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UPDATE: Federal Prosecutor Withdraws From Aryan Brotherhood Case
Update, Tuesday, 8:05 p.m.: Citing security concerns, a federal prosecutor in Houston has decided to remove himself from a large racketeering case involving the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas prison gang.
Attorneys involved in the case say they received an email from assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Hileman telling them that he would no longer be involved in the case, a decision some described as unusual and disconcerting.
Ali R. Fazel, an attorney representing one of the 34 defendants, told KERA that Hileman did not give specific reasons for leaving the case.
"We want the system to work. I think everybody in this system believes in this system, and we can't have circumstances where prosecutors are afraid for their lives and we can't have circumstances where defense lawyers are afraid for their lives."
Angela Dodge, spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Houston, told The Dallas Morning News, that the case is pending in the Southern District of Texas and would continue to be handled by the U.S. Attorney's Office and Department of Justice's Criminal Division.
The weekend shootings of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, and the murder of county prosecutor Mike Hasse have cast a spotlight on the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas. The DA's office was involved in the multi-agency task force that investigated alleged members of the prison gang, but law enforcement officials have not said there is a direct link between the murders and the gang.
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Update, Tuesday, 8:05 p.m.: Citing security concerns, a federal prosecutor in Houston has decided to remove himself from a large racketeering case involving the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas prison gang.
Attorneys involved in the case say they received an email from assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Hileman telling them that he would no longer be involved in the case, a decision some described as unusual and disconcerting.
Ali R. Fazel, an attorney representing one of the 34 defendants, told KERA that Hileman did not give specific reasons for leaving the case.
"We want the system to work. I think everybody in this system believes in this system, and we can't have circumstances where prosecutors are afraid for their lives and we can't have circumstances where defense lawyers are afraid for their lives."
Angela Dodge, spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Houston, told The Dallas Morning News, that the case is pending in the Southern District of Texas and would continue to be handled by the U.S. Attorney's Office and Department of Justice's Criminal Division.
The weekend shootings of Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, and the murder of county prosecutor Mike Hasse have cast a spotlight on the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas. The DA's office was involved in the multi-agency task force that investigated alleged members of the prison gang, but law enforcement officials have not said there is a direct link between the murders and the gang.
<broken link removed>
Top Down
Bottom Up
Side To Side
Inside Out
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