Key witness recants testimony in death case

LISA FALKENBERG
Commentary

Anthony Graves might have

been the only person in the
world who could get Ericka
Dockery to open the door to

her Houston home the door

to a painful past she no doubt
wanted to put behind her.
For years, Dockery had eluded appellate attorneys for death
row inmate Alfred Dewayne
Brown who wanted to question
her about why she went from
bolstering her ex-boyfriends
alibi to testifying against him at
his 2005 cop-killing trial.
When the legal team did
nd her, she wouldnt talk. So,
an investigator reached out
to Graves, who had only one

INSIDE

CPS takes in ve
children after couple
arrested during
traffic stop.
Page B3
Houston Chronicle

@HoustonChron

year earlier been freed after 18

years behind bars following a
wrongful 1994 conviction for
the murder of a Somerville
grandmother, her daughter and
four children.
Graves agreed to help when
he learned that the capital
murder case bore a similarity to
his own: Graves strongest alibi
witnesses, Yolanda Mathis, a
friend with whom hed stayed
up talking the night of the
murders, refused to testify after
being threatened with a capital

murder charge by authorities

as well.
In an interview in May,
Graves said he shared his story
with Dockery one day in August 2011 after the then-36-yearold mother of three let him and
an investigator into her living
room.
The next thing I know, she
was telling us everything,
Graves said.
He said Dockery recounted
how shed been threatened into
testifying against Brown, how

CITY | STATE

Houston Chronicle | Thursday, July 24, 2014 | HoustonChronicle.com and Chron.com

shed been jailed away from

her three children on perjury
charges after being accused of
lying to a grand jury, how upon
her release she was forced to
wear an ankle monitor.
In previous columns, I
reported how Dockery initially
backed up her ex-boyfriends
claim that hed been at her
apartment around the time
Brown was accused of murdering Houston Police Officer
Charles R. Clark during a

Truth continues on B5

OUTLOOK

The United States

must take a realistic
look at the costs of
space science.
Page B7

Section B xxx

What will
Texas
without
Perry
look like?

HOUSING

Programs he calls
economic drivers are
unpopular to some
By Lauren McGaughy

Melissa Phillip photos / Houston Chronicle

Kathi Faith has lived at Northline SRO, a facility that houses more than 100 homeless men and women, for two years.

Another delay to higher ground

More setbacks plague Harris County plan
to move homeless from ood zone
By Kiah Collier
Harris County Commissioners Court this week postponed
demolition of a re-damaged
apartment complex one more
delay in a ve-year struggle to
convert the vacant property
into housing for more than 100
homeless men and women currently living in a ood-prone former motel north of downtown.
Officials had hoped a longplanned project to renovate
the Magnolia Glen Apartments
complex, in the 3800 block of the
Gulf Freeway, would be nished
by now so the residents of the
Northline SRO, who have been
evacuated during hurricanes
and tropical storms at least twice
since 2000, could move out of the
Little White Oak Bayou ood
zone before the next big storm
hits.

Its not a good option to continue to have a housing facility

located that close to that bayou,
said Daphne Lemelle, Harris
Countys director of housing and
community development.
The renovation of Magnolia
Glen was put on hold last fall
when the state, to the surprise of
Harris County officials, decided
it did not meet federal funding
guidelines, forcing the county to
devise new plans. Now, the project is not expected to be complete
until at least January 2016, and
officials say their search for a
place to move the Northline residents is proving a challenge.
Following discussions with
the state, the project no longer
calls for renovation of the 184unit complex, but demolition
and construction of an entirely
new facility farther from the
freeway. Because of that, and ris-

A three-alarm re recently gutted part of the former Magnolia

Glen, a vacant motel turned into an apartment complex.

ing construction costs in a recovering economy, Lemelle said the

project is expected to cost several million dollars more than
originally planned.
On Tuesday, Commissioners Court postponed approval
of a revised contract between

the county and the non-prot

Housing Corporation of Greater
Houston, the owner of the project, after County Judge Ed Emmett expressed concern that the
number of housing units 110,
down from 184 last year have
Setbacks continues on B5

