Ogg to leave Temple case
DA cites potential conflicts, seeks special prosecutor for murder probe
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg is asking for a special prosecutor to handle the murder case against former Alief coach David Temple, adding new scrutiny to a decadesold case that continues to stir controversy.
Ogg filed court papers Friday to withdraw from the case because of potential conflicts of interest with her office and sought appointment of a special prosecutor. The news left the family of Belinda Lucas Temple in grateful tears, holding out hope that Temple will once again stand trial in the 1999 killing of his wife.
“We recognize that we’re right back where we were in 1999,” victim’s advocate Andy Kahan said, standing next to Belinda’s brother, Brian Lucas, after a court hearing Friday. “But that’s the hand we’ve been dealt, and, considering the circumstances and alternatives, we’re ready to move forward.”
Lucas, who had urged Ogg to recuse herself, wiped his eyes and declined to comment.
Ogg had been weighing whether Temple, 48, should stand trial again in the killing following an appeals court decision that tossed out his conviction after he had served 10 years in prison on a life sentence.
The state’s highest court ruled that prosecutors improperly withheld evidence in the 2007 murder trial, including details about what the district attorney’s office said are “additional possible suspects.”
“We’re withdrawing from the case and urge the court to appoint someone with no dog in the fight,” said David Mitcham, head of the DA’s trial division. “The tentacles of this case are just so extensive that we don’t want to create even the appearance of any impropriety.”
‘Duty is … to do justice’
Ogg, who took office Jan. 1, said in court filings that two members of her office have possible conflicts. Former judge David Mendoza, who previously overruled Temple’s motion for a new trial, is now chief of Ogg’s Professional Integrity Bureau.
And Steve Clappart, Ogg’s chief investigator, chased down leads on alternative suspects while working as an investigator for a previous district attorney.
Clappart then stood with Temple’s lawyers as a private investigator in 2015 when they declared Temple was innocent.
Ogg reviewed the file for four months before deciding to seek a special prosecutor.
“Our duty is simply to do justice, not just to win,” Ogg said in a statement after the court hearing.
Temple’s defense attorney disagreed with the move, saying neither Mendoza nor Clappart were witnesses in the case.
“David is innocent, and we look forward to our day in court,” attorney Stanley Schneider said.
State District Judge Kelli Johnson will appoint a special prosecutor, who will decide whether to retry Temple or dismiss the case.
Kathryn Casey, who authored a true-crime book about the crime and two-week trial, had also implored Ogg to recuse herself.
“Kim Ogg did the right thing today,” she said in a statement. “I applaud her decision and look forward to having a good, fair and impartial prosecutor appointed.”
Belinda Temple was killed by a shotgun blast to the back of the head in the master bedroom closet of her Katy home on the afternoon of Jan. 11, 1999. She was eight-months pregnant with a daughter the couple had decided to name Erin.
She was a popular high school teacher, and suspicion immediately fell on Temple when investigators found out he was having an affair with a teacher at the high school where he was a football coach. Temple, a former Katy football star and Alief coach, later married his mistress and she testified in his defense at trial.
Misconduct in first trial
Defense attorney Dick DeGuerin worked to show that someone else, perhaps a high-school neighbor who knew Belinda and was at home that day, killed her during a botched burglary.
There was also suspicion about another neighbor, an older man, and witnesses recalled seeing an unfamiliar man driving a truck through the neighborhood around the time of the shooting.
But investigators focused on what they said was a “staged” break-in, with few valuables actually missing.
Around the time of the shooting, Temple was on surveillance footage shopping with the couple’s young son, but then-lead prosecutor Kelly Siegler was able to convince jurors Temple had enough time to stage the crime scene, kill his wife, go shopping and return to find the body.
Last year, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals concluded that Siegler committed misconduct in the handling of the case, in part by not providing defense attorneys access to information that could have helped Temple’s defense as required by law.
Siegler no longer works for the DA’s office and went on to star in a nationally televised show about cold cases. On Friday, she said a new trial would bring another conviction.
“Every single witness who testified in David Temple’s trial is still available. Every single piece of evidence is still admissible,” she said in an emailed statement. “Should David Temple or any member of his family choose not to testify, their prior trial testimony is still admissible. The defense will be exactly the same as was presented to the first jury. All of us who support Belinda and her family hope and pray that justice will prevail again.”
Kahan, the victims’ advocate, agreed.
“We’re confident that if this case goes back to a jury, the jury will come to the same conclusion that they did years ago,” he said. “David Temple is guilty of first degree murder, and he’ll go back to prison for the rest of his life.”