A Houston police officer has been accused of threatening and harassing a Harris County grand jury witness, and has been proven to serve on a minimum of at least 9 other grand juries. Unfortunately, there has been a history of Houston grand juries being infiltrated by police, probation officers, correction officers, and various people in law enforcement or other areas of the criminal justice system. This marks a distinct manipulation, and opens the door for harassment and threats--which is exactly what happened.
Ericka Dockery, the girlfriend of a man accused of shooting and killing a Houston police officer, had her role in the trial questioned as her once-verified alibi was now under fire. Not only was she aggressively questioned by Officer Koteras, who served on the grand jury, but she was threatened with the possibility of losing her children to CPS, as well as spending a significant time locked away in jail. She changed her story.
As a result, Dockery’s boyfriend was convicted and sentenced to death. Several years later, she retracted her story, and it was later proven to be the truth--the proof had simply been sitting in the care of a Houston law enforcement officer.
Strangely enough, Koteras has served on the grand jury several times--while continuing to be paid his full salary. This overlap is certainly not a coincidence. While putting a police officer on a grand jury and indicting nearly every single case may seem strange in other parts of the county, it has quickly become the norm in Houston.
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