Texas DA convicted of DWI not tied to hit-and-run

AUSTIN, Texas- Investigators have concluded there is no evidence tying a Central Texas prosecutor convicted of driving while intoxicated to a hit-and-run accident that happened on the same night she was arrested.

Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg was arrested April 12 following a report of a vehicle swerving in traffic. Her blood-alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit for driving. She pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated and served about half of a 45-day jail sentence.

The night she was arrested, Jeff Van Gorp reported that an SUV had clipped the side of his car, popped his tire and damaged the fender before driving away. Lehmberg was driving a Lexus four-door sedan. Van Gorp in later statements said it could have been a Lexus.

But the Austin American-Statesman reported that the Travis County sheriff's office has ended its investigation in the case after concluding Lehmberg could not have hit Van Gorp's car.

"There is no way her car could have jumped high enough to put the damage on the other car," said sheriff's office spokesman Roger Wade.

Senior Deputy Paul Cossette, who investigated the collision, wrote in an email to the newspaper that several factors led officials to come to that conclusion, including damage to Lehmberg's car not matching the height of damage to Van Gorp's car and no paint transfer on either vehicle that would suggest they came in contact with each other.

Lehmberg's claim that she scraped the rock wall in front of her home seems to match the damage on her car, Cossette said.

Lehmberg has faced mounting pressure to quit since her arrest. Gov. Rick Perry on Friday vetoed funding for the state's Public Integrity Unit overseen by Lehmberg because of her refusal to step down.
Rick Reed, an attorney behind one of the efforts to oust Lehmberg from office, initially claimed in court filings that Van Gorp called 911 after the collision to report that "his vehicle was struck by an oncoming silver-colored Lexus" with a license plate that matched Lehmberg's.

However, in the 911 call the Travis County sheriff's office released Wednesday, Van Gorp is recorded saying that a newer, midsize SUV hit his car.

"If the Sheriff's Office expects the citizens of Travis County to give any credence to Deputy Cossette's findings and conclusions it should release all records relating to his investigation immediately, if it has not already done so," Reed said.

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Source: KRGV (AP, 6/15)

Texas court asks: Is man's best friend priceless?

AUSTIN, Texas— They say all dogs go to heaven. But if they get there before their time, should someone pay up?

The Texas Supreme Court began mulling Thursday whether grieving dog owners should be able to sue for the "emotional value" of man's best friend. It comes after a Fort Worth animal shelter mistakenly euthanized a beloved — but essentially worthless, in terms of actual market value — family Labrador retriever named Avery who ran away from home in 2009.

Lining up in opposition are skittish veterinarians who say letting juries somehow calculate sentimental payouts would set a costly precedent that would ripple nationwide. Justices on Texas' highest civil court appeared skeptical, too, at times of whether dogs should be granted an emotional price tag that humans in many scenarios aren't even afforded under state law.

"Where do we draw the line?" Justice Jeffrey S. Boyd asked from the bench. "Cats? Fish? Birds?"

The court isn't expected to issue a ruling for several weeks.

Dogs are property under Texas law. Steal your neighbor's cocker spaniel, and you'll be jailed for theft. But Jeremy and Kathryn Medlen, Avery's owners, believe dogs deserve the same standing the law gives to truly irreplaceable objects — say a great-grandmother's wedding ring, or an old family photograph destroyed in a fire.

Juries in Texas are allowed to weigh sentimental value when it comes to that kind of one-of-a-kind, cherished property. So the Meldens asked: Why aren't dogs and their loyal, loving and faithful companionship classified the same?

"We're asking dogs to be treated like all other property," Randall Turner, the family's attorney, told the court.

From the start, justices of the nine-member panel peppered Turner with questions and wild hypotheticals, resulting in stifled laughs from the courtroom gallery more than once.

Justice Don Willett asked where a stuffed dog might fall under this new standard. He later painted a difference scenario: a twin sister walking a dog down the street when both are run over by a distracted driver barreling around the curve while texting. Under the law, damages for mental anguish can be collected only for the death of a parent, spouse or child. So wouldn't it be strange, Willett asked, for the surviving sister to collect money for the dog, but not her twin?

"It might seem strange. But not really," Turner responded. "Let's change the hypothetical and say that instead of walking her dog, she's carrying a family heirloom. And there's a collision, the sister is killed, and also the cherished family heirloom is destroyed. Well, under existing Texas law handed down by this court, there is no dispute she couldn't recover a wrongful death case for (her) sister, but she could for the sentimental value of the heirloom. That would be a strange result, but that's the law."

John Cayce, an attorney for the shelter worker named in the lawsuit, argued that a victory for the Medlens would result in skyrocketing insurance premiums for veterinarians terrified of being sued.

He also said that sentient beings aren't like any other irreplaceable family memorabilia.

"Humans don't bond to heirlooms," Cayce said. "They bond to pets."

The Medlen family did not attend the hearing. Their dog was mistakenly euthanized in 2009 despite the shelter placing a hold tag on Avery after the family came to claim her at the shelter, but was unable to immediately pay an $80 fee to get her back. When the family returned with the cash, they learned Avery had been put down.

Turner said the Medlens remain so brokenhearted they have yet to adopt another dog. He added that the family isn't actually trying to collect money, but merely trying to change the law so that "Avery didn't die in vain."

Cayce said Texas is already more generous than most states when it comes to compensating owners who lose dogs that have marketable value, such as a prize-winning pedigree show dog or a stunt dog whose owners invested thousands of dollars in training.

Justice Phil Johnson said changing the law might motivate owners to downplay their dog's actual worth so they could collect more on sentimental value instead.

"They're going to try to prove this is a worthless dog so that I can get a lot of money," he said.

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Source: Yahoo (AP, 1/11)

More DPS workers testing blood to ease backlog

AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Department of Public Safety has reassigned about 15 crime lab workers to blood testing to help trim a backlog in drunken driving cases.

The Austin American-Statesman and KVUE-TV reported Thursday that the number of blood samples sent to DPS rose 500 percent in six years as police increasingly use such evidence in DWI cases.

DPS increased the number of blood testing analysts by 20 percent by temporarily moving employees from areas without as many samples. Spokesman Tom Vinger says DPS in 2009 added nine blood testing positions but no additional workers in 2011 due to state budget constraints.

Sen. John Whitmire of Houston, who chairs the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, says it's a glaring example of not having enough resources to do the job.

Legislators convene in January.

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Source: Lubbock Avalanche Journal (AP, 12/7)