DA Admits Deleting E-Mail, Making Errors in Testimony
District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal of Harris County, Texas, acknowledged in a Friday hearing that he deleted more than 2,500 e-mails he had been ordered to produce in a civil suit.
Rosenthal also told U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt of Houston that he made some errors in previous sworn statements about the e-mail, the Associated Press reports.
Rosenthal that he thought he could delete the e-mail because it was preserved elsewhere. “I didn’t think I was hard-deleting anything,” Rosenthal said. “I thought the system maintained whatever I deleted in a separate part of the information technology system that could be retrieved to satisfy the subpoena.”
Rosenthal said he deleted the e-mails he thought he didn’t need any more, conflicting with deposition testimony that he used the dates the e-mail was received and sent to determine what to delete, the AP account says.
The hearing ended abruptly after Rosenthal’s lawyer asked for a delay. Some observers told the Houston Chronicle that Rosenthal could have opened himself up to possible perjury charges. But KPRC Local 2 legal analyst Brian Wice said the testimony may have been stopped so Rosenthal could correct any material mistatements before the hearing ended, in hopes of fending off any perjury accusations.
Publicity over e-mails already released has forced Rosenthal to abandon his re-election bid. The documents contained off-color jokes, racial slurs and amorous notes to a former secretary.
The e-mails were requested as part of a civil rights suit against the Harris County Sheriff’s Department. The plaintiffs’ lawyer, Lloyd Kelley, ran for district attorney against Rosenthal in 2000 and came in fifth in the five-person race, the Houston Chronicle reports in a separate story.
