This is "We're dealing with people who are just out and out cheating and lying to the state of Texas, stealing money from the taxpayers of the state

....and you just now noticed? too busy playing with Insurance 20 million scam for your bud rick James Perry to redo his "uninsured" Mansion?

Too busy to notice John Hubert and his malicious prosecution of innocent Kleberg Kenedy County and his latest election fraud where he lost then miraculously won the next morning?

WHined to Texas Governor Rick perry till Hubert got his JOB created for him by The governor for what? What will Perry get in return? Hubert is a malicious prosecutor, a liar, falsified documents, hid a material witness that could have exonerated me, yet you let the Mary Cano/Rick Perry/john Hubert's work for the State of Texas when the are the biggest frauds in South Texas.

Who in Texas gets a JOB in this economy created for them by the Rick Perry?

John Hubert ~ the longer the fraud goes on the more you look involved and if nothing is done you are obviously not that good.

LeeAnn Haley
Corpus Christi, Texas


Ambulance firms raided in Medicaid fraud inquiry

Companies in Dallas, 11 other cities searched in billing investigation

12:00 AM CST on Thursday, December 7, 2006

By TANYA EISERER / The Dallas Morning News

Fraud investigators served 19 search warrants in Dallas and 11 other cities in a wide-ranging inquiry into allegations of fraudulent billing practices by ambulance companies, the Texas attorney general said Wednesday.

"This is a statewide fleecing of millions of dollars from Texas taxpayers of the Medicaid system," said Attorney General Greg Abbott. "There were billings that were either for more than the amount of services provided, or even billings for services that were not provided. [The] bottom line is we have a statewide operation cracking down on Medicaid fraud."

The investigation centers on ambulance companies suspected of submitting false claims to Medicare, Medicaid, private insurers and the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan, said Jerry Strickland, a spokesman for the attorney general's office.

The inquiry, Operation Easy Rider, began at least six months ago after the Texas Health and Human Services Commission reported discrepancies in billing practices, Mr. Strickland said. The agency oversees the disbursement of Medicaid funds.

"The fraud that we're dealing with really doesn't have anything to do with any kind of complexities that may exist in the system," Mr. Abbott said. "We're dealing with people who are just out and out cheating and lying to the state of Texas, stealing money from the taxpayers of the state of Texas.

"They thought, gosh, that [they] could take money by overcharging the state of Texas, overcharging the Medicaid system, maybe no one would see."

Officials declined to release further details, citing the continuing investigation.

The attorney general's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit was involved in the operation, along with federal agents from the inspector general's office at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the FBI, the inspector general's office for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

North Texas ambulance companies that were searched included Carefirst EMS on Centre Street and Judd Court in Dallas; Greater Dallas EMS on South Hall Street in Dallas; All State Ambulance Service in Rowlett; Advicare Ambulance Transfer Service in DeSoto; and Visions EMS in Cedar Hill.

Officials with the ambulance companies either declined to comment or could not be reached for comment.

Mr. Strickland also confirmed that law officers arrested the owners of an ambulance service in McAllen, Texas, as part of the raids.

Chris Heinbaugh of WFAA-TV (Channel 8) contributed to this report.

