Member of
University of Texas
Ex-Students
Association
Prison Guard not guilty
of threatening her boss
by Don Maines
RICHMOND
A former prison guard was found not guilty Wednesday of threatening
her sergeant with physical violence.
Lillian Madison, 27, of Humble was accused of retaliation, a third
degree felony for the incident
that allegedly occurred last
July 24 at the Texas Department
of Correction's Central Unit in
Sugar Land.
Sgt. Martin Lopez complained to internal affairs that Madison allegedly threatened him, TDC
officers arrested her and she
was held in county jail until
she made bail of $5,000. She
allegedly said "I hope you wear
your bullet proof vest every
day, because if not, I'm going
to get your a--."
A Fort Bend County grand jury indicted Madison last Aug. 14.
A jury in 240th District Court took about half an hour
to find Madison not guilty.
Her attorney,
Don A. Hecker, got out of
bed with the flu to defend
Madison. "I felt very, very
strongly about this," he said.
"The jury felt just like we did.
They didn't believe she said
it."
"We were able to show, in fact,
there was an investigation, and
in that investigation (the
defendant) failed to participate
against another officer," said
Hecker.
"Then she was investigated, too, for allegedly breaking employment
rules," he said. "But it was in retaliation, which ironically is
what she was charged with."
"We called a guard who is still at TDC who testified to facts that
pretty much showed she didn't threaten Mr. Lopez."
Madison has suffered financially, "I don't know how much,"
Hecker said.
"First of all, the pressure was so intense that she resigned and
took a job at Chik-Fil-A for much, much lower pay," he said.
"She had to make bail. She had to pay me."
Judge Gerald Goodwin, visiting from the 159th District Court in
Lufkin, presided over the two-day trial since 240th
District Judge Thomas Culver was busy with voir dire jury
selection for an upcoming capital murder trial.
Burglary suspect found not guilty, but with a twist
by Don Maines
RICHMOND
A
19-year-old Rosenburg man was found not guilty
Wednesday of stealing a Nintendo video game from his
friends' home.
However, Shaun Lamont Richardson might have jumped out of the
frying pan into the fire with his testimony in the
burglary trial allegedly incriminating him with
regard to another crime.
"No doubt," said Richardson's attorney,
Don Hecker. "By his own admission, he lied. He
testified he told a Rosenberg police detective
a certain individual had given the video game to him
to pawn, and that name was absolutely false. That kid
was at school at the time"
A jury in 268th District Court apparently believed Richardson's
testimony that he did not enter the home of his
friends on
Feb.15 with the intent to steal the
video game.
"In fact," said
Hecker, "there was no evidence he was ever present
at the house."
Prosecutor Pedro Ruiz said police found Richardson's cell phone at
the house, but Richardson told the jury the phone
wasn't working and he didn't remember leaving it there.
Richardson said when he found out the video game he pawned was
stolen, he paid $72 to get it back and he returned it
to it's owners.
Ruiz said "I thought at the very least, if you believe his
testimony, he committed a crime, and he may have to
face the consequences of making a false report to a
peace officer."
Man not
guilty of assault
by Stephen
Palkot
HOUSTON
A Houston man accused in two
separate cases of first
degree felony aggravated
sexual assault of a child
was exonerated this week in
one case.
Jesse Lee Finney, of Houston stood accused of molesting a family
member numerous times
between may 1,2001 and April
13, 2003. A jury found
Finney not guilty Wednesday
evening in the 268th
District Court of Judge
Brady Elliott.
Defense attorney
Don Hecker said he
believes the jury reached
it's conclusion due to the
inconsistent testimony of
the complainant.
"If you look at what she
told the jury, the
detectives, the psychologist
and others, it was all
different. When you look at
it all, there were several
times when the statement was
completely different," he
said.
Prosecutor Suzy Morton said she did not wish to comment on the
trial, citing Finney's
pending case of aggravated
sexual assault of a child.
Finney, a convicted felon who served prison time, stood to serve
between 25 years to life in
prison.
