Texas Justice Indicted, Prosecutor to Seek Dismissal of Charges
The district attorney in Houston says he will ask a court to dismiss charges against Texas Supreme Court Justice David Medina and his wife, indicted yesterday in connection with an arson fire that destroyed their home.
Medina was charged with evidence tampering and his wife with arson under the grand jury indictments, the Austin American-Statesman reports. The tampering charge concerned a letter Medina gave investigators about the fire, the Houston Chronicle reports.
But Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal said he does not feel there is enough evidence to proceed and will ask a court to dismiss the indictments. The grand jury indicted Medina and his wife against the advice of prosecutors. Rosenthal himself has been the source of media attention lately over e-mails containing racial slurs and off-color jokes, and he is not seeking re-election.
The Medinas had faced apparent financial problems, the Dallas Morning News reports. They did not pay nearly $10,000 in county and school district taxes, and they were accused of missing mortgage payments in a foreclosure suit that settled out of court.
Jury foreman Robert Ryan told the Houston Chronicle he disagreed with Rosenthal. “If this was David Medina, comma, truck driver, comma, Baytown, Texas, he would have been indicted three months ago.”
Ryan and Jeffrey Dorrell, the assistant foreman of the grand jury, said the grand jury may reconvene and seek to re-indict the Medinas if Rosenthal gets the charges dismissed. “It was theater of the absurd,” he told the Houston newspaper. “We knew before we handed the indictment down that the district attorney was going to refuse to prosecute, but we did it anyway.”
