The Collin County Observer™

On Monday's Commissioners Court agenda is the line item, "AI-31093 Personnel Changes, Human Resources."

A look at the background information in the court's meeting packet reveals that one of the personnel changes is the demotion of Curtis Howard from Second Assistant DA to Chief Felony Prosecutor. As part of the demotion, Howard will see his pay cut 5% from $104,393 per year to $99,174.

Howard is the 3rd person to fall after WFAA's Brett Shipp published a story alleging that a wealthy DWI defendant had his case "vanish in the Collin County Court system".

Earlier this month, Chief Misdemeanor Prosecutor Kerrie Walker resigned her job at the District Attorney's office. She was the person named by Shipp as the prosecuter who forced an acquittal of the DWI defendant with a 'stand and rest' tactic before a visiting judge.

Last month, prosecuter Brad Clements resigned after writing an email that described the circumstances of the case in a general criticism of the county's prosecution of indigent and poor defendants. Clements accusation that wealthy, well connected defendants receive preferential treatment has never been answered by the District attorney or his office.

District Attorney John Roach has promised a full investigation, but has never said when the investigation would be complete or if a report would be made public.

The Collin County Observer has called for an independent jurist to conduct an impartial inquiry.

Bill