Odds and Ends

Several recent stories captured my attention that I haven't had time to write about, but I wanted to at least take a minute to point them out to Grits readers in case y'all had something to say about them:

• Dallas DA Craig Watkins accused of exchanging "face time" with the DA to corporations for office party sponsorship. AHCL over at Life at the Harris County Criminal Justice Center calls the incident a "stumble during the walk on water."

• The prosecution rested yesterday and the all-woman jury may begin deliberating soon in the commissary-related corruption trial of Randall County Sheriff Mike Shumate in Amarillo.

• The Murphy police chief who facilitated a partnership with NBC's Dateline resulting in a suicide by an investigative target (an assistant DA from a neighboring county) was fired for his role in the TV show cum investigation.

• An elderly civilian was killed in Dallas when a "bait car" left on the side of the road to lure auto thieves crashed during a getaway. Police were unable to disable the bait car remotely, which was the premise of the program. The "bait car" idea has been temporarily suspended while DPD evaluates the incident (and probably their legal liability).

• A jury acquitted a former Wilson County Sheriff's deputy of pistol whipping a suspect last year, but the department doesn't want him back and he's probably leaving law enforcement.

• Austin police fired an officer this week - a rare occurrence indeed, for lying about a suspect in an investigative report. The officer claimed the suspect resisted arrest and alleged facts disputed by the in-car video, which the officer tried to conceal from investigators. See the APD memo terminating the guy.

Meanwhile, in border towns just south of the Rio Grande:

• Juarez (El Paso's sister city) has witnessed more than 500 drug-related murders since the beginning of the year, and the situation has deteriorated to the point where the city of El Paso is asking for federal assistance to pay for medical care for wounded Mexican cops.

• Mexican police have botched the investigation of reporter Roberto Mora from Nuevo Laredo, who was assassinated after reporting on activities of local drug cartels, "by torturing suspects and mishandling evidence, the country's human's rights commission said."