Here’s something I hadn’t realized about the Travis County District Attorney. In addition to investigating and prosecuting state level corruption cases (including everyone’s favorite former House Majority Leader), the Travis Co DA’s office has also been responsible for prosecuting criminal environmental cases across the state since 1994 under the Texas Water Code and Texas Health and Safety Code.
Rosemary Lehmberg, the current DA, has been particularly effective at going after large industrial polluters. Since 2009, a special prosecutor, Patty Robertson, has been assigned to the investigation of these cases through a grant from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the state agency responsible for granting environmental permits and handing out fines for non-compliance. Since the creation of the environmental crimes unit, the DA’s office has opened 51 cases, handed down 12 convictions and collected over $3.2 million in fines.
The biggest case they’ve tried so far was against Gulf Chemical and Metallurgical Corporation and its former Environmental and Health Services Manager, Rajani Vadlamudi, for the unlawful discharge of a pollutant into state waters. Gulf Chem was ordered to pay a $2.75 million fine and Vadlamudi was additionally fined and placed on deferred adjudication.
In an interview with the Austin Chronicle, Lehmberg described the strategy behind these cases.
I really do believe that even though sometimes we go for an individual - like it might be the main engineer or the president of the company for individual responsibility - mostly what these folks recognize is where it hits them in the pocketbook. And I think that we’re going to end up being more and more aggressive about that. The more we do these, the more we learn that we can assess bigger fines, because that’s what’s punitive to a big company.
Lehmberg will be facing a tough re-election campaign against former Texas Court of Criminal Appeals judge, Charlie Baird. Her commitment to environmental justice is definitely worth noting in the lead up to Democratic primary (if it ever happens that is).
Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg today announced that Texas State Representative Joe Driver has pled guilty to Abuse of Official Capacity, a third degree felony. Driver is accused of converting more than $20,000 of State travel reimbursement funds intended for his campaign office holder account by depositing those funds into his personal account. Driver should have repaid the reimbursement funds to his campaign office holder account, which had initially been used to pay the travel expenses.
The District Attorney's Office recommended a sentence of five years deferred adjudication probation, a $5,000 fine and that he perform any treatment and counseling as recommended by the probation department. Driver will repay $14,321.49 to his office holder account in addition to the $49,426.87 he had previously repaid, bringing the total amount repaid to $63,748.36. Sentencing is set for December 19th in the 299th District Court.
"Misuse of taxpayer money violates the public's trust. It is most egregious in these hard economic times. Our Public Integrity Unit will continue to protect the people of Texas from unlawful and unethical conduct by elected officials," said District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg.
Representative Driver, who represents House District 113 in the Texas House of Representatives, has announced that he is not running for reelection next term.
If something can be done better, shouldn't it be done better?
Today, my campaign released a new video entitled, "We Can Do Better." In the video, which you can watch below, I discuss reforming the criminal justice system in Travis County to better reflect our values and beliefs.
If you are like most people, the thought of someone spending the night--or a week or a month--in jail for a crime they did not commit is abhorrent to you. It certainly is to me.
As of next Tuesday, former Judge Charlie Baird will stop exploring and begin officially campaigning for the position of Travis County District Attorney. Making his primary challenge to Democratic incumbent Rosemary Lehmberg official, Baird has announced that he will be joined by the Hon. Morris Overstreet, former judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and Cory Session brother of Tim Cole, defendant exonerated in 299th District Court in 2009 by Charlie Baird.
The selection of the Millennium Youth Entertainment Complex in a historically African-American part of East Austin, combined with his announced guests, would indicate that Baird is looking to tack to the left of Lehmberg in his primary challenge. This sets up the highest profile primary on the county level in Travis County for next spring's ballot outside of the TX-35 Congressional primary. Lehmberg sports a broad list of supporters, including many traditional African-American community and elected leaders including Rep. Dawna Dukes, Sheriff Greg Hamilton, and former DA opponent Gary Cobb. While Black voters tend to make up a larger share of the Democratic primary electorate than say a general election, it's not a source of votes from which to launch an terribly strong primary challenge for a countywide race.
We'll know more after next Tuesday as Baird lays out more of his policy agenda which he has been building with community input through local advertising including on Burnt Orange Report.
Rosemary Lehmberg, Travis County District Attorney, announced today that she will seek re-election to a second term.
