Rosenthal won't remove self from crime lab case
BY RENEE FELTZ
.....The ongoing investigation into possible mishandling of evidence within the Houston Police Department crime lab is currently led by Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal.
.....A December 2003 audit of the lab found widespread problems with sloppy record keeping, misinterpreted data and evidence that had been contaminated by water from a leaky roof.
.....Two grand juries investigating reports of shoddiness and ineptitude in Houston's police crime laboratory have widened their inquiry to include asking Rosenthal about his potential criminal culpability for winning convictions with bad evidence.
.....State District Judge Debbie Mantooth Stricklin sent a letter to Rosenthal asking him to remove himself from the case out of concern about a possible conflict of interest.
....."We sent the letter and made a request ... [we] recognize that we don't have the power to force him to do that. And I really can't say anything more about it, other than we sent the request and he said that he didn't feel it was appropriate. The next move is up to him." More.
SBC board makes list of ten worst
BY POKEY ANDERSON
.....On Monday, a non-profit organization released its ratings of the corporate governance practices of over 1,000 U.S. corporations. The Corporate Library, located in Maine, gave a raspberry to the ten worst. Citigroup was rated "Worst Overall" on board effectiveness. Also on the list of the worst boards were Allstate, Emerson Electric, Gemstar-TV Guide, Honeywell, J.P. Morgan, Loews, Verizon, Walt Disney and San-Antonio-based SBC, formerly known as Southwestern Bell.
.....As the organization examined the boards of directors, some of its criteria for good governance were: independent judgment, fair rather than bloated levels of CEO compensation and accountability to shareholders.
.....SBC spokesman Larry Solomon was not pleased with the F grade that SBC received. "We have an outstanding board, a well-managed company, and market-based compensation policies. We put zero credence in this report," Solomon said. More.
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Justice is rare along the border
BY SHANNON YOUNG
.....This week the justice system saw two very distinct outcomes to two similar cases involving immigrant rights. Shannon Young has more on the story:
.....On Monday, a federal jury found Richard Gonzalez, Carlos Reyna and Luis Gomez - three former INS agents - guilty of violating the civil rights of Serafin Olvera. The three were convicted of willfully denying medical attention for the Mexican citizen and longtime Houston resident after he had suffered a paralyzing injury while being taken into custody during a house raid in March 2001. Richard Gonzalez was also found guilty of the additional charge of excessive use of force for the improper use of pepper spray and was taken directly into custody. The other two agents are free on bond awaiting their Sept. 17 sentencing date. For the charge of deliberate indifference, the three face up to 10 years in prison with no parole and a $250,000 fine but Gonzalez could potentially serve up to 20 years as punishment for pepper spraying the quadriplegic Olvera directly in the face for refusing orders to move.
.....This conviction of immigration officers by a jury in a federal criminal court is not only rare - it's among the first of its kind.
.....When the verdict was read, the victim's sister-in-law, Marta Olvera ran from the courtroom crying, overcome with emotion:
....."I wasn't sure I'd have the same reaction when I found that he wasn't convicted. I had exactly the same reaction. I feel like ... thanks God, thanks God. That's the only thing I can say, thanks God."
.....The rare and surprising verdict was reported internationally and is being celebrated as a victory by immigrant community organizations and civil rights advocates - groups that often see nothing but disappointment in the face of tragedy.
.....For example, just one day after the guilty verdict was handed down in the Olvera case, a grand jury in El Paso ruled not to pursue a case involving the fatal shooting of a 19-year old Mexican male by a Border Patrol agent. The teenager, Juan Patricio Peraza, was staying at the Annunciation House, a catholic-run shelter, well known in the El Paso area. On the morning of February 22, Peraza stepped off of the property of the Annunciation House and was stopped by Border Patrol agents. There are multiple eyewitness accounts regarding what happened next. Javier Maldonado, an attorney representing the eyewitnesses summarizes their testimonies:
....."Well it was about 9 in the morning. And there were some witnesses staying in this two or three story building in downtown El Paso when Patricio was encircled by six or seven border patrol agents. And he was facing them and walking backwards and signaling with his hands that he wanted them to stay away. Juan Patricio was not threatening the border patrol agents - some people have said he was carrying a pipe and some people have said it was a broomstick. The witnesses couldn't hear what was being said, but it is believed that the agents were telling Juan Patricio to put down the pole or the broomstick. And it happened so quickly, another border patrol car appeared and the agent came out, pulled out his gun and shot Juan Patricio without any warning, without a realistic assessment of what the situation was, and without Juan Patricio posing any deadly threat to the agents." More.
Jackson Lee, AFL-CIO rally to keep overtime laws
BY ERIC THOMPSON
.....Representative Sheila Jackson Lee came back to town to join union workers as they all oppose a change to overtime pay on Monday. Here's KPFT's Eric Thompson, with more.
.....Scores of workers organized by the AFL-CIO Council joined with US Representative Sheila Jackson Lee on Monday to protest U.S. House Bill 1119.
....."To the leadership of the House, that the working families of Houston Texas are demanding that the bill stands down forever [ambient sounds of cheers and clapping]. So though they are conspiring and meeting as we stand here today, trying to get that bill back on the floor ..."
.....Titled the "Family Time Flexibility Act," the bill would change the practice of what is called "overtime pay." Workers would no longer receive the current hourly wage of one and half times regular wage for each hour worked over forty.
.....Employers would be released from the obligation to pay their workers money for overtime. Instead, companies could compensate workers with a promise of future, unpaid, time off.
.....Member of Union Local 100 for Houston ISD employees, Oral Fitzsimmons describes the challenges school district employees already face in collecting overtime pay.
....."We've been talking about overtime issues here and here in our Union Local 100 represents school district employees here in Harris county, especially in HISD. And later this summer we're going to have to sue the school district because they have thousands of people working overtime and not paying them. So this kind of bill that we're talking about here today is really one of the problems we have here in Houston. It's that the employers don't want to pay this overtime, a lot of them just don't ever pay it, like HISD does." More.
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