To Catch And Release A Predator

The Collin County DA has chosen not to prosecute the Dateline NBC/Perverted Justice internet sex predator cases.

The DA claims to lack jurisdiction in some cases, and to lack evidence and cooperation from Perverted Justice in others. Perverted Justice is angry and states that “We’ve gone from questioning the competency of the Collin County prosecutor’s office to questioning their sanity.”

It is never politically popular to not charge pedophiles. It leads me to wonder if any other factors were at play? Bad blood between the CCDA and PJ? Or the CCDA and the Murphy PD? Residents of Murphy were upset with the entire production taking place in their neighborhood. Other residents are upset the cases are not being filed.

It is unfortunate that we may never know why these cases were not charged. Open records requests are limited in these situations.

Personally, I find it strange that Collin County would reject these cases, especially for “insufficient evidence.” Criminal Defense lawyers know that it is impossible to get a DWI dismissed in McKinney no matter how “insufficient” the evidence is.

There is a larger issue; how private market forces affect law enforcement.

PJ critics accuse them of not making complete transcripts public and hiding evidence of innocence (brady material), violating child pornography laws, and entrapment. Critics say NBC violates their own ethics rules and ignores complaints against PJ in the quest for ad revenue and higher ratings.

Law Enforcement and profit motives do not make the best combination. Asset forfeiture, private prison lobbying, and red light cameras show how justice can always be warped by a profit motive.

I love profit and I love free markets. I am a defense lawyer who makes money in the criminal justice industry. What is the difference?

I do not have the power of government. The government can arrest, incarcerate, seize, forfeit, and harrass in a way no private citizen can. The government has awesome power. Power that should be wielded without concern for TV ratings.

Who feels sorry for child sex predators? Nobody. Serious crimes require serious prosecutions with trained officers, not Stone Phillips.