DMN INVESTIGATES

DMN reporter Kevin Krause had an astonishing story in Saturday's paper: Some Dallas Country criminal court judges have been handing out virtual pardons for years when releasing convicts from probation. And they are not explaining themselves.

A little-known provision in the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure lets judges turn back the hands of time. They may "set aside the verdict or permit the defendant to withdraw the defendant's plea," the code says, and they can "dismiss the accusation, complaint, information or indictment against the defendant, who shall thereafter be released from all penalties and disabilities resulting from the offense or crime of which the defendant has been convicted or to which the defendant has pleaded guilty."

Caveats: People convicted of certain violent or sexual crimes are not eligible. Also, judges and licensing agencies who later deal with pardoned probationers may consider their criminal histories.

Here's the fallout, as reported by Kevin: Former Constable Aurelio Castillo was convicted in 2000 of receiving an illegal campaign donation but now is free to run for county clerk, thanks to Judge Ernest White (above right).

And David Chang, a former Dallas police officer who was convicted in 1996 of stealing from motorists during traffic stops, was free to run for Balch Springs mayor in 2008 (he lost). His pardon came from Judge John Creuzot (lower right).

Gov. Rick Perry has had some bad luck recently when appointing prominent Dallasites to state posts. Two of them soon got themselves arrested on charges of misconduct around young people.

The latest mess involves businessman Lee William "Bill" McNutt III (right), whom Perry named Texas Commission on the Arts chair in December. McNutt has since been arrested for trespassing at Southern Methodist University, reports Lori Stahl of The Dallas Morning News.

SMU says it warned him to stay away in 2008 after getting "multiple student complaints against Mr. McNutt alleging behavior that violates University policy, such as offering alcohol to minors."

McNutt, 54, graduated from SMU and was founding president of its Young Alumni Association, a governor's press release said. He worked in the administrations of Ronald Reagan and the first President George Bush, according to the arts commission.

McNutt has resigned from the commission, The Daily Mustang is now reporting.

He's also a deacon at Highland Park Presbyterian Church.

The previous Perry-appointee mess involved Catherine Evans, a former Dallas County state district judge.

Perry named her Texas Youth Commission ombudsman in September. Several weeks later, she was charged with trying to smuggle a knife, a cellphone and prescription drugs into an East Texas TYC facility.

Please let me know if you get more information about what's going with either of these matters.

A recent brush with catastrophe at DISD's Samuell High School didn't teach several principals elsewhere in town any lessons.

After Samuell students fleeing a blaze found an exit chained shut, local fire officials performed surprise inspections on 31 public high schools. Eight were caught locking fire exits, reports The Dallas Morning News' Diane Rado.

Michael Hinojosa, superintendent of the Dallas Independent School District, said he was "livid" about the findings and ordered principals to obey the fire code. But what are officials going to do about the crime concerns that led principals to lock doors in the first place?

The eight high schools cited for violations were:

* A. Maceo Smith
* Carter
* Kimball
* Molina
* Pinkston
* Roosevelt
* Skyline
* South Oak Cliff

Please let me know if you get more information about what's going.

One of Texas' top tourist attractions opens for the season Saturday. But will SeaWorld San Antonio's best known show go on?

Company officials aren't saying what the future holds after a killer whale lived up to its name yesterday at SeaWorld Orlando. Horrified tourists watched as trainer Dawn Brancheau (right) perished, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

Tilikum, the orca that killed her, had been involved in the deaths of two other people -- a trainer in 1991 and a visitor who sneaked past security in 1999.

SeaWorld isn't saying much today on its Web site -- just this: "SeaWorld Orlando and SeaWorld San Diego will be open Thursday, February 25 as scheduled (SeaWorld San Antonio is not yet open for the season) but Believe shows and Dine with Shamu experiences at all SeaWorld locations have been suspended; no decision has been made for future dates at this time."

Do you have a tip about amusement park safety? Send me an e-mail or join the conversation by commenting below.

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Rarely have I talked with someone who speaks so unflinchingly as retired Army Capt. Shannon Meehan (right).

First he wrote the book Beyond Duty, explaining how he accidentally killed a family in Iraq and how depression nearly killed him afterward.

Then, shortly after the Fort Hood massacre, he told me that shooter Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan had been seeking to have psychiatric patients on the base prosecuted for war crimes.

That wasn't a popular thing to say at the time, given that a Hood higher-up had recently called Hasan a "hardworking, dedicated young man who gave great care to his patients." Speaking up also meant Meehan had to reveal that he had been a psych patient at the Central Texas post.

His latest soul-baring appears this week in The New York Times, where he also issues a challenge to us civilians:

"In recent months I've been trying to honor the lives I took by writing and speaking in public about my experience, to show that those deaths are not tucked neatly away in a foreign land," Meehan writes. "They may seem distant, but they are not. Soldiers bring the ghosts home with them, and it's everyone else's job to hear about them, no matter how painful it may be."