AUSTIN With the end of

Gov. Rick Perrys tenure in sight,
the popularity of his economic
development incentive programs
is waning among lawmakers and
some top candidates, worrying
the business community.
Growing disagreement over
the future of these programs
was on display Wednesday at
the inaugural meeting of the
House Select Committee on
Economic Development Incentives, a 13-member panel charged
by Speaker Joe Straus to look at
the viability and necessity of the
states myriad plans.
The debate centers on local
and state tax credits and abatements, as well as such multimillion-dollar grant programs
as the Texas Enterprise Fund, a
deal-closing fund controlled
by Perry that has awarded more
than $555 million since its inception in 2003.
Perry regularly travels the
country touting those incentives
as a major job creator and economic driver for Texas, while
opponents call such programs
political slush funds and crony
capitalism.
Youre paying companies to
do what they would have done
anyway, most of the time, Greg
LeRoy, executive director of the
grass-roots government accountability group Good Jobs First, told
the House committee via Skype
from his Washington, D.C., office.
The programs became more like
political pork, frankly.
Incentive continues on B3

State seeks another year to test new teacher evaluation system

By Lauren McGaughy
and Ericka Mellon
AUSTIN Texas needs an
extra year to try out its new system for evaluating teachers, delaying any statewide use until fall
2016, Education Commissioner
Michael Williams told federal ofcials Wednesday.
The state plans to pilot the new

evaluation designed partly to

hold teachers more accountable
for student performance in 68
districts and charter schools. After a two-year trial period, other
districts could adopt the system.
Texas joins the majority of
states in moving to a new teacher
appraisal model, driven in part
by the Obama administrations
push to grade teachers on stu-

Created on Adobe Document Server 2.0

dents test scores. Rolling out the

new methods has proved difficult
in some cases, however, as teacher groups resist and problems
arise during implementation.
For example, seven teachers
and the teachers union are suing
the Houston Independent School
District over its test-based evaluation system, alleging it is unfair
and violates due process.

The states new evaluation will

be optional, but Texas Education
Agency officials have said they
expect districts to base at least 20
percent of a teachers rating on
student performance data.
Williams said he hopes the
extended trial period will allow
for a smooth transition from the
states old system, in place for 17
years.

If Texas is to develop an evaluation system that truly supports

our teachers, Williams said in a
statement, we need time to complete the pilot year and then utilize the constructive feedback we
will receive from our school districts, charters and educators.
HISD, the largest school district in Texas, dropped the states
HISD continues on B3

xx

Houston Chronicle | HoustonChronicle.com and chron.com | Thursday, July 24, 2014 |

B5

OBITUARIES | CITY | STATE

   

  
  
   
   

    
 
     
   
  
  
   
  
 
     
    
    

      

    
   


    
    
    

     
   
   
 
  
   
   
    
    
    
 
   
    
    
   
       
    
    
  

   
  
     
    
    
 
    
    
    
    
    
     
    
     
    

     
  

 
  
  
 
 


 
 
      
    

 
  
 
  
  

   

   


    
  
 

     

    
  


    
  
 
     
    
      
   
     
 

      

 
  
      

     

        

   
  

   
   

    

     
 
 
     
     
 
 
  

     
      
       
        
  

 
   
   
   
  
       

     
 
 
 
   
      
      
     
    

     
    
    
      

    

    

   

 
    
      
    
 
         
    
     
  





  


 

  
 


 

 
 
 
  

  

  
 
 


    
      
        


Melissa Phillip / Houston Chronicle

Harris County commissioners this week postponed demolition of the re-damaged Magnolia Glen apartment complex one more
setback in a ve-year struggle to convert the vacant property into housing for more than 100 homeless men and women.

