Harris District Attorney

Quanell X Joins the Chuck Rosenthal Ouster Party

The DA Office's Exodus: And So It Begins

Election Night Parties -- Where To Watch

The Case of the Missing Case

What good is a review committee that doesn't get to review?

Killer Behind the Badge

Susan White complained to friends and authorities about Deputy Joseph Kent McGowen, but nobody listened. Then he killed her.

Re-Hanging the Judge

An angry grand juror says Lupe Salinas is a victim of kangaroo court justice

Good News: Helpful DNA Evidence. Bad News: Her Client May Still Die

Defense attorney Sarah Frazier got the DNA results she wanted. They might even win her tomorrow's hearing. But her client could still be put to death. Frazier has fought for years to introduce new DNA testing to the case of Charles Raby, who was convicted almost 15 years ago of murdering a grandmoth ... More >>

No Time for Sergeants

The Houston Police Department puts high-ranking cops out on the street

Pain for the Prosecution

Assistant district attorney Kristen Pain sent criminals to jail -- and then went to jail herself.

Letters

Assistant district attorney Kristen Pain sent criminals to jail -- and then went to jail herself.

Surprise, Surprise: Yet Another Delay In 15-Year-Old DNA Case

Attorney Sarah FrazierBack in January Hair Balls brought you the saga of the seemingly endless DNA case of convicted grandma-killer Charles Raby. He's been on Death Row since 1994, and the DNA challenge has been going on for more than six years. Today's scheduled ruling was pushed back yet again.&nb ... More >>

Turkeys of the Year

DA Chuck Rosenthal flies off with top honors

Death Threats and TAKS Tests

Some TAKS tests are murder

Ask Another Mexican

Free SPM (oh, and buy his new CD)

Kiss and Tell

Critics want the diocese to explain why this Roman Catholic priest is still celebrating Mass

High Scores

Students are using drugs illegally not to party down, but to get better marks on exams

Mercenary or Media Martyr?

A self-proclaimed journalist has had a paying job -- private eye

The Insider

The Talented Mr. Stockman. A defeated politician resurrects himself in Seventh District heaven with a stash of campaign cash

The Insider

Political Goodfellows Editor: Gabe and Gary get new toys; Lee and Mario cry in their stockings

Get The Goods On All The Bads

We Snitch on HOUSNITCH! What's really behind City Hall's whistle-blower Web page?

Faulty Lab Report May Buy Death Row Inmate New Trial

It's good news for death row inmate Charles Raby - and more bad news for Joseph Chu. The former Houston crime lab analyst has taken a beating in the Michael Bromwich reports, which determined that, among other things, the lab had manipulated results to help with convictions. And it seems that in th ... More >>

ID Theft

Someone gets your social, ruins your credit, upends your life. And gets away free and clear.

13-Year-Old Can't Be A Prostitute Because She Can't Consent To Sex, Attorneys Argue

​The Texas Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments in a case involving the Harris County District Attorney's prosecution of a 13-year-old girl for prostitution. Attorneys for the girl, called "B.W." in the proceedings, say that, because a minor cannot consent to sex, B.W. should not have been ... More >>

Crash Reports

Running a red light and killing someone does not automatically mean you're in trouble in Harris County.

Lance Reyna: An Arrest, But No Hate-Crime Charges

An easier prosecution without a hate crime angle, prosecutors say​Authorities have made an arrest in the assault of a gay-rights leader who was attacked on the central campus of Houston Community College, but no hate-crime charges will be filed.HCC student Terrance Calhoun, 22, was charged in the ... More >>

Unidentified Male, Bayou Body Count No. 167

No charges filed at this point​A man was found stabbed to death in a Third Ward garage apartment Sunday; the man with whom he was arguing was questioned but not charged.Police responded to a disturbance call in the 5900 block of Grace about 12:10 a.m. Sunday and found a man stabbed in the torso. H ... More >>

