Huntsville Inmate Arcade Joseph Comeaux Escaped Last Week

Last week, Comeaux escaped as he was being transported by bus from the Huntsville prison to Beaumont, where he would be near to medical treatment facilities in Galveston for his purported stroke that had left him paralyzed. Comeaux – despite being handcuffed and shackled to his wheelchair – pulled a pistol on the two guards accompanying him, and after firing a warning shot, successfully ordered the two guards to handcuff themselves together, in the back of the bus.  Comeaux took their guns (he now had three), dressed himself in one of their uniforms, and walked away.  That’s right – walked.  He’d been conning everyone that he couldn’t use his legs, apparently pretty convincingly. 

National Media Coverage of The Big Bus Escape

Combine a record like Comeaux’s and the circumstances of his escape, and sure ’nuff you’ve got the national media hounds pouring into the state.  CNN detailed Comeaux’s 30 year prison record.  America’s Most Wanted acted fast, with Comeaux being a focus of their December 5th episode — six days after his escape.  Lots of questions were being asked about how this guy could free himself from the clutches of the Texas Department of Corrections. 

Comeaux got caught and now he’s squealing.

Freedom didn’t last long for Arcade Comeaux.  He was caught within two weeks of running – a salesman called in a tip to 911 about a strange man loitering in the lobby of a Houston business.  The Houston cops responded, and Comeaux was arrested and taken into custody without incident. 

According to media reports Comeaux was cold, wet, tired, hungry — and barefoot.  There were reports he was still wearing the duds he’d taken from the bus guard when he walked away on November 30th.  Even the New York Times reported on the capture.

After Capture, Comeaux Starts An Even Bigger NewsStory – He Had Help From the Inside

Lots of folk probably thought that the story ended in Houston when the manhunt was over.  Sounds reasonable, right?  But noooo.  Arcade had just began earning his plug (with a tip of the hat to Jay Leno). 

Comeaux met with a local community activist, Quanell X at the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and here’s where the Big Story begins. According to Arcade Comeaux, staff of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice got the gun to him that he used on the bus.  (Someone on the inside sold it to him, but the price hasn’t been reported.)  They helped Comeaux hide it there in his Huntsville cell until he got an opportunity to use it.  And, once he was on the lam, he got help from a criminal network connected to the prison system – staying in safehouses and the like. 

Comeaux told the activist that he was part of a group planning a larger escape, but he got antsy and decided to make a break for it himself.  (Riding that bus and getting nearer to a hospital team that might blow the whistle on his fake paralysis might have been a factor — but that hasn’t been substantiated.)

Oh, and Comeaux gave Quanell X names of those who helped him — identifying members of this Secret Network inside the TDCJ. 

Texas Department of Criminal Justice Responds – Comeaux Just Pulling Another Con

At the get-go, the  TDCJ Inspector General John Moriarty has stepped up to the plate and said that while all of this will be investigated,  it is his opinion that Comeaux is a liar.  Moriarty points to how he was wearing the same clothes for eight days as belaying the existence of any criminal network. 

But that doesn’t explain the gun that an inmate had on a prison bus.  It doesn’t explain how he faked being handicapped for all that time while in lock up, either. 

Enter the Texas Rangers, the Texas Legislature, and the Lt. Governor

This week, two Texas Rangers met with Arcade Comeaux.  So did State Senator John Whitmire (D-Houston), chairman of the Texas Senate’s Criminal Justice Committee.  

Senator Whitmire should be pretty interested in a full investigation of prison smuggling — as you’ll recall, it was State Senator John Whitmire who was threatened last year by a Texas Death Row inmate who was using a smuggled cellphone. 

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has formally requested that Whitmire’s committee hold hearings investigating how various items of contraband (including Arcade’s gun) get smuggled into these lock-down facilities.  Dewhurst has also requested legislative investigation into how Comeaux could con so many law enforcement officials that he was an invalid, needing a wheelchair.  (This is especially interesting since Dewhurst already has two year old video from the prison showing Comeaux could walk.)

Let’s all watch this story and see what happens.  Looks like this is just beginning and who knows how big this story may get ….

It’s pretty darn common. Surprise, surprise.

The Houston Chronicle Reports on Contraband Discovered When Jailers Were Caught

Now, all the Chronicle is reporting about are instances where jailers got caught bringing stuff into the facilities. The report doesn’t give any details on how much stuff is actually getting through — and the report only covers a select subset of institutions across the entire State of Texas. We’re not talking the whole story here.

What’s the Stuff Being Smuggled?

And by stuff, of course, we mean contraband. Cellphones, cigarettes, any kind of weapon … the Chronicle even reports on McDonald’s Hamburgers being snuck into the joint.