Setbacks in store for housing plan

Setbacks from page B1

dropped while total project

costs have not. The postponement is expected to
delay demolition of the vacant Magnolia Glen, costing $1.3 million, by at least
three weeks.
In a fateful turn of
events, a three-alarm re
struck the complex last
weekend, damaging 20 of
the units.
Project resurrection
Plans to convert the vacant apartment complex
into permanent housing
for the homeless had long
been in the works, having died nearly ve years
ago amid opposition from
neighborhood groups and
a lone city councilman,
despite support from then-

Mayor Bill White and all

ve members of the Harris
County Commissioners
Court. The county, in partnership with the Housing
Corporation, quietly resurrected the project three
years ago, securing, officials thought, $9.3 million
in federal disaster recovery
funds from the state after
Hurricane Ike.
Having received no input from the Texas General Land Office during a
project comment period,
Lemelle said officials were
moving ahead with the
project last year when they
received notice from the ofce last September that the
project did not meet federal
requirements and could
not continue.
The General Land Ofce, overseeing $3.2 billion

in federal disaster recovery funds, found the project would not meet federal
fair housing guidelines in
part because the complex,
built in the mid-1960s and
last used by University of
Houston for graduate student housing, is located in
a high-poverty area.
Jumping the gun
Lemelle said the county
conducted a study to prove
that the neighborhood was
not a high-poverty area,
and received preliminary
approval for the new plan
in May.
General Land Office
spokesman Jim Suydam
said the original project
had not been through a
full fair-housing review,
and that the county jumped
the gun by moving forward

before receiving nal approval.

The U.S. Department of
Housing and Urban Development would have never
reimbursed that money,
he said.
To move forward on a
project without getting full
approval is not wise.
Linda Holder, executive
supervisor at the Housing Corporation, said that
despite the delay, the organization is maintaining a
positive view of the overall
situation.
Replacement facility
When done, its going
to be a beautiful state-ofthe-art project thats going
to benet a lot of people in
the community who need
help, she said.
Meanwhile, the county

is helping homeless advocates search for a facility

that could replace Northline.
The single-room occupancy facility, a former
Howard Johnson whose
faded sign still promises HBO, a pool and free
breakfast, sits on the North
Freeway just past the 610
Loop in a ood zone on
Little White Oak Bayou
and was pegged for demolition several years ago after
ooding during Ike.
It was under water,
recalled resident Archie
Mayes, 75, who has lived
at the complex on and off
for 17 years. If you was on
the bottom oor, you had to
know how to swim.
kiah.collier@chron.com
twitter.com/kiahcollier

Truth brought to forefront in past death row case

Truth from page B1

Open doors

three-man robbery of a
check-cashing place. She
testied he made a land
line call from the apartment to Dockery at her
workplace, which should
have bolstered his alibi.
But a phone record
documenting that land
line call was never
revealed at trial, even
though Harris County
lead prosecutor Dan
Rizzo had obtained it. It
only surfaced seven years
later in a homicide detectives garage. The discovery led the Harris County
District Attorneys Office
and Judge Mark Kent Ellis
to quickly agree to a new
trial, but the Texas Court
of Criminal Appeals has
yet to rule more than a
year later, leaving Brown
marking time on death
row.
When I asked her was
Alfred Brown innocent,
Graves recalled, she told
me about the phone call.

up on the previous
stories in this series at
HoustonChronicle.
com/deadmanwaiting.

 
     

    
 
   

    
   
 
   
  

 
 
       

   




  

  
      
    
 


  
    

  
  
 

      
     

    

     

   


       
     


  
      
     

 
  

  

   
 
    
 
   
 
    


   
   
   
 

Dead man waiting: Catch

She told me he didnt do

anything.
That was quite a different story than the last
one Dockery had told
at Browns trial, when
she testied that Brown
confessed to being at the
murder scene. Her trial
testimony came only after
Dockery went before a
grand jury that threatened to take her children
and lock her up if she
didnt change her story.
Feeling threatened
Graves said Dockerys
experience happens all
too often among witnesses who cant afford
attorneys, have little
experience with the criminal justice system and
are easily intimidated by
authorities who wield
great power.
He said his Graves
Foundation is looking at
ways to help raise money
to provide key witnesses
with legal representation
in certain cases.
I just think its so
important, Graves said.
View todays and past
obituaries at

chron.com/obits.
 




Thats a major breakdown. They dont have

to go and threaten the
suspect anymore. They go
to the witnesses.
Graves visit apparently
made an impression on
Dockery. She later agreed
to meet with Browns
appellate attorneys and
to give a sworn statement
recanting much of her key
trial testimony.
In the November 2011
statement, Dockery says
Brown never told her to

this whole case.