Lehmberg took office in January of 2009, the first woman to hold that office in Travis County history. In announcing her bid for a second term, Lehmberg pointed to the successes of her office during the last two and a half years of her four year term.
“I am proud of my amazing staff who work tirelessly to keep the people of Austin safe,” said Lehmberg. “Over the last two and a half years we have implemented important initiatives like the deferred prosecution program, mental health team, and the environmental prosecution unit.”
Lehmberg’s campaign team will consist of general consultant David Butts, campaign manager Katie Naranjo, fundraiser Susan Harry and treasurer Bill McClellan. “Rosemary is one of our finest public servants working to ensure the integrity of our government with a watchful eye across the state,” said Butts.
“It has been my honor to serve this community for the last two and a half years,” said Lehmberg. “I look forward to expanding our environmental prosecution of industrial polluters and continuing to create new approaches that end the cycle of incarceration.”
Lehmberg’s kick-off will be hosted by former opponents, Asst. District Attorney Gary Cobb and former Asst. District Attorney Mindy Montford this Thursday at Threadgill’s.
What: Re-Election Campaign Kick-Off for District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg
Date: Thursday, July 14, 2011
When: 6PM to 8PM
Where: Threadgill’s, 301 West Riverside Drive
The event is open and free to the public and all are welcome to attend. For more information about Rosemary Lehmberg's campaign visit: www.rosemarylehmberg.com
I'm not disappointed or surprised to hear the news today that Rep. "Kino" Flores from HD-36 in Hidalgo County, was indicted by a Travis County Grand Jury for failing to disclose sources of income, gifts received, real estate holdings and sales of certain real properties in the personal financial statement that he is required to file each year as a state officer.
The Grand Jury returned six separate indictments, with each indictment relating to a financial statement for a different year starting in 2004 and continuing through2 009. The six indictments contain a total of 16 counts of tampering with a governmental record and three counts of perjury.
The income that Flores failed to disclose exceeded $152,000 in 2004, $125,000 in 2005, $115,000 in 2006, $135,000 in 2007, $185,000 in 2008 and $135,000 in 2009. One count also alleges that he failed to disclose income a dependant child received from HillCo Partners, an Austin lobby firm. The real estate and sales of property that he is alleged to have failed to disclose include a lot in Hidalgo County, a cabin on the inter-coastal waterway in Cameron County, a small ranch in Hidalgo County, a residence in Mission, a condominium in Austin, land in Bastrop County and a residence in Austin. The indictments also allege that he failed to disclose certain gifts, including trips on a plane owned by the LaMantia family in 2007 and an ownership interest in a racehorse given to a dependent child by a lobbyist in 2004.
Tampering with a governmental record is a state jail felony punishable by 180 days to two years in state jail and a fine of up $10,000. Perjury is a class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $4,000.
While these charges have little to nothing to do with Tom Craddick, it could mean the fall of a second of three Democrats once targeted by the Too Close to Craddick PAC.
After an extended election resulting in a lopsided runoff loss to soon to be DA Rosemary Lehmberg, Assisstant District Attorney Mindy Montford announced her resignation yesterday. This isn't entirely unexpected given the circumstances and Montford certainly has plenty of time and options for where her future may take her.
The following is from an interview I had with Rosemary Lehmberg, who is running for Travis County District Attorney against Mindy Montford. We will have more on this race later today. -- Phillip Martin
What separates you from Mindy Montford? Why are you the better choice for Travis County voters?
Clearly, my experience separates me, and the breadth of my experience. I've tried cases and directed every major division in our office, so I am deep in trial experience. I have worked for the last 10 years running the day to day operations of the office, and so I have experience running a large law office - which we are now. That means I have budget and personnel and information services experience that my opponent does not have. I have worked on many community based initiatives throughout my career, primarily when I was the director of the Family Justice Division.
Most important against this particular opponent, I have directed the Public Integrity Unit (PIU) and later, as first assistant, oversaw the PIU. I'm free of influence of the Public Integrity Unit. My opponent has been funded by many people who seek to influence legislation, and unlike her I have independent judgment and know how to exercise independence in my work.
Can you describe briefly what the Public Integrity Unit does, and some things you did during your time as its Director?
