COURTS
No liability for parole chief
Judge repeals jury fine but chides state board.
By Mike Ward
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, November 13, 2009
An Austin federal judge has overturned personal damages of $21,250 that a jury had imposed on the chairwoman of the state parole board a month ago, but the judge did not change the finding that officials violated a paroled convict's constitutional rights by denying him a required hearing for 576 days.
U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks again harshly criticized state parole officials for the way they classify parolees as sex offenders, including many who have never been convicted of a sex crime.
 Sam Sparks
disagreed with jury on liability.  TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE Rissie Owens
Found guilty of due process violation. chief absolved of damages. |
The Tuesday decision absolves Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles Chairwoman Rissie Owens of personal liability in actions against Ray Curtis Graham and still leaves state taxpayers liable for paying Graham's legal fees, which are estimated at more than $100,000.
In his new order, Sparks wrote that Owens has been aware of problems in the parole system but did nothing until the court ordered her to do so.
"Her inattention is mystifying, and it shows her to be some combination ... of 'indecisive, insensitive, inattentive, incompetent, stupid, (or) weak-kneed,' " Sparks wrote, quoting from another court decision in a related case.
Even so, Sparks said, "her inaction, however abstruse, does not make her personally liable in this case." He left intact the portion of the verdict that determined that Owens and state Parole Director Stuart Jenkins had violated Graham's right to due process. Owens could not be reached for comment.
Graham's lead attorney, Richard Gladden of Denton, said an appeal of Sparks' new order is planned.
"The judge has reached out and found hyper-technical reasons to foreclose the jury verdict," he said. "Maybe he thinks he's scared her enough to make her change her ways in how these cases are handled, but this order is definitely an about-face from the verdict."
Graham had sued the parole board after he was classified as a sex offender in December 2007 though he was never convicted of a sex crime. He was arrested on aggravated rape charges in the 1980s, and parole officials used that as a basis for classifying him as a sex offender five years after he had been released on parole.
Graham said he was never allowed to review evidence against him before the parole board made its decision in December 2007, despite several federal court orders requiring such hearings. The jury verdict on Oct. 8 came after an unusually contentious, high-profile trial, during which Sparks had declared a mistrial and fined an assistant attorney general for disregarding his warnings about making prejudicial comments in front of jurors.
Spark's new order continued his earlier harsh criticism of the parole process.
"The Board as a whole seems to regard the procedural due process rights at issue ... as annoying pests that plague and torment it through no fault of its own," Sparks wrote in his 32-page order made public Thursday.
mward@statesman.com; 445-1712
