Column: Give Healey the boot-
GOP voters can send message to DA’s office
By Fred Hartman
Published:
Friday, January 15, 2010 12:22 PM CST
District Attorney John Healey deserves to be ousted in the March 2 Republican primary, and we were reminded again this week about why that needs to happen.
Healey faces two opponents in Nina Schaefer and Richard Raymond. Two of the central issues will be how he sanctioned wrongful prosecutions of nine men in the Holden Roofing and Jamie Roberts cases.
Essentially, Healey let “white collar crime” prosecutor Mike Elliott run amok and abuse his prosecutorial power.
When Elliott had to file multiple dismissals in both cases and failed to get any convictions, Healey fired him because he became a political liability with the election looming. Since then, Healey has offered a litany of excuses for his poor judgment and inability to control Elliott.
In a candidate forum with Schaefer and Raymond this week, Healey blamed the Fort Bend Herald’s coverage of the Holden Roofing and Roberts trials because he said we disliked Elliott. For the record, other newspapers have also been critical of Healey and Elliott, along with numerous Fort Bend and Houston lawyers.
Healey is deliberately trying to divert attention from his performance. The media’s feelings aren’t the issue. Editorial writers and columnists have a problem with arrogance, bullying tactics, withholding key evidence and general unfairness toward people who haven’t committed crimes.
We have a responsibility to hold our district attorney’s feet to the fire when he allows a prosecutor to use the grand jury as a battering ram and waste taxpayer money....get more at:
http://www.fbherald.com/articles/2010/01/15/opinion/doc4b5089e42d67c902261192.txt
http://www.ethics.state.tx.us/sworncomp/2007/270333.pdf
http://www.richarddraymond.com