The duty and responsibility of the Travis County DA is unique because the center of state government is in our county. All prosecutors have jurisdiction and venue over crimes that occur in the county, and our duty and responsibility includes the crimes related to state government. The PIU does everything from workers compensation fraud to motor fuel tax fraud to insurance fraud. We've undertaken a whole new prosecution in the vice tax area.
I talk about being the guardian of the Capitol, and what I mean is that there is always a possibility of abuse of power through the money that is used to try to influence legislation. By that I mean lobby, and the like, and if money is incorrectly accepted by the Members of the Legislature. It is our job to look at all of those allegations that are made. Some of them are unfounded, some of them are made by political opponents who have a bone to pick, and some are true criminal cases.
We have prosecuted Democrats and Republicans over the years, and what happens in that is the people who abuse power are the ones who have the power. When Democrats were in power, more of them were accused of - in some way - misusing money and power. More recently, there have been Republicans. You have to look at that aspect and that history of that unit to understand they have not been partisan prosecutions - they have been prosecutions of those who abused their power. We're most famous for the Delay case, with the alleged use of corporate money in the November 2002 elections, which led to the Colyandro, TRM-PAC, Tom Delay, TAB, etc. The upshot of that was that the alleged use of corporate money was alleged to have elected a certain set of individuals.
Whoever is the head of the Public Integrity Unit must be able to look at those and determine what is right free of the influence of who is part of those investigations.
Montford has - and correct me if I'm wrong - won the endorsement of all the major law enforcement groups in Travis County. Can you speak to why the law enforcement groups would choose Montford over you?
I've worked with law enforcement individuals up and down the lines. I've got support from the members, just not the political action committee. And that's okay, because the District Attorney has to be independent of everyone. I intend if elected to work closely with law enforcement, but we do have to be independent of everyone.
I think - and I can only say what I've heard - which is that law enforcement wants tougher enforcement of the drug laws. What I've heard them say doesn't have much to do with community-based initiatives, or even too much in terms of public safety in terms of violent crime, which are both essential components of the work of a District Attorney.
Law enforcement officers have worked in the courts more recently, working directly with patrol officers and detectives. And that's a familiarity thing for them. The juries are more prone to be lenient on drug cases and want drug users to get into rehab, rather than be incarcerated. In that way, there is a disconnection between what the law enforcement wants and what the people want. The quirky part, of course, is that the law enforcement often responds to complaints in the community...so the jury itself is exhibiting a disconnection, too. Many people just want drug users off their street, which is why they call law enforcement, but then once they're off the street, they don't necessarily want them to go to jail.
A District Attorney needs to be responsive to all aspects - the community-based needs, and the best approach to public safety. And that can't happen unless you can approach these complex problems from a point of independence.
Check below the fold for the rest of the interview.
(AUSTIN) -- Travis County Assistant District Attorney Gary Cobb will hold a news conference at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, March 13, 2008, in the plaza between the courthouses to make an important announcement regarding the runoff campaign to replace retiring DA Ronnie Earle.
Update: Ok, as pointed out in the first comment, it appears this is more or a less formality and Cobb will be endorsing Rosemary Lehmberg. That should certainly help her. Not only is it an endorsement of one of the 2 defeated candidates, but having the support of the only African American in the race is beneficial given the only other runoff in Travis County is in Constable Pct 1. That race features another African American, Danny Thomas, in a contest with Janie Serna. That district includes many of the county's African American precincts that favored Cobb.
So what exactly does the Travis County District Attorney do? From their website:
The mission of the District Attorney's Office is to see that justice is done by providing the highest quality legal representation for the public and for individual victims of crime, and by supporting the community's efforts strengthen itself and solve problems.
Ronnie Earle is currently stepping down as Travis County DA, but his legacy is one of enormous work that has led to the expandsion of the role of the DA's office. He created the Public Integrity Unit to hold elected officials accountable -- which has included high-profile pursuits of white-collar crime by such notorious elected officials as Tom Delay.
In addition to these and the Public Integrity Office, Earle has helped create and strengthen the Child Protection Team, the Children's Advocacy Center, and the Family Development Center (now part of Parents' Anonymous of Texas). His dpearture leaves very large shoes to fill for one of the most important jobs in the state of Texas.
To learn more about the candidates in the race, click on the links atop this post, or read any of the following resources. We'll be providing a lot more information on this race over the coming days and weeks, so stay tuned.
