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. . . and your little dog, too // December 10, 2007 at 8:08 pm

Let me probably mangle one of Molly Ivin’s more apt comments by thanking all y’all Mississippians for sometimes making Texas look better.

It’s been kind of a dry spell, but glad to see y’all revvin’ up again.

Well hardy-har, little dog, we see y’all just couldn’t stand that for long, couldja? Nope. With “Texas” insinuating itself into the conversation ’round here more often of late — examples here, here, and here — you been scratching at the do’ and wanting in on the action. And now here you come busting with a case to out-crazy any we got on offer.

Okay, Mississippians et al., how’s this for a quote?

“This is crazy. This is mind-boggling, what this grand jury has done. This is more than a runaway grand jury. This is a grand jury speeding away in a Lamborghini.”

That’s attorney Terry Yates to the Houston Chronicle. Yates’s client, Republican Texas Supreme Court Justice David Medina, along with his wife, Francisca Medina, got themselves indicted last Thursday for arson (a conviction on which could present Francisca with a maximum sentence of 20 years) and tampering with or fabricating evidence pertaining to an investigation (for which conviction David could get up to 10 years); bail was set at $20,000 (Francisca) and $5,000 (David).

See, what happened was, on the night of June 27, 2007, at a time when only Francisca and a son were home, the Medinas’ house in suburban Spring, TX, burned down . . .

Neighbors reported hearing an explosion before the blaze, which began in the Medinas’ garage.

Investigators became suspicious because of the alleged presence of accelerants in the debris and the appearance that Medina was having financial problems. His home had been the subject of a foreclosure action in 2006, and he acknowledged having allowed his homeowner’s insurance to lapse and being behind on his homeowners association dues.

Medina said in an interview last October that the foreclosure proceedings, which were resolved in December 2006, were the result of “miscommunication” with his bank. He said he did not have homeowner’s insurance at the time of the fire and blamed that on “not recalling exactly how I set up that policy and my automobile policy.”

He said mortgage insurance paid off his note after the fire. Yates did not respond to requests for more information about the insurance claim.

Right now, the Harris County Fire Marshal’s Office won’t talk to the Chronicle, saying the investigation is still open, but back in October, the fire marshal’s lead investigator on the case

described the blaze as “very suspicious” and told the Chronicle that a dog detected an accelerant at the scene.

While detection of an accelerant does not always mean a fire was deliberately set, fire marshal’s investigator Nathan Green said last fall that officials had ruled out any possibility of an electrical fire and found no evidence to suggest it was accidental. Green refused to identify what specific type of accelerant was found.

Green also told the Chronicle in October that Medina and his wife offered inconsistent accounts of his whereabouts on the night of the fire. And the foreclosure proceedings were a “very, very big red flag” for investigators, he said at the time.

Okay, all that’s hinky enough — but it ain’t the half of this thing.

On Friday morning, the very Harris County District Attorney whose office brought the Medina case to the grand jury in the first place, one Chuck Rosenthal (also a Republican), first thing he does when he hits the office is dismiss the Medinas’ indictments — thereby surprising, well, not a soul:

Grand jurors anticipated that Rosenthal would seek to have their indictments dismissed. Foreman Robert Ryan and assistant foreman Jeffrey Dorrell said that the district attorney’s office made it clear, even before the grand jury started considering the case, that it was vigorously opposed to Medina being indicted. …

“This is ludicrous. This is not right. This is a miscarriage of justice,” said Ryan, 63, a Republican who has been foreman on at least four grand juries. “If this was David Medina, comma, truck driver, comma, Baytown, Texas, he would have been indicted three months ago.” …

“I’ve just never seen anything like the vigor with which these two defendants were defended by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office,” Dorrell said. “It was theater of the absurd. We knew before we handed the indictment down that the district attorney was going to refuse to prosecute, but we did it anyway.”

