"D MAGAZINE" presents: The Last Temptation of Craig Watkins: Dallas County's first Black District Attorney (Part I)

The Last Temptation of Craig Watkins

The only black district attorney in Texas has won fame for breaking barriers and freeing innocent men. But can he overcome his enemies—and his own thin skin?

by Zac Crain
Published 2.23.2009

Craig Watkins’ office high atop the Frank Crowley Courts Building, there is a small table nestled against the front of his desk, flanked on either side by a black leather chair. On the table there are three books: A Call to Conscience: The Landmark Speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; The Pursuit of Happyness, Chris Gardner’s Will Smith-approved memoir of his journey from homelessness to Wall Street; and Doing Justice: A Prosecutor’s Guide to Ethics and Civil Liability (second edition). Atop the books sits a short stack of recent issues of Jet magazine.

Nothing would seem to sum up the last two years of Watkins’ life so neatly as that little table. A district attorney (Doing Justice) who, though he has faced long odds and is often underestimated (The Pursuit of Happyness), strives for a significant change in The Way Things Are Done (A Call to Conscience). Oh, and he’s black (Jet). But it’s not that simple.

Wrongly Imprisoned, James Woodard Rediscovers FreedomWatkins, 41, is full of contradictions. He has the resolve to take on decades of history, the legacy of one of the most well-known DAs in America (Henry Wade), and an entire criminal justice system. But he’s also so sensitive that he can’t help but recall slights suffered on the campaign trail more than two years ago, the kind of rearview-mirror business that shouldn’t bother a man bent on progress. He’s helplessly showy at times and can be immodest. He is, after all, the first black DA in Texas history. Yet his biggest fear is being trapped by his own celebrity, tripping over his own press clippings and highlight reels. With DNA testing, Dallas County has freed more wrongly convicted men than anywhere else in the country, and last year 60 Minutes gave Watkins much of the credit.

In short, he is just a man. A man with a powerful position and, on the right day, history at his back—but still a man, with flaws and foibles like all the rest. He’s a work in progress. He’s still figuring it all out. In just six months, the time it took to report this story, I saw the evolution of Craig Watkins.


Watkins is a big guy, 6-foot-5 and broad, and he carries himself so that not an inch or pound is unaccounted for. When he enters his office and deposits himself into one of those leather chairs next to the table, he sinks into his seat like a bored king, weighing his chin in one giant paw, his legs jutting out like flying buttresses. While we’re here: his skin isn’t caramel-colored. It’s black. The color of coffee with no cream. Even today, that color puts some people on edge, scares them just a little bit.

It’s May 21, 2008. It’s been 506 days since Watkins took office. The narrative that took shape when he ran for district attorney in 2002 (against Bill Hill), and again in 2006, has been added onto substantially, of course, in the intervening years, given all that has happened since. But the core of it—the origin story, if you will—remains unchanged. It says that Watkins was a political neophyte who came out of nowhere, riding the tide of a motivated Democratic base. He did not win so much as the Republicans were defeated. It could have been anyone. Watkins was a cipher, a warm body, a name on the ballot at the right place and time.

Part of this is true. The Democratic base was motivated in 2006. But though Watkins was unknown north of I-30, he was no stranger to politics or local government. His uncle Ted Watkins, who passed away in November, was a four-term president of the Dallas chapter of the NAACP. His aunt Deborah Watkins is the city secretary. His cousin Kurt Watkins is the head of the communications committee for the Dallas County Young Democrats.

“I think the southern sector always knew him,” Kurt says. “Black Dallas knew who Craig Watkins was 10 years ago. In South Dallas, the Watkins name is a big deal.”

When he won the job of Dallas County district attorney, Watkins became the first black man to hold that position in this or any other county in Texas. At the time, he knew he was breaking new ground at home, but he didn’t find out that distinction applied statewide until the day he was sworn in, when state Sen. Royce West mentioned the fact in a speech after the ceremony. Watkins knew he was making history; he just didn’t know how much.

