Friday, April 26, 2024
This week, Roger Deeds posted a “letter to citizens of Hood County” on the Hood County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) Face-book page and other local social media sites.
The letter was in response to two articles that were in last Saturday’s issue of the HCN. One article, which bore the headline “Number Crunch,” was about the number of arrests declining significantly during Deeds’ tenure and at a time when the Commissioners Court plans to spend millions on a phased jail expansion.
As for the other article, the headline said it all: “Challengers criticize sheriff’s handling of investigations.” Deeds has two challengers in the March 3 primary: Greg Neal and David Streiff.
Those who are regular readers of the HCN know that despite a years-long positive relationship, Deeds in October broke off all contact with the HCN after the newspaper questioned his endorsement of a candidate for Commissioners Court who was and still is under a family violence protective order. That candidate, Nathan Criswell, has since dropped out.
One less-than-smart decision led to a domino of less-than-smart decisions and, well, here we are.
With Hood County being one of the fastest-growing counties in the nation, the judgment and competence of our elected officials is more important than ever.
That’s why we decided to print excerpts from Deeds’ letter, along with our responses and responses from others.
For those who have supported Deeds and have been quick to jump to his defense, we get it. We loved the guy, too, back when we thought we knew him.
Now we realize that we never really did.
“I find it comical that the HCNews is trying to make me look bad by complaining about the crime rate in Hood County being down. The citizens of Hood County realize it’s a good thing when crime goes down. The HCNews has exposed themselves and their liberal agenda.”
The “Number crunch” article did not complain about the crime rate being down; it stated that there has been a dramatic decline in arrests during Deeds’ 11-year tenure despite the county’s rapid growth. Fewer arrests don’t necessarily mean that crimes aren’t being committed.
“The HCN brings up the ‘Malone Case’ where a commonsense jury from Hood County convicted Deborah Wilson and David Malone for the death of George Malone in 2009.”
The Hood County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) is not responsible for the fact that no family violence experts were put on the stand to explain why, as jury foreman Amy McKay put it, “Pandora’s Box” was opened that day in the garden in River Run. That failing was on the part of Deborah’s court-appointed lawyer.
The HCSO was responsible, though, for the investigation that led to the prosecution that led to the 99-year prison sentence. The district attorney’s office bears responsibility as well.
The first clue that there might have been more to the story besides two adult children beating their elderly father was when a drunk and bloody Deborah told deputies who responded to the scene, “I beat him like he was some guy who used to rape me when I was little. He can’t hurt me anymore, and he can’t hurt my Mama anymore.”
Clue No. 2 should have been the distinct red marks on Deborah’s neck. When the HCN re-examined the case in 2017, a leading strangulation expert told the newspaper that the marks were among the most distinctive she had seen among thousands of strangulation cases she had prosecuted or reviewed.
And then there were the two neighbors who told the HCN that George jumped Deborah from behind.
Those who served on Deborah’s jury may have had plenty of common sense, but what they didn’t have was a complete picture that might have led to a more just verdict.
When contacted by the HCN in 2017 and told of the newspaper’s findings about the case, McKay said she believed the verdict would have been different had the jury been presented that information.
“I can say without a doubt, I would have had a different opinion,” she said.
“The HCN also keeps bringing up the Figueroa case and the photo that was printed in an issue. The photo in question was never given to my investigators. The reason why, it had nothing to do with the report Figueroa filed. Did the HCNews ever ask Figueroa when was this picture taken? Apparently not!”
The reason the HCN “keeps bringing up the Figueroa case” is because it is at the root of Deeds’ refusal to communicate, despite being an elected official who is paid $97,000 annually by taxpayers. We, and undoubtedly Morales and Criswell, would love nothing more than to put this to rest.
Late Monday, attorney Melinda Owens posted on social media this response to Deeds’ claims about the photo of Morales’ injuries:
“It’s time for the truth about the Criswell/Morales case to (be) brought to light. Your investigators did have access to that photo as it was entered as an exhibit in the protective order hearing prior to the grand jury no bill, where Jeannylee testified under oath as to when and where that photo was taken. I have the transcript that includes that photo. Your investigator Toby Fries was present at that hearing including both prosecutors. There is no question as to when and where the photo was taken. Please check your facts.”
Deeds apparently didn’t grasp that his claim, had it been true, would have shown that he was aware there had been other incidents of family violence involving the man he chose to endorse.
“Among many things, my challengers don’t understand that Hood County is not a member of the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office. All deceased people do not go for an autopsy like they would in the metroplex. Hood County is under a Justice of the Peace system and the JP orders the autopsy or if he or she is satisfied, then no autopsy is ordered.”
This was in response to a statement made by Neal, a retired Dallas police officer who worked as a deputy under Deeds from June 2018 to March 2019.
Neal told the HCN that he was disturbed by the death of young adult that was ruled natural causes by an investigator despite what he felt were red flags at the scene and odd behavior by the deceased person’s spouse.
Responding to Deeds’ statement, Neal said that while it is true that peace justices order autopsies, they are not trained homicide detectives or crime scene technicians.
Peace justices, he said, “need to be reliant on the investigator to have that knowledge or experience” to determine whether there are tip-offs at death scenes where there may not be something as obvious as “a smoking gun or dripping knife.”
“There seems to be a pattern from the Hood County News of defending law breakers. Kathy Cruz is a big supporter of Darlie Routier, who is a convicted child killer of her two young sons. So, consider the source when it comes to her views and opinions.”
In 2012 the HCN entered into a partnership with the Texas Center for Community Journalism to re-examine the case of the Rowlett homemaker who was sent to Death Row in February 1997.
The case has been controversial largely due to the sexist character judgments of Rowlett police officers and Dallas County prosecutors. Also, it has since been established that certain forensic tactics that were once considered scientific are, in fact, highly flawed.
The newspaper series led to a book, and Cruz has since been featured on several television programs about the case, including 2018’s four-hour, four-part ABC docu-series “The Last Defense.”
Last May, the Innocence Project of New York formally joined forces with Routier’s appellate attorneys to attempt to overturn her conviction.
For years, the nonprofit had turned down requests to take on the case but had refused because attorneys there believed Routier to be guilty.
They are now convinced that there is an innocent woman on Texas Death Row.
For Deeds, the HCN’s advocacy for those who may have been victimized through questionable investigations and unsettling convictions is nothing more than “fake news.”
But what if it’s actually fake justice?
‘Please check your facts.’
Attorney Melinda Owens to sheriff
‘I beat him like he was some guy who used to rape me when I was little. He can’t hurt me anymore, and he can’t hurt my Mama anymore.’
Deborah Malone Wilson
