TRAVIS COUNTY — A prosecutor with the Texas Attorney General’s office said in sworn testimony that 83rd District Attorney Ori White’s attempts last year to take back a case relinquished by his predecessor due to a conflict of interest had concerned the AG’s office enough to prompt subpoenas and a planned hearing on the matter.
Prosecutor Geoff Barr testified in a deposition as part of the civil lawsuit brought by former Assistant District Attorney Jerry Phillips against current DA Ori White, which alleges that White had wrongfully terminated Phillips for attempting to report improper and possibly illegal conduct within the office. In the sweeping lawsuit, filed last fall, Phillips details several instances of alleged corruption or cronyism and claims that his refusal to participate in those acts and his attempted whistleblowing led to his firing. White has denied the allegations and pledged to fight the suit, calling it “false.”
Among the claims in the suit is Phillips’ allegation that Brewster County attorney Steve Houston pressured White to take back a felony criminal case against Houston’s grandson that White’s predecessor, Sandy Wilson, had relinquished to the AG’s office in order to avoid the appearance of impartiality, citing a personal and professional relationship with the elder Houston. After taking office in early 2021, White moved to take the case back. Email correspondence attached to the suit shows Phillips discouraging White’s attempts to reclaim the case, warning that it might create the appearance of “repaying political support.” Still, White filed a motion to take back the case, though he dropped the motion one day before a scheduled hearing on the matter.
Barr, a prosecutor with the AG’s office who handled the case in question, testified that White’s request had struck him as unusual, that the timing of the request — shortly after the AG’s office had offered Houston’s grandson, Michael Houston, a plea offer — was “suspect,” and that it raised enough “suspicions or smoke” about White’s impartiality to prompt him to issue subpoenas to those involved and pursue a hearing. He also testified that Michael Houston’s attorney, James McDermott, told him that White had offered an alternative plea offer, despite the case residing in the AG’s jurisdiction.
Barr is one of several witnesses, including current and former elected officials, to be deposed in the case. His deposition was taken by one of Phillips’ attorneys, Jodi Cole, on May 31 and a transcript was entered into the public case file last week. The attorney present at the deposition to represent the defendant, Steven Kiser, objected throughout to Cole’s line of questioning.
By Barr’s telling, the brief conflict began in February 2021, shortly after he had extended a preliminary plea offer to Michael Houston through McDermott — the defense attorney then contacted Barr to express concern about the severity of the offer, and also said that he had received another offer from the district attorney. Barr said the details of that offer were never disclosed to him.
Shortly afterwards, Barr said, he was contacted by White — first by voicemail, then by email — who said he wanted the case back. “I do not have any conflict in this matter,” White wrote in the email, which is included in the case’s exhibits.
“It is not typical in my experience at the AG’s office to receive those types of calls,” said Barr.
White then filed a motion to remove Barr as DA pro tem. Barr said that his superior, Lisa Tanner, spoke with White around that time and walked away from the call under the impression that White was not moving forward with the motion, so Barr filed a document with the court saying the issue was moot. Barr subsequently heard from White again, telling him he had made an incorrect representation to the court — he was not withdrawing the motion, and a judge would ultimately decide whether to grant it or not.
Barr testified that there were concerns within his office about the actions, especially considering the supposed alternative plea bargain.
“There was concern on our end that he might be taking this case back maybe because of relationship reasons, maybe because he could not be impartial in his review,” he said. “We didn’t know that for certain, but we certainly wanted to figure it out. We weren’t getting the plea bargain. They weren’t handing over the plea bargain that he had offered. We were concerned about his authority to even give a plea bargain.”
Barr was “given the green light to aggressively pursue a hearing” on the matter, he said, and served subpoenas to White, McDermott, Houston, and staff within the DA’s office. McDermott retained a lawyer, who filed a motion to quash the subpoena, stating that his client did not have any document responses and asserted his 5th amendment rights. Barr said he was ready to fight the motion in court, and to attempt to get the subpoenaed individuals on the witness stand.
Shortly before a hearing was to take place, White withdrew his motion, bringing the conflict to a close.
Phillips’ suit against White as head of the 83rd Judicial District Attorney’s office is unfolding in the 53rd Judicial District in Travis County. Phillips had initially included Brewster, Pecos, Presidio, and Jeff Davis Counties as defendants in the suit, but when those counties attempted to move the case into a local district court, he non-suited the counties, concerned an impartial hearing would not be possible otherwise. Phillips had also sued White as an individual as well as in his capacity as DA, but a Travis County judge recently ruled that the suit against White the individual should be dismissed.