Dockerys claims
She said Rizzo threatened her by saying that
he was going to make her
a co-defendant in the
murder case, and I would
never see my children
again. At that moment,
I was very scared and
threatened by Mr. Rizzo.
These threats are why I
gave the testimony I did.
Rizzo, who is now
retired, adamantly denies

Rizzo told me that he did not believe me, that I was

not a good person, that he was going to take my
children away by calling Child Protective Services
and that I was going to go to jail for a long time. I
felt very threatened by ADA Rizzo throughout this
whole case.
Ericka Dockery, witness

lie to the grand jury and

he never confessed he was
at the crime scene.
Dewayne always
denied his involvement
in the offense, Dockery
stated.
Dockery said she
specically remembers Browns call to her
workplace around the
time of the murder, and
that the caller ID showed
it was coming from her
home. Then Dockery
levels serious accusations
against Rizzo, the former
assistant district attorney,
accusing him of intimidating her off-the-record in
a room alone during the
grand jury session.
Rizzo told me that he
did not believe me, that
I was not a good person,
that he was going to take
my children away by
calling Child Protective
Services and that I was
going to go to jail for a
long time, she says.
I felt very threatened
by ADA Rizzo throughout

Dockerys claims, saying

he was rm and zealous
only within the bounds of
the law.
Recantation
I dont know why she
recanted, said Rizzo,
who still believes Brown
is guilty.
The things she said
about me were not true.
They were the farthest
thing from the truth. I
was offended by those
things.
I asked Rizzo about
others who have since
recanted testimony
ngering Brown, including an alleged accomplice
who also was convicted
of capital murder and two
women who said they
felt pressured into their
statements. One of them
basically accused Rizzo
of putting words in her
mouth.
Recanting happens,
he said. It happens for a
lot of reasons.
Lynn Hardaway, chief

of the DAs post-conviction writs division, who

also believes Brown is
guilty, speculated that
Dockery may be acting on residual feelings
for Brown and said that
sometimes in death cases,
witnesses recant to help
the inmate avoid execution.
She has told several
different stories, Hardaway said of Dockery,
but what I ultimately
believe is what she testied at trial.
Dockery hasnt responded to my attempts
to reach her. But I have
to wonder why a hardworking mother with no
criminal record beyond
traffic tickets who seems
to have wanted desperately to move on with her
life would now vouch for
a convicted cop-killer if
she didnt really believe
he was innocent.
Randall Ayers, the
appointed attorney who
defended Dockery in
the perjury cases, was
similarly perplexed when
attorneys notied him of
Dockerys recantation.
Moving on
I was like Really?
Ayers said. I told the
defense attorney and the
prosecutor both Wow,
Im really surprised
because, you know, when
it was all said and done,
she had a new guy in her
life ... and she was moving
away somewhere, and I
thought, well, good for
her, shes moving on.
But maybe, just maybe,
theres no moving on from
the truth.
Maybe it has a way of
nding you.
Coming next: Part IV
of Ericka Dockerys story
lisa.falkenberg@chron.com

INSIDE

New records show gas

aring in the oil patch
continues to grow in
the Eagle Ford Shale.
Page B3
Houston Chronicle

@HoustonChron

CITY | STATE

Houston Chronicle | Sunday, December 21, 2014 | HoustonChronicle.com and Chron.com

Thursday, July 24, 2014

EDITORIAL

Texas lawmakers can

address the income
gap that divides us by
funding education.
Page B13

Section B xx

Evidence mounts that wrong man could be retried in cop killing

LISA FALKENBERG
Commentary

decides whether to retry Alfred

Dewayne Brown for the slaying
of a Houston police officer.
Shes got a dead cop on her
hands, Charles R. Clark, a 20year veteran, beloved husband
and brother, who was gunned
down as he tried to stop a threeman robbery of an ACE checkcashing place in April 2003.
Somebody must pay.
Im sure Anderson would
prefer that a guilty person pay.
But in the absence of another
suspect, the district attorney