Orlando Castano: New Bribery Bust In Bogus DPS License Scheme

Photo courtesy DPS Orlando Castano, sex offender and (alleged) dealer in fake driver's licenses​There has been a new arrest in the Department of Public Safety bribery case. Last week administrative DPS clerk Gracie Gutierrez was arrested and charged with bribery for accepting cash for a fake licen ... More >>

Juan Tejeda & Jorge Magdeleno: After Living Quietly For 16 Years, Arrested On Murder Charges

Sixteen years later, caught​Another week, another cold-case arrest in Houston.This time it was two men who had been on the run since participating in a gang murder back in 1994, officials say.Jorge Carlos Tejeda, 33 and Jorge Tejeda Magdeleno, 35, were quietly arrested July 7, Tejeda at the tire s ... More >>

Michael Anthony Green: Wrongly Imprisoned For 27 Years, But Don't Hold Your Breath Waiting For Restitution

Michael Anthony Green deserves to get paid, but he'll have to wait in line. ​The case of Michael Anthony Green has been in the news lately, because Green served 27 years in prison for a rape he didn't commit. The district attorney's office sent out a press release yesterday taking credit for Green ... More >>

Carol Vance: Former DA Cancels Book-Signing Appearance; Death-Penalty Foes Claim Victory

Carol Vance ducks out of an appearance​Carol Vance, a former longtime Harris County District Attorney, canceled an an appearance last week at Murder by the Book to promote his biography Boomtown DA.The store said simply the cancellation was "due to extenuating circumstances," but death-penalty foe ... More >>

No Refusal DWI Crackdowns: Every Weekend For The Next Three Years

Because you're mine, you walk the line​Every holiday weekend, it seems, the Harris County District Attorney's office puts out a release touting a "No Refusal Weekend," where law-enforcement sets up locations targeting drunk drivers.Normally, DWI suspects who refuse to take a Breathalyzer (as attor ... More >>

Unidentified Male, Bayou Body Count No. 238

A stabbing death, but maybe no charges​A man was stabbed to death Sunday afternoon in a southwest side apartment, police say.The victim and another man were arguing in an apartment and the fight escalated into a stabbing about 1:20 p.m. in the 6400 block of Bankside, police say. The victim, whose ... More >>

Bill Satterwhite: Three (Alleged) Strikes And You're Out Of The Fake Lawyerin' Game

Photo HCSO via Fox 26Bill Satterwhite just has a hankering to lawyer​For the third time, former attorney William Everett Satterwhite has been caught practicing law without a license. This time the penalty for the 66-year-old disbarred lawyer could be life in prison. According to court records, an ... More >>

2010 Turkeys of the Year

Metro chief Frank Wilson is our biggest gobbler.

Crips & Bloods: DA Gets Her Civil Injunction Against Them

First injunction granted in gang fight​The Harris County District Attorney's office announced last month they would be seeking civil injunctions against gang members operating near a northeast side apartment complex, and late this afternoon a judge granted the first such one in Harris County. ... More >>

Jason Woytek: Public Servant Accused Of Stealing Dozens Of MHMRA Laptops

Jason Woytek was a true Pawn Star​If you believe what Jason Woytek has written about himself on the Internet, you'd think he was a man of many and varied achievements: a man of God, a top salesman, budding author, an Eagle Scout and an elite former soldier. Woytek claims to have been an Army s ... More >>

The Great Heights Art Heist: The Aftermath

An attorney says he'll help artists​Developments continue in the case of H Gallery, the Heights art gallery we featured last week that is alleged to have been ripping off artists for the past several years. Last Saturday, H director Heidi Powell-Prera showed up at the Heights' First Saturday ... More >>

Michael Medina: Sheriff's Deputy Kills Man Who Stole His Taser

Gun beats Taser​A 37-year-old man was shot and killed by a Harris County Sheriff's Deputy during a struggle in an apartment complex on the east side of the county, HCSO officials say. Deputy Michael Medina, an eight-year HCSO veteran, was responding to a disturbance call at a complex in the 1 ... More >>

