COLLEGE

JAMAAL
CHARLES

TEXAS
TCU

SCOREBOARD

TEXAS A&M
FRESNO ST.

3OT

34
13

BAYLOR
RICE

42
17

ALABAMA ST.
TSU

21
10

47
45

TEXAS TECH
UTEP

45
31

OKLAHOMA
MIAMI

51
13

chron.com

A&M wins a thriller in College Station and Texas fends off

pesky TCU in Austin. PAGE F1

INSIDE:

SUN DAY, S EP TEMBER 9, 2007

WWW.CHRON.COM

STAR

ZEST

A century of luxury

Hollywoods new look

On the eve of Neiman Marcus

100th birthday, the retailer is
still thriving. STORY ON PAGE G4

Black talent is making a

mark on the film industry
like never before.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Photo gallery of

Saturdays big games. chron.com/sports

VOL. 106 NO. 331 $1.75

LEGAL HELP SCARCE

IN CRIME LAB CASES
Majority of
the defendants
convicted with
faulty evidence
getting little aid

LEGAL LEGENDS

JOE
JAMAIL
Born:

RICHARD
RACEHORSE
HAYNES

1925

Big cases:

$11 billion
verdict in
Pennzoil v.
Texaco; $550
million from
defendants,
including
Coopers &
Lybrand, for
158 bond
investors
who were
defrauded

Born:

By ROMA KHANNA
and STEVE MCVICKER
HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Years after the DNA debacle at the Houston crime

lab prompted scrutiny of
hundreds of criminal cases,
nearly two-thirds of defendants convicted with faulty
evidence have received little
help in determining how, or
if, their convictions could be
affected,
the
Houston
Chronicle has found.
Private labs and independent investigators unearthed
inaccuracies in the Houston
Police Departments work on
more than 60 cases, finding
that police analysts conclusions about biological evidence were wrong, overstated or unreliable.
But, in the majority of
those cases, attorneys have
not attempted to use new
DNA evidence on behalf of
defendants or even to investigate whether it was crucial to
the case against them, according to a Chronicle review
of court documents and interviews with dozens of attorneys assigned to these
cases.
It is not clear whether any
of the new evidence jeopardizes these cases or if HPDs
inaccurate work will lead to
any more exonerations. Since
the crime labs work first
came under question in November 2002, two men convicted on flawed evidence
have been released from
prison and cleared in those
crimes.
The Chronicle found 24
cases among the 61 in which
attorneys appointed or hired

1927

Big cases:

murder cases
of Houston
doctor John
Hill and Fort
Worth oilman
T. Cullen Davis
Star pupils:

Mike Ramsey,
Dan Cogdell

Star pupils:

Richard
Mithoff, the
late Gus Kolius

Hobbies:

Motorcycles,
cars, sailing

Hobbies:

Nickname:

Afternoon bull
sessions with
endless other
characters

Racehorse, for
his speed on
the football
field, but
also fits his
courtroom
prowess

Nickname:

The King of
Torts, for
winning civil
cases big and
small

JOHNNY HANSON : F O R T H E C H R O N I C L E

Magenta

TIME OUT: Friends for 50 years, Joe Jamail, left, and Richard Racehorse Haynes take a break recently to reminisce about their careers.

No signs of slowing down

m

Now in their 80s, retirement isnt on

the docket for these courtroom titans
By MARY FLOOD

7 8 9 10 11 12

Yellow

HOUSTON CHRONICLE

OR octogenarian legal
legends Richard
Racehorse Haynes and
Joe Jamail, deciding to stop
practicing law would be
akin to choosing to stop breathing.
Stop doing what? This is not work,
said Jamail, the cursing, clever, longago-dubbed King of Torts. This makes
you feel like you are worth something.

SPORTS

We can still do good for others and do

good for ourselves. I would wither and
die, truthfully. I need to be somewhere
where the lights on me.
Haynes, the witty and gentlemanly
criminal defense lawyer, recalls the
prior generations legal master Percy
Foreman warning him that the law is a
jealous mistress but they dont explain
that the law is a nymphomaniac.
And the law is a nymphomaniac. We
all made a pledge that wed try to help
the client, said Haynes, who turned 80

GOP losing support

with Hispanic voters
Party is paying
a price for rhetoric
on immigration

Cyan

Finally, its
kickoff time
for Texans
With new faces
aplenty and the
Chiefs in town, pro
football returns to
c Reliant today.
STORY ON PAGE C1

this year and just moved to a new office.