E-mail teiserer@dallasnews.com

Schools demeanor are based upon credibility of its teaching and students

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IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TEXAS NO. 57,060-01 EX PARTE DANIELLE SIMPSON, Applicant ON APPLICATION FOR A WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS FROM ANDERSON COUNTY Cochran, J., delivered the order for a unanimous court. ORDER Applicant presents thirty-seven allegations, including a claim of mental retardation, in his original application for habeas corpus relief in this death-penalty capital-murder case. The trial judge entered findings of fact and conclusions of law and recommended that relief be denied. We have reviewed the record, and we adopt the trial judge's findings and conclusions. Therefore, we deny relief. We also dismiss applicant's "Motion to Consider Additional Evidence of Mental Retardation" because that supplemental material was improperly and untimely filed with this Court instead of the convicting court. Article 11.071 (1) does not authorize piecemeal submission of evidence, nor does it permit the original filing of evidence with this Court rather than the convicting court. Because the trial judge's written findings were so thorough and complete, we need discuss only applicant's mental- retardation claim and the motions applicant filed directly in this Court. I. Applicant was indicted for the robbery and murder of Geraldine Davidson on January 26, 2000. In November 2002, a jury convicted him of that capital murder and, based upon the jury's answers to the punishment special issues, the trial judge sentenced applicant to death. The evidence at trial showed that the 20-year-old applicant, a member of the Southside Cryps gang, planned and executed a burglary at the Palestine, Texas, home of Mrs. Davidson, an 84-year-old widow and retired teacher. He had burglarized Mrs. Davidson's home before, but this time he enlisted the aid of his sixteen-year-old wife and thirteen-year-old cousin. Mrs. Davidson returned home during the burglary, so applicant and his cohorts tied her up with duct tape, put her into the trunk of her car, and then spent the afternoon driving around in her car buying and smoking formaldehyde-laced marijuana cigars. Later, they picked up applicant's younger brother and stopped at a Jack-in-the-Box, where applicant sent the others inside to buy food while he waited, outside surveillance camera range, in Mrs. Davidson's car. After the foursome ate and smoked more marijuana, applicant drove the car to the Neches River. He and his younger brother pulled Mrs. Davidson out of the trunk, tied her legs to a cinder block, beat her with her gardening shovel, kicked her in the head, and finally threw her in the river to drown. After dropping off his three cohorts, applicant "rented" Mrs. Davidson's car to friends in return for two rocks of crack cocaine. His friends were later pulled over in Mrs. Davidson's car, and they told the police about applicant "renting" them the stolen car. Police came to applicant's house to arrest him but he fled. The officers arrested applicant later that day, after he and his brother were found hiding in a neighborhood "dope house." Applicant was wearing Mrs. Davidson's gold wedding ring when he was booked into jail. We affirmed applicant's conviction and sentence on direct appeal. (2) Meanwhile, on December 3, 2002, applicant filed his original writ of habeas corpus with the presiding judge of the convicting court. (3) Accompanying his writ application were two volumes of material, including various affidavits, treatise excerpts in support of his mental-retardation claim, documents from the underlying trial, and published law review and behavioral science articles. The State filed its response five months later. On June 23, 2003, after consulting with the attorneys, the trial judge entered an order that found that there were no factual issues that could not be resolved by using the trial record and the written writ materials. Thus he decided that a live evidentiary hearing was unnecessary. He ordered both the State and applicant to file proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law. On July 14, 2003, applicant filed an additional affidavit by Dr. Windel Dickerson who, based on a personal examination of applicant and his review of various other materials, concluded that applicant was mildly mentally retarded. Two weeks later the trial judge signed an order permitting both the State and applicant to acquire and file additional educational records for applicant. On that same day, the trial judge denied applicant's proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law and signed the State's proposed findings. On August 7, 2003, applicant's special-education records were filed with the convicting court, and, one month later, applicant filed a videotaped statement made by Dr. Dickerson. (4) All of these materials were then forwarded to this Court on September 10, 2003. Applicant has continued to file additional motions in this Court, culminating, on May 19, 2004, with a "Motion to Consider Additional Evidence of Mental Retardation." Attached to this motion is a letter from Dr. Dickerson and an accompanying psychological-services test report, again setting out his opinion that applicant is mentally retarded. II. Applicant contends that he is mentally retarded and thus, under Atkins v. Virginia, (5) he is exempt from execution. Here, as in Hall v. State, (6) the convicting court did not hold a live evidentiary hearing on applicant's post-conviction habeas corpus allegation of mental retardation. But, also as in Hall, the issue of mental retardation was fully litigated during the punishment phase of applicant's original capital-murder trial. Although applicant's trial took place before the Supreme Court decided Atkins, his able trial counsel presciently predicted the outcome of that