Only in Texas
October 12, 2007
Mistrial for Ex - TSU President
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 5:06 p.m. ET
HOUSTON (AP) -- A judge declared a mistrial Friday in the case of former Texas Southern University president Priscilla Slade after a jury said it couldn't decide if she misspent school funds to lavishly decorate her homes.
The jury deliberated for four days. Jurors told the judge three times in that span that they were hopelessly deadlocked and unable to reach a verdict in the trial of Priscilla Slade.
Jurors had first indicated they were deadlocked on Wednesday by an 8-4 vote. On Thursday, it had narrowed to 7-5, and by Friday, it was 6-6.
Slade, who spent more than six years as president of the state's largest historically black university, was facing a charge of misapplication of fiduciary property with a value over $200,000. If she had been convicted, she faced a possible prison sentence of life.
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At least it wasn't a capital crime.
Only in Texas can you be sent to prison for life for misappropriating (stealing?) a couple hundred thousand bucks. And only then if you are black. Maybe Ms. Slade should move to California to begin a new life.
In California you can get life for lifting a $4 pack of cigarettes, if it's your third strike.
All are equal in the eyes of the law, but some are more equal than others. They don't say if the state is going to re-try the case.
* For more in-depth articles by Jim on Civil Rights, check out Opinion-Columns.com