Professional Documents
Culture Documents
LISA FALKENBERG
Commentary
CITY | STATE
INSIDE
Falkenberg continues on B4
EDITORIAL
Affirmative action
suit against UT still
ill-considered and
poorly timed.
Page B8
@HoustonChron
Section B xxx
COURTS
Where
does
HCC
trustee
reside?
Researchers
work in a
Level 4 lab at
the Galveston
National
Laboratory
at the
University
of Texas
Medical
Branch. The
lab works
on some of
the worlds
mostly
deadly
diseases.
University of Texas
Medical Branch
Lab continues on B7
PORTER
By Benjamin Wermund
Houston Community
College Trustee Dave
Wilson, whose name has
become a staple on local
election ballots, has made
a habit of claiming one
residence after another to
qualify for his numerous
runs for office, a Harris
County attorney argued in
court Wednesday.
Wilson also has claimed
tax exemptions at a home
on Lake Lane, which is in
the Lone Star College System district. Lake Lane is
where his wife lives and
where he raised his children, spends his weekends
and has his family gatherings, Douglas Ray, an assistant county attorney,
told a jury in his opening
argument in a case to determine where exactly Wilson
lives.
Wilson lives exactly
where he says he lives: in
a fully furnished apartment in a warehouse on W.
34th Street, in District II of
the HCC system, defense
attorney Keith Gross told
the jury. Just because his
wife lives on Lake Lane
does not mean it has to be
his residence, Gross argued.
If Wilson, accused of
claiming a false residence
in his run for his HCC
seat, in fact lived outside
CAMPAIGN 2014
Battle for
cash in
No. 2 race
is even
for now
By David Saleh Rauf
and Peggy Fikac
Mary Beleele, 83, of Porter feels upset about the accident that took place in the backyard of her home
when a man hired by her daughter to cut a tree on her property got pinned by a branch.
By Mihir Zaveri
Id never
have had him out
if I knew hed
get hurt.
Mary Beleele,
owner of the old
dead oak that
Ray Leyva was
cutting down
when it collapsed,
pinning his leg
HCC continues on B2
AUSTIN Democratic
lieutenant governor nominee Leticia Van de Putte
posted an impressive haul
this week cash raked in
since the beginning of the
year via a nearly nonstop
fundraising blitz.
But the roughly $2 million raised by the San Antonio state senator may
quickly be swamped by
her opponent, Republican
Sen. Dan Patrick of Houston, who this election season already has shown the
ability to summon the big
GOP money guns.
The latest campaign nance reports showcase
perhaps the key factor determining whether Van de
Putte will be able to compete with Patrick deep into
the homestretch: her ability to raise cash.
According to new reports, Van de Putte has
outpaced Patrick since
the last week of May, raising $1.2 million to Patricks
roughly $1 million. That
haul included $100,000 in
contributions from Houston trial lawyer Amber
Mostyn and Houston investor Lillie Robertson.
She has the right vision for Texas and wants
to change the direction its
going in, said South Texas
Big continues on B3
CITY | STATE
kparker@express-news.net
aggravated perjury?
Its up to 10 years,
Rizzo responds.
In prison. OK, the
foreman says.
Oh no, says another
grand juror as if on cue,
echoing other commentary that reads at times
like a Greek chorus.
Every word challenged
Im just trying to
answer all your questions
to the best of my ability,
Dockery says.
A bit later, a female
juror asks pointedly:
What are you protecting
him from?
Im not protecting
him from anything. No
maam. I wouldnt dare do
that, Dockery eventually
responds. As Rizzo and
the grand jurors parse
Dockerys every word and
challenge each statement,
she complains theyre
confusing her.
No, were not confusing you, a grand juror
says. We just want to nd
out the truth.
Although Dockery says
repeatedly that she knew
it was Brown on her couch
that morning, the foreman
tries to get her to subscribe to an implausible
theory that it was somebody else on her couch.
She doesnt budge. The
group takes a break one
of several.
When the grand jury
returns, the foreman
says the members are not
convinced by Dockerys
story and wanted to
express our concern for
her children if she doesnt
come clean.
Thats why were really
pulling this testimony,
the foreman tells her.
The foreman adds that
if the evidence shows shes
perjuring herself then
you know the kids are
going to be taken by Child
Protective Services, and
youre going to the penitentiary and you wont see
your kids for a long time.
Think about your kids
Rizzo goes on to accuse
Dockery of misleading the
grand jury. Then, after being told again and again to
think about her children,
Dockery changes her story a bit. She says Brown
was not at the house when
she left for work.
No, no, no, she nally
blurts out.
One minute, Ericka,
a grand juror says a bit
later, apparently sensing an opportunity. He
wasnt in the house when
you put your kids on the
bus either, was (he)?