case and presented extensive mental-retardation evidence as calling for a "Yes" answer to the mitigation special issue submitted to the jury. Applicant's habeas writ relies almost exclusively upon that extensive testimony. Although it is advisable to have an evidentiary hearing to determine mental-retardation claims raised for the first time in post-Atkins habeas applications, (7) it is not necessary where, as here, the habeas applicant relies primarily upon trial testimony. In this case, both sides had an opportunity to fully develop the pertinent facts at trial, and the habeas judge had an opportunity to assess the credibility and demeanor of the witnesses when he presided over the trial. Although the discrete fact of mental retardation was not an ultimate issue at the capital-murder trial, the punishment phase testimony fully developed that contested fact. (8) During the punishment phase of applicant's trial, the defense called applicant's father, mother, and two sisters. Significantly, none of these witnesses-the persons who knew him best during his youth-testified that they had thought, during his formative years, that applicant was mentally retarded. (9) Applicant's father remembered that applicant had twice suffered head injuries as a child, but he did not know whether he suffered any brain injury as a result. He testified that applicant had had school truancy problems and usually got into trouble alone. While applicant's father stated that applicant had a history of seizures, his sister said that she did not believe that applicant had ever suffered seizures. Applicant's elder sister, a TDCJ-CID prison guard, said that there was very little good that she could say about him other than the fact that he attended church. Applicant's mother testified that applicant failed kindergarten and third grade, that he was sometimes placed in special-education classes, and that he was "very slow and had a learning disability." He missed a lot of school because he had headaches, felt bad about himself, and because she could not drive him to school all the time, as she had to work two jobs. She made him move out of her home about a year before the murder because he had sexually assaulted her adopted daughter. The defense also called a psychologist, a pediatric neurologist, and a psychiatrist to testify to applicant's mental condition and abilities. Dr. Andrews, the psychologist, testified that applicant has borderline intellectual functioning. He stated that applicant's academic knowledge is "low" and that he reads at an early high-school level, and has a fifth-grade spelling ability and sixth-grade math ability. When applicant was 14 years old, his full-scale IQ score on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children was 71, and he scored a 72 on the TONI. (10) The next year he received a 78 full-scale IQ score on the Wechsler and an 86 on the TONI-2. No one discussed the significance of this improvement in IQ scores. Applicant dropped out of school in the ninth grade. His teachers consistently noted his high truancy rate as an educational impediment. Dr. Andrews stated that applicant has adaptive deficits and a low ability to complete planning and organization tests. He did not believe that applicant was faking mental deficiencies, but he did think that applicant is "a chronic liar" and that his manipulative conduct in jail demonstrated adaptive behavior. (11) Dr. Andrews concluded that applicant is in the "borderline mentally retarded range" and would not resolve complex situations very well. (12) Dr. Andrews also stated that applicant has an anti-social personality. Dr. Wise, a pediatric neurologist, reviewed applicant's EEG (electroencephalogram) and testified that applicant has an abnormal neurological status, a generalized slowing of brain function. He stated that the brain changes as a person ages and is influenced by such things as diet, smoking, drug use, and trauma. He had not personally examined applicant. Dr. Barry Mills, the chief psychiatrist for the Maximum Security Behavior Management Program at Vernon State Hospital, examined applicant and concluded that applicant has two subdural hematomas (blood clots on both sides of his brain) which have caused brain damage. As a result, applicant has poor judgment, an inability to learn from his mistakes or to change his actions in response to complicated situations, and an inability to control frustration or manage himself. Dr. Mills acknowledged that there is nothing in applicant's medical records to confirm any head injury. He did agree that smoking embalming fluid may cause EEG changes. Dr. Mills stated that applicant was not malingering during his examination but that he had been "manipulative and dishonest throughout a large part of his life." He testified that "I did not say [applicant] was mentally retarded. I said he was borderline mentally retarded, essentially functioning at that level, but his I.Q. score was not mentally retarded." He agreed that applicant had never been diagnosed by anyone as "borderline mentally retarded" until after he was charged with capital murder, and he stated that applicant's TONI IQ of 86 was "a more accurate measure of [applicant's] intelligence." In rebuttal, the State called Dr. David Self, a psychiatrist, who had also examined applicant. In his opinion, applicant was malingering and faking his psychiatric symptoms. He stated that, during his interview, applicant spontaneously launched into a narrative of various mental complaints, including visual and auditory hallucinations, depression, an attempted suicide, and a history of head trauma. In Dr. Self's opinion, applicant's intellectual functioning is in the borderline-to-low average range and he does not have significant adaptive deficits. Dr. Self described applicant's letter-writing campaign from jail to various friends and relatives asking them to smuggle contraband to him as adaptive, albeit