We want to keep helping people.
Haynes has just taken on the defense
of a juvenile accused in the deaths of
four Baytown teens killed in a stolen
Jeep Cherokee that crashed into a
parked train at an ungated crossing in
June.
Jamail, meanwhile, has been actively
representing the more than 3,000
former clients of lawyer John OQuinn
in a complex arbitration that could put
more than $35 million back into Jamails
clients hands and help redefine how
lawyers charge clients in mass tort
cases.
Though the two friends are family
men, they also have the blessing and the
curse of being defined by and addicted

By RICHARD S. DUNHAM
HOUSTON CHRONICLE

washington Lionel
Sosa has been a proud Republican for years. He produced
campaign commercials for the
late Sen. John Tower, worked
as a media consultant for
Ronald Reagan and raised
money for George W. Bush.
But the harsh immigration
rhetoric of some Republicans
has driven the Floresville executive to question the direction of his party.

DIVA ON CAMERA

Anytime anybody says,

Weve got to get those people
out of here, and weve got to
build a wall to keep those
Mexicans out, its going to
come off as unfriendly, period, he said. If (Republicans) dont pedal back on the
rhetoric, they are going to be in
big trouble.
The immigration debate is
one reason why Sosa, 68, is
supporting Democrat Bill Richardson, a Latino and New
Mexicos governor, for president. More important, his

Terry Hayes takes questions and

answers from her hospital room in
a video update with the CancerDiva.
Find out how shes doing at
http://blogs.chron.com/cancerdiva

Please see VOTE, Page A19

CAMPAIGN 2008
Oprah hosts gala fundraiser for
Barack Obama. PAGE A15

to their courtroom successes.

Neither Houstonian is particularly
large in stature, yet both are bigger than
life. For years now their presence in a
courthouse, even on a minor matter, has
attracted crowds.
Haynes gained highest fame in two
cases.
He successfully defended Houston
plastic surgeon John Hill, who was
accused in 1969 of letting his socialite
wife die after she was poisoned by
pastry he fed her, a tale immortalized in
the book Blood and Money. Then in
1977, he also successfully defended Fort
Worth oilman T. Cullen Davis, who was
accused in a shooting spree at his home
that left his wifes lover and 12-year-old

TEXAS HURRICANES

Although hurricane activity

has increased across the entire
Atlantic basin since 1995,
Texas has experienced a lull
during the last two decades.
Direct hurricane strikes
on Texas, by decade:

1. SportsJustice: This GM search

smells funny. Smart move on Ausmus.
2. Tags Baseball Plays: Stop the
interviews. Ive chosen the GM.

BY THE NUMBERS

targeted for
retesting
413 cases
retests and reviews
319
supported HPDs
findings
and reviews
discredited HPDs work
61 retests
remain
open
33 reviews

Please see LAW, Page A8

Texas spins the wheel

in hurricane roulette

1890s 3
1900s 4

After a lull that

began in 1989, the
law of averages
is not considered
favorable for state

1910s 7
1920s 3

By ERIC BERGER

1850s 2
1860s 4
1870s 2
1880s 6

1930s 4
1940s 10

in the 1990s and 2000s a

time when the Atlantic basin
has seen, perhaps, the most intense tropical activity of any recorded era just two hurricanes have made a direct hit on
the state.
Thats about one-fourth the
number history suggests Texas
should see.
Activity in the current period is certainly a far cry from
that of the 1940s, when 10 hurricanes struck Texas.

