WHEN TEXAS SUPREME COURT JUSTICE DAVID MEDINA’S HOUSE burned down this past June and took his neighbor’s house along with it, Medina had:

• a $10,000 lien on his home for back taxes.
• no fire insurance because of non-payment of premiums.
• staved off foreclosure on his house for failure to make his mortgage payments.

 
KVUE photo

 This was the second time in ten years that he had a house fire that started in the garage.

Yesterday the Harris County grand jury indicted Medina and his wife Francesca on arson and evidence-tampering charges connected to the $1 million fire.  Within minutes, the District Attorney and political crony of Medina’s, Chuck Rosenthall, announced that he didn’t think there was enough evidence to prosecute and would ask a judge to set aside the indictments.

But two members of the grand jury that returned the indictments Thursday told the Houston Chronicle that if the charges are dismissed the panel may reconvene next week and re-indict the pair.

David “Sparks” Medina

Rosenthall was recently in the news himself when he decided last month not to run for re-election, facing pressure from his party for writing romantic e-mails to his personal assistant using his county e-mail account.

Justice Medina has stated that he has no intention on resigning from the Supreme Court and continues to serve in his $150,000-yr. position.

We probably haven’t heard the last of this.

The Houston Chronicle has more along with details of the fire department’s investigation of the fire HERE.

On a side note, the last sitting Texas Supreme Court justice to face indictment was Don Yarbrough who took office in 1977 while still under charges of forgery and perjury.  He resigned seven months later and then, after being convicted, he fled to Granada.  In 1983 he was apprehended and returned to Texas to serve a 5-year sentence.

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