anti-social, behavior. In his opinion applicant's lack of empathy, his callous disregard for others, and his prior conduct, including his sexual assault of his adopted sister, his shooting at his ex-girlfriend, and his assaults on his wife and children, were traits consistent with a psychopathy. Dr. Self stated that applicant's MRI showed evidence of a prior "head trauma," but no evidence of any brain damage. He concluded that applicant has an anti-social personality disorder, but is not mentally retarded. Additional evidence was timely submitted for the convicting court's consideration on the writ. This evidence included most of applicant's school records, his two written statements to police after his arrest for this murder, twenty inmate-request forms that applicant submitted while he was in jail awaiting trial, letters that he wrote to family and friends from jail, a letter that he had written from jail to a venireperson whose name and address he had memorized in the courtroom from his attorney's jury list, and applicant's medical and mental-health records from TDCJ-CID. Applicant's school records showed that, in almost every year, he missed a large number of school days, but nonetheless he achieved passing grades in almost all classes. Seventeen "Notices of Concern" were sent to his family during one school year; they noted that applicant failed to complete assignments, failed to make up missed tests, and that he exhibited "excessive absences" and "lack of effort." Applicant's jail letters are clear, coherent, and clever. In one, he explains to his cousin how to smuggle photographs of his three girlfriends into the jail by taping them to extra pages in an incoming letter. In letters to his brother, applicant writes jocularly in gang slang. In letters to his mother, on the other hand, applicant writes in standard English, without slang. He uses a polite tone as he instructs her on how to smuggle tobacco and rolling papers into the jail by putting them in envelopes labeled "Legal Mail," and having them delivered by his defense investigator. He tells his mother that he is working on getting joint custody of his son for her and his wife's mother, and asks her to call the defense investigator and have him bring applicant a small tape recorder so he can record his wife's custody concessions on the phone. Applicant's TDCJ-CID medical and mental-health records show that applicant achieved an IQ result of 84 on a TONI test when he arrived on death row which, according to the records, "precluded other need for I.Q. testing." The trial judge entered findings of fact, based on his review of the trial and writ evidence, that applicant failed to present a cognizable claim of mental retardation because he failed to show facts that prove he is mentally retarded. The trial judge found that Dr. Dickerson's affidavit concluding that applicant is mentally retarded was untimely submitted and therefore should not be considered. In the alternative, he found it unpersuasive. (13) Although the trial court did not have the benefit of this Court's opinion in Ex parte Briseno, (14) it followed the methodology and legal standards set out in that opinion. Applicant claims that his execution would violate the Supreme Court's rulings in Atkins and Ring v. Arizona (15) unless a jury has found, beyond a reasonable doubt, that he is not mentally retarded, brain damaged, or otherwise lacking in mental culpability. This is a claim that we rejected in Briseno, (16) and it is a claim that the habeas judge in this case rejected as well. In sum, although there was some evidence in the trial and writ record suggesting the possibility of mild mental retardation, there was also ample evidence in the record supporting the trial court's finding that applicant is not mentally retarded. We conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in reaching this factual conclusion. Therefore, we deny applicant relief on his mental retardation claim. III. We also dismiss applicant's recently filed "Motion to Consider Additional Evidence of Mental Retardation" because we do not have statutory authority to consider additional evidence. Applicant's writ application, the State's response, all associated exhibits, and the trial court's written findings of fact and conclusions of law were received by this Court on September 10, 2003. Article 11.071, § 9(f) explicitly states that once all of the appropriate materials have been timely submitted to the trial court and the trial court has made its written findings of fact and conclusions of law, the clerk of the convicting court shall immediately transmit these materials to this Court. Then, under article 11.071, § 11, this Court shall "expeditiously review" the habeas application. We may (but need not) set the case for oral argument and we may (but need not) request further briefing. (17) "After reviewing the record" as it was developed in the trial court, this Court "shall enter its judgment remanding the applicant to custody or ordering the applicant's release, as the law and facts may justify." (18) In the present case, applicant asks us to act outside of our statutory authority. On November 24, 2003, more than a month after the clerk of the trial court transmitted all of the appropriate writ materials to this Court, applicant filed a motion with this Court entitled "Motion to Declare Simpson Mentally Retarded under Atkins or Alternatively, Motion to Remand for Evidentiary Hearing to Determine Mental Retardation." This motion alleged that applicant's counsel was "trying to set up an appointment with Dr. Dickerson to re-examine Mr. Simpson." (19) He requested that this Court stay further action until Dr. Dickerson could file a new report directly with this Court. On February 9, 2004, this Court received applicant's "Supplemental Reply to State's Response to Petitioner's Mental Retardation Summary." This document stated that Dr. Dickerson