Wednesday, October 03, 2007
By Tommy Witherspoon
Tribune-Herald staff writer
At first, former Waco Police Chief Alberto Melis got the calls.
The past few months, the calls have been coming to McLennan County District Attorney John Segrest’s office.
- Jun. 14, 2009: Former Downtown Waco leader Margaret Mills could be released by Thanksgiving
- Nov. 22, 2008: Margaret Mills spends first night in Gatesville prison
- Nov. 11, 2008: Margaret Mills escorted from Waco courtroom to begin 9-year sentence
- Nov. 10, 2008: Prison official describes what Margaret Mills' life might be like behind bars
- Nov. 8, 2008: Family friends pitch in to help Margaret Mills pay $100K restitution
- DAY 3 / Nov. 5, 2008: Judge seethes at attorneys as Margaret Mills plea deal is reached
- DAY 2 / Nov. 4, 2008: Margaret Mills' successor testifies she found Downtown Waco Inc.'s financial records
- DAY 1 / Nov. 3, 2008: Jury selected in Margaret Mills theft punishment trial
- Nov. 2, 2008: Betraying public trust may factor in Margaret Mills' sentence
- Nov. 2, 2008: Bad economy could be bad news for Margaret Mills, jury experts say
- Oct. 26, 2008: After Margaret Mills' guilty plea, question remains whether she can get an unbiased jury for her sentencing
- Oct. 25, 2008: Margaret Mills avoids possible life sentence in plea deal
- Oct. 25, 2008: Margaret Mills' plea deal has some wondering whether they will get paid back
- Oct. 24, 2008: Margaret Mills' attorneys to try again to move her trial from Waco
- Sept. 29, 2008: Defense files 2nd motion to move Margaret Mills trial from Waco
- Sept. 17, 2008: New court filing outlines theft allegations against Margaret Mills
- Sept. 3, 2008: Judge rules Mills should stand trial in Waco, sets Nov. 3 start date
- Sept. 2, 2008: Hearing expected to decide whether Margaret Mills trial moves from Waco
- Aug. 30, 2008: Federal tax lien placed on Margaret Mills' property
- Aug. 13, 2008: Prosecutor: Kick cameras out for Mills theft trial
- July 26, 2008: Margaret Mills' lawyers seek to bar courtroom cameras
- July 19, 2008: Mills' attorneys request change of venue for controversial trial
- July 15, 2008: Prosecutor files motion to restrict evidence in Margaret Mills case in advance of Friday's pre-trial hearing
- Feb. 2, 2008: Trial date set in Margaret Mills' theft case
- Jan. 24, 2008: Margaret Mills pretrial hearing scheduled
- Nov. 7, 2007: Margaret Mills indicted on 1st-degree felony theft charges
- Oct. 3, 2007: DA's office dogged by inquiries in Margaret Mills case
- Aug. 10, 2007: Mills investigation in its final stages
- May 5, 2007: Waco police submit part of Mills investigation to DA
- April 10, 2007: County DA Segrest will recuse himself in Mills case
- April 8, 2007: Disbelief, desperation marked Downtown Waco's final months
- April 3, 2007: Did Mills get special treatment from justice system?
- April 3, 2007: Longtime civic leader arrested, bonded out peacefully
- April 2, 2007: Mills' hard-charging ways won success, created sparks
- April 1, 2007: Arrest warrant issued for Margaret Mills
- Feb. 23, 2007: Investigation wrapping up
- Dec. 17, 2006: Inquiry will continue into 2007
- Nov. 4, 2006: Mills put money in own account on eve of retirement
- Nov. 2, 2006: "Several" subpoenas issued
- Nov. 1, 2006: $500,000 and counting: Questionable finances traced to 2000
- Oct. 28, 2006: Case could shake up courthouse
- Oct. 25, 2006: Downtown Waco office braces for closure
- Oct. 22, 2006: Who's minding the store at DTW?