“I didn’t even think about it from that standpoint,” he says. “So that really gave me an idea of what all this meant. I had a responsibility—not just for Dallas, but for the state—to address some of the ills of our criminal justice system. Just to make it better.”

And so the man who campaigned on a platform of reform has slowly come to realize that one of the things in the district attorney’s office that needs to change is—him.

“If you look at Martin Luther King, when he gave that speech in Alabama during the bus boycott, when he was first put on the national scene to head the civil rights movement, you look at him as a person, and you read his writings and speeches, and you see he evolved into the position,” he says. His heavily lidded eyes flicker toward the table and A Call to Conscience. “I don’t think he knew what he was getting into. I don’t think Barack Obama knew what he was getting into. Hell, I didn’t know what I was getting into. I think at some point you evolve into it and you realize that this is a lot larger than you personally.”

He’s still clearly in the early stages of that evolutionary process. When he speaks—which he does in a surprisingly high voice that’s lightly coated in black vernacular; he always says “querstion” instead of “question,” and sometimes opts for “axe” instead of “ask”—it’s apparent that Watkins is still taking things very personally. He can’t let things go. Though some would attribute his status as one of the most prominent district attorneys in the country to a series of star-making profiles (in the New York Times and Texas Monthly and, most notably, the 60 Minutes segment devoted to him on May 4) that appeared in the wake of the unprecedented number of DNA exonerations emerging from Dallas County, Watkins isn’t as cozy with the fourth estate as that publicity would suggest, especially locally. In March, a series of stories ran in the Dallas Morning News about his alleged improper use of a county car, which followed close on the heels of the collective smirk that greeted his theatrical unveiling of newly discovered documents related to the JFK assassination (the documents turned out to be nothing more than a curiosity). But what sticks in his mind is what happened before he was elected.

“I think they have to make up for all the things they did to me when I was running,” he says. He was embarrassed to walk through the halls of his sons’ school, he says, worried that the other parents and teachers had read the stories that, he says, portrayed him as a criminal and incompetent. Every bit of negative press since then has picked at that scab, never letting it fully heal. His sensitivity used to be even more acute. At least he has stopped commenting on every blog post tagged “Craig Watkins.” “At this point, I’ve realized that I can’t sit around and respond to all the things they write about me,” he says. “That’s part of the evolution.”



But he can’t help himself. He would rather be talking about his work with the Innocence Project of Texas and his new conviction integrity unit and the men who were wrongly imprisoned that he helped free. But Watkins’ conversational GPS is broken. No matter what destination he chooses, his aggravation keeps him circling back to those old Morning News stories.

“I come into office under this big microscope, which I understand,” he says. “But all these other folks that had been in this position, you never challenged them. As a result of that, we’ve got all these exonerations. Had the fake drug scandal. Had a DA [Bill Hill] give $1 million away of money that I should be using for the benefit of the citizens of Dallas County. That was never questioned. Giving $400,000 to a special prosecutor on the fake drug scandal, in December, right after I was elected, two years after the fact. And then he’s over there partners with them.” True enough, Bill Hill works with former special prosecutor Dan Hagood at his criminal defense firm, Fitzpatrick Hagood Smith & Uhl. So does Toby Shook, the prosecutor Watkins beat out for the DA job. “No one asks any questions about that. But you’re gonna question me, ask if I’m doing something wrong, say that I’m morally challenged? That’s what upsets me about politics.” (to be continued) (view the article in it's entirety at www.dmagazine.com)

BBC NEWS REPORTS : MANDELA GRANDSON ENTERS POLITICS

Mandla Mandela has been on the campaign trail with his grandfather
The grandson of South Africa's former President Nelson Mandela is entering politics ahead of April's elections.

The governing African National Congress says Mandla Mandela is on its list of parliamentary candidates.

The elections are set to be the most interesting since Mr Mandela became president in 1994, ending apartheid.

A new opposition party - the Congress of the People (Cope) - was formed in December by dissidents unhappy with Jacob Zuma's leadership of the ANC.

On Wednesday, the most high-profile defector from the ANC - former Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka - appeared at a Cope meeting.