Mesquite police and ISD officials stonewalled when The Dallas Morning News asked what they found on longtime school board member Randy Dobbs' district-issued laptop.

Whatever it was made Dobbs (right) resign, even though officials said he'd committed no crime. So reporter Karel Holloway did what good reporters do: She filed an open-records request. And now, at last, the tawdry truth is out, thanks to a ruling from the Texas attorney general:

Dobbs' laptop contained "hundreds of pornographic images and videos of clearly adult male subject," Karel reports today, citing a police report. "Dobbs was a participant in many of the images."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations is a high-profile national organization that speaks out frequently when it believes Muslims are being mistreated.

Recently, for example, it denounced the introduction of full-body scanners in airports as a violation of Islamic rules about modesty. Its Web site carries many press releases on a variety of civil rights issues.

But CAIR has been quiet about the recent deportation order against Richardson resident Nabil Sadoun (left), a longtime member of the group's national and DFW chapter boards.

When I asked national CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper for an interview, he responded with this e-mail: "Peace. Perhaps speak to his attorney. She is the best source of information on the case." Hooper did not respond when I followed up with written questions about CAIR's view of the deportation case and its relationship with Sadoun.

Sadoun's attorney, Kimberly Kinser of Richardson, didn't respond to my phone call and e-mail.

Last week's fire at Dallas' Samuell High School exposed the "fairly common" practice of chaining school exit doors, The DMN's Diane Rado reports today. Her main source: the State Fire Marshal's Office.

Principals, it seems, are creating firetraps in the name of preventing crime.

A chained door at Samuell temporarily trapped people who were trying to evacuate Thursday, though no one was hurt. The DISD Blog gave one teacher's scary account of the mess.

A Samuell official says the door was chained because locking it from the outside didn't provide sufficient security. Students inside would open the door, sometimes allowing weapons into the school.

Do you have a tip about fire safety? School security? Send me an e-mail or join the conversation by commenting below.

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East Texas church arson suspect Jason Robert Bourque (right) calls himself "Mr. Brightside" on his MySpace page, lists his religion as "Christian -- other" and prominently displays this quote from the 19th century anti-Christian philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche:

"Never give way to remorse, but immediately say to yourself: that would merely mean adding a second stupidity to the first. -- If you have done harm, see how you can do good. -- If you are punished for your actions, bear the punishment with the feeling that you ARE doing good -- by deterring others from falling prey to the same folly. Every evildoer who is punished may feel that he is a benefactor of humanity."

On his Facebook page, Bourque says he's a fan of bonfires. A couple of clicks takes you to hundreds of photos of blazes.

Bourque was arrested Sunday with Daniel George McAllister (lower right). The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives blames the two for a string of 10 recent church fires in East Texas.

The two men used to attend a Baptist church in the East Texas town of Ben Wheeler that was not torched, says Dallas Morning News reporter Richard Abshire.

The New York Times has a fascinating background piece today on the tax law that software engineer Andrew Joseph Stack III (right) blasted in his suicide note.

The 1986 legislation started as a favor to IBM and "made it extremely difficult for information technology professionals to work as self-employed individuals, forcing most to become company employees," The Times reported. "Many software engineers and other such professionals say that the law denies them the opportunity to become wealthy entrepreneurs and that it makes it harder to increase and refine their skills, eventually diminishing their income."

Joe Stack, in the note he posted online before flying a plane into IRS offices in Austin yesterday, said those who wrote the law "could only have been more blunt if they would have came out and directly declared me a criminal and non-citizen slave."

Not a rant -- a tip.

Send me an e-mail or join the conversation by commenting below.

What we have so far: A small plane crashed this morning into the Echelon office complex in northwest Austin. Austin TV station KVUE says the building that was hit is at 9430 Research Blvd.

The IRS has offices there, according to the Austin American-Statesman.

And the FBI has a field office elsewhere in the complex, at 9420 Research Blvd.

CNN, citing an unnamed official, says: "The pilot of the plane had set his house on fire beforehand, stole the plane and crashed it intentionally."

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A little over a week ago, I was blogging about safety issues at Dallas-based Southwest Airlines.

Now my investigative reporting colleague in Washington, Dave Michaels, is breaking a story about similar problems at Fort Worth-based American.

"Federal regulators have failed to correct mounting and long-standing maintenance deficiencies at American Airlines despite receiving detailed complaints about the carrier's problems," Dave writes, citing a report due to be released today by the U.S. Department of Transportation's inspector general.

The Federal Aviation Administration responded by saying it has been working with American to "elevate its maintenance practices" and was strengthening its oversight of other carriers.

FAA officials proposed a $2.9 million fine Wednesday against American Eagle for flying inadequately repaired planes, The Dallas Morning News' Eric Torbenson reported.

AA and Southwest say they're proud of their safety records.

Some readers noted that I mentioned an average monthly temperature for the Dallas area in a previous column and wondered where to get that information.