COMMENTARY

may feel pressure from the

public, from law enforcement,
from the victims family, from
political advisers to go after
Brown a second time, even
though the states case against
him has unraveled to mere
shreds.
Last month, an appellate
court threw out Browns conviction and death sentence because
the DAs office withheld key
evidence at trial that supports
Browns contention that he was
home the morning of the rob-

bery. No physical evidence ever

tied Brown to the crime. Nearly
every witness who ngered him
has recanted.
But what if there were
another suspect, a legitimate
suspect that mounting evidence
suggested could have committed the crime instead of Brown?
Wouldnt we expect the district
attorney to take a hard look
before pursuing another weak
case against Brown?
Of course. And records show
there is such a suspect. His

name is Jero Dorty. And the district attorneys office has been
aware of his potential role in
Clarks death for at least seven
years.
In 2007, Browns writ attorneys with the rm K&L Gates
named Dorty as a critical suspect and spent nearly 10 pages
of an appeal laying out the
reasons why. In 2008, Browns
attorneys led an emergency
motion to test Dortys DNA. But
prosecutors dragged their feet.

Key witness recants testimony

in death case
Lets face it. Potential innocence isnt the only thing Harris
County District Attorney Devon
Anderson is considering as she

Falkenberg continues on B10

Family
ties raise
Anthony Graves might have been the only person in the world who could get Ericka Dockery to open
the door to her Houston home - the door to a painful past she no doubt wanted red
to put flags
behind her.
For years, Dockery had eluded appellate attorneys for death row inmate Alfred Dewayne Brown
who wanted to question her about why she went from bolstering her ex-boyfriends
alibi to testifying
on no-bid
against him at his 2005 cop-killing trial.
contracts
When the legal team did find her, she wouldnt talk. So, an investigator reached
out to Graves, who
KATY