Im trying to remember, she says.
Think about your
kids, darling, a grand
juror says.
Im trying to remember, Dockery says.
Thats what were concerned about here, is your
kids, the foreman says.
He was not at the
house, a grand juror
urges.
Were as much concerned about your kids
as you are, the foreman
says. So, tell the truth.
He was not in the
house when you put your
kids on the bus, was he?
a grand juror says.
Tell the truth, girl.
Yes, Dockery says
nally. He was there.
A bit later, Dockery
acquiesces on that point,
saying that Brown was
not in her house earlier
that morning, either.
Pivotal phone call
Theres a long break.
Whatever happened during that time must have
been profound. Dockery
comes back in and tells
yet another, completely
different, story that she
left her house far earlier
than shed said previously,
to rekindle a relationship
with an old lover, and
therefore doesnt know
what time Brown left.
Rizzo, his patience
seemingly wearing thin,
suggests again he doesnt
believe her story. I think
that youre up to your
neck involved in this
deal, he says.
He is intent on getting Dockery to admit
she made a call to one of
the suspects, as he says
records show.
I never called. I never
called, she says.
Girl, you just made
a big mistake, a grand
juror says.
One of them advises
her to get an attorney.
Were done, Rizzo
announces.
And although Dockery
had never been implicated in the crime, a grand
juror closes out Dockerys
testimony by leveling the
harshest, most intimidating allegation yet.
I think she was with
him at the check cashing
place.
Months later, Dockery found herself in jail
charged with perjury for
allegedly lying about what
time she last saw Brown
the day of the murder
and whether she called
another suspect. She faced
bail she couldnt pay and,
apparently, one cruel
choice stay locked up
away from her children,
or tell them what they
wanted to hear.
(Coming next, part II
of Dockerys story)
lisa.falkenberg@chron.com
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
INSIDE
@HoustonChron
CITY | STATE
EDITORIAL
Section B xx
COMMENTARY
name is Jero Dorty. And the district attorneys office has been
aware of his potential role in
Clarks death for at least seven
years.
In 2007, Browns writ attorneys with the rm K&L Gates
named Dorty as a critical suspect and spent nearly 10 pages
of an appeal laying out the
reasons why. In 2008, Browns
attorneys led an emergency
motion to test Dortys DNA. But
prosecutors dragged their feet.
By Lisa Falkenberg
Family
Sir, I dont know anything else, the young mother of three told a Harris County
tiesprosecutor
raise on an
April morning in 2003.
But the prosecutor, Dan Rizzo, didnt believe her. And neither did the Harrisred
County
grand jury
flags
listening to her testimony.
no-bid
They seemed convinced that Ericka Jean Dockerys boyfriend of six months, on
Alfred
Dewayne
Brown, had murdered veteran Houston police officer Charles R. Clark during a three-man burglary of
contracts
a check-cashing place, and they didnt seem to be willing to believe Dockerys testimony that he was at
KATY
Political watchdogs,
her house the morning of the murder.
lawmakers note links
If we find out that youre not telling the truth, were coming after you, one in
grand
juror tells Dock21CT controversy
ery.
By Brian M. Rosenthal
You wont be able to get a job flipping burgers, says another.
AUSTIN When then-Texas
health official Jack Stick sugDockery tells the group that if she believed Brown actually killed people, shed
turn
inthatherself:
gested
earlierhim
this year
a
company he had helped land $20
million
in
no-bid
state
contracts
If he did it, he deserves to get whatever is coming to him. Truly, she says.
might get another one through a
sister department,
was refer- DockIn May, I reported that a land-line phone record supporting Browns contention
that hehe called
ring the rm to a familiar face:
Frianita
Wilson,
wife
of Doug
ery that morning from her apartment phone had mysteriously turned up in a homicide
detectives
gaWilson, who as Sticks boss was
overseeing
the
rst
project.
From
right,
Tremel
Cooper,
11,
Bryan
Worthy,
9,
Katelyn
Washington,
16,
and
Byron
Worthy,
9,
play
street
basketball
near
rage, more
than
seven
years
after
he
was
convicted
and
sentenced
to
death.
The
Harris
County
District
Of course, Stick then the
their homes on the corner of Roberts and Danover in Katy. Some residents call the area around Roberts Road the ghetto.
at the stateand
healthagreed
Attorneys Office maintained Rizzo, now retired, must have inadvertently
lost top
thelawyer
record,
might qualify for Houston
commission could also have
As suburban market skyrockets,
Habitat for Humanitys rst
turned for help to his own wife,
to a new trial. The Texas Court of
Criminal
Appeals
sat on the Erica
case
for more than a
low-cost
options
struggle inexplicably
to survive home has
Stick, who served as chief
in the Katy area. But
rising land prices have put
of staff at the mega-agency, which
year.
