On Saturday, October 13, 2012, Brian Rogers wrote another story to support Mike Anderson. In the article, Rogers said that Lloyd Oliver authored a press release naming Election Day, November 6, 2012, “Violent Prosecutor Awareness Day.”
Immediately afterwards, Rogers said that Oliver “falsely claimed Anderson had been suspended from the District Attorney’s Office for assaulting a crime victim.” We now know that Anderson was, in fact, not suspended or punished in any way after he assaulted a crime victim in the courtroom.
In fact, after the Oliver press release, multiple media sources contacted the Oliver campaign. It was said that Anderson’s version was that Anderson tackled an out-of-control defendant in a courtroom.
In the article, Rogers dismissed the assault by saying the following:
“Oliver’s account was debunked by a 1987 Houston Chronicle article about Anderson being asked to drop charges in a vandalism, which led to the two men exchanging expletives that devolved into a brief scuffle in court. The fracas was broken up and the man who wanted the charges dropped in the vandalism case was released after he apologized.”
At the time of the article by Rogers, he failed to request Anderson’s personnel file or do anything more than research prior articles from his own newspaper.
Mike Anderson Personnel file-Assaults Crime Victim
In his own account, Anderson writes that he chastised the crime victim in the courtroom for filing the case and later wanting a dismissal. Then, Anderson claims that the victim called him a “smart-ass” and Anderson responded by calling the victim a “smart-ass.” Again, in Anderson’s version of events, the victim asked Anderson if he “wanted to do something about it.” And, Anderson, a Harris County Assistant District Attorney, responded, “Sure do.” Anderson then walked over to the victim where they engaged in a shoving match that devolved to rolling on the floor. Anderson then gives an explanation for the blood and bump on the victim’s head.
The key sentence in the memorandum is this one: “The whole thing was stopped before a real fight got started.” So, it is clear from that statement that Anderson didn’t think that shoving and rolling around on the floor with a crime victim in a courtroom was a “real fight.” WOW.
Thankfully, Anderson’s memo includes the name of the crime victim. So, I decided to give him a call. Mr. Fields told me a story of a young kid with a damaged motorcycle. His friend had caused significant damage to his motorcycle and he wanted it fixed. After the friend’s father repaired the motorcycle, Mr. Fields realized that he did not want his friend to be in trouble with the law. So, Mr. Fields decided to come to the courthouse and tell the prosecutor that he no longer wanted to pursue charges against his childhood friend.
When Mr. Fields arrived in the courtroom, the friend’s attorney spoke with Anderson and relayed the fact that Mr. Fields did not want to pursue the case. Anderson became visibly upset at this fact and approached Mr. Fields in a threatening manner while calling him a “smart ass.” Anderson slapped at Mr. Fields and began to take off his coat to fight him. Mr. Fields attempted to grab Anderson before he could be hit again. At that point, law enforcement inside the courtroom intervened.
After Mr. Fields spoke with me on the telephone about this assault, I told him that I would send him a copy of Anderson’s memo. Later that afternoon, upon reading Anderson’s version of the event, Mr. Fields called me back. Mr. Fields said that after he was attacked by Anderson and tackled by law enforcement, he was handcuffed to a courtroom bench to “cool off.” It is important to note that Mr. Fields was a nineteen-year-old crime victim just trying to get his motorcycle repaired.
Mr. Fields felt that it was important for everyone to know that, as he was handcuffed to the bench, Anderson continually taunted him and told him that he was going to “get him.” Anderson also said, “this isn’t over.”
Clik here to view.
Mike Anderson Republican DA Candidate Assaults Victim