Allen Wayne Porter was wrongfully convicted 19 years ago and should never have gone to prison for a gang rape and home invasion to which he was not a party. His personal and family's suffering is tragic and immeasurable. Mr. Porter's strength of character and faith in the aftermath of his ordeal has been remarkable.
Notwithstanding, the Houston Chronicles' headline, "A Letter to Lykos," and subsequent article implied that D.A. Patsy Lykos was somehow the key player in righting this injustice.
In actuality, Lykos merely passed the information on to a post-conviction writ assistant D.A., Baldwin Chin. This procedure was common practice under Rosenthal and Holmes and never once were they given such accolades by the Houston Chronicle, that I recall.
Mr. Chin is not only very thorough and phenomenal at his job; he is a hold-over from the Rosenthal administration.
Ms. Casey Garrett, a former ADA under Rosenthal and now a very effective defense attorney, was Mr. Porter's latest defense attorney. It is Ms. Garrett's skill and thoroughness which ultimately proved effective, earning Mr. Porter his long overdue freedom. Ms. Garrett actually more thoroughly interviewed the co-defendants and did not simply fold when the DNA evidence did not exonerate on its face.
Now all this seems pretty unremarkable and routine except I noticed that a special prosecutor, Bob Loper, had been appointed to this case during it's final phase.
Hmm, that seemed kind of odd. Well, as it turns out, back in late November of 2001, the current D.A.'s first assistant and former criminal defense attorney, Jim Leitner, had been appointed as Mr. Porter's DNA defense attorney.
It seems Leitner's legal prowess and thoroughness were no match for Ms. Garrett as evidenced by the outcomes........Leitner's outmatched misgivings in this case are underscored by Garrett's extraordinary skill.
So for those of you who do not think Leitner is doing a good job as the first Assistant to his boss and close friend, D.A. Patsy Lykos; there is at least one innocent defendant who might just agree with Leitner's poor performance review as a criminal defense attorney as well.
Anyway, CONGRATULATIONS to Mr. Allen Wayne Porter for a long overdue taste of freedom and to Casey Garrett for zealously representating her client and not settling for merely going through the motions.
Also, Mr. Baldwin Chin should be commended for his tireless dedication and professionalism in facilitating this outcome.
On the other hand, Lykos did nothing more than pass the baton and claim the trophy without stepping into the arena.
How does the Houston Chronicle justify their sultry love affair with a D.A. who has not, in my opinion, accomplished a single positive thing on her own merit within her current job description.
The Chronicle's mission to facilitate the continued destruction of the Harris County District Attorney's Office is both ongoing and reprehensible.
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16 comments:
I went to Loren Jackson's website and found that you are in fact correct. Leitner was appointed in the same capacity as Ms. Garret.
Leitner has been described on AHCL's blog as a hack appointment lawyer while he bided his time to get on the Lykos teet. This is just another example.
In the meantime, his wife slaves away taking government money on the "darkside".
Garret is a tiger and should be commended for her dedication to doing what is right. The Rosenthal Holmes graduates are killing the Lykos leaches.
Good to see you wake up Ink Man.
Baldwin and Casey are both Holmes hires. They both are great people who have always tried to do the right thing. Congrats guys.
Left out Bob Loper, also a Holmes hire.
Jigmeister,
Baldwin, Casey and Bob were indeed JBH hires. The Holmes era prosecutors were a model for the rest of the country.
It is very sad how Johnny's legacy was first degraded by Rosenthal and is now being crushed by Lykos.
When a District Attorney's Office values politics over integrity their mission has been aborted.
Judge Pat may not be a great prosecutor but she has been a life long Republican and supports getting those illegal aliens out of Harris County and if we can get all those alien criminals out of Houston average prosecutors is all we need to fight crime since most of the crime is a result of all the dope smoking illegals. Mr. Holmes didn't do anything about getting rid of all the illegals and at least Judge Pat is trying to clean up the mess these people bring to Houston.
BI:
Jim's professional conduct is just a reflection of his personal ethics. Neither are impressive.
Jim Leitner and "Good Man" will not be found in the same sentence.
For those of you who don't work at the HCDAO anymore know that James Michael has never been more miserable. I have never liked or trusted Leitner but his new life is a living Hell on all fronts and that ought to be punishment enough.
Congratulations Black Ink it looks like someone on the Houston Comicle's editorial board took issue with your critique of Liekos in their rag today. Do they not realize Stalin would never tolerate anarchy?
Read below and then read the comments above. Leitner seems to be sticking his little pipsqueak head where it doesn't belong. How is he taking credit for this?
BI, I think you may be getting to Limpin' Jimbo.
In a press release, Lykos' First Assistant Jim Leitner appeared to slam prior administrations for the length of time the case stalled.
"The evidence in this case had been sitting in the District Clerk's Office for 27 years, and no one had taken the initiative to do anything with it in the past," Leitner said. "The difference now is that you've got the Post Conviction Review Section looking into it — and that made all the difference in the case of Mr. Green."
Anon 3:16,
A MAN is more appropriately judged by what he does than by what another individual did or didn't do.
Leitner's comments reveal his expertise as an excuse maker instead of a leader.
Leitner is a disgrace to the Harris County District Attorney's Office and to the Defense Bar who eagerly propped him up as their boy to guard the proverbial hen house.
It is easier to blow up a bridge than to build one......Leitner is content to play with IEDs.
Who was Jim Leitner kidding when he was quoted as saying:
"Evidence in this case had been sitting in the District Clerk's Office for 27 years, and no one had taken the initiative to do anything with it in the past. The difference now is that you've got the Post Conviction Review Section looking into it — and that made all the difference in the case of Mr. Green."
Well for the last 19 months of the aforementioned 27 years that same referenced evidence was sitting on Leitner's friggin' desk and he personally knew his former client was innocent so why in the world did it take so long and require another defense attorney to complete his job?
Leitner is a joke, a liar and a hippocrite.
Poor Bitter Jim-
Jim has reason to be bitter and if any of you were in his shoes you would be bitter too. What person with any sense of pride would ever choose to be Lykos' assistant. I would imagine his choice to do this caused some financial strain on his family. It seems as though he promised his defense attorney friends changes that were never going to happen, and he now has the respect of a mouse while he executes on Pat's wishes. These are personnel decisions, administrative decisions, and life changing decisions for those he supervises. Many of the decisions have proven to be rash and destructive. What makes Jim so bitter is that he knows what he is doing is wrong and he can no longer laugh it off with his chipmunk smirk.
People at our office no longer respect him because he does not respect himself. He is bitter so just let him vent........
While we are not sympathetic to the situation he CHOSE to put himself in. He slings cheap shots as he circles the drain like a cockroach.
I wonder how many more innocent clients Jim Leitner represented that are still rotting in a jail cell? Will Jim Leitner personally intervene on their behalf or simply shuck and jive while others continue to do his job for him? We all know the answer to that. Leitner is all about Leitner and he'd screw his best friend's daughter if it benefited him. What a POS.
Excuse me, you all are the ones that are bitter. That your reign of terror is over. Last time I checked, Alicia Oneal was a Lykos Leitner hire. Congrats to Lykos and Leitner for adding her.
Anon 3:33,
Alicia is waaaaay too smart and hard working to be a Lykos hire so quit trying to stir the pot A-hole.
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