By Leah Binkovitz
runs all health and human serplanned communities. The that project on hold.
soon-to-come, 2,000-home
As the Katy area grows
vices and has a $33 billion annual
Initially, Dockerys story meshed
with
Browns.
She
told
grand
jurors
he
was
indeed asleep on her
budget.
Families moving to Cane Island touts a trained and prospers, affordable
And that wasnt his only famthe ourishing Katy area golden Retriever that will housing seems increasingcouch at the early morning hourcanwhen
scouting
Dockery
also
scan realprosecutors
estate list- pose for believed
photographs andhe
ly was
out of reach,
sometimes venues.
ily connection
at a state agenings, walk through model offer its business card to by design and sometimes
cy. His brother, Jeremy Stick,
confirmed the land-line call to her
workplace
at the same
time ofprosecutors
placed
Brown at an
homes
or visit open hous-- made
potential buyers.
as a reection
a broader
worked
at the same department
es. Theyll see a $1.2 million
Meanwhile, in a small problem in many commuas Frianita Wilson.
apartment complex with suspects,
changing
watching
TV
the
strip mall and
storefront
in nities ringing
ve-bedroom
on Brightonclothes
thenews
Houston coverage
The web ofof
family
ties crime.
at the
Sky Lane, a four-bedroom downtown Katy, families area. Katys city governTexas Health and Human Serattend atake
differentDockerys
kind of ment lacks
Crystal Meadow
any sort of housvices
Commission is raising new
Neither the prosecutor nor theongrand
juryPlace
would
truth
for an
answer.
listed for $363,000, or open house, reviewing ing program, the countys
questions in a growing contract
documentsSubway
to see if they sandwiches
model homes
from masterHousing continues onby
B5 night,
controversy
roiling
the Capitol.
The young woman, a home health
aide
who made
had
no
attorney. No
State continues on B2
experience dealing with authorities. No criminal history aside from traffic tickets.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY JUDGE
She caved.
At Browns capital murder trial in October 2005, Dockery was a key prosecution witness,
Rockets
host party for Goodfellows children
Sadler
legacy
ofsentence
helping seal herleaves
boyfriends
death
by telling the court that when she asked him if he did it, he
By Michelle Iracheta
to stop her children, espefiscal care
amid
had confessed,
saying,
I growth
was there. I was there.
cially Memo, from enjoying
By Cindy Horswell
Memo Archundia had the game.
gomery Countys governHow she got from one
point
to
another
would
be
hard
to
imagine.
But
thanks
to
confidenment. The county native
never been to a basketball a Iformerly
have condence
in
Montgomery County concluded at the end of the
game before Saturday, but myself that I can play any
tial document
in Browns
court
file,
Judge Alan Sadler,
who is two-year
study that
with we dont have to imagine.
the 8-year-old said he has sport, said her son. MayMarie D. De Jess / Houston Chronicle
Boom puts
homes for
working
class out
of reach
ets.
quarter of a century in University of Texas and 18
sports.
Part ofaoffice,
public
record
never dreamed
of a years work experience, he
His podiatrist
On
Saturday
could run a tighter ship by
always said hed
night, they were in
career in politics.
In a rare,
glimpse
into the shrouded world of the Texas
grand
jury system,
wesuite
can
the job himself.
a private
at read
Whendisturbing
Sadler married doing
make
a great basketToyota Center that
his wife, Mimi, 34 years
So naively, I jumped
ball player because
with ourago,own
beginnings
was joyfully chahe waseyes
workingthe
in in
and ran, and damn of
if I the young womans tortured evolution.
hes so tall, said his
otic. Children were
banking and real estate didnt win, recalled Sadler
mother, Sonia Arctheir pack-the
and she attorneys
would tell her were
hundia. We hope that
he ripping open
of his rst
in
Appellate
socampaign
outraged
by a 146-page transcript of Dockerys
testimony
before
friends, Well, at least hes 1990. He trounced the ingets excited about it today. ages like it was Christmas
not
a
politician.
cumbent,
Al
Stahl,
garnerThe
45-year-old
suffers
morning,
tossing
208th Harris
County grand jury on April 21, 2003, that they entered
it into the public recordwrapfor judges
from chronic pneumonia ping paper, ribbons and
But Sadler, now 66, got ing over 60 percent of the
the itch to run for county vote. By the time he retires
and has to stay tethered to bows aside to reveal stuffed
to review.
an electric oxygen pump in animals, Hello Kitty dolls
judge after being appoint- at the end of the month,
Sadler will
haveinquire.
six terms Noah
ed to a committee
to studydont
Edwardsinterrogate.
gets a pat on the head They
from Santa
order to breathe.
