Rebecca Dodds was a rising star in the Dallas County District Attorney-Top prosecutor accuses Dallas DA of playing politics. Becky Dodds, who supervised 35 prosecutors, said that she asked Watkins to continue an inquiry into how plea bargain paperwork went missing in a case before criminal court judge Elizabeth Frizell. But she said the Democrat let his battle for a third term against Republican Susan Hawk guide his decision making. “It was very clearly told that it wasn’t going to happen,” Dodds said of a conversation she had with Watkins earlier this month. “That we’re in an election season, that ‘we’re not going to pick fights with judges during an election season.’ ” Watkins’ first assistant district attorney, Heath Harris, called Dodds’ accusation “nonsense” and said the investigation into what happened in Frizell’s court concluded because there was nothing left to look into. “I want to clear up the notion Mr. Watkins and I looked the other way because it’s a political season,” Harris said. “We looked into it, and the judge was within her discretion because she ruled the defendant didn’t voluntarily plea.” This clash between Watkins and Dodds, who until Tuesday was one of 11 administrators under the DA, is the latest squabble in what has already been a contentious election year. The steps leading to Dodds’ resignation — and her subsequent accusation against Watkins — began in April. Dodds said that a defendant made a plea bargain in a family violence case but that the paperwork related to that agreement somehow disappeared from the courts computer system. The DA’s office began an investigation into the missing documents and who could have deleted them. Dodds said statements were taken and the computer system was checked. County Clerk John Warren also launched an investigation. He said Wednesday that his findings were troubling. Warren said that the defendant, LaToya Scott, told a clerk that she did not understand what she had just pleaded to in court. The clerk then told Frizell. It was not clear late Wednesday how well Scott knew the clerk. Regardless, Warren said that both his clerk and Frizell used “poor judgment” and did not follow policies. “If the defendant didn’t understand what she had pled to, the clerk should have instructed the defendant to consult with her attorney regarding clarification of the plea,” Warren said. “The judge at that time rejected the plea and instructed the clerk to remove the plea from the system.” Warren said that instead of telling the clerk to delete the paperwork, the judge should have sent him a written order to remove the information. “Because this protocol was not followed, it destroys the integrity of the record of the proceeding. I cannot speak to any actions being taken by the district attorney, but I find that this was simply an exercise in poor judgment by both my deputy clerk and the judge.” An attorney for Frizell, a Democrat who is running unopposed for the state district judge bench in November, did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday. Dodds isn’t alone in her belief that the upcoming election helped sway Watkins’ decision to stop the inquiry into Frizell’s court. Another prosecutor said many others within the DA’s office are aware of the missing paperwork, the investigation and the role they believe politics played in the case. Referring to Watkins and Harris, the prosecutor, who is not being identified for fear of retribution, said: “I realized that some people wanted to sweep it under the rug and some people wanted to go after people who had done something wrong.” Watkins has previously launched grand jury investigations into at least three other Democratic judges who hear criminal cases. Harris told The Dallas Morning News last week that there was not a grand jury investigation into Frizell. He reiterated Wednesday that the investigation never reached the level of the grand jury. Dodds said she could no longer work for Watkins after his decision. She said she was not asked to resign. She had worked at the DA’s office for 11 years and for Watkins since he took office in 2007. “I just can’t live with that kind of thing,” said Dodds. “I will refuse to be part of an administration that puts politics in front of seeking the truth.” But Harris said he believes Dodds resigned because transcripts from hearings on the case show Dodds was rude to the judge and left the courtroom without permission. Harris said Dodds had told her supervisors and the media the opposite. “She lied about her conduct in front of the judge,” Harris said. At a contentious hearing earlier this month, Dodds repeatedly told Frizell “that’s not your business” when the judge asked how others, including Watkins and Harris, believed Scott’s case should ultimately be handled. Dodds said this week that she believed that an investigation was ongoing by her supervisor, and that answering those questions would compromise that inquiry. Dodds also said that she thought starting the case anew against Scott would also end the investigation prematurely. Scott could not be reached for comment. Her case will be dismissed if she completes anger management and other classes. David Finn, who has represented Scott for a little more than a week, said “ultimately the right thing happened” for his client. He said he can’t address anything that occurred before he represented Scott. Harris said that the DA’s office vigorously fought for the original plea to stand and to have a motion for a new trial filed. Typically, that is what would happen in similar circumstances. The judge could have also filed her own motion to set aside a verdict. “We didn’t think the judge could withdraw the plea,” Harris said. But when the judge ruled against them, Harris said, the DA’s office decided to move. He said prosecutors did not appeal Frizell’s decision because they, too, ultimately believed that Scott did not understand the original plea. Meanwhile, Dodds said she plans to spend time with her family before deciding her next career move. She acknowledged, though, that her decision to leave the DA’s office left her “pretty emotional, pretty upset and sad.” Follow Jennifer Emily on Twitter @dallascourts.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 03:47:56 +0000
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