Every day in the news there are many stories which require sober reflection, reasoned commentary, and a frank exchange of thoughtful views. This is not one of those stories.
It began as the fairly routine arrest of a drunken-driving suspect on a Houston street.It quickly evolved into a maze of questions as investigators checked out reports that a Houston police officer had found nude photos of the driver stored in her cellular phone, downloaded them and later showed them around the courthouse.
Patrolman Christopher Green has been reassigned to desk duty pending the outcome of an internal investigation. His partner, George Miller, also has been reassigned while the department looks into reports that he called the DWI suspect's home to ask her out.
"We're sort of waiting to see what's going to happen," said Houston Police Officers' Union attorney Aaron Suder, who represents the officers.
Complicating matters is the fact that the 25-year-old woman, a native of China who is here on a student visa, speaks little English, her attorney says.
I want to see the pictures. You know, to be a member of the well-informed public. It's my civic duty.
Posted by: B. K. Oxley (binkley) on March 25, 2005 4:23 PMSounds like the ultimate plea bargain to me.
Aren't cell phones amazing? The next thing you know, you'll actually be able to make a phone call on one of them. :-)
Posted by: William Hughes on March 25, 2005 6:20 PMUnfortunately, this story was presented to the media as fact. A little background that the Chronicle forgot to include...now I know the media is pathetic.
First, one of the officers downloaded pictures in PDA. Bad move. He showed them to other people...stupid.
The other officer, however, did not do this. He did call the girl after she left a message for him at the station for help in getting out of forced prostitution. (Oh, Houston has legal prostitution on every corner "spa" in town with underage girls trafficked from the South Pacific.) He told her to file a report, but she said she only trusted him because police were always mean to her. She does have prior arrests. When he called her back, he was playing into the hands of a DWI defense atty's ploy to frame him as a lowlife cop who was quick to make a date with a prostitute he arrested for DWI. In fact, George has over 600 DWI convictions on his record. He dots his "i's" and crosses his "t's" during an arrest. Defense atty's don't like going up against his cases in court, and many times tell his or her client to take a plea, b/c George Miller is hard to beat. Hmmmm. Now he is under scrutiny by the media for all his friends and family to see, about showing compassion for a young "girl" who may have been in trouble or danger possibly, but characterized as an officer trying to "hook up" with her via a phone call. Too bad they did not use the conversation as evidence of his intentions...it was recorded. No, that would prove the story unsensational and the defense atty's call to the media would not have made press.
No character witnesses were allowed at his hearing with Chief of Police. The man has a perfect record, two great kids, a wonderful wife who is like my sister, and works his ass off to provide for them and because he truly feels he is making a difference and saving lives by getting drunk drivers off the street. And he is...or was. He has been a career public servant, who is completely fair and accountable. Cops like him (from my experience) are few and far in between.
"When you see how the game is played, you wonder what it means to win..." Sandra
Posted by: Sandra Bertani on May 14, 2005 1:01 AM