Welp, Ryan and Dorrell’s statements to reporters so pissed-off Counselor Yates that he filed a motion asking that they be held in contempt of court. Then yesterday, the whole thing went further bonkers-bizarro when District Judge Jim Wallace ruled that an order extending the grand jury’s term from November 2 into February hadn’t been properly drafted, so all its indictments were invalid — not just the Medinas’ but 30 others! Didn’t sit just right with the grand jurors, this ruling:

“I’m appalled at the sheer incompetence and arrogance of office of our district attorney,” said Ryan, who has served on four grand juries and called the dismissal of the Medina indictments a “totally stupid miscarriage of justice.”

“Because of what the district attorney’s office did, all the criminals we indicted have walked away,” said Ryan, who said the grand jury’s term was extended so they could continue to investigate the Medina case, as well as the mortgage fraud cases.

Of the eight grand jurors attending the press conference, half had served on previous grand juries. Several said they had been disheartened by the turn of events over the past week.

“We’ve put six months of our life on hold, jobs and everything. We thought we were doing the right thing and someone puts a big wall up in front of you and doesn’t let you do what you feel is right,” said Shannon Burns, who was serving on her first grand jury. “I thought it was important. We took this straight to heart. We were never one to sit there and be a rubber stamp for the district attorney’s office.”

Mind you: Chuck Rosenthal’s protestations that politics has nothing to do with this notwithstanding, David Medina is to Governor Rick Perry (R) as Alberto Gonzales (whom he closely resembles in looks) to George W. Bush. According to the Chronicle, the former state district judge in Houston was Perry’s general counsel before Perry appointed him, in late 2004, to the Texas Supreme Court (which hears only civil cases). He was elected in 2006 and won’t be up for re-election again until 2012.

Then there’s this little problem (and no, I’m not making it up):

The grand jurors’ charge of political favoritism comes at a time when Rosenthal is battling to save the rest of his term. He withdrew from seeking a third term in office after e-mails surfaced with notes of adoration for his secretary, racist jokes and sexually explicit images.

Rosenthal also answered charges from fellow Republicans and community groups who have asked for his resignation.

“They’ve got their First Amendment rights to say anything they want to. I don’t think it’s true,” Rosenthal said. “I think that people who have known me for a long time know that I’m neither sexist or racist. I haven’t changed.”

Oh, and Francisca Medina’s attorney is Dick DeGuerin, whose name is about as well known in-and-for Texas as Dickie Scruggs’s in-and-for Mississippi.

Finally, some choice quotes from the Chronicle‘s story this morning:

£¢ Grand jury foreman Bob Ryan: “I think voters of Harris County are entitled to a more competent staff in the district attorney’s office than they have today. This is sheer lunacy and incompetence on the part of the elected district attorney. If it weren’t so serious, I would be amused.”

£¢ Harris County Assistant District Attorney Vic Wisner: “If I wanted to help the Medinas and bury the case, I would never have brought it to a grand jury in the first place.”

£¢ District Judge Jim Wallace: “Why did they bring the case to the grand jury if they didn’t want the grand jury to do its job? At that point in time, you ought to stand by, and abide by, what the grand jury wishes to do.”

Juanita,* you here, gal? We could sho’ use yer hep wid dis — and we do love your hair! Mississippians, we gotta really storm back today to top this, doncha think?

lotus

* That could only be:

JUANITA JEAN HEROWNSELF … Juanita is owner of The World’s Most Dangerous Beauty Salon, Inc., Fort Bend’s only professional political organization. Her main qualification to comment on Texas politics is that she owns pink cowboy boots. Not just one pair, but several. Most likely, you don’t.

Through diligent research, it has been discovered that Juanita is the daughter of Judge Clyve T. "ByGawd " Bell and his bride, the lovely and talented Lillie Jean Bell, who was known in a four county area for her unique ability to lasso while singing opera.

Juanita graduated from Elite Beauty School in Del Rio, Texas, (whose motto is: We never heard of you either) first in her class, and after a brief stint with the Buck Pochek Professional Waterskiing and Ring-O’-Fire Extravaganza, she settled down in Richmond. Her first husband, Bubba Hank, died in a semi-tragic Nascar pit stop accident. Juanita has found no good reason to remarry.