Sharon Boyd, Editor/Publisher

          DallasArena.com
Your alternative to The Dallas Managed News  
            
Spinzone

  Home       Search     

               

BadDealLogo.gif (6018 bytes)


 


                             

01/05/03  Let the Sun Shine --

So mote it be. 

To begin with, let's give our friend, Ruben Navarrette, and The Dallas Morning News a big KUDO for looking out for us in this issue.

The rest needs to be done by us, the citizens of Dallas County.

Let's give Dallas County District Attorney Bill Hill and State Attorney General Gregg Abbott a call or write them a letter.

Let them know the citizens of Dallas County expect total disclosure not only from the Dallas Police Department but also from the Dallas County District Attorney, so we can finally find out exactly what happened during this scandal.

We are the taxpayers who fund these agencies.  Both of these officials are elected to office to protect the citizenry from these types of scandals. Dallas County voters and taxpayers will not be satisfied as to exactly what happened with the DPD and the Dallas County DA's Fake Drug Scandal until both agencies really open this thing up and totally open their doors, so both our city and county may reach justified closure to this matter.
 
 
Editorial Page:  Fake-Drug Records: District attorney needs to release material
05:21 PM CST on Sunday, January 4, 2004

"I want to do everything I can to make sure that the people know that we're going to open this thing up and my office to open its doors."
? Dallas County District Attorney Bill Hill
The Dallas Morning News, Jan. 19, 2002

   When the district attorney uttered those words, Mr. Hill had just asked the FBI to begin an investigation into the fake-drug scandal. Mr. Hill assured the public that his office would "open its doors" to federal investigators in order to bring transparency to the fact-finding process.
   Nearly two years later, documents obtained from the Texas attorney general's office by The Dallas Morning News suggest that Mr. Hill's idea of openness leaves a lot to be desired.
   The documents tell a story that begins when a Dallas private investigator tried in November to obtain from the Southwest Institute of Forensic Sciences "copies of any and all letters, correspondence and lab reports" related to the fake-drug scandal under the Texas Open Records Act. The institute forwarded the request to the district attorney. His office then sought guidance from Attorney General Gregg Abbott, arguing it didn't think the law required the documents' release.
. . . That raises the questions: Exactly what's in those documents that the DA's office wants to keep hidden? Evidence of prosecutorial misconduct? Or gross negligence? Maybe the documents show nothing incriminating, in which case the district attorney should have nothing to fear from their release.
. . .  More than a year ago, The Dallas Morning News went after similar documents from the Southwest Institute of Forensic Sciences. The DA's office joined the crime lab in opposing that request,
. . . Last spring, lawyers with the DA's office also tried to keep a deposition sealed in a civil lawsuit linked to the fake-drug scandal.
. . . These aren't the actions of people intent on opening doors. The district attorney's attempts to treat as private the words and deeds of public officials are not helpful. Nor are they consistent with his pledge of transparency. . . .

                                        

    





                            

 

  Ward politics is the Devil's key to the soul of the city council.  It is how some council members got themselves in trouble in the past.  It is the bait that will get others in trouble in the future. 4/6/8