From Their Study of 300 Jailers, Only 13% Were Fired

Their study covers the time period from 2003 to 2008, and investigates the 20 prison units where it is believed the smuggling problem is the worst. During these six years, approximately 300 correctional institution employees were found to have received reprimands for the possession of contraband.

Out of 263 jailers who were disciplined for contraband, 75% got probation, which meant that they stayed on the job but were put under “special scrutiny” for set time periods. Only 35 were fired. And, 26 scooted away without being punished in any way. One solitary jailer did get prosecuted for this crime — because this smuggling by the guards is a crime — but he didn’t serve any time behind bars for it.

What Made the Chronicle Do This Study?

According to the Chronicle’s story, this contraband issue came up because of a story last fall, where Richard Lee Tabler, an inmate on Texas’ Death Row used a smuggled cell phone to call and threaten State Senator John Whitmire.

One has to wonder, though, if part of the impetus of this news story is Sheriff Keating and his Montague Jail (see the earlier posts here about Sheriff Keating) — where recliners were in the jail cells, and which the media is now labelling as the “Inmates Gone Wild Jail” and the “Animal House” ….

After all, smuggling a full-size recliner into a jail cell is pretty darn big job of getting contraband through ….

Source:

Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/6310340.html

USA Today
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-11-14-2129216335_x.htm

KCBY
http://www.kcby.com/news/national/41369717.html

Last Friday, the State of Texas issued its 106-count Indictment against Bill Keating and several of his jailers

Last month, we posted about the federal plea bargain that ex-Sheriff Keating entered into, and all the sordid details of how that jail was run (remember the recliners in the jail cells?) … well, apparently, the feds have nothing on the State of Texas. There’s a whole new kettle of fish in these charges.

Seventeen people charged with wrongdoing in their official capacities at the Montague County Jail, including having sex with inmates

And here’s what is contained in those 106 charges within Friday’s indictment:

1. Ex-sheriff Bill Keating is charged with official oppression and having sex with inmates.

2. Some of the female jail guards are also charged with having sex with inmates.

3. Jail guards, male and female, are charged with bringing inmates cigarettes, cell phones, and drugs (and possibly other banned items).

4. Some of these guards are also charged with drug possession.

If convicted, Ex-Sheriff Keating will face a year in jail for the oppression charge, and up to 2 years on the charge of having sex with an inmate (officially, the crime is “improper sexual activity with someone in custody”).

Apparently, the Feds Charged for Sex Outside the Jail, State Charges are for Sex Inside the Jail

And, that earlier charge against the Sheriff – the one that resulted in a plea bargain with the feds last month? That case is apparently unrelated to these new state charges. That’s right: apparently, the feds charged the Sheriff with illegal sexual activity outside of the jail, and the state has charged him for illegal sexual activity inside the jail.

What About the Recliners?

The names of those jailers who have been charged haven’t been released yet. And, no, still no word of the fate of the infamouse jail cell recliners. Will they be used as evidence (picture CSI analysis here)? Will they be auctioned off by the county? How many are there? These are facts — along with many others (color? number? were they the popular brand we all know, or a bunch of cheap knockoffs?)that are being guarded by the prosecution right now.

Sources:

Dallas Criminal Lawyer Blog
http://dallaslawyer.blogspot.com/2009/02/cop-watch-north-texas-sheriff-cops-plea.html

Associated Press
http://www.correctionsone.com/corrections/articles/1792273-Former-Texas-sheriff-ex-jailers-among-17-charged-in-drug-sex-crimes/

(The Austin American Statesman is doing a great thing in educating the public, by its recent re-publication of a story it first reported back in 2007 – telling the story of Jimmie Lee Page. Read the full article, it’s worth your time, at the link shown below.)

How Can You Serve 20 Years in Jail After Being Found Not Guilty?

It’s easy in this country. All you have to do is be on parole for something else, because those parole officials can trump a jury faster than Michael Phelps can win a gold medal.

In Page’s case, the parole guys listened to one witness — a police detective who told them that Page was “as guilty as sin” — before they revoked Page’s parole and sent him back to the slammer. Since then, they’ve just been denying Page a right to parole whenever his case gets rotated up for review.

What Did Page Do?

Thirty-two years ago, when he was a young man (Page is now 52), Jimmy Page killed a friend of his – and he pled guilty to that crime, got a life sentence, and served 11 years in prison before he was released on parole. Page returned to Nacogdoches, Texas, to live with his mother.

He’d done nothing to violate parole, by the way. Still hasn’t.

Eight months later, Page was arrested for the local murder of a housekeeper. He insisted he was innocent, and instead of taking a plea, he went to trial where he was found innocent by a jury of his peers.

