VOL 9 No. 2
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FORT BEND FAIR. BALANCED. INFORMATIVE. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2016
P. O.BOX 623, SUGAR LAND, TX 77487-0623
Official newspaper of Fort Bend County, Missouri City & Sugar Land
Grand jury gets rare extension to probe high profile case
Sugar Land residents Myatt Hancock, left, and Diana Miller, announce their intention to run for mayor and City councilmember at-large #1, respectively, at a press conference at Sugar Land Marriott Townsquare on Saturday. The first business day for candidate filing is 8 a.m. Jan. 20, 2016; the deadline for filing is 5 p.m. Feb. 19, 2016. Election day is May 7, 2016.
‘Sugar Land Votes’ organizers enter the election fray
By SESHADRI KUMAR Myatt Hancock, a Sugar Land resident, who has been active with Diana Miller in organizing a petition drive to amend the development code, placing a restriction on high-density development, has announced that he will run for mayor in the May 7 election to Sugar Land City Council. Miller also announced that she will run for City Councilmember At-large Position #1. Hancock and Miller held a press conference on Saturday at Sugar Land Marriott Town Square to announce their candidacy and to unveil the candidate’s pledge they have signed. The committee of residents have officially filed the petition, signed by more than 3,000
people, with the city secretary on Monday. Miller said the city is likely to reject the petition to amend the development code, forcing the residents to legally challenge the city’s decision. Taking the city to court is a costly process and the most costeffective way to accomplish the goal is to change the city council, she said, when asked why she is running for city council. Following the November city council resolution to amend development code and cap the apartment units in Planned Development Districts at 200, Miller originally decided not to submit the petition for a referendum. But, the subsequent discussion at the planning and zoning
commission was not encouraging. Miller said she could not wait for the outcome of the P & Z meeting and city council’s subsequent action, because the deadline for filing the petition would have expired by that time. Asked if the city council met the demands in the petition, would she still run for city council, Miller said, ‘Yes.’ At-large Position #2 Councilman Joe Zimmerman and Dist. 4 Councilman Harish Jajoo have already announced their intention to run for mayor. Incumbent Councilman Himesh Gandhi, At-large #1, is also seeking re-election. Mary Joyce will run for the open seat, At-large Position #2. See ELECTION, Page 3
By SESHADRI KUMAR In a rare and bizarre development, a Fort Bend County Grand Jury has gotten its tenure extended to investigate a high profile corruption case alleged in last year’s election to the Lamar Consolidated Independent School District. Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office began an investigation last year after two newly elected LCISD trustees alleged that Jim Gonzales, president of IDC Inc., offered cash in an envelope as a campaign contribution. The sheriff’s investigation has not yet been completed and the matter has not been brought before the grand jury. Ten days before its tenure was to end on Dec. 31, 2015, Owen told District Judge Jim Shoemake that the grand jury could not complete the investigation of the LCISD matter before its term ended and requested an extension. The Foreman of the Grand Jury is Missouri City Mayor Allen Owen. On receiving a letter signed by all the grand jury members on Dec. 21, 2015, Judge Shoemake ordered that the panel be “held over.” The last such grand jury hold over is said to have occurred 30 years ago, Don Bankston, attorney representing Jesse Torres, former LCISD trustee and Richmond commissioner, along with Steven Rocket Rosen, attorney for Jim Gonzales, filed a motion in Judge Shoemake’s court seeking to quash the order of holding over the grand jury. Meanwhile, a new grand jury has been empaneled by District Judge Chad Bridges. On Monday, Jan. 11, the motion came up for hearing. Bankston and Rosen argued that the grand jury has not begun investigation of the LCISD matter and does not meet the legal requirement (in Art. 19.07) that the grand jury declare that “the investigation of the matters before it could not be
completed.” Since the matter has not even come up before the grand jury, it does not meet the legal requirement for extending the grand jury’s term, the attorneys argued. The chief investigator from the sheriff’s office, David Schultz, testified that the investigation is still ongoing and his department has not presented any facts before the grand jury. Owen also testified to the effect that the grand jury did not get to hear any facts of the case, but knew the LCISD case was one of the pending cases. Owen received an email from a former LCISD superintendent around Dec. 10 offering assistance to the grand jury in investigating corruption in LCISD. Owen had also asked District Attorney John Healey via email about the cases that needed to be heard by the grand jury before the end of its term and suggested that his panel would like to complete the LICSD probe. Owen denied Bankston’s suggestion that he was lobbying for extending the grand jury term. Owen confirmed that he and Gonzales were long term friends, but that had nothing to do with his desire to perform his civic duty as a juror. Healey also testified he had merely informed the grand jury about the ongoing investigation in the LCISD matter, but did not offer any specific detail to the grand jury. Assistant District Attorney Steve Carpenter, representing the state, told the court, the sheriff’s investigators had obtained several grand jury subpoenas and have interviewed many people, gathering a lot of evidence. But, Schultz had testified that the subpoena was standard form and the grand jury was not aware of the subpoenas. Bankston said the old grand jury was under the so-called “pick a pal” system as against the new system which employed the
“cattle call” method while empaneling the jury. Since the old jury has not even begun any investigation of the case, it is only fair that the subsequent grand jury hear the case, Bankston said. Bankston also pointed out that there was not even one Hispanic among the grand jury. Carpenter said that argument had no merit because the law does not require equal ethnic representation in grand jury panels, but only required that there is no pattern of discrimination against any ethnic community. Rosen also sought the court to quash a subpoena issued to Gonzales asking him to appear before the “held over” grand jury on Jan. 13. Judge Shoemake, after hearing the arguments and testimony, held that the grand jury’s request met with legal requirements. Since there is no yardstick to measure the extent or level of investigation that has been conducted by the grand jury, he has to use his discretion and he found merit in the grand jury’s declaration. He denied the defense motion to quash the order of extending the grand jury’s tenure and felt confident that his ruling will be upheld by the appellate court. “If there is a shortcoming in my order, shame on me,” Shoemake said. Healey said “There is not much law out there to guide the attorneys and judge. What constitutes a sufficient request to continue a grand jury investigation beyond its term? What constitutes sufficient evidence that a grand jury investigation was even started? “We put on as much evidence as we had to show that the grand jury’s actions were sufficient. I can only hope that appellate courts will back the judge’s decision, if things get that far.” Bankston and Rosen said they would take decision on further legal steps, after meeting the grand jury on Wednesday.
SANTA’S EXCHANGE. Santa’s Exchange provided 4,000 needy children over 12,000 gifts this Christmas. The Exchange Club of Sugar Land, Sugar Land Rotary, The Exchange Club of Fort Bend, Second Mile Mission and Toys for Tots, partnered in a joint community service project to provide thousands of toys for Fort Bend County children this Christmas. Hundreds of volunteers from Fort Bend ISD, local community service clubs, businesses, and churches collected toys and helped parent’s select 3 toys for each of their children the day of the event at First Colony Church of Christ. The kids got to sit on Santa’s lap and were entertained with crafts and games by high school students. Santa’s Exchange has been providing toys for children since 1995.