Monthly Archives: December 2007

Judge Kent gears up

Posted on by
Reply

sam%20kent%20121207.jpgEmbattled U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent of Galveston (previous posts here) is battening down the hatches with an addition to his defense team — prominent Houston-based criminal defense attorney Dick DeGuerin.
This John Council/Brenda Sapino Jeffreys/Texas Lawyer article reports that DeGuerin gave the following response when asked why Judge Kent hired him: “When Rusty Hardin became involved and started saying a crime had been committed . . . it became obvious that he [Kent] needed some advice about that.” In this related Lise Olsen/Chronicle story, Hardin shot back: “That guy should not be a federal judge. To me, that’s the bottom line. Judge Kent has hired an excellent lawyer and it’s a good thing ó he needs one.”
Council and Jeffreys also report that the prospect of a criminal prosecution of Judge Kent appears to be heating up:

U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent ó who has hired Houston criminal-defense lawyer Dick DeGuerin ó met with Federal Bureau of Investigation agents on Nov. 30 to discuss allegations that he sexually harassed a court employee. [. . .]
DeGuerin says Kent, on his own, “solicited the interview” with the FBI, answered all of the agents’ questions and agreed to further interviews if requested. DeGuerin says he did not sit in on Kent’s interview with the FBI.
DeGuerin says Kent told him about his interview with the FBI “right after it was done. . . . He called an FBI agent that he knew. He [the FBI agent] contacted another FBI agent that he knew and they interviewed him.” DeGuerin adds, “I think he [Kent] did the right thing. I think it strengthens his position that he’s had all along. Maybe he’s done some things that are a little embarrassing, but he’s done nothing wrong.”
“Of course the FBI agents don’t let on what they’re thinking when they interview witnesses,” DeGuerin says. “But he felt like they asked all of the right questions.”

The article goes on to report that Hardin, the attorney for Cathy McBroom (one of the complainants against Judge Kent), continues to call for a criminal investigation of the Judge by the Department of Justice (see earlier post here). Judge Kent returns to the U.S. District Court bench from his Fifth Circuit Judicial Council-imposed four month suspension after the first of the year.
By the way, as difficult as Judge Kent’s case appears to be at this point, it’s a piece of cake compared to DeGuerin’s other recent Galveston case.

Putting $14 trillion in perspective

Posted on by
Reply

MapUS.jpegMark Perry provides this creative map that places the enormous size of the U.S. economy in a useful perspective.

It could happen here

Posted on by
2

Metrorail%20car-Houston%20121207.jpgThis earlier post noted that a not very flattering analysis of the economic debacle that is the San Jose, California light rail system might very well describe Houston’s light rail system in a few years if we don’t come to our senses. Following up on those thoughts, this Randal O’Toole post reviews a San Jose Mercury News newspaper article that reports on the state of the San Jose transit system on the 20-year anniversary of light rail there. It’s not a pretty picture:

Santa Clara County taxpayers pay as much or more for transit, yet their transit system carries fewer riders, than almost any system with light rail in the country. ìThe heavy tax commitment to transit,î the article notes, ìmeans fewer dollars for road upgrades.î Especially since a half-cent sales tax that voters approved of for roads was hijacked by the transit agency in 2000. [. . .]
ìThe light-rail system should be considered a 100-year investment,î says San Joseís director of transportation planning. That shows how shallow planners are: within another 20 years, that investment will be completely worn out and San Jose will have to decide whether to scrap it or spend another few billion replacing it.
. . . [the] Silicon Valley, with its jobs spread out more thinly than almost anywhere else in the country, was unsuited for large-bus transit service. So to go from buses to light rail, which requires even more job concentration to work, was a mistake. Having made that mistake, VTA now wants to build BART, which requires even more job concentration. . .
Light rail was the wrong solution for San Jose in 1987, it is the wrong solution today, and it still will be the wrong solution in 2027. We can only hope that San Joseís leaders and opinion makers, including the Mercury-News, come to their senses by then and decide to junk the whole thing.

Meanwhile, in Houston, as our local “leaders” continue planning to spend upwards of $4 billion on expansion of a light rail system that relatively few citizens of the area will use, alternative transit projects that make much more sense are relegated to discussion in the blogosphere.
The Houston area is a big place with a vibrant and resilient economy. But Metro’s light rail system is the one urban boondoggle going right now that has the potential to become a serious economic drag on the local economy in the not-to-distant future. It’s far past time that our local leadership noticed and started taking actions to hedge this risk.

Say what, Jerry Jones?

Posted on by
Reply

cowboys%20stadium%20121207.jpgSo, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is lobbying the Texas state legislature to intervene on the National Football League’s behalf in the league’s dispute with the cable companies over carrying the NFL Network’s slate of games. As I understand Jones’ argument, the legislators should be upset with the cable companies because they are trying to make a killing by over-charging a few of their customers who would subscribe to the network rather than simply making the network available to all customers and spreading a more reasonable amount over all of them. Or something to that effect.
Based on the numbers contained in this Mitchell Schnurman column on Jones’ new Cowboys stadium that is nearing completion in Arlington (options for top-line club seats are being offered for $50,000 each!), does anyone else find it at least a wee bit absurd that Jones is criticizing someone else for trying to make too much money?