By Lisa Falkenberg

had only one year earlier been freed after 18 years behind bars following a wrongful
1994
conviction for
Political
watchdogs,
lawmakers
note
links
the murder of a Somerville grandmother, her daughter and four children.
in 21CT controversy
Graves agreed to help when he learned that the capital murder case bore a similarity
to his own:
By Brian M. Rosenthal
Graves strongest alibi witnesses, Yolanda Mathis, a friend with whom hed stayed
up talking the night
AUSTIN When then-Texas
health officialby
Jackauthorities
Stick sugof the murders, refused to testify after being threatened with a capital murder charge
as
gested earlier this year that a
company he had helped land $20
well.
million in no-bid state contracts
get another one through a
In an interview in May, Graves said he shared his story with Dockery one daymight
indepartment,
August
2011
sister
he was
refer- after
ring the rm to a familiar face:
the then-36-year-old mother of three let him and an investigator into her living Frianita
room.
Wilson, wife of Doug
Wilson, who as Sticks boss was
The next
I know,
sheWorthy,
was9, telling
us everything,
Graves
said. near
overseeing the rst project.
Fromthing
right, Tremel
Cooper, 11, Bryan
Katelyn Washington,
16, and Byron Worthy,
9, play street basketball
Of course, Stick then the
homes on the corner of Roberts and Danover in Katy. Some residents call the area around Roberts Road the ghetto.
He saidtheir
Dockery
recounted how shed been threatened into testifying against top
Brown,
how
shed been
lawyer at the
state health
might qualify for Houston
commission could also have
As suburban
market
skyrockets,
jailed away from her three children
on perjury
charges
after being
accused
tohelp
a togrand
jury,
Habitat for
Humanitys rstof lying
turned for
his own wife,
low-cost options struggle to survive home in the Katy area. But
Erica Stick, who served as chief
how upon her release she was forced to wear an ankle monitor.rising land prices have put of staff at the mega-agency, which
By Leah Binkovitz
runs all health and human serplanned communities. The that project on hold.
soon-to-come,
2,000-home
As up
the Katy
areaex-boyfriends
grows
vices and has a $33
billion annual
In previous columns, I reported
how
Dockery
initially
backed
her
claim
that
budget.
Families moving to Cane Island touts a trained and prospers, affordable
And
that
wasnt
his
only
the
ourishing
Katy
area
golden
Retriever
that
will
housing
seems
increasinghed been at her apartment around
the time Brown was accused of murdering Houston
PolicefamOfficer
can scan real estate list- pose for photographs and ly out of reach, sometimes
ily connection at a state agenings, walkrobbery
through model of
offer
its business card to by design
and sometimes
cy. His brother,
Jeremy Stick,
Charles R. Clark during a three-man
a
check-cashing
place.
She
testified
he
made
a
land line
homes or visit open hous- potential buyers.
as a reection of a broader
worked at the same department
es.
Theyll
see
a
$1.2
million
Meanwhile,
in
a
small
problem
in
many
commuas
Frianita
Wilson.
call from the apartment to Dockery
at her workplace, which should have bolstered
his alibi.
ve-bedroom on Brighton strip mall storefront in nities ringing the Houston
The web of family ties at the
Sky Lane, a four-bedroom downtown Katy, families area. Katys city governTexas Health and Human SerBut a phone record documenting
that
land
line
call
was
never
revealed
at
trial,
even
though Harris
on Crystal Meadow Place attend a different kind of ment lacks any sort of housvices Commission is raising new
listed for $363,000, or open house, reviewing ing program, the countys
questions in a growing contract
County lead prosecutor Dan Rizzo
obtained
it. It only
later in
a the
homicide
to see if surfaced
they
modelhad
homes from
master- documents
Housingseven
continues onyears
B5
controversy
roiling
Capitol.
continues on B2
detectives garage. The discovery led the Harris County District Attorneys Office andState
Judge
Mark Kent
MONTGOMERY
COUNTY
Ellis to quickly
agree
toJUDGE
a new trial, but the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has yet to rule more than
Rockets
host
a year later,
leaving
Brown
marking
on death
row.party for Goodfellows children
Sadler
leaves
legacy
of time
When
I asked
heramid
was Alfred
Brown innocent, Graves recalled,
sheIracheta
told metoabout
the espephone
By Michelle
stop her children,
fiscal
care
growth
cially Memo, from enjoying
Cindy Horswell
Memo Archundia had the game.
gomerydo
Countys
governcall. SheBytold
me he didnt
anything.
ment. The county native
never been to a basketball
I have condence in
myself that
I can play
any
Montgomery
concluded at
the end ofthan
the
game
Saturday, buttrial,
That was
quite County
a different
story
the last one Dockery had told
atbefore
Browns
when
she
Judge Alan Sadler, who is two-year study that with
the 8-year-old said he has sport, said her son. Mayalways
been interested incame
be basketball
for the
Rockafter nearly
his nance degree
from
the
testifiedstepping
thatdown
Brown
confessed
to
being
at the murder scene. Her trial
testimony
only
after
ets.
a quarter of a century in University of Texas and 18
sports.
office,
never
dreamed
of
a
years
work
experience,
he
His
podiatrist
On
Saturday
Dockerycareer
went
before acould
grand
jury that threatened to take her children
and lock her up
if she didnt
run a tighter ship by
always said hed
night, they were in
in politics.
a private suite at
When
Sadler married doing the job himself.
make a great basketchange her
story.
Toyota Center that
his wife, Mimi, 34 years
So naively, I jumped
ball player because
Marie D. De Jess / Houston Chronicle