Importantly, Page’s attorney ( a veteran defense attorney with 35+ years experience) tells reporters that while a lot of his clients are indeed guilty, he truly believes that Page is innocent of the murder for which he was charged.

What’s the Evidence Against Him? The Only Key Evidence is Eyewitness Testimony of a Traumatized Boy Whose Credibility is Questionable

There was scant evidence against Page in the Nacogdoches murder case.

The key witness was an eyewitness — a child who was also a victim in the crime. The boy did pointed the finger at Page in one line-up, but this traumatized boy also pointed the finger at another man in another line-up, and described someone who looked a lot different than Page to the police artist who drew up a sketch of the assailant.

Psychological experts kept the boy from the parole hearing – the child was too fragile to give any testimony to the parole officials. So, all they heard was from their one law enforcement guy.

Two Serious Threats to Justice Here That the Public Should Know About

Kudos to the Austin American Statesman for a great article (definitely read the whole thing, the link is shown below), and for getting the following information out to the general public:

1. The American Public needs to understand that once someone is on parole, there’s very little to safeguard against injustice in parole board hearings, as the Page case typifies. These officials can trump a jury verdict without any of the evidentiary protections set in place in a criminal trial, and few know about this Star Chamber crack in the system; and

2. Eyewitness testimony in this country should not carry the weight that it is given in trials today. Countless studies have been done on how human beings do not remember things (or people) accurately and having someone point the finger on the stand should not be unilaterally taken as true. The child-victim in this case is a point in fact; psychologically harmed, he gave many different faces to his perpetrator, and as sympathetic as we all must be to his tragedies, his single voice should not be used to put a man behind bars — especially when that eyewitness account is taken by a police officer and used, hearsay though it is, as his basis for telling the parole board that a man is guilty of a crime. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Sources:

Austin American Statesman
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/archive/0415page.html

Stanford University – Journal of Legal Studies (The Problem with Eyewitness Testimony)
http://agora.stanford.edu/sjls/Issue%20One/fisher&tversky.htm

Seems the Evildoing Guard was caught as he met with two guys and took possession of a bunch of marijuana that he was going to cart into the jail. This Evildoing Guard had the misfortune (read that, stupidity) to meet with an undercover DEA agent and a “confidential source” (read that, snitch) when he made the pick up.

Now, here’s the interesting part to this story. He’s been charged with a Class B misdemeanor (possession of marijuana) and a 3d degree felony (intro of a prohibited substance into a correctional facility) but there’s nothing on any sale being involved.

Apparently, he took the stuff without any cash being exchanged at that time.

What’s the Guard Saying?

Gabel Gonzalez says he’s innocent. He’s telling everyone that he was just taking some photos to an inmate, out of the kindness of his heart, and he knew nothing at all about any drugs. Seems the inmate was female, and the guard is saying he was taking some photos to her at the request of her husband.

What’s Happening Next?

They’re sending this to a grand jury, and Guard Gonzalez says he’s gonna hire a lawyer if the case goes to trial.

There’s a Bigger Story Here … Apparently, Cameron County Jail Reeks of Corruption.

Well, that Cameron County jail sure is interesting. Just a cursory surf of the web brought up the following:

In January 2008, the Texas Jail Project issued a statement reporting concerns that the Cameron County jail had the worst treatment of women inmates in the state.

In December 2005, a Cameron County jailer was facing federal charges after being caught using a federal crime database to warn a drug traffiker about a warrant against him.

In June 2005, the Cameron County sheriff (read that, the jail boss) was arrested by federal agents for various bad acts.

The Only Good News Here?

Apparently, the federal agencies are at work down in Harlingen, since a DEA agent is the one who busted the guard, and the feds were the ones who arrested (can you believe that?) the Sheriff awhile back.

And, groups like the Texas Jail Project and reporters like those at the Brownsville Herald (and this blogger) are giving voice to the wrongdoing down there.

Bottom Line – Guard Isn’t Acting Worried about These Charges

This guard doesn’t sound too worried if he hasn’t bothered to hire a lawyer — and it’s awfully fishy that they are taking his case to a grand jury. Please.

So, for now, stay the heck away from Harlingen, right?

Sources:

KVEO-TV
http://www.kveo.com/news/local/35582289.html

Brownsville Herald
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/sheriff_92391___article.html/county_officer.html

Highbeam Research
http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-139889385.html

LMT
http://lmtonline.com/news/archive/060905/pagea5.pdf

Texas Jail Project
http://www.texasjailproject.org/news/brownsville_herald_conditions_are_poor_in_cameron_county_lockup