She saidappear
and Nerf guns.
In it, grand
jurors
just
They
intimidate.
They
to abandon
the efficiency of MontSadler continues on B2 Clutch during Saturdays event at Toyota Center.
she didnt want her illness Goodfellows continues on B3
their duty to serve as a check on overzealous government prosecution and instead join the team.
Unbelievable,
veteran criminal defense
attorney Pat McCann said after I asked him to read the
Houstons First Baptist Chur
rch
The they
Loopwere
Campus
document. When she went in there, Mr. Brown had an alibi. When
finished browbeating
at 4p & 6p
her with her children, he didnt. Thats the single biggest misuse and abuse of the grand jury system I
Cypress Campus
have ever seen.
at historic Tin Hall
Rizzo and Lynn Hardaway with the DAs office declined comment, citing
a state law that keeps grand
at 4p & 6p
jury proceedings secret.
CANDLELIGHT SERVICES
Sienna Campus
At first, the fact that Dockery
seemed to be a good, nice, hard-working
lady, in the words of one
at 4p & 6p
Wed,
24 But jurors soon seized
grand juror, gave her credibility with
theDec
group.
on her vulnerabilities and fear.
Dave Rossman
Christmas Eve
HoustonsFirst.org/Christmas
Created on Adobe Document Server 2.0
Hey, Dan, the foreman calls to the prosecutor. What are the punishments for perjury and aggravated perjury?
Its up to 10 years, Rizzo responds.
In prison. OK, the foreman says.
Oh no, says another grand juror as if on cue, echoing other commentary that reads at times like a
Greek chorus.
Every word challenged
Im just trying to answer all your questions to the best of my ability, Dockery says.
A bit later, a female juror asks pointedly: What are you protecting him from?
Im not protecting him from anything. No maam. I wouldnt dare do that, Dockery eventually responds. As Rizzo and the grand jurors parse Dockerys every word and challenge each statement, she
complains theyre confusing her.
No, were not confusing you, a grand juror says. We just want to find out the truth.
Although Dockery says repeatedly that she knew it was Brown on her couch that morning, the foreman tries to get her to subscribe to an implausible theory that it was somebody else on her couch.
She doesnt budge. The group takes a break - one of several.
When the grand jury returns, the foreman says the members are not convinced by Dockerys story
and wanted to express our concern for her children if she doesnt come clean.
Thats why were really pulling this testimony, the foreman tells her.
The foreman adds that if the evidence shows shes perjuring herself then you know the kids are
going to be taken by Child Protective Services, and youre going to the penitentiary and you wont see
your kids for a long time.
Think about your kids
Rizzo goes on to accuse Dockery of misleading the grand jury. Then, after being told again and again
to think about her children, Dockery changes her story a bit. She says Brown was not at the house
when she left for work.
No, no, no, she finally blurts out.
One minute, Ericka, a grand juror says a bit later, apparently sensing an opportunity. He wasnt
in the house when you put your kids on the bus either, was (he)?
Im trying to remember, she says.
Think about your kids, darling, a grand juror says.
Im trying to remember, Dockery says.
Thats what were concerned about here, is your kids, the foreman says.
He was not at the house, a grand juror urges.
Were as much concerned about your kids as you are, the foreman says. So, tell the truth.
He was not in the house when you put your kids on the bus, was he? a grand juror says.
Tell the truth, girl.
Yes, Dockery says finally. He was there.
A bit later, Dockery acquiesces on that point, saying that Brown was not in her house earlier that
morning, either.
Pivotal phone call
Theres a long break. Whatever happened during that time must have been profound. Dockery comes
back in and tells yet another, completely different, story - that she left her house far earlier than shed
said previously, to rekindle a relationship with an old lover, and therefore doesnt know what time
Brown left.
Rizzo, his patience seemingly wearing thin, suggests again he doesnt believe her story. I think that
youre up to your neck involved in this deal, he says.
He is intent on getting Dockery to admit she made a call to one of the suspects, as he says records
show.
I never called. I never called, she says.
Girl, you just made a big mistake, a grand juror says.
One of them advises her to get an attorney.
Were done, Rizzo announces.
And although Dockery had never been implicated in the crime, a grand juror closes out Dockerys
testimony by leveling the harshest, most intimidating allegation yet.
I think she was with him at the check cashing place.
Months later, Dockery found herself in jail charged with perjury for allegedly lying about what time
she last saw Brown the day of the murder and whether she called another suspect. She faced bail she
couldnt pay and, apparently, one cruel choice - stay locked up away from her children, or tell them
what they wanted to hear.
(Coming next, part II of Dockerys story)
lisa.falkenberg@chron.com