Video shows events that led to county prosecutor’s firing

A short video obtained Monday by the Houston Chronicle shows the booking center dispute that late last week led to a Harris County prosecutor’s termination.

There is no audio on the grainy clip so it doesn’t shed any further light on the verbal exchange that landed ex-prosecutor John Denholm in hot water. However, it does offer more clarity about the alleged crime leading up to it, when one man pulled out his penis and began touching himself before grabbing the man next to him.

After a Houston police officer spotted the disturbance and heard shouting, he intervened and asked Denholm to file a felony attempted sexual assault charge. Denholm allegedly refused, but only after questioning whether the Latino victim was “illegal.”

Eight days later, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced her decision to fire Denholm, a former sheriff’s lieutenant-turned-attorney. The move came amid public criticism from politicians, law enforcement unions and the League of United Latin American Citizens, who pushed to have Denholm out of his job. His former position — as the head of the intake division, which screens new cases and decides whether to press charges — has since been listed on the job search website Indeed.

The lawyer representing the accused would-be assailant — who was later charged in the case by a different prosecutor — framed the case as an example of prosecutorial overreach in response to media coverage of the case.

“These charges should never have been accepted as a felony, regardless of how inappropriate the prosecutor’s question was,” said defense attorney Lisa Andrews. “Had he never asked it and stuck to the facts, this would have been accepted as a misdemeanor.”

Houston Police Officers’ Union president Joe Gamaldi said the video did not offer any information that would change his mind about the decision to pursue felony charges.

“We stand by our statement,” he said, pointing out that the initial information came from the victim’s recounting of the incident. “It’s clear that this suspect was attempting to sexually assault this victim.”

The video from inside the Joint Processing Center shows four men who have just been arrested sitting in waiting room chairs ready to be booked on the evening of Oct. 31. When one of the men undoes his pants and pulls out his erect penis, the man behind him stands up and starts calling for help.

Then, the man exposing himself — whom authorities

later identified as 44-yearold Karl Bonner — grabs the Latino man next to him and pulls at his arm and neck, apparently attempting to draw him closer as he struggles to get away.

In the video, Bonner does not appear to pull the victim’s head “inches” from his penis as initially reported, although police union officials said that was how the victim described the alleged assault.

When the police officer who witnessed the incident called the district attorney’s office to ask about filing a third-degree felony attempted sexual assault charge, Denholm asked whether the victim was “illegal.” The officer said he hadn’t asked and didn’t think it was relevant, according to the union.

Denholm pressed the issue, according to the union, asking whether the victim had a driver’s license. When the officer said he’d found only a Mexican consulate ID card, Denholm allegedly said he wouldn’t touch the case and refused to press charges.

Afterward, the Houston Police Officers’ Union put out a statement decrying Denholm’s line of questioning and demanding his resignation, saying his actions would harm law enforcement’s relationship with the Latino community. State Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis, Police Chief Art Acevedo and LULAC all weighed in as well.