Houston, Texas

From the Houston Chronicle of April 10, 2006
(Editorial)

Harris County prosecutor's upbraiding of jurors over a not guilty verdict was unprofessional and unjust

Serving on a jury is sacrifice enough for the relatively small percentage of citizens who actually obey their summons and show up for duty. Getting chewed out by a prosecutor who didn't like a verdict — as happened here last month — shouldn't be part of the experience.

Rene Villalobos Velez, 29, had been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after shooting a merchant in the shin during a quarrel last year over the purchase of a mattress. Velez claimed self-defense, accusing the merchant of threatening him with a pipe. Prosecutor Doug Richards, a 2004 graduate of South Texas College of Law, argued that Velez shot the victim through a door and was in no danger when he did so.

The jury disagreed and found Velez innocent. Afterward, one member questioned why the prosecutor had not charged Velez with illegally carrying a weapon, a charge about which there could have been no dispute, as the defendant had no state concealed gun permit.

In a post-trial meeting with the jurors, Richards blasted their judgment. According to several members of the panel, he accused the jurors of "ignoring the laws and the facts" and then stomped off in a huff.

Although Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal later told the young prosecutor it was not the policy of his office to disparage jurors, Richards did not retract his comments when interviewed by Chronicle reporter Steve McVicker. He said he expected jurors to honor their oath to uphold the law: "I do stand by the fact that there's no way they could have been listening to the evidence in this case and still have reached the same verdict." Richards is apparently under the impression that jurors cannot disagree with a prosecutor's judgment without violating their oath. If that were true, there would be no reason to have a jury system.

Rather than throwing a tantrum, the neophyte prosecutor should have taken to heart the fact that if he failed to convince 12 impartial people that the defendant was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, his case had problems. Instead, Richards came close to violating the legal code of conduct that prohibits lawyers from harassing jurors.

Harris County is famous for meting out tough justice — but that shouldn't include the verbal abuse of jurors who happen to disagree with a prosecutor.