Plano and Collin County in midst of series of ugly scandals

by Scott Henson of Grits For Breakfast

Has anybody else noticed the steady stream of ugly law enforcement scandals and allegations of corruption coming out in Plano recently, some of them dating back two decades? Taken together, they paint quite a portrait of the Collin County justice system. Here's my own hastily compiled short list, and I'll bet Bill Baumbach could add to it:

Judge and DA Slept Together? According to an affidavit filed by a former Assistant DA in the Charles Hood capital murder case, from 1987 - 1993 then-Judge Verla Sue Holland carried on an affair with then-District Attorney Tim O'Connell, including in cases where the DA personally acted as an attorney before the judge. (She later went on to serve on the Court of Criminal Appeals, Texas' highest criminal court.) Both Holland and O'Connell have refused to confirm or deny the explosive allegations.

Setting Up Innocent People? Last fall a federal civil rights lawsuit alleged that four Plano officers conspired with a man's wife in a bizarre scheme to set him up on on a DWI charge.

Steroid Use by Police? Steroid dealer David Jacobs alleged steroid use by five Metroplex police departments including Plano PD. Dallas police implemented steroid testing in response but the others did not.

Highest Probation Revocation Rate: Though the numbers appear somewhat overstated, Collin County's probation department reported the highest rates of revoked probationers of any large county in Texas.

Sweetheart Pharma Contract? A district judge lost his bid for re-election in March after requiring probationers to use an unproven anti-addiction medication but keeping no records about the program.

Pandering to NIMBYism: State Rep. Jodie Laubenberg from Collin County led the charge last year to chase one of the area's few halfway houses out of existence.

Hounding Gay Employee? After Collin County ousted its well-regarded teen court coordinator allegedly because he's a homosexual, the Dallas Morning News asked, "What can be said about an employer who runs off a solid worker because he is gay? Nothing good."

False Conviction Overturned by DNA: The man convicted for a high-profile child rape and murder in Plano from the '90s that spawned Texas' sex offender registration laws turned out to be innocent, and the Collin DA acquiesced in his release from death row after DNA proved someone else committed the crime.

These stories don't tell the whole tale - e.g., I know there are good programs going on at the Collin County probation department and their DWI court - but doesn't that seem like quite a bit of dysfunctionality arising from a single locale?

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