It was her first appearance after much speculation about her role in the breakaway party.

She resigned as deputy president soon after Thabo Mbeki was sacked as the country's president last September, after a fall-out with Mr Zuma.

Mandla Mandela is a businessman with ties to Mr Zuma, who is the front-runner to become president.

"Obviously his family has the legacy of Nelson Mandela, the world renowned icon of our struggle, so certainly there will be a lot of expectations of him," ANC spokesman Brian Sokutu said.

Mr Zuma has remained popular despite the shadow of corruption hanging over him.

Correspondents say Cope could win enough votes to deny the ANC a two-thirds majority in parliament, needed to change the constitution.

The Game Changer

President Barack Obama's first Congressional/National Presidential address was one for the books. On my way home from the gym last night, I recieved call after call. No greeting from incoming callers; just an excited "did you see him." Once I got in and watched the entire speech online, I was inspired. I watched the celebrity reception by Congressional members which I have never witnessed before. I watched the stoned faces of many Republican house members in the beginning of the speech. I observed how the president warmed them over and then eventually "strongarmed" them with the truth. Before it was over, the entire house was on it's feet. All I can say is "let that boy fly."

MSNBC REPORTS: Activists Address Houston Mayor's Controversial Ad

Mayor's Advertisement Creates Controversy
By Daniella Guzman

HOUSTON - Houston Mayor Bill White is under fire after appearing in an advertisement in a local newspaper between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and President Barack Obama, KPRC Local 2 reported Wednesday.

Some said the ad in The Defender is offensive and they feel insulted

"I don't quiet understand how he represents hope for black people," said Deric Muhammad, leader of the Ministry of Justice.

In the ad, over King's head it reads "The Dream", over White's head it reads "The Hope" and over Obama's head it reads "The Change."

"For Mayor Bill White to place himself in the center of Dr. King and President Obama and say he's the hope between them is insulting," said Muhammad.

The ad was designed by the The Defender's art team, paid for by White's campaign for Senate and approved by one of his workers.

White said he had not seen the ad and that no disrespect was intended at all, as the purpose was to show tribute to the two great leaders.

"I think a lot of people that know me know that I would never compare myself to Dr. King or President Obama," White said. "No one can say they've heard me say that I deserve to be compared to either one of them."

The Defender's publisher said it designed the ad, but White's campaign gave its approval.

"The bottom line is what the messages says and when you look at it. It says these three leaders represent dream, hope and change and Mayor Bill White salutes them. If you want to read into it more than that, then we welcome it," said "Sonny" Messiah Jiles, the publisher of The Defender.

The Defender has been in circulation for almost 80 years

Deric Muhammad and Houston City Councilman Jarvis Johnson's Trip to China

Here a few photos from my recent travels to China with Houston City Councilman Jarvis Johnson. We had the honor of meeting with the Chinese Vice Chair of Congress at Shin Zen City Hall (pictured above). Shen Zin and Houston are international "sister cities". Traveling to China is a long journey, but it is well worth it if you know how to get around. The people are very stern and most of them suprisingly poor. However, they are some of the most dignified people one could ever meet. Chinese people are true hustlers, as well. You very rarely see someone standing around doing "nothing." China has lots of money and no land for development. In America we have plenty of land...and no money to develop the land that we have. The Congressional Vice Chair also requested that we return to China with an official delegation. As you can see I learned a lot. It was a good trip.