had completed his second examination of applicant and a preliminary report was attached. Although the document was filed with this Court, applicant asked that the habeas judge read the attached preliminary report and make supplemental findings. We do not know whether the habeas judge received and read this document, but he did not file any supplemental findings, presumably because he did not have statutory authority to do so. Finally, on May 19, 2004, applicant filed his Motion to Consider Additional Evidence of Mental Retardation. He states that this motion is a supplement to the motion he filed with this Court on November 24, 2003. According to that motion and Dr. Dickerson's attached report, the results of this second mental-status test were obtained under better conditions than those under which earlier tests were taken. Dr. Dickerson again opines that applicant is mildly mentally retarded and suffers from organic brain damage. There is no provision in article 11.071 that permits either the State or the habeas applicant to submit original evidence directly to this Court. Evidentiary affidavits, letters, transcripts, or other documents relating to a habeas claim should not be attached to motions or briefs, and they shall not, and will not, be considered by this Court. As we recently stated in another context: An appellate court may not consider factual assertions that are outside the record, and a party cannot circumvent this prohibition by submitting an affidavit for the first time on appeal. While the record may be supplemented under the appellate rules if something has been omitted, the supplementation rules cannot be used to create new evidence. Moreover, an appellate court's review of the record itself is generally limited to the evidence before the trial court at the time of the trial court's ruling. (20) In the ordinary case, if this Court were to consider evidentiary materials that were never submitted to, or considered by, the habeas court, the statutory purpose in having the convicting court gather the pertinent evidence and make the appropriate written findings of fact would be entirely frustrated. (21) The legislative framework of article 11.071 contemplates that the habeas judge is "Johnny-on-the-Spot." He is the collector of the evidence, the organizer of the materials, the decisionmaker as to what live testimony may be necessary, the factfinder who resolves disputed factual issues, the judge who applies the law to the facts, enters specific findings of fact and conclusions of law, and may make a specific recommendation to grant or deny relief. This Court then has the statutory duty to review the trial court's factual findings and legal conclusions to ensure that they are supported by the record and are in accordance with the law. (22) We are not the convicting trial court, and we are not the original factfinders. It is generally fruitless, if not counterproductive, to file original evidentiary materials relating to a habeas claim with this Court rather than the trial court. Although we might have the implicit authority to consider evidentiary materials filed directly with this Court, normally the jurisprudential considerations of efficiency, effectiveness, and comity to the habeas court counsel against such consideration. Because applicant has failed to offer proof of any compelling and extraordinary circumstances, we decline to consider the evidentiary materials that he has filed directly with this Court. Therefore, based upon our review and our adoption of the trial court's ninety-five pages of thorough and comprehensive findings of fact and conclusions of law which were submitted to this Court, we deny relief and dismiss applicant's motions filed directly in this Court. Cochran Filed: June 30, 2004. Publish 1. Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 11.071. 2. Simpson v. State, 119 S.W.3d 262 (Tex. Crim. App. 2003). 3. In his writ application, applicant candidly admits that his claims 20-37 are ones that have been previously rejected by this Court and "are therefore segregated at the end of the application and need not delay the Court." Nonetheless, we have carefully reviewed those claims, as well as all of his other non-mental retardation claims, and deny them based upon the trial court's findings of fact and conclusions of law. 4. Applicant submitted these materials to the trial court after that court had filed its findings of fact and conclusions of law and thus they are not discussed within the trial court's written findings. Nonetheless, we have independently reviewed the materials and conclude that they do not present any significant additional information that was not already before the trial court at the time he made his findings. 5. 536 U.S. 304 (2002). 6. ___ S.W.3d ___, ___ 2004 Tex.Crim.App. LEXIS 817 (Tex. Crim. App. 2004). 7. See Hall, __ S.W.3d at ___ (Price, J., concurring) (noting that "generally, for the review of a contested Atkins v. Virginia claim, the trial court will need to hold a live hearing and not base its decision solely on affidavits submitted by the parties"); id. at ___, (Johnson, J., dissenting) (noting that "[n]o trier of fact in this case has ever heard live testimony, subject to testing or cross-examination, on the specific issue of whether appellant is mentally retarded"); and id. at __ (Holcomb, J., dissenting) (noting that capital murder defendant "was not provided with a live evidentiary hearing ... [and] was not able to cross examine the affiants and the judge was not able to evaluate their credibility"). 