Harris County DA apologizes for emails

HOUSTON -- Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal apologized Friday for hurting his family, friends and co-workers when e-mails were released detailing his affectionate relationship with his secretary.

The documents, which surfaced as part of a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Harris County Sheriff's Office, were posted online by the federal clerk's office before a judge resealed them Thursday.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt said he had only intended to make public Rosenthal's request that the notes sent from his county e-mail address be kept confidential.

Earlier this week, Rosenthal called the disclosure "bare knuckle politics" engineered by Lloyd Kelley, an attorney in the case who is friends with Rosenthal's political opponent.

But on Friday, the district attorney issued a written statement saying the release has been "wake-up call to me to get my house in order, both literally and figuratively."

"I understand that I have said some things that have caused pain and difficulty for my family, my co-workers and friends," Rosenthal said in the statement. "I deeply regret having said those things."

None of the 51 e-mails between Rosenthal and Kerry Stevens are explicit, according to the Houston Chronicle, which obtained the documents before they were resealed. But they contain the phrase "I love you" more than a dozen times, and Rosenthal asks Stevens to let him hold her.

"The very next time I see you, I want to kiss you behind your right ear," Rosenthal wrote Stevens in an e-mail dated Aug. 10, 2007.

"I always want to see you," Rosenthal wrote in another e-mail. "You own my heart whether you want or not."

Rosenthal said earlier this week he is not having an affair with Stevens. He said he had an affair with her in the 1980s when he was married to his first wife, but said the relationship did not lead to his divorce.

Rosenthal said he told his current wife about the affair before hiring Stevens when he took office in 2000.

Stevens did not return a telephone message left at her office Friday, and The Associated Press could not find a home telephone number for her.

County rules don't ban employees from writing personal e-mails but say that type of communication should be kept to a minimum.

The notes came to light after Kelley asked for copies of all of the e-mails sent or received by Rosenthal, his first assistant and his general counsel between July and mid-October.

David Tang, another lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said the disclosure wasn't meant to be political.

"The public should have access to see what's being done by their public officials," Tang said.

Other e-mails that surfaced in the lawsuit involve top attorneys discussing in detail investigating law enforcement agencies, death penalty cases and grand jury procedures.

Some include frank passages that could be embarrassing, including one from a prosecutor who was frustrated with a judge and wanted to "take a posse of OUR lawyers up there with you and stress her stupid butt out."

Get more Local »

local, christine dobbyn

• Comment Now
• Email
• Print
• Report a typo
•