PRESIDENT OBAMA LAUCHES REVAMPED FAITH INITIATIVE

President Barack Obama on Thursday signed an order establishing a White House office of faith-based initiatives with a broader mission than the one overseen by his predecessor, Republican George W. Bush.
Obama said the office would reach out to organizations that provide help "no matter their religious or political beliefs."
Obama is calling his program the Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
He said in this time of economic crisis, it was proper for the government to be providing help to Americans.
But no matter how much the government does, "the change that Americans are looking for will not come from government alone."
The president will also appoint Joshua DuBois, a 26-year-old Pentecostal minister who headed religious outreach for Obama's Senate office and later his campaign, to lead the partnership's office and name 25 religious and secular leaders to a new advisory board.
Before signing the measure, Obama told the annual National Prayer Breakfast the program would not show favoritism to any religious group, and would adhere to a strict separation of church and state.
The office is broader than one in the Bush administration that just dealt with faith-based initiatives.
Addressing the National Prayer Breakfast, Obama also spoke of how faith has often been a divisive tool, responsible for war and prejudice. But, he said, "there is no religion whose central tenet is hate. There is no God who condones taking the life of an innocent human being," and all religions teach people to love and care for one another. That is the common ground underlying his faith-based office, he said.
In personal terms, he talked about the role of faith in his life, from his Muslim-born father and a mother skeptical of organized religion to his own embrace of Christianity as a young man.
"In a world that grows smaller by the day, perhaps we can begin to crowd out the destructive forces of zealotry and make room for the healing power of understanding," Obama told the gathering of lawmakers, dignitaries and world leaders. "This is my hope. This is my prayer."
Dogged throughout the presidential campaign by rumors that he was a Muslim, Obama described his background in a household that wasn't religious.
"I had a father who was born a Muslim but became an atheist, grandparents who were non-practicing Methodists and Baptists, and a mother who was skeptical of organized religion, even as she was the kindest, most spiritual person I've ever known. She was the one who taught me as a child to love, and to understand, and to do unto others as I would want done," he said.
During his presidential campaign, Obama said he wanted to expand White House faith-based efforts begun under Bush. But while he endorsed Bush's initiative to give religious groups more access to federal funding, he also promised to make some changes to the office.
Obama's advisers want to be certain tax dollars sent to the faith-based social service groups are used for secular purposes, such as feeding the hungry or housing the homeless, and not for religious evangelism. The administration doesn't want to be perceived as managing the groups yet does want transparency and accountability.
Obama pledged during the campaign to allow taxpayer-funded religious institutions to hire and fire based on religion — but only for the activities run on private funding.
One question is whether the faith-based office will issue grants under the Bush rules while the hiring policy is worked out.

President Obama Reaches Out to the Muslim World

CAIRO, Egypt – President Barack Obama chose an Arabic-language satellite TV network for his first formal television interview as president, delivering a message Tuesday to the Muslim world that "Americans are not your enemy."
The interview taped Monday underscored Obama's commitment to repair relations with the Muslim world that have suffered under the previous administration.
The president expressed an intention to engage the Middle East immediately and his new envoy to the region, former Sen. George J. Mitchell, was expected to arrived in Egypt on Tuesday for a visit that will also take him to Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
"My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy," Obama told the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya news channel, which is privately owned by a Saudi businessman.
Obama said the U.S. had made mistakes in the past but "that the same respect and partnership that America had with the Muslim world as recently as 20 or 30 years ago, there's no reason why we can't restore that."
During his presidency, former President George W. Bush gave several interviews to Al-Arabiya but the wars he launched in Iraq and Afghanistan prompted a massive backlash against the U.S. in the Muslim world.
Al-Arabiya has scored interviews with top U.S. officials in the past, including Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
The channel is seen by some in Washington as more balanced in its coverage than its Qatar-funded rival Al-Jazeera, which the previous White House administration complained had an anti-American bias.
Obama called for a new partnership with the Muslim world "based on mutual respect and mutual interest." He talked about growing up in Indonesia, the Muslim world's most populous nation, and noted that he has Muslim relatives.
The new president said he felt it was important to "get engaged right away" in the Middle East and had directed Mitchell to talk to "all the major parties involved." His administration would craft an approach after that, he said in the interview.
"What I told him is start by listening, because all too often the United States starts by dictating," Obama told the interviewer.
The president reiterated the U.S. commitment to Israel as an ally and to its right to defend itself. But he suggested that both Israel and the Palestinians have hard choices to make.
"I do believe that the moment is ripe for both sides to realize that the path that they are on is one that is not going to result in prosperity and security for their people," he said, calling for a Palestinian state that is contiguous with internal freedom of movement and can trade with neighboring countries.
On Tuesday, Gaza's fragile truce was threatened when a bomb detonated by Palestinian militants exploded next to an Israeli army patrol along the border with Gaza, killing one soldier and wounding three.
Obama also said that recent statements and messages issued by the al-Qaida terror network suggest they do not know how to deal with his new approach.
"They seem nervous," he told the interviewer. "What that tells me is that their ideas are bankrupt."
In his latest message on Jan. 14, al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden said Obama had been left with a "heavy inheritance" of Bush's wars.
Shortly after the election, the network's number two, Ayman al-Zawahri used a demeaning racial term for a black American who does the bidding of whites to describe Obama.
The message suggested the terror network was worried Obama could undermine its rallying cry that the U.S. is an enemy oppressor.