8. See Hall, ___ S.W.3d at ___. In Hall, as in the present case, mental retardation was not an ultimate discrete fact litigated during the capital-murder punishment phase. We noted that: the parties introduced a significant amount of evidence regarding whether appellant was mentally retarded, mental retardation was not considered as a discrete issue by the trial judge or the jury. Although the parties certainly had incentive to litigate the question of appellant's intelligence, the litigation occurred as a question of degree: defense counsel could contend that appellant's low intelligence mitigated his moral culpability even if it did not amount to mental retardation, while the State could contend that, even if appellant were in the mental retardation range, he appreciated the consequences of his actions to a sufficient degree to deserve the death penalty. Had mental retardation been an ultimate issue, the parties may well have litigated the issue even more robustly than they did, as the issue would be a question of kind (which side of the mental divide appellant was on) rather than degree (how much did appellant appreciate the immorality of his conduct). Id. Nonetheless, during this writ proceeding, both parties could, and did, present whatever additional evidence they believed supported or negated the fact of mental retardation. It was only after consulting with the attorneys that the trial judge determined that a live evidentiary hearing was not necessary. 9. LaTonya, one of applicant's sisters, did testify that applicant was twice held back in elementary school and "had a bunch of problems." She testified that he missed a lot of school: "I'm not saying he was retarded, but I'm just saying that he was slow." Applicant's other sister, Tangela, testified that applicant was slow "as far as educational level," but not in other things. 10. Test of Non-Verbal Intelligence. 11. Dr. Andrews agreed that applicant's conduct in writing his mother-in-law from jail saying that he would serve his time for this capital murder in a mental hospital by telling "my lawyer and the judge that I need some help and I'm having problems and seeing things and hearing things" was goal-directed and showed a knowledge of the legal system and how to avoid the death penalty. Dr. Andrews stated that he did not believe applicant when applicant told him he had auditory and visual hallucinations. Applicant also told Dr. Andrews that he had been hospitalized for psychiatric problems, but Dr. Andrews could not find corroboration for this assertion. 12. Concerning the issue of "significant adaptive deficits," Dr. Andrews explained: Well, he was not able to function well in school. He was not able to function well in a work setting. These could be adaptive deficits. They might be problems with personality as well. I am not terming him mentally retarded but I do think he has some adaptive deficits. He noted that applicant had been diagnosed with a learning disability, not mental retardation, by school officials based upon his IQ test of 78 and TONI results of 86. 13. Specifically, he found that the prison testing conditions "likely affected" the test scores; the IQ score of 59 that Dr. Dickerson reached was completely at odds with all prior test scores; only portions of tests were given; separate tests for malingering were not given; Dr. Dickerson's assertion that applicant was treated as a mentally retarded person in school was contrary to all other evidence which indicated applicant had a learning disability and truancy problem; Dr. Dickerson appeared not to have reviewed all of the trial testimony; his "adaptive behavior" assessment did not describe behavior that is necessarily the result of mental retardation; Dr. Dickerson's assessment was based largely upon applicant's self-reporting, but applicant's veracity to mental-health experts had been called into serious question by other experts. Dr. Dickerson's videotaped interview, which was submitted to the trial court after the written findings were signed, does not differ substantively from his affidavit. 14. Ex parte Briseno, ___ S.W.3d ___ , 2004 Tex. Crim. App. LEXIS 199 (Tex. Crim. App. 2004). 15. 536 U.S. 584 (2002) (holding that "if a State makes an increase in a defendant's authorized punishment contingent on the finding of a fact, that fact-no matter how the State labels it-must be found by a jury beyond a reasonable doubt"). 16. Ex parte Briseno, ___ S.W.3d at __ (concluding that Ring is inapplicable to claims of mental retardation because "[a] lack of mental retardation is not an implied element of the crime of capital murder which the State is required to prove before it may impose a sentence above the maximum statutory punishment for that crime"). 17. Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 11.071, § 11. 18. Id. 19. Ostensibly, applicant's counsel wanted this re-examination because the trial judge discounted Dr. Dickerson's first untimely filed affidavit for the various reasons set out earlier. 20. Whitehead v. State, 130 S.W.3d 866, 872 (Tex. Crim. App. 2004). Cf. Ex parte Harris, 825 S.W.2d 120 (Tex. Crim. App. 1991) (noting that Penry claims are limited to evidence contained in the record. "Evidence outside of the record is wholly irrelevant to such claim"); and Pye v. State, 71 Tex. Crim. 94, 101, 154 S.W. 222, 226 (1913) ("Should we consider these ex parte affidavits it would be necessary that we have the State served with a copy of them, and permit it to introduce evidence in rebuttal thereof; in fact, reopen the case and convert this court into a trial court on the merits of the case, and then substitute our finding on the facts as thus presented to us for that of the verdict of the jury. This we are not authorized to do. If such was the rule, very nearly every case that was appealed to this court would have to be tried de novo. This would be wholly impracticable, and it was never contemplated that this court should become a trial court"). 21. See Pye, 71 Tex. Crim. at 101, 154 S.W. at 226. 22. See Hall, ___ S.W.3d at ___ (stating, in context of mental retardation claim raised in habeas application, that "we afford almost total deference to the trial judge's findings of fact, especially when those findings of fact are based upon credibility and demeanor").