- Oct. 15, 2006: No third-party audits for DTW Inc.
- Oct. 14, 2006: Ex-Downtown Waco director Mills target of investigation
- Oct. 11, 2006: Police investigating missing money
- Oct. 6, 2006: Missing funds at root of investigation
- Oct. 3, 2006: Downtown Waco Inc. loses city funds amid internal financial investigation
Inquisitive callers want to know why the Margaret Mills/Downtown Waco Inc. investigation is taking so long. Now the callers, including four women who get their hair styled together each week, are asking why it’s taking so long for Segrest to present the case to the state attorney general’s office since his announcement that he’s recusing his office from making any prosecutorial decisions in the case.
And if he is recusing his office from making any prosecutorial decisions in the case, why is he even involved with presenting the case to the attorney general’s office in the first place, impatient callers ask.
PHOTOS: - MORE VIDEO: Margaret Mills arrives at county jail
- GRAPHIC: Arrest warrant affidavit
- TIMELINE: Downtown Waco scandal
“I am not asking for patience. Those who know no facts lack patience,” Segrest said Tuesday. “We are in the process to complete it, and it will get presented when it is in a presentable form.”
A year has passed since allegations surfaced that Mills, the former Downtown Waco Inc. executive director and community activist, misused agency funds.
Mills, 66, who led the downtown development agency for 18 years and is credited with helping revitalize downtown Waco, remains free on $25,000 bail after her April arrest on first-degree felony theft charges.
Downtown Waco Inc. officials notified the city of Waco about possible financial irregularities in mid-September 2006, and Waco police began their investigation in October 2006.
Waco police Detective Charles Jaquith turned his case files over to Segrest’s office in May. Since then, Segrest has had members of his staff and Paul Wash, a certified public accountant and captain in the McLennan County Sheriff’s Office, review Jaquith’s investigation and the materials assembled during the eight-month probe.
Although Segrest says he has removed his office from making any prosecutorial decisions in the case, the mountain of records and financial documents must be organized so he can present the materials in an orderly fashion to the attorney general’s office, Segrest said.
A deputy attorney general will decide how the case proceeds from there, Segrest said.
“The information delivered to this office was voluminous and it was not in the form where it could be appreciated,” Segrest said. “It had to be verified. It had to be compiled. It is being verified. It is being compiled, and as soon as that can be done, it will be presented.”
Segrest’s father, Claude Segrest, and Mills’ husband, Coke Mills, were former law partners, and John Segrest and Coke Mills have been active together in local Democratic Party politics many years.
Those relationships led to the recusal.
Segrest said preparing the Mills evidence to present to the attorney general’s office is only “assisting” in the investigation and involves no “prosecutorial” decisions. He also said leaving the next decision to the attorney general should preclude any perceived bias in prosecution of the case.
Rick Bostwick, a Waco attorney who represents Mills, said Tuesday that Mills and the curious callers have something in common. None of them know what’s happening with the case but would like to.
“Frankly, what we find out about this case comes from you,” Bostwick told the Tribune-Herald. “We have not heard anything. We have not even seen a piece of paper since this got started.”
The prolonged suspense has taken its toll, Bostwick said.
“I think Margaret is trying to get on with her life, but, as you might imagine, it is not pleasant for them to have this cloud hanging over them,” he said. “It is an impossible situation for that family. They are stuck in the mud for all practical purposes.”
Bostwick said he has tried to gain information about the case but has been unsuccessful.
“I think I said from the very outset that we would like the facts to come forth and get this matter resolved,” he said. “It has certainly not been anything from our side that has occasioned any sort of delay whatsoever.”
Segrest has declined to discuss specific allegations. However, the police affidavit to support Mills’ arrest alleges she stole $268,458 by misusing agency checks and debit and credit cards.
She also is alleged to have diverted Downtown Waco members’ dues checks into her personal bank account.
twitherspoon@wacotrib.com
757-5737
