Conroe Courier - News
State briefs
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| U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, comments to the media at her home in Dallas during a press conference earlier this year. Hutchison said in a news release on Thursday that she is setting up a gubernatorial exploratory committee and transferring $1 million into it from her federal account. |
HOUSTON – Two felony charges were filed Thursday against teacher Brandon Jennings, who is accused of growing marijuana plants at his home, District Attorney Kenneth Magidson announced.
Jennings, 30, told investigators he is an assistant football coach and teacher with Channelview Independent School District.
Harris County Sheriff’s deputies said they were searching Wednesday for a robbery suspect in Jennings’ neighborhood, when they noticed potted marijuana plants near his house on Fragrant Pine Lane. They said Jennings allowed them to enter the residence, where more plants were found.
Assistant District Attorney Kristin Guiney reported that Jennings is free on $2,000 bond on his State Jail Felony charge of possession of more than four ounces of marijuana. A conviction on that charge could carry punishment of up to two years in jail and $10,000 fine.
Jennings also posted a $5,000 bond on the third-degree felony charge of evidence tampering, for allegedly trying to flush some of the marijuana down a toilet. Defendants convicted on that charge face a penalty of up to $10,000 fine and 10 years in prison.
The case has been assigned to the 263rd State District Court.
STEPHENVILLE– A man whose wife was fatally bludgeoned by their teenage son is suing the county, claiming employees contributed to her death by not following judicial policy after the boy previously assaulted her.
Jimmy Roberson is seeking $7.5 million in damages, including physical and mental pain and suffering and lost earnings, in his suit filed in federal court in Fort Worth.
Last year as part of a plea agreement, Cody Roberson pleaded guilty to killing his mother with an aluminum baseball bat and was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
He was 17 when he killed Jana Roberson at their Stephenville home in January 2007, a month after he assaulted her during a separate incident and was later placed on pretrial release.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison took the first formal step Thursday toward a run for Texas governor, accelerating an already contentious prelude to what will probably be a bruising Republican primary battle in 2010 between her and Gov. Rick Perry.
Hutchison released a statement saying she was establishing a gubernatorial exploratory committee, as required by law, and transferring $1 million into it from her federal account.
“Texas has not really had a scrubbing of our state government, really in years and years and years,” Hutchison told Dallas television station KXAS on Thursday. “I think we need to prioritize spending. Right now the priorities should be education and transportation and access to health care.”
HOUSTON – Two men were expected to survive after having been shot Thursday in a drug-related shootout at an apartment complex across the street from a mall, police said.
The shooting was initially reported as an attempted carjacking in the mall’s parking lot. But investigators later determined the two unidentified men were injured during a gun battle involving up to five people inside an apartment at a complex across the street from Sharpstown Mall in southwest Houston, said Houston Police Capt. Bruce Williams.
Investigators were looking for at least two unknown suspects, he said.
Jennings, 30, told investigators he is an assistant football coach and teacher with Channelview Independent School District.
Harris County Sheriff’s deputies said they were searching Wednesday for a robbery suspect in Jennings’ neighborhood, when they noticed potted marijuana plants near his house on Fragrant Pine Lane. They said Jennings allowed them to enter the residence, where more plants were found.
Assistant District Attorney Kristin Guiney reported that Jennings is free on $2,000 bond on his State Jail Felony charge of possession of more than four ounces of marijuana. A conviction on that charge could carry punishment of up to two years in jail and $10,000 fine.
Jennings also posted a $5,000 bond on the third-degree felony charge of evidence tampering, for allegedly trying to flush some of the marijuana down a toilet. Defendants convicted on that charge face a penalty of up to $10,000 fine and 10 years in prison.
The case has been assigned to the 263rd State District Court.
STEPHENVILLE– A man whose wife was fatally bludgeoned by their teenage son is suing the county, claiming employees contributed to her death by not following judicial policy after the boy previously assaulted her.
Jimmy Roberson is seeking $7.5 million in damages, including physical and mental pain and suffering and lost earnings, in his suit filed in federal court in Fort Worth.
Last year as part of a plea agreement, Cody Roberson pleaded guilty to killing his mother with an aluminum baseball bat and was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
He was 17 when he killed Jana Roberson at their Stephenville home in January 2007, a month after he assaulted her during a separate incident and was later placed on pretrial release.
WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison took the first formal step Thursday toward a run for Texas governor, accelerating an already contentious prelude to what will probably be a bruising Republican primary battle in 2010 between her and Gov. Rick Perry.
Hutchison released a statement saying she was establishing a gubernatorial exploratory committee, as required by law, and transferring $1 million into it from her federal account.
“Texas has not really had a scrubbing of our state government, really in years and years and years,” Hutchison told Dallas television station KXAS on Thursday. “I think we need to prioritize spending. Right now the priorities should be education and transportation and access to health care.”
HOUSTON – Two men were expected to survive after having been shot Thursday in a drug-related shootout at an apartment complex across the street from a mall, police said.
The shooting was initially reported as an attempted carjacking in the mall’s parking lot. But investigators later determined the two unidentified men were injured during a gun battle involving up to five people inside an apartment at a complex across the street from Sharpstown Mall in southwest Houston, said Houston Police Capt. Bruce Williams.
Investigators were looking for at least two unknown suspects, he said.
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