Boom puts
homes for
working
class out
of reach

ago, he was working in

in and ran, and damn if I

hes so tall, said his

was joyfully cha-

otic. Children were

and real estate didnt win, recalled Sadler
mother, Sonia ArcFeelingbanking
threatened
and
she would tell her of his rst campaign in
hundia. We hope that he ripping open their packfriends, Well, at least hes 1990. He trounced the ingets excited about it today. ages like it was Christmas
Graves
Dockerys
experience
who
afford
attorneys,
not said
a politician.
cumbent,
Al Stahl, garner- happens all too often among witnesses
The 45-year-old
sufferscant
morning,
tossing wrapfrom chronic pneumonia ping paper, ribbons and
But Sadler, now 66, got ing over 60 percent of the
have little
experience
with
the
criminal
justice
system
and
are
easily
intimidated
by
authorities
the itch to run for county vote. By the time he retires
and has to stay tethered to bows aside to reveal stuffedwho
an electric oxygen pump in animals, Hello Kitty dolls
judge after being appoint- at the end of the month,
wield great
power.
ed to a committee
to study Sadler will have six terms Noah Edwards gets a pat on the head from Santa
order to breathe. She said and Nerf guns.
the efficiency of MontSadler continues on B2 Clutch during Saturdays event at Toyota Center.
she didnt want her illness Goodfellows continues on B3
He said his Graves Foundation is looking at ways to help raise money to provide key witnesses with
legal representation in certain cases.
Houstons First Baptist Chur
The Loop They
Campus
I just think
its so important, Gravesrch
said. Thats a major breakdown.
dont have to go and
at
4p
&
6p
threaten the suspect anymore. They go to the witnesses.
Cypress
Campus
Graves visit apparently made an impression on Dockery. She later
agreed
to meet with Browns
at
historic
Tin
Hall
appellate attorneys and to give a sworn statement recanting much of her key trial
testimony.
at 4p & 6p
In the November 2011 statement, Dockery says Brown never told her to lie to the grand jury and he
CANDLELIGHT
Sienna Campus
never confessed he was at the
crime scene. SERVICES
at 4p & 6p
Wed, Dec in
24 the offense, Dockery stated.
Dewayne always denied his involvement
Dockery said she specifically remembers Browns call to her workplace around the time of the
Dave Rossman

Christmas Eve

HoustonsFirst.org/Christmas

Created on Adobe Document Server 2.0

murder, and that the caller ID showed it was coming from her home.
Then Dockery levels serious accusations against Rizzo, the former
assistant district attorney, accusing him of intimidating her off-therecord in a room alone during the grand jury session.
Rizzo told me that he did not believe me, that I was not a good person,
that he was going to take my children away by calling Child Protective
Services and that I was going to go to jail for a long time, she says.
I felt very threatened by ADA Rizzo throughout this whole case.

Open
doors
Dead man waiting: Catch
up on the previous stories in
this series at
HoustonChronicle.com/
deadmanwaiting

Dockerys claims
She said Rizzo threatened her by saying that he was going to make her
a co-defendant in the murder case, and I would never see my children
again. At that moment, I was very scared and threatened by Mr. Rizzo.
These threats are why I gave the testimony I did.
Rizzo, who is now retired, adamantly denies Dockerys claims, saying
he was firm and zealous only within the bounds of the law.

Rizzo told me that

he did not believe
me, that I was not
a good person, that
he was going to take
my children away
by calling Child
Protective Services
and that I was going
to go to jail for a
long time, she says.
I felt very
threatened by ADA
Rizzo throughout
this whole case.

Recantation
I dont know why she recanted, said Rizzo, who still believes Brown
is guilty.
The things she said about me were not true. They were the farthest
thing from the truth. I was offended by those things.
I asked Rizzo about others who have since recanted testimony fingering
Brown, including an alleged accomplice who also was convicted of
capital murder and two women who said they felt pressured into their
statements. One of them basically accused Rizzo of putting words in her
mouth.
Ericka Dockery, witness
Recanting happens, he said. It happens for a lot of reasons.
Lynn Hardaway, chief of the DAs post-conviction writs division, who
also believes Brown is guilty, speculated that Dockery may be acting
on residual feelings for Brown and said that sometimes in death cases, witnesses recant to help the
inmate avoid execution.
She has told several different stories, Hardaway said of Dockery, but what I ultimately believe is
what she testified at trial.
Dockery hasnt responded to my attempts to reach her. But I have to wonder why a hard-working
mother with no criminal record beyond traffic tickets who seems to have wanted desperately to move
on with her life would now vouch for a convicted cop-killer if she didnt really believe he was innocent.
Randall Ayers, the appointed attorney who defended Dockery in the perjury cases, was similarly
perplexed when attorneys notified him of Dockerys recantation.
Moving on
I was like Really? Ayers said. I told the defense attorney and the prosecutor both Wow, Im
really surprised because, you know, when it was all said and done, she had a new guy in her life ...
and she was moving away somewhere, and I thought, well, good for her, shes moving on.
But maybe, just maybe, theres no moving on from the truth.
Maybe it has a way of finding you.

Coming next: Part IV of Ericka Dockerys story

lisa.falkenberg@chron.com