I have previously written about the strange case of Carolyn Barnes, the local lawyer who was accused of shooting at a census worker, sent to the state mental hospital (where she continued to represent at least one client) and was later ruled competent to stand trial.
Ms. Barnes was convicted yesterday of assault with a deadly weapon.
She could be sentenced to up to 20 years in jail, though I have serious doubts that she will be given that much time.
In other news, the Statesman is reporting that Governor Perry is threatening to withhold funding for the “state’s Austin-based ethics-enforcement unit” unless Travis County DA Rosemary Lehmberg resigns. As you may recall, Ms. Lehmberg was convicted of DWI back in April and sentenced to 45 days in jail.
I apologize that the link stinks. The Statesman‘s new paywall goes into effect today, and I have been unable to find a link to this story elsewhere. (Edited to add: Link? What link? Seriously, I griped about the Statesman link but forgot to actually include it. Here’s a story from the HouChron “Texas Politics” blog that reports the same thing: the HouChron blogger suggests that this is part of an effort to cut off “a criminal investigation into the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas”.)
I haven’t decided what I’m going to do about the Statesman yet. Paying for digital access would give me a tax write-off for Low Fat Heavy Industries. On the other hand, the cheapest subscription is $9.99 a month. I already subscribe to the NYT and LAT for you, my readers, and I find it hard to justify $10 a month for the Statesman.
