There have been a couple of John Bradley sightings this week as he prepares to turn over the reins of the Williamson County District Attorney's office to Jana Duty following a bitter primary campaign. After Duty announced her intention to fire a dozen staffers at the DA's office, including five prosecutors, Bradley said her decision showed she was “blinded by her political hatred” of him and his crew. By contrast, reported the Austin Statesman ("Next Williamson County DA already shaking up staff," Nov. 16), Rob Kepple of the Texas District and County Attorneys Association said, “It’s
not unusual to have a lot of changes early on. Everybody gets to set
their office up and get the people in that they want.” For her part, “Duty said the reasons for the other planned terminations departures in
the office varied. 'Some people were rude. Some are unprofessional. Some
I do not trust.'”
Further, "Duty said she didn’t want to keep some of the prosecutors because they
were 'indoctrinated in the John Bradley school of thought,' what she
called a closed-file policy under which defense attorneys weren’t
allowed to see the evidence against their clients until shortly before
trial." Bradley, for his part, insisted his office implemented an open file policy about a year ago, but local defense attorneys say that in practice that's not true. It'll be interesting to see what changes Ms. Duty makes to the policy once she's in charge and what files become open that aren't presently being released. (Grits will try and remember to check up on that point next spring.)
In other Bradley-related news, Wilco Watchdog reported that, "according
to sources, Bradley has met with District Judges and is attempting to
meet with county commissioners to garner support for creating two
positions for indigent defense appellate work; one for himself and the
other for Kristen Jernigan," an appellate lawyer who handled the Michael Morton case for the DA's office. We knew Bradley had applied to run the Special Prosecution Unit at TDCJ, so here's another datapoint regarding his job hunt, though I'm admittedly surprised to see him seeking to do indigent defense. The Watchdog says Bradley sought the county-level position because he is unlikely to be hired at the State Prosecution Unit, whose overseers consider him "toxic."
Another of the fired prosecutors, Lindsey Roberts, reported the Watchdog, "has stated he has future political aspirations to run for District Judge in 2014."
Notably, according to the Watchdog, "Bradley has only been seen at his office a handful of times since his May 29th defeat," perhaps as a result of his active job hunt. Since these two gigs may be slipping away from his grasp, I encourage readers to suggest other employment options for Mr. Bradley in the comments.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
.jpg)
31 comments:
Your obsession with this individual is on the edge of becoming disturbing. He won't be the last and is surely not the first of his kind.
I would suggest Legislative proctologist. He's already used to having his nose up their asses, now he could use his finger.
No doubt he'll end up in the adminstration at TDCJ. He'd fit right in.
I have a suggestion for him....move the hell out of Texas. Unethical crybaby.
I can assure you that there was no open file policy under Herr Bradley.
So this man who has never shown anything but contempt for all criminal defendants thinks that he is fit to become a defense advocate? Pity the poor appellants who might have him appointed to "represent" them ... which would probably be in name only. He'll probably try to suck up to the county commissioners by ensuring that all his cases are affirmed, thereby saving the county on expensive retrials ... horrifying ...
Residential construction.
He can supervise the framing.
LEAVE TEXAS, Go to work as a jailer for williamson county.
Jane Starnes should be on that list. She has done some pretty underhanded $#!t to get a plea deal.
I don't believe Duty's decisions are based solely on her "assumptions". She's a smart woman. She did her homework before the primaries back in May. Also consider this: lawyers talk, families talk, alleged witnesses talk, alleged victims talk, files talk.
Anderson and Bradley needed help in the TDCJ railroading industry. It was not just a 2 man job. It was an outfit. The prosecutors working on the railroad did it willingly and with pleasure.
Good riddance to the vermin that have infested the Williamson County Courthouse and undermined justice for far too many years. Now please, leave OUR county...and for the sake of justice, find a new career.
IF JB is playing by the rules (including the judges and the commissioners court)he and Jernigan can't short cut the contract indigent defense statues and guidlines laid out in the Tex Admin. Code Title 1, Part 8, Ch. 174. The texas Indigent Defense Commission has it all outlined here... http://www.txcourts.gov/tidc/docs/Contract%20Defender%20Rules%20w%20Commentary%20and%20Sample%20Fee%20Vouchers%20Final-Rev%27d.doc
The judges/commissioners have to treat this proposal like competitive bidding... JB can't walk into the job without the defense bar not being notified and given a shot at the contract.
Gestapo Chief.... those that are found are still being prosecuted for war crimes.
I think Dante is looking for a prosecutor. Bradley would be perfect for the job.
I think that Mr. Norwood is looking for another lawyer now. Bradley did get his endorsement in the election, so Bradley would do well to return the favor.
I like your idea anon 11/18/2012 01:14:00. Anon 11/18/2012 09:00:00 your second line could not be more true. There are plenty more where those came from.
Good riddance to Anderson, Bradley and all the other vermin that served them!!
WilcoWatchdog is not a reliable source of information. It is run by Jana' Duty's right-hand man.
Please be careful that you aren't being manipulated by your sources.
9:51, do you have reason to believe the fact-bites quoted about Bradley soliciting an indigent defense contract are incorrect?
A source proves itself unreliable by publishing things that are untrue, and in my experience most of what WilcoWatchdog reports tends to pan out, even accounting for bias. WW's support for Jana Duty doesn't mean his criticisms of Bradley are inherently off base - in fact, it may mean they're more informed than those of us not privy to the inside game.