HOUSTON CHRONICLE

1950s 3
1960s 3
1970s 3
1980s 6
1990s 1 Bret (1999)
2000s 1 Claudette (2003)
Source: National Weather Service
JAY CARR : C H R O N I C L E

MOST POPULAR BLOG POSTS

Please see LAB, Page A10

From a scientific standpoint,

we cant say for sure that Texas
is due for a surge in hurricane
activity. Mother Nature, after
all, doesnt always obey mathematical probabilities.
But lets face it, Texas is due.
Since 1851, more than five
dozen hurricanes have made
landfall on the Texas coast. But

WEATHER

INSIDE

Stormy

Crossword .
Dear Abby .
Editorials. .
Hale . . . . .

Mostly cloudy. High 89.

Low 75. PAGE B10

.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.

.
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.
.
.
.

G3
G2
. E2
G1

Hoffman . .
Horoscope.
Lottery . . .
Movies. . . .
Obituaries .

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.
.

Please see STORMS, Page A10

chron.com
For the latest hurricane reports,
tracking and more, visit
chron.com/hurricanecentral

.
.
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.
.
.
.
.

ZEST
. . G3
. . A2
ZEST
. . B7

WE RECYCLE

A8 H O U S T O N C H R O N I C L E

THE JUMP PAGE

Sunday, September 9, 2007

Both fought
S. Florida beaches
in World War II
could be tainted

A CONVERSATION

LAW:

Researchers are
divided over risks
after a study finds
harmful levels of
bacteria in sand

By JOEL HOOD
SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL

fort lauderdale, fla.

From afar, South Floridas
golden-sand coastline might
look postcard-perfect, but a new
two-year study of beaches in
Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood
and Miami found sand tainted
with E. coli and other potentially harmful bacteria in levels
100 to 1,000 times greater than
whats in the water lapping at
the shore.
So, is beach sand making us
sick? The best research so far
says, possibly.
Scientists know E. coli can
harm us. Theyre finding it and
other fecal bacteria in large
quantities on some beaches.
Logic tells them that we should
be falling ill. But scientists have
never found a direct link, and
the few studies that have been
completed have generated more
questions than answers.
Even the authors of the new
study of South Florida beaches
are divided about the risk of
beach sand.
We believe the risk is there,
whether or not there have been
documented problems, said
Florida Atlantic University scientist Nwadiuto Esiobu.
Not necessarily, says Nova

Southeastern University scientist Donald McCorquodale. He

suspects beach bacteria are
largely harmless and have lost
their capability to make someone sick.
That two experts can look at
the same data and come to different conclusions illustrates
how complicated this area of
study is, scientists say, and both
sides say more study is needed
before anyone really understands whats at stake.
Just because youre finding
high levels of bacteria doesnt
mean theres a health risk. And
it doesnt mean its safe either,
said Timothy Wade, an epidemiologist with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
After years of trying to understand the risks of swimming
in contaminated water, scientists have only recently begun to
look at whether beach sand
poses a similar threat.
The South Florida study,
published last month in the
peer-reviewed scientific journal
Marine Pollution Bulletin, is
among the first of its kind to
look at local beaches but limited
its research to Broward and
Miami-Dade counties.
But it comes on the heels of
other studies, on public beaches
in Southern California and
around the Great Lakes region,
that found similarly high levels
of E. coli and other types of fecal
bacteria, suggesting the problem isnt confined to one area.
But like a lot of scientific explorations, there are no clear
answers what this means.

Two Odessa officers slain

A S S O C I AT E D P R E S S

odessa Two Odessa police officers were killed and a

third was critically wounded
Saturday night after responding
to an incomplete 911 call, officials said.
No identifications were im-

C H A MPI O N S
F O RES T P L A Z A
2 81.4 4 4.119 9

mediately available.
The officers had gone to a
home in response to the call
when they were shot, said Andrea Goodson, a city of Odessa
spokeswoman.
The suspected gunman surrendered to authorities.

