I admit to Angie Barrett fatigue. But I gotta, I gotta respond. Let’s go to the relevant quote from Flournoy’s story:
Bill Barrett had asked District Attorney Bill Hill–who had received $2,000 in campaign contributions from him–to drop the charge. It was dismissed, six days after being filed, despite a tough policy on prosecuting domestic abuse.
Let’s examine that statement. Remember, this whole thing started when Bill Barrett called the HP Police because he was worried about his wife driving UI. Because the responding officer saw a cut on his hand, the officer was required by law to file a domestic abuse incident report. That report must by law go to the DA’s office.
Now let’s pretend you are the DA. The complaintant tells you he will not file a complaint. Would you prosecute? Would Craig Flourney be shocked to learn that most domestic abuse “cases” which go to the DA’s office are not prosecuted? Not just most, but nearly all. And the major reason? The complaintant refuses to file a complaint. If Bill Hill got $2,000 campaign contributions from all of them, he’d have a nice little warchest. But because Bill Barrett is rich, and not poor like 95 percent of the other complaintants, we’re are supposed to assume–automatically!–that there’s something nefarious and not boringly routine going on. Meanwhile, Dallas has the highest crime rate in the United States–murders, rapes, armed robberies, etc. The DA has more on his mind than a scratch on someone’s wrist. I’m surprised all these reporters don’t.
