Re: Teen Drunk Driving Fatality Case has it all: sex, lies and cell phone records

On Sep 3, 5:27 pm, Slow Motion Apocalypse
<slowmotionapocaly...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/casey/7184394.html?u...

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Case has it all: sex, lies and cell phone records
By RICK CASEY
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Sept. 2, 2010, 9:25PM

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BASTROP — It has been nearly a year and a half since 17-year-old
Audrey King died in a high-speed car wreck after getting drunk with
her friends at the Bastrop home of former Texas Supreme Court Chief
Justice Tom Phillips.

Since that time:

The girl who was driving the car in which Audrey died was not given an
alcohol test.

Phillips and his wife, Lyn, who according to witnesses angrily told
their son shortly after midnight his friends had to leave, have not
been questioned by authorities.

No action has been taken either against two teenage boys who allegedly
bought beer for the party or the two stores that allegedly sold them
beer, or against anyone else involved in the tragedy.

Except for some entries on an Internet bulletin board, the entire
incident was kept out of the public eye until this week.

Was it a conspiracy by powerful people to save a prominent lawyer -
Phillips is now with the Austin office of the powerhouse law firm of
Baker Botts - and his family from embarrassment or worse?

Actually, the conspiracy started with the kids.

"They got together to lie about what had happened," said Texas
Alcoholic Beverage Commission Capt. Robert Saenz of Austin, whose unit
is in charge of the investigation.

For one thing, the teenagers allegedly did not include in their
accounts that night that they had been at the Phillipses' house doing
"beer bongs," devices through which an entire beer or more is consumed
rapidly.

Another part of the lie was that Audrey, who died of massive head
injuries before help arrived, was driving the car, which belonged to
her mother.

That is why her best friend, who had taken the wheel and was
reportedly hysterical when friends who were following arrived at the
accident scene, wasn't tested for alcohol.

State Trooper Raymond Bradshaw, who arrived on the scene and continued
the investigation, wrote in his report: "From the time of the crash
the witnesses have conspired to give false statements and unknown
persons destroyed the scene. In my opinion this was done to cover the
truth and mislead law enforcement officers conducting the
investigation."

A couple of lessons
One lesson for the kids should be not to drink and drive. Another is
that they who live by the cell phone get caught by the cell phone.

TABC's Saenz said subpoenas of their cell records turned up text
messages discussing the stories they would tell, and that
triangulation put two of the boys at the stores where they bought beer
for the party. At least one has signed a statement admitting the
purchase.

Cheryl King, Audrey's mother, said she early on asked District
Attorney Bryan Goertz, a Bastrop High classmate of hers, why no one
was being prosecuted.

"He said there wouldn't be criminal charges because we messed up the
case," she said. "He asked me, Mrs. King, would it bring you peace if
someone goes to jail over this?"

She said since then he hasn't returned her calls, nor did he return
mine.

TABC's next obstacle was the fact that about a month after the crash
their officer investigating it, Joe Chavez Jr., 40, was arrested and
charged with sexually assaulting a 16-year-old Bastrop girl who was
working with him on stings of convenience stores.

Saenz said it took a while to gear the investigation back up, but that
the TABC will file for sanctions against the two stores soon
(something he told interested parties last March), and that
information regarding the two boys will be turned over to the Bastrop
county attorney for possible prosecution.

'Plausible deniability'
He said his agent tried to contact Mr. and Mrs. Phillips early on, but
dropped efforts after learning that the boys had bought the beer.

"They had plausible deniability" that they knew drinking was going on,
he said. Their attorney, Richard Mithoff, said they did not know of
the drinking taking place in their son's apartment in a carriage house
behind their home.

Saenz also said he took statements by the teens that Mrs. Phillips
angrily ordered everyone to go home shortly after midnight as evidence
that she wasn't providing or allowing the alcohol.

But a lawsuit filed against the Phillipses and the two convenience
stores on behalf of Audrey King's parents this week argues that Mrs.
Phillips did know of the drinking, that witnesses said she yelled that
she was sick of her son's parties, and that she would have seen beer
cans and bottles strewn around and in guests' hands.

Instead of showing her lack of knowledge of the drinking, the suit
argues, Mrs. Phillips' order that the teenagers leave led to Audrey
King's death.

An attempt to quietly mediate the suit failed. Unless it is settled, a
jury will decide. If it awards the Kings a substantial amount of
money, the case is likely to go to the state Supreme Court, where
three of Tom Phillips' former colleagues still sit.


Um...

Where's the sex, please?

Thanks
.

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