The District Attorney requested the Grand Jury to subpoena the District Judge.......

Re(3): Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.
Posted on June 23, 2007 at 04:11:40 AM by 4 ringo......you know watt.......

Jules: Wanna know what I'm buyin' Ringo?
Pumpkin: What?
Jules: Your life. I'm givin' you that money so I don't hafta kill your ass. You read the Bible?
Pumpkin: Not regularly.
Jules: There's a passage I got memorized. Ezekiel 25:17. The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness. For he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon you. I been sayin' that shit for years. And if you ever heard it, it meant your ass. I never really questioned what it meant. I thought it was just a cold-blooded thing to say to a motherfucker before you popped a cap in his ass. But I saw some shit this mornin' made me think twice. Now I'm thinkin': it could mean you're the evil man. And I'm the righteous man. And Mr. 9mm here, he's the shepherd protecting my righteous ass in the valley of darkness. Or it could be you're the righteous man and I'm the shepherd and it's the world that's evil and selfish. I'd like that. But that shit ain't the truth. The truth is you're the weak. And I'm the tyranny of evil men. But I'm tryin', Ringo. I'm tryin' real hard to be a shepherd.

Yeah for Carlos Valdez.........it takesprecious time to do things right

Local
Kleberg official faces inquiry
Prosecutor may have intervened on behalf of aunt facing felony

By Dan Kelley (Contact)
Originally published 12:00 a.m., July 13, 2007
Updated 04:18 a.m., July 13, 2007
Isassi suggested politics might be behind the investigation.
Isassi suggested politics might be behind the investigation.



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Alfred Isassi describes himself as a career prosecutor. Since graduating from law school in 1999, he has handled felony cases for the District Attorney's Office, and now is the elected Kleberg County attorney, where he oversees misdemeanor prosecutions.

