Ever since Alfred Brown was released from prison in 2015 and granted a retrial after spending 10 years on Death Row for the murder of Houston Police Officer Charles Clark, the expectation is that this case would one day be brought to the grand jury again.
When Brown was released there was no assumption that he was innocent. The granting of the retrial was based on a phone record that was not disclosed during the first trial. I will remind you that that phone record was never a pillar of his defense the first go around. However, suddenly it was the one piece of evidence that would clear him.
Later we would learn from two separate experts that this phone record did nothing to clear him. It in fact placed him at an apartment near the crime scene, making a three-way call to his girlfriend’s apartment. This call was then forwarded to his girlfriend’s work number. It also fit perfectly with the eye witness testimony that placed him at the apartments near the crime scene. This same witness was paid $5 to then transport him to his girlfriend’s apartment.
I am not going to get into every piece of evidence in this case even though there is a mountain of it that all points to Alfred Brown being the No. 1 prime suspect in the murder of HPD Officer Charlie Clark.
Where this story takes an insidious turn is that our current district attorney, Kim Ogg, according to court documents and Alfred Brown’s attorneys, began meeting with them before she was even elected. Assuring Brown’s attorneys that she would “look” at the case.
Well, she did look at it for more than a year. After that year had passed, she decided that she needed to hire a special prosecutor, John Raley, to the tune of more than a $100,000 fee to conduct his own investigation.
Oddly enough John Raley has – to our best knowledge – never prosecuted a criminal case in his entire career. He is a patent attorney. He has reviewed cases in the past, most notably the Michael Morton case. However, that was a DNA case; this case is not. It would make little sense to hire him if you thought this case would go to trial because he would be tasked with prosecuting and, as I have stated here, he has never prosecuted a criminal case before.
In a very strange coincidence, he also donated to Kim Ogg’s campaign.
I tell you all this to set the stage for March 1, when Kim Ogg and John Raley found Alfred Brown to be “actually innocent.” For those who are unaware that is an extremely high legal standard – one that in our opinion the DA cannot come close to reaching.
In my opinion, the fix was in – and has been for quite some time. DA Ogg made promises to lots of people as candidate Ogg. Now, in order to curry favor with her allies, she is allowing the No. 1 prime suspect in the murder of a Houston police officer – who was on the verge of retirement – to continue to walk free. This designation makes him eligible to be handsomely compensated by the State of Texas to the tune of millions of taxpayer dollars.
Kim Ogg, you are a disgrace to the justice system, Harris County and the State of Texas. You and anyone associated with the decision of “actually innocent” should be ashamed for what you have done and continue to do.
I am now asking the Houston Police Department to bring this case back to the grand jury and allow the justice system to do its job. If they true bill him, then we will have another trial where the mountains of evidence against Alfred Brown will once again be presented to a jury of his peers.
My only hope is that the people will see what we have all seen and that Hilde, Charlie’s widow, and the Jones family can finally receive the justice they deserve.
Prop B
I wanted to provide you with an update on the Prop B lawsuit. There is a hearing scheduled for April 18. We are hoping for a resolution one way or another in the weeks that follow the hearing. Of course, we will keep you updated with any breaking news with our push notification on our App (download it if you don’t have it yet) and through email eblast.
Harding Case
By now you are aware that there may be issues surrounding the warrant that was filed to gain access to 7815 Harding St. Although at the time of writing this article no charges have been filed, it has only intensified the non-stop speculation of what events happened leading up to the raid.
From our standpoint, things are clear cut: if at the end of this investigation any one of our officers did wrong then they have to be held accountable and answer for what they have done.
Any time something controversial happens the relationship we have with the community, built on trust, will suffer. However, I would like to remind everyone that the vast majority of the public supports us and understands that the actions of one does not reflect the whole.
Every day the 5,200 brave men and women – our HPD family – are ambassadors for the Houston Police Department.
You just keep doing the amazing job you do every day, willing to risk everything to protect our community. Any trust lost will quickly be regained. I am not just paying lip service when I say we have the best police officers in the world and that we prove it every single day. That is reality!
Shocking Statistics
Through the end of February 2019, 11 officers nationwide have lost their lives to gunfire. Although we are only two months into the new year, it bears mentioning that currently we are on pace to lose more officers to gunfire this year than in any year in the last 20.
The only year that comes close is 2011, when 68 officers lost their lives to gunfire. We are right at that pace. This is all while violent crime nationally continues to fall.
I am giving you this information so that you are aware of what is going on around the country. To remind you all to remain vigilant on the streets, never become complacent and continue to focus on not only keeping our community safe but also keeping yourself safe as well.
As always, be safe out there and if you need anything I am only a phone call away, text, or you can also reach me at the following: email (jgamaldi@hpou.org), messenger on Facebook, DM on twitter (@JoeGamaldi).