That's a good point, and no, I don't have any knowledge of Bradley's plans.
I just know that nasty political games are being played in Williamson County and I hate to see a public office scapegoated as part of an apparent vendetta.
It's important that we acknowledge that the watchdog is a megaphone for Jana Duty as we use it as a source of information about Bradley.
It will be interesting to see if the WW reports her every move with the same level of scrutiny to which she has subjected Bradley.
Dog catcher on any of the thousands of sand only islands,,at least past the International Boundary of any land occupied by civilization,,if he is alone on a deserted island with no nature to harm,,he can be the only offensive item there.
I doubt it will, 11:18, but then Bradley is already going to the press to criticize Duty for firing his cronies, so clearly the political divide affords platforms for criticism of whoever's in office. I don't expect WW to subject Duty to the same scrutiny as JB. OTOH, her own critics are neither in short supply nor shy about speaking up.
"Carter, who started working at the district attorney’s office in October, said she didn’t find out until after she accepted the job that Duty wanted to hire someone else."
How can you call this person a "crony" who has only been working there about one month???
I think it is pretty unprofessional to not even give some of the folks the courtesy of an interview or a face to face meeting. Are we replacing one extremist with another?
Hey Grits, employment for a criminal? After the MoFo applies for any position, anywhere and once the background check is completed, the insurance agency representing said company should red flag him just like they do regarding all criminals (guilty or not). Hiring him will bring on more trouble than it's worth. Word is that, he's otta here and headed up to Misssiour to hang out with like minded criminals (jigmeister).
While he's unemployed, you can bet your last dollar that he'll troll the net searching out post and comments about himself and the dirtdobbers he mentored.
Good luck in your endeavors Mrs. Duty. I look forward to you creating a Post Conviction Unit that refuses to Cherry Pick for Innocence. Maybe Mrs. Lykos will tell you how to go about getting rid of that funky-ass old fart DA smell. Thanks.
What Bradley should do is set up shop in a County with attitudes like the ones he played to in Williamson County and get on the list to be Court appointed. I'm sure he would enjoy being kicked in the teeth by Judges and Juries in some place like Denton or Collin Counties for doing his job in representing a Citizen accused of crime.
Is it a prosecutors' role to also be a defense agency? With a post-conviction unit?
I think it creates a real ethical conundrum to ask one elected official to chair an office that is so divided in mission.
Aren't we intruding on the jury's province of determining the facts?
To 11/18/2012 09:00:00 AM lol this is newsworthy and you call it obsessing! You must be a FORMER employee of Williamson County District Attorney's office. Its not going away for a very long time. Get used to it. Still more to come. The lid isn't off the can of worms...yet.
I do not particularly care where he goes next; I am just proud to see him going.
His ouster stands as proof that our profession is capable of self-policing.
I had come to doubt that was remotely possible.
Grits, believe what you will about the prosecutors not retained by the new DA; however it sure seems pretty chicken for the new DA to out them publicly. These prosecutors might be all the things Duty claims, but everyone knows that they all serve at the pleasure of the elected so she didn't need a reason to get rid of them. Duty showed how klassy she was in how she handled this situation.
"I do not particularly care where he goes next; I am just proud to see him going."
I don't know, there are roles where he could do more damage than as Williamson County DA.
And 3:41 said, "it sure seems pretty chicken for the new DA to out them publicly."
Except I'm not sure that's what happened. It was Bradley and Duty's detractors who went to the press. She just fired back when she took fire, and I don't know that I blame her for that. Besides, it's a small courthouse. These folks all know each other. It's not like she's expressing opinions about strangers.
And to 4:09, the ethical conundrum comes from the Legislature's directive that prosecutors seek justice not convictions. The post-conviction innocence work doesn't muddy the picture, it completes it.
Nice job Duty. Only problem, you should have fired them all! Karma....what a bitch she is and Bradley will live with her for a long time to come. Couldn't happen to a better person. In the words of your pal Perry... Adios MoFo
Grits, I guess my point is she didn't need to "fire back" when fired on. Number 1 -- she's got scoreboard, she won. The winner gets to be classy and doesn't need to respond. That's usually what happens in the regular course of a DA's office -- you either can't (grand jury investigations) or shouldn't (because those are battles that can't be won in the media) respond publicly. Number 2 -- you're right, it is a small courthouse so everyone knows that the ones she doesn't retain are the ones she doesn't trust or believes cant do the job. Either way, it would have been better if she just left it alone. Just one guy's opinion.
To 11/21/2012 07:18:00 PM - WilCo's DA's office hasn't been anything to be proud. It needed cleaning. I don't blame Jana Duty for starting with a fresh slate. I wouldn't want to be attached to some of John's trainees. Besides, it will be better if they are gone when the appeals start rolling in. We don't need Bradley's prosecutors to remain in WilCo tainting everything they touch.
I understand that a prosecutor's duty is to seek justice. I am asking the very specific question of how does ONE elected official endorse the prosecution of an alleged offender based on the facts in his or her possession and knowledge and THEN turn around and second guess the prosecution for post-conviction investigation purposes?
How is this NOT a conflict of interest for a DA's office? Realistically - not in the abstract under the sweet-sounding umbrella of "seeing that justice is done."
Is this a reasonable charge to ONE office? Who is the client and at what point does the obligation to tirelessly pursue innocence and review evidence stop so the state can use its resources to prosecute the right guy for the offense he did commit?
Post a Comment