Al Sharpton Backs Caroline Kennedy for NY Senate Seat

Civil rights activist Al Sharpton met with Caroline Kennedy in a Harlem restaurant to discuss her upcoming bid for the New York Senate seat to be vacated by Hilary Clinton. Clinton will be joining the cabinet of President-elect Barack Obama as Secretary of State. Sharpton spoke to the press afterward, stating that Kennedy's celebrity should not be used against her. He praised her as an advocate who has used of her celebrity to raise money and awareness for humanitarian causes worldwide.

KWAME KILPATRICK SAYS "LET'S GET IT OVER WITH": STARTS 120 DAY JAIL SENTENCE

(Kwame Kilpatrick shares a laugh with his wife, Carlita, moments before court proceedings began regarding his sentencing. Seated, right, is Detroit's Nation of Islam representative Student Minister Rasul Muhammad.)

BABY BEAR SHOT DEAD and WRAPPED IN OBAMA CAMPAIGN SIGNS

National media reports say that a baby bear was shot in front of a North Carolina College and wrapped in Barack Obama campaign signs. Western Carolina University maintenance workers found the animal, who had been shot in the head, and placed on the campus of the liberal college. Don't be surprised to hear and see more of this type of hate-filled activity. People are really about to start showing their true colors.

POWELL'S MOVE A POWER MOVE

A LESSON IN THE ART OF WAR

In what was, in my humble opinion, the most significant individual endorsement of Barack Obama's campaign, Gen. Colin Powell scraped the cream from the center of the oreo (lol, just joking General) and did what he knew was right. There is nothing like seeing a man break tradition and follow his conscience. As a military student I have studied Powell. Though I have not always agreed with his politics I have always respected him. Is it just me or was the TIMING of his endorsement sheer genius? Talk about a power move. Powell, who is a staunch Republican, crossed party lines and hoisted Barack on his shoulders to the chagrin of millions of conservatives who thought they had the old soldier "in the bag". If you study Powell's career he has nearly done it all. With one of the most successful military and political careers in modern history what else is there for you to do, but make history. I don't believe that Colin endorsed Barack on the basis of skin color, alone. He sees the Republican ticket as the circus ticket that it is and took a stand. I feel you general. There comes a time in every man's life where you have to do what you gotta do and let the chips fall where they may.

U.S. FACES WORST ECONOMIC CRISIS SINCE THE GREAT DEPRESSION

President Bush addressed the nation regarding the current financial crisis and the 700 billion dollar package that he is trying to push through Congress. He admits that the economy's near future looks dismal and that if tax-payers don't make the 700 billion dollar sacrifice it will cost more in the long run.

Kwame Kilpatrick Skips Democratic National Convention

Embattled Detroit "Hip-hop" Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick will skip the 2008 Democratic National Convention seeking to keep the focus on Obama and not his legal, ethical and personal woes. It is true that Kilpatrick has made some poor personal choices during his mayoral tenure, but even some of his harshest critics admit that he has done a lot for the city of Detroit. He has not been convicted of a crime but is being treated like a criminal and has become the biggest target in the never-ending political witchhunt against Black elected officials. Note t0 all Black elected officials (especially you young ones). Do not think that you can be elected to office and get away with the same unethical behavior as your white colleagues. This is still America people.

-Deric Muhammad (Yeah, I said it!)