Texas Judge Releases Juvenile Offenders After Losing Election
Harris County prosecutors expressed concerns after Judge Glenn Devlin made the decision in Houston. The juveniles face charges ranging from misdemeanors to violent crimes.
Judge Glenn Devlin lost his re-election bid and released all the juvenile offenders who appeared before him Wednesday.
A day after losing his re-election bid, a Texas judge released from jail nearly all of the juvenile defendants who appeared before him Wednesday after he asked them whether they planned to kill anyone.
Harris County prosecutors expressed concerns after Judge Glenn Devlin made the decision in Houston. The juveniles face charges ranging from misdemeanors to violent crimes.
"We oppose the wholesale release of violent offenders at any age. This could endanger the public," Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said in a statement.
Devlin, a longtime Republican jurist, rescheduled all of the cases for the first week in January, after the Democrat who beat him during Tuesday's election takes the bench. It's unclear how many juveniles were released, but officials said there were at least seven, including four facing aggravated robbery charges, according to Local10.
He asked each defendant: “If I release you, will you go out and murder anybody?" And if the juvenile said "no," they were released, according to public defender Steve Halpert. “Judge Devlin would never normally ask that question of a juvenile. This was unusual,” Halpert told KTRK-TV.
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