Bay Area Houston

This is getting old. And petty.

I’ve been critical of Judge Hidalgo for looking petty in her continued confrontation with District Attorney Kim Ogg. Ogg also has a lot of blame to share. Hidalgo recently added fuel to the fire by endorsing Ogg’s opponent. She didn’t need to do that. Not now especially after yet another Houston Chronicle article about the Texas Ranger’s investigation into her office. It looks petty. It is petty. She is better than this. She should be better than this.

But now a small, vocal, group of precinct chairs of the Harris County Democratic Party have to have their turn to piss on the campfire calling for a vote on a resolution condemning Kim Ogg. Hey, I get it. Ogg has lost support from the far left, and the left, and the middle. Even I, a former supporter of Ogg, have soured on her performance, mainly because of her continued public dramatic display of animosity towards Judge Hidalgo, Commissioners Court, and judicial candidates. These issues and discussions should have been behind closed doors not on the front page of the Houston Chronicle.

Unfortunately the small group of precinct chairs have to be on the front page of the Houston Chronicle and the Chronicle is eating it up as well as the republican MAGAts looking to regain the DAs office. From the Chronicle:

A committee of local Democrats had an unusually rousing evening on Wednesday when over 50 people attended a meeting with two dueling resolutions on the agenda – one from a group of over 100 precinct chairs calling on the party to formally condemn District Attorney Kim Ogg, and another from 23 of her supporters urging party unity instead.

By the way….there are over 750 precinct chairs in Harris County. The Party needs to do one of two things, pacify the small group of precinct chairs, pass the resolution, and then shut the hell up. Or just shut the hell up. We all have more important things to do. I doubt Ogg will ever get the nomination for DA in the 2024 primary. She has been unnecessarily caustic. Let the voters decide in March and quit with the drama. You have made your point, in public, on the front page of the Chronicle, and dramatically.

Just let it lie.

Why now?

Newsflash! Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo does not like Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg! I don’t know who is advising the Judge but she might want to consider a shake up in staff. This endorsement of Kim Ogg’s primary opponent, at this time, looks petty. It is appreciated, but it looks petty and in this day and age of politics looks, unfortunately, rules.

Why now? We are over 3 months away from the primary. Ogg and Hidalgo are coming off yet another round of fighting after the Texas Rangers continued their investigation of the failed COVID contract and with the Harris County Democratic Party moving to admonish Ogg. (Adding to the unnecessary drama) Endorsing Ogg’s opponent is ill timed. It doesn’t help anyone at this time. There is only one person who has entered the primary against Ogg at this time. What if another enters the race? Maybe one that Hidalgo would rather endorse?

If you have been paying attention, or reading the Houston Chronicle, there is a major disconnect between Hidalgo and Ogg. Both have attacked each other at Commissioners meetings, in public, and in print. The Chronicle is loving the infighting, so are the republican MAGAts. Throwing support to Ogg’s opponent at this time is really uncalled for. Why poke the bear? Why throw gas on the fire? Why now?

Ogg isn’t without blame. She has created a very bad look for the office. Many of her issues with Hidalgo, whether valid or not, could have been handled more discreetly, more professionally. Her role in the primary against well qualified attorneys was disturbing. Her reported use of her office against her opponents is also disturbing. It all looks petty.

And we all know looks rule.

In non legal terms, give it a rest Mealer.

Mealer lost her election to Judge Lina Hidalgo by over 18,000 votes. So they had a recount and she still lost. So she sued claiming some voting locations ran out of paper ballots. According to the Houston Chronicles investigation that wasn’t completely true and even if it was she couldn’t make up the difference. So she did what Trump did. She sued.

Now even her attorneys think she is full of shit. And she is. Along with her suit there are over 20 suits filed against judicial candidates claiming the lack of paper ballots skewed the election. The first went to trial last month and it didn’t go very well for the republicans. So Mealer is now claiming that over 32,000 ballots were incorrectly counted. (They weren’t and the Judge dismissed her stupidity)

It’s bullshit. Completely bullshit. Even her former attorneys are calling bullshit. From the Houston Chronicle:

Alvarez criticized Mealer’s decision to add claims about election fraud to her petition, saying that was not part of the deal they made when Mealer hired her firm: “She also specifically told us she did not want to litigate ballot fraud or election fraud, or anything resembling the Trump litigation because it would be embarrassing to her in her professional life.” 

Yeah. She already embarrassed herself by losing after out spending Hidalgo 4 to 1. Give it a rest Mealer.

It’s a bit early but candidates for Harris County District Attorney have filed campaign finance reports.

Incumbent DA, Kim Ogg, raised $55,695, spent $28,571, has an outstanding loan of $48,489 and has $274,748 Cash on Hand. Nothing unusual about her report.

Her opponent in the Democratic primary, Sean Teare, raised $748,317, spent $102,192, no outstanding loans, and has $608,269 Cash on Hand. There are two major donations to Teare, one from Laura Turek for $100,000 and $500,000 from Scott Freeman. Without these donations he raised $148,317.

Harris County has no restrictions on the amount that can be donated to a candidate. I expect Mattress MAGAt Mac to pour a few millions into a republican candidate but that candidate has not filed a treasurer appointment yet.

To those who have served on a grand jury, you sound like an ignorant idiot.

Seriously. Stop saying it. You don’t know what you are talking about. The reason ignorant people say this is because they do not understand how a grand jury works or the statistics behind the indictments.

Having served on 3 grand juries in Harris County I can say from experience the rate of indictments is high for only one reason, the evidence is clear and the cases should go to a jury. That is all the grand jury does. They vote to either indict based upon the evidence presented and send the case to trial or to “no bill” and dismiss the case. The rate of indictments could be as high as 98% of all cases presented.

The process of reviewing and voting on the cases is up to the members of the grand jury. A GJ could listen to a number of Assistant DAs each bringing 30-40 cases to the jury, explain the evidence, and the GJ would vote on which to indict, which to discuss further, and which to no bill. A GJ could hear hundreds of cases a day, serving 2-3 days a week. The GJ also determines how they would vote on each case. They could vote in mass because the evidence is clear on each case, or they could pull cases for further discussion and vote in mass for the others. It is up to the specific GJ to decide.

The GJ may hear a special case much like a case against an elected official. They would listen to witnesses, be able to ask questions, and issue subpoenas. They have an incredible amount of power to use to get to the truth. They could hear evidence for an extended time, multiple days, multiple hours. They do not vote on whether the subject is guilty of a crime. They just vote on whether there is evidence a crime was committed and if the case should proceed to a jury.

The GJ is a safeguard for the citizens. It provides a way to review a case before it heads to trial. It provides a checkpoint in the process of charging a citizen with a crime. The GJ isn’t a deli. It has nothing to do with a ham sandwich. It’s a group of citizens taking their time to verify the actions of a District Attorney.

Do yourself a favor and quit speaking like a idiot.