Thoughts from a crowded commuter airplane cabin

Posted on by
Reply

crowded%20airplane%20cabin.jpgAdmit it. You’ve had similar thoughts.

Conrad Black faces the trial penalty

Posted on by
Reply

conrad_black%20121107.jpgFormer Hollinger International chairman and CEO Conrad Black (previous posts here) was sentenced on Monday to six and a half years in prison as a result of his conviction on three counts of mail fraud and one count of obstruction of justice stemming from Black and his associates’ taking of $2.9 million in non-compete compensation from the sale of Hollinger assets that the prosecution contended should have gone to Hollinger. Lord Black was ordered to report to prison on March 3rd.
Given the severity of the trial penalty (see also here) in criminal cases against wealthy businesspeople these days, Black’s sentence could have turned out much worse under the circumstances (sentencing expert Doug Berman had set the over/under on Black’s sentence at 8 years). Let’s face it — the American criminal justice system is stacked against defendants such as Lord Black, Jeff Skilling, Jamie Olis or any number of other recently-convicted businesspersons who elect to protest their innocence at trial. The now common practice of the prosecution loading indictments with multiple charges for the same acts (and the judiciary’s reluctance to dismiss duplicative charges) virtually ensures that juries will throw a bone to the government and convict on at least some of the counts (Lord Black was acquitted on 9 of the 13 counts against him).
Meanwhile, it’s interesting to note the impact that all of this has had on Hollinger. The stock of Sun-Times Media — which is all of what is left of Hollinger — is down to about $1 a share, which is a quarter of the share price when the Black trial began and a fraction of its value during the time that Black ran the company. Black himself expressed “deep regret” during the sentencing hearing for the $1.2 billion in shareholder value that has been lost during the tenure of the company management team that succeeded Black’s team.
In a very real sense, the government destroyed Hollinger in order to make a statement in destroying Conrad Black. Sound familiar?

“Crimebuster” Giuliani?

Posted on by
Reply

giulianiSweats%20121107.jpgThe NY Times’ Michael Powell reviews how Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani made a name for himself prosecuting criminals in New York City. Of course, part of that popular legacy is Giuliani’s highly-publicized prosecution of Michael Milken and the related destruction of Drexel Burnham Lambert.
Not mentioned in the article is Giuliani’s prosecution of Lisa Jones, which reveals far more about Giuliani’s true character than what is presented in the NY Times puff piece.
Larry Ribstein and John Carney have typically insightful comments on the Times article, too.

Making those holiday bowl game bets

Posted on by
Reply

bowl%20games%20121107.jpgThe holiday bowl season tends to generate a few friendly wagers in my circles, so it’s always helpful to have good information sources to check before finalizing those bets.
As noted earlier in the season, CollegeFootballSeason.com is an outstanding resource that provides the outcome of every game on every major-college team’s schedule. It’s a great way to check up on how competing teams fared against common opponents.
Also, Covers.com provides a ton of useful information, including this handy chart (H/T Jay Christensen) that shows the record of each major college team against the spread (Kansas led the nation this past season with a 10-1 record against the spread).
Get ready to rumble!

2007 Weekly local football review

Posted on by
5

Williams%20on%20McCown.jpg(AP Photo/David J. Phillip; previous weekly reviews here)
Texans 28 Buccaneers 14
The Buccaneers (8-5) had the incentive of being able to sew up the NFC South Division title with a win over the Texans (6-7) on Sunday afternoon at Reliant Stadium. The Texans could manage to generate only 286 yards of total offense and had two turnovers. The Texans were playing their backup QB, their third and fourth-string running backs, and an offensive line that included a couple of third stringers because of injuries.
So, what happens? The Texans win by 14. So it goes in the wacky world of the NFL.
This was a plucky performance by the Texans, particularly the defense and backup QB Sage Rosenfels. Even though Tampa Bay had to go with their backup QB Luke McCown, the Texans’ defense brought consistent pressure and, with the exception of one TD drive, never let the Bucs’ offense get into rhythm.
Meanwhile, Rosenfels threw three TD passes and managed the game quite well, allowing the Texans to have a decided advantage in time of possession. Rosenfels still shows his lack of game experience from time-to-time by holding on to to the ball for too long and throwing into coverage. But he is a gamer and as tough as nails, and it’s clear that his teammates rally around him. It’s amazing to me (and not terribly encouraging) that Coach Kubiak and his staff didn’t realize early on last season that Rosenfels was a much better NFL QB than former Texans QB David Carr, who will probably be out of the league after this season.
Finally, with the win, all is well again in Richard Justice’s Texans world, who was in a quite different mood after last week’s loss.
The Texans take on the Broncos (6-7) in the NFL’s Thursday night nationally-televised game this week at Reliant Stadium before finishing up the 2007 season at Indianapolis and then back home against Jacksonville.