Michael Brown: Wife's Divorce Attorney Claims the Hand Doctor Tried to Hire a Hit Man to Kill Her

Michael Brown facing more allegations​Former hand surgeon Michael Brown tried to hire a hit man to kill his wife, his wife's lawyer told a Harris County Family Court judge Thursday. In a heated meeting in front of Judge Jim York, David Brown (no relation) said he had received a tip from the H ... More >>

Heights Art Heist Update

Lawyers loom, tempers flare

Jessica Tata: Now She's Facing Murder Charges

HCSOJessica Tata faces a longer sentence​The stakes have been raised against Jessica Tata, the owner of the daycare center where four children died in a fire. Previously charged with manslaughter, now Tata faces murder charges after court filings yesterday by the Harris County District Attorn ... More >>

Luciano Rosales: Strips 88-Year-Old Widow Of $1.3 Million, Blows It On Online Dating, Ballet

Luciano Rosales will have to neglect his online matches if he's found guilty.​Ten years ago, a 77-year-old widow named Nola Grimes buried her son -- her last living blood relative. So when Luciano Rosales -- a 50-year-old employee of Grimes's business Cash Money, reported KHOU -- approached he ... More >>

Joe Roach, Former Council Member, Dies at 49

Joe Roach​Joe Roach, the former Houston city councilman known as much for his dwarfism as being a politician, lawyer and TV analyst, has died after a brief illness, KTRK is reporting. The station says Roach, 49, had been hospitalized for a month with an undisclosed illness. He had been a cit ... More >>

Alleged White Supremacists Beat Black Man, But DA Doesn't File Hate Crime Charge

FacebookCharles Cannon won't face hate-crime charges.​In a crime that hearkened back to the skinhead days of the early '90s, or modern-day Dallas, four white men remain behind bars today charged with assaulting a black man at a downtown bus stop early Sunday morning. Police want the incident c ... More >>

The Peddler

Both in and out of prison, Brian Culwell has spent his life selling people baubles, trinkets and jewels. Now he's buying your gold and silver.

HPD Sting Snags HBU Cop with Coke

Jesse Frank Perry​A three-year veteran of the Houston Baptist University police force has been fired and now faces first-degree felony drug charges after the Houston Police Department caught him in a sting operation yesterday. According to the Harris County District Attorney's office, HPD had ... More >>

Yohance McClane, 30, Bayou Body Count No. 180

Stabbed to death by his girlfriend​The Harris County District Attorney's office will decide whether to present charges to a grand jury in the death of Yohance McClane, 30, who was stabbed to death by his girlfriend, police say. McClane died at his apartment in the 16100 block of Vickery on th ... More >>

Ruggles Waitstaff Stages Walk-Out, Alleging Non-Payment of Tips: UPDATE

Photo by Ed T.Ruggles owner and chef Bruce Molzan lost 60 percent of his staff Saturday night.​Update: Bruce Molzan says that he has "three auditors" and a new manager going through files and payroll records as of today, admitting that Ruggles does owe the waitstaff back wages. "It's about $14 ... More >>

Ruggles Waitstaff Walks Out Over Allegedly Getting Stiffed on Tips

Photo by Ed T.Ruggles owner and chef Bruce Molzan lost 60 percent of his staff Saturday night.​Saturday night at Ruggles was busy. There were nearly 200 customers packing the restaurant at Westheimer and Montrose, with a skeleton crew of only five waiters out of a normal ten-man crew. And at 7 ... More >>

Maria Garcia Delao: Molested Sleeping 13-Year-Old Girl, Cops Say

Maria Dalao: Conroe woman faces charges​Police say a 13-year-old girl awoke one night last spring to find Maria Garcia Delao, 27, fondling her. The girl was a relative of Delao's boyfriend and was spending a night last May in her apartment when the alleged attack occurred. The girl told her ... More >>