RI V E R O A KS
SH O P PIN G C EN T E R
713.5 3 3.0 4 0 0

CONTINUED FROM PAGE A1

stepdaughter dead and two

wounded.
Jamail, 82, best known for
his 1985 $11 billion victory for
Pennzoil over Texaco for a
foiled merger and giving away
huge sums to charity, is
perennially listed as one of the
richest men in America.
Seven years before the Pennzoil case, he broke records for
settling a suit for $6.8 million
that involved a defective gun
used in a hunting accident.
The gun eventually was
recalled.
To me, Haynes and Jamail
are the same guy. They are selfmade men, both small in
physical stature with huge
egos, said Dan Cogdell, a
criminal defense lawyer and
protg of Haynes. Both got by
on raw skills and being great
humanists. They understand
people. Joe is more aggressive,
Richard more personable. But
they both know how to identify
the person they are looking at
and know how they can use
that person in the courtroom or
out.

Alike in many ways

Both men came up from
scrappy Houston
neighborhoods, both fought in
World War II, both made
sizable fortunes and both have
stayed married to the same
woman, though Jamails wife,
Lee, died recently.
In the 70s, Haynes, who got
his nickname playing high
school football, and Jamail had
offices in the same building, at
711 Fannin. When Willie
Nelson wasnt hanging out in
Jamails office, the two lawyers
would drink together at Leos
Broadway Bar & Grill,
swapping war stories with
eager listeners.
They even tried a case
together once, a civil case in
Victoria that they both jokingly
agree Haynes joined possibly to
postpone a criminal case
elsewhere.
I think at the very top of
any profession, those people do

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it for the sheer joy of it. Thats

why they cant stop, said
Richard Mithoff, a civil lawyer
who learned his profession
from Jamail. Mithoff said the
most important lesson was to
be yourself in the courtroom.
They are both storytellers.
Richard can tell a story in a
self-deprecating way and win
you over. Joe can tell a story
and you want to cheer for him,
Mithoff said.
He calls them the grand
masters of the art of trying
lawsuits.
Despite how their courtroom
talents overlap, similar
backgrounds and their 50-year
friendship, there is a subtle
undercurrent of competition,
too.
When Jamail won the Pennzoil case, with its $400 million
fee, he called Haynes and
asked, How many zeroes in a
billion? They had a drink and
worked on the math.

Differing styles
Sit at a table with them
today, and Haynes will speak
quietly, working his trademark
pipe, not interrupting but
commanding his share of story
time. Jamail is far more brash,
foul-mouthed, less planned and
even defiant in his posture.
Styles aside, they
acknowledge each others
accomplishments and
competence and clearly respect
that, with hundreds of trials
behind them, they are both still
in the race.
In addition to the Baytown
train collision case, Haynes has
recently taken on the case of an
infant injured by a nurse. He
also recently said no to
professional football player
Michael Vick, recalling
Foreman once told him to avoid
clients who harm dogs or
horses. He also tried a sexual
assault case in Georgetown in
August.
Jamail, along with the
OQuinn matter, has
represented Vinson & Elkins in
its Enron troubles. He also has
several personal injury cases
going and represents one large
company suing over insurance
payments from Katrina.
Defeat is a stranger
Their friends and colleagues
describe both men as being
unstoppable unable to accept
defeat or retirement.
Mike Ramsey, a Houston
criminal defense lawyer who
learned the craft from Haynes,
said Jamail is a slasher in the
courtroom while Haynes is
likely to go for 1,000 cuts, but
both will make their target
bleed.
These are the people who
put the real imprimatur on the
Houston bar as a place where
lawyers try cases and dont just
settle them, Ramsey said. Joe
has extreme emotional
intelligence and can read what
somebody is not just thinking
but what they are feeling and
take advantage of it. And
Racehorse, his gift is to bring a
sense of confidence into the
courtroom, he walks in and has
the ability to take over.
A good scolding
These storied lawyers can be
controversial especially
Jamail. He took a lot of hits
nationally for a no-longerviewable snippet of a
deposition on YouTube in
which Jamail is swearing and
verbally abusing a fellow
lawyer.
The Delaware court that
looked at the deposition
scolded Jamail for his decided
lack of civility.
Ronnie Krist, a civil lawyer
and close friend of Jamails
whos done helicopter cases,
pipeline cases, exploding silos
with him, sees Jamail as being
wildly, obsessively focused.
He recalls leaving him
behind at lunch breaks when
Jamail broke out a brown bag
tuna sandwich and refused to
move from the courtroom table.
Joe is at his happiest when
he has a case going, Krist said.
Cogdell said if he had a tenth
of the money Haynes or Jamail
has earned, hed be gone. But
the law is at the essence of
Jamail and Haynes in a way it is
for few others.
Joe may be responsible not
only for the rise in tort
litigation but, some would
argue, for the rise in tort
reform as well, Cogdell said.
And Haynes? Hes tenacity
and perseverance on two legs.
There is just no reverse in his
transmission. What he means
to the defense bar? Never quit.
mary.flood@chron.com