The easiest place to go is the National Weather Service.

To find the average for each month, the information is located in the notes. To do a month-to-month comparison, you'll have to pull the information out yourself, though.

To look into things on a daily basis, I go to the University of Dayton's website where they keep average daily temperatures for the Dallas area. They also use the official weather service numbers and it's really easy to read.

Texas nursing-home investigators usually miss deadlines for responding to complaints with a "high potential of harm," the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.

Chris Traylor, the new commissioner of the Department of Aging and Disability Services, vows to improve response times soon.

The agency says it "expects to complete 1,550 nursing home investigations during a two-week, statewide blitz later this month" and will start hiring 35 new investigators next month.

Do you have a tip about a nursing home? Regulators? Send me an e-mail or join the conversation by commenting below.

If you're on Twitter, follow our blog at DMNInvestigates. You can also check us out on Facebook.

Now that my power's back on and the igloo in the front yard is melting, I'm catching up on some news from late last week. One item near the top of the pile: Federal authorities released sketches of three men they want to identify and question about the East Texas church fires.

Click on the link and see if you recognize them. Use the magnifying glass icon to blow up the images and check out the tattoos -- one (at right) appears to be an upside-down cross, and the other looks like flames.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case. Around-the-clock tip lines include: 1 (888) ATF-FIRE (888-283-3473); (903) 675-0061 and (903) 675-0062.

Also, you can send me an e-mail or join the conversation by commenting below.

If you're on Twitter, follow our blog at DMNInvestigates. You can also check us out on Facebook.

WIth the heavy snow it's likely there is going to be a long line of people waiting for their various utilities to be up and running.

Remember that if you have someone disabled, newborn, elderly or ill in your home to tell that to the customer service people who answer your call.

I wrote about a woman who needed help getting AT&T to fix her services in last Sunday's column.

That column points out two things everyone should do when calling in a repair problem: Ask if there could be a reduction in the wait time and a credit for the days service was down.

Dallas lawyer Ralph Janvey is the court-appointed receiver assigned to recover money that disgraced Texas banker Allen Stanford (at right) allegedly obtained by defrauding investors. Among those Janvey is seeking funds from are the many politicians who benefited from Stanford's generosity -- members of Congress and fundraising committees for both major political parties.

Janvey started asking them to pay up a year ago. Many have not done so, reports Dave Michaels of the The Dallas Morning News' Washington bureau.

Click here for Janvey's list of who has paid and who owes what.

College presidents quit in mid-semester all the time, right? Two weeks' notice is standard, right?

So there's no need for the University of North Texas and its president, Gretchen Bataille (pictured here), to explain why she is suddenly resigning, right?

The taxpayer-funded school's Wednesday press release and Bataille's "message to the UNT community" total 755 words and explain nothing.

The stonewalling continues today at the UNT Board of Regents meeting, as the Denton Record-Chronicle is now reporting: "When approached at the meeting for comment as to why she is resigning mid-year, with only a few weeks' notice, Bataille only shook her head, making it clear she did not want to discuss her reasons for leaving."

Can somebody please shed some light on this situation?

You can send me an e-mail or join the conversation by commenting below.

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Some blame Muslims for the East Texas church fires. Some blame Palin-hating liberals. Some blame the devil.

The online speculation was enough to make me call Tom Crowley, spokesman for the Dallas office of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Here's a quick summary of what we talked about:

Q: Does any evidence point to Muslims, liberals or Satan?
A: No.

Q: Any sense of what's motivating the arsonist(s)?
A: "We just don't know ... I wouldn't rule anything out."

Q: What do you see as the possible motives?
A: "It doesn't have to be a hate crime." Thrill-seeking vandals might be responsible. The fires might be set to cover up other crime.

Q: What sort of other crime?
A: Non-religious items have been stolen from some of the churches.

Q: Where on church property were the fires set?
A: Various indoor locations; most cases involved forced entry.

Q: What types of churches have been targeted?
A: A wide variety of Protestant ones, including Baptist, United Methodist, Christian Scientist (pictured above, from a Jan. 17 fire in Tyler) and nondenominational. Most, but not all, have predominantly white congregations.

Q: What accelerants, if any, have been used?
A: No comment.

Q: Any advice for churches and their neighbors?
A: "Be aware of any activity around the church." Keep the place well lit. Keep vegetation trimmed.

Two more East Texas churches burned down Monday night.

Authorities aren't saying yet whether the fires are part of the string of several arsons plaguing Tyler and surrounding areas. But don't be surprised if they're connected -- these last two blazes broke out within 45 minutes of each other, just a few miles apart.

The first was reported about 8:45 p.m. at Dover Baptist Church (right). The second was reported about 9:20 p.m. at Clear Spring Missionary Baptist Church.

Last week, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it was activating a national response team after Russell Memorial United Methodist Church in Wills Point was torched.

Tips? Send me an e-mail.