, before his election, employed adversely. When any criminal proceeding is had before an examining court in his district or before a judge upon habeas corpus, and he is notified of the same, and is at the time within his district, he shall represent the State therein, unless prevented by other official duties. It shall be the primary duty of all prosecuting attorneys, including any special prosecutors, not to convict, but to see that justice is done. They shall not suppress facts or secrete witnesses capable of establishing the innocence of the accused.”
To see that justice is done – that is quite an admirable directive!
However, there is an even higher duty required for crime victims. Cynthia Morales in writing for the Texas District and County Attorney’s Association, the prosecutor’s organization in Texas, explains it this way:
“Under both Article I, §30 of the Texas Constitution and article 56.02 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the two most significant pronouncements of crime victims’ rights in the state of Texas, it is the “attorney for the state” who has the primary responsibility for ensuring and enforcing crime victims’ rights in Texas. The Texas Constitution gives the “state, through its prosecuting attorney” the “right to enforce the rights of crime victims . . .”
The right’s of victims, in Texas, are of paramount importance.
But in a huge failure, both legally and humanely, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office under Ms. Devon Anderson has incarcerated a female rape victim after she broke down on the stand, crossing the line from care and concern about a victim of a horrible crime, to solely being concerned about securing a guilty verdict.
Let that sink in. A young lady who was raped has been jailed because she had a mental breakdown while testifying about her horrible experience. The rationale for this was that the prosecution was afraid she would not return and testify so they could get a conviction. So rather than take that chance, the DA’s office did the only thing they thought was reasonable – jail the victim so they can haul her into court when her testimony is needed.
You can see the original story here: http://www.click2houston.com/news/rape-victim-put-in-jail-after-breakdown-on-witness-stand
Harris County Attorney District Attorney Devon Anderson, issued this response, in an attempt to slow the criticism she was receiving for the decision to jail the crime victim.
You can listen to her response here: http://www.click2houston.com/video/video-statement-from-harris-county-da-devon-anderson
I have seen some bad calls made by a prosecutor. I once presided over a trial where the range of punishment was 25 – life for an assault. It was a young, gung-ho prosecutor that wasn’t seasoned enough to make common sense trial decisions. He thought because he could do something that meant that he should do it. The case was involved the accused slapping and pushing his girlfriend. In seeking to overly punish the defendant, the prosecutor wanted the maximum punishment allowable, life in prison. Luckily, the jury saw the case for what it was and sentenced the defendant to a fine. In fact, the defendant took the stand and told the prosecutor to “give me a Class C and let me get out of here.” Which is exactly what the jury did after wasting a week in trial, at the taxpayer’s expense.
But while that was a poor charging and punishment decision, nothing I have ever heard of comes close to locking up the victim of a crime for the sake of securing a conviction.
Texas justice – tough on crime . . . and crime victims.
judgecase 