JOHNNY HANSON PHOTOS: F O R T H E C H R O N I C L E

JOE JAMAIL: Protg Richard Mithoff says, I think at the very top of

any profession, those people do it for the sheer joy of it.

Spinning
dueling stories

RACEHORSE HAYNES: The prior generations legal master, Percy

Foreman, warned him that the law is a jealous mistress.

N A RECENT WARM HOUSTON AFTERNOON,

Richard Racehorse Haynes and Joe Jamail agreed
to get together to chat about their legal careers.
In the garden at Grappinos on West Dallas, the two
embraced, flattered each other and told dueling stories.
Haynes occasionally drew from his pipe. Jamail
occasionally barked into his cell phone. They talked to
Houston Chronicle reporter Mary Flood about fooling
pompous witnesses, stupid lawyers and drinking whiskey.
Here are some excerpts:

On success
Haynes: We want our clients to
get justice.
Jamail: That doesnt dilute
what justice should be. We
cant represent everybody.
Haynes: If you have a heart
problem right now, youd like

to go to the best cardiologist

in town. You may not be able
to go to him because you cant
afford it or he doesnt have
time to see you. So youve got
to go to somebody with less
skill. Thats the way it is in
the law.

Old stories
Jamail: I get letters from law

students from all over saying

youre an inspiration, you
failed torts.

Haynes: But he came back and

he sued for that tree being out
there in that road by Rice.
Jamail: The city was at fault

for placing a tree in the middle

of a street that they called
an esplanade. I called it a
tree island. We had medical
testimony from a doctor who

lived on that street, Sunset

Boulevard. He said at night it
creates an optical illusion.
My boy had a .28 alcohol
content when he hit that tree.
First he ran over the curb and
knocked the Keep right sign
down and then he went 129
more feet and then he hit the
tree. That wasnt a dumb jury,
the foreman was the GM or VP
of Cameron Iron Works.
Haynes: The tree shouldnt
have been there.

On the profession
Haynes: The criminal law has
changed for the worse.
Jamail: So has the civil law.
Haynes: The Sixth Amendment
and the right to be free
from unreasonable search
and seizure are hanging by
fingernails. The right to
effective assistance of counsel?
The Fifth Amendment?
Hanging by fingernails. The
Fourth Amendment? Why,
nobodys even paying attention
to it anymore.
Jamail: Some of thats (U.S.

Attorney General Alberto)

Gonzales. Hes in the finals of

the dumbest bastards ever. Its

a huge group.
And civil law has changed.
All theyve done is punish
those who are already suffering, putting caps on people,
on children they blind in hospitals or make vegetables out
of. How do you explain to the
people that the Legislature has
succumbed to the big money
lobbyists and special interest
groups and that you dont really
have the right to open court
anymore?
Haynes: Theyve taken the
courthouse away from folks.

Getting personal
Jamail: A few nights ago my

son asked if Racehorse ever

told me how he won the Cullen
Davis trial.
Nobody thought anyone on
Earth would win that case. He
just was magic. I dont know
any other way to put it.
There arent any lawyers
right now that do what he
does, that even come close to
knowing what he knows. Im
saying he would have got Ken
Lay off or else theyd still be
trying it.
Haynes: I didnt want to get
mary.flood@chron.com

involved, I knew it would be

document intensive. It gave
Mike (Ramsey, Lays lawyer
and a Haynes protg) a heart
attack.
Jamail: Richard was the most

famous lawyer in the building

(when they officed in the same
place). He was all over the
damn papers. It was before I
realized the power of the press.

Haynes: But you realized the

power of the jury early.
Jamail: Thanks.