Isassi may find himself on the other side of the courtroom. A judge has appointed a special prosecutor to investigate a nearly two-year-old allegation that Isassi intervened improperly on behalf of an aunt, Anna Gonzalez, arrested on felony perjury charges after being accused of failing to disclose an earlier theft conviction when being chosen to serve on a grand jury.

Isassi hasn't been formally notified of an investigation.

District Attorney Carlos Valdez said the investigation stems from allegations that his former employee interfered with the Kleberg County's Pretrial Services Division. After Gonzalez was arrested, Valdez said, she was released from jail but had to comply with some terms of a pretrial release program.

Isassi is accused of calling the office and asking that his aunt not be made to comply with those terms because the district attorney was not going to prosecute. Valdez added that a witness told investigators Isassi said he had talked to the DA about the case. He had not, Valdez said.

"He never talked to any of us," Valdez said. He has recused his office from the case because he and two top aides could be made to testify.

Isassi said he was not able to recall any conversation with that department regarding the matter.

Valdez, as district attorney for the 105th Judicial District, prosecutes felony cases in Nueces, Kleberg and Kenedy counties. That will change in September when Gov. Rick Perry can appoint a district attorney for Kleberg and Kenedy counties, the result of new legislation passed this year.

Isassi is seeking that appointment.

District Judge Manuel Bañales appointed Retha Cable, an assistant district attorney in San Patricio and Aransas counties, to investigate and prosecute the matter if a grand jury hands up an indictment.

She declined to comment on the case, and said she would present some evidence to a grand jury on July 19.

Noel Peña, director of the Kleberg County Supervision and Direction Department, said his office has provided statements to investigators but declined to elaborate. He said he was surprised to hear that the investigation is still ongoing.

"I'm totally surprised that something developed," Peña said.

The 2005 arrest also caused problems for Gonzalez. At the time of her arrest, she had served on a grand jury for four months. Authorities discovered she had a theft conviction, making her ineligible for grand jury service. She was charged with perjury because she hadn't disclosed the conviction. Prosecutors had to re-present about 100 cases to the grand jury, Valdez said. She now is undergoing a pretrial diversion program that could lead to dismissal of charges.

Attempts to reach Gonzalez on Thursday were unsuccessful.

It is unclear why the case has taken so long to investigate. Valdez believes Kingsville police referred the matter to a federal agency.

Peña said he was unaware of any federal investigation.

Kingsville Police Chief Ricardo Torres declined comment.

Isassi suggested politics might lay behind the investigation.

"You're talking about something that happened over two years ago," Isassi said.

Isassi had just returned from visiting a prominent Republican -- he won't say who -- in hopes that the person would intercede with Perry to secure appointment to the district attorney's office.

Kleberg County Commissioner Romeo Lomas concurs that politics could play a role in the timing of the investigation.

"I think some might be political," Lomas said, "because he's given notice to everyone in the county that he is going to run for that DA."

Contact Dan Kelley at 886-4316 or kelleyd@caller.com

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Posted by sgran77482 on July 13, 2007 at 8:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Valdez trying someone for perjury???That is laughable!!!

Posted by colorderosa on July 13, 2007 at 10:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Politics, politics, politics, the dirty, lowdown and sometimes just plain hateful, even if true or false, it will bring anyone down and the people behind this, will be the winners and will surface when they run for this position. It's just too bad it had to happen in Kleberg County, AGAIN, and as usual the press and media will milk it for all they can.

Posted by newsman on July 13, 2007 at 10:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)

It is a shame but 95% of all politicians give the rest a bad name.

Posted by dannoynted1 on July 13, 2007 at 10:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Hello ~technically Ms. Anna is ineligible for pre trial diversion because she has been convicted of a "crime"!

Watt did she steal? or watt "theft"?

Did she steal an egg roll?

Did she steal "Mary Cano's milk money?

or maybe she indicted people because her nephew said so.

Posted by dannoynted1 on July 13, 2007 at 11:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)

i hope Alfred hires John Kearney that way they both can be "the prosecution" darlings they worked so hard in law school for.

How does it feel?

Perry progressive Vanos