David Conley, the man being held in a cell by himself without bond for allegedly murdering the Jackson family inside their north Harris County home, could have been locked up for good 13 years earlier.
In 2002, he was charged with felony retaliation against Valerie Jackson—his on-again, off-again girlfriend and one of the eight people he’s now accused of killing.
Because of two previous felony convictions, Conley could have gotten 25 years to life if convicted on that third felony. However, current Harris County district attorney and then-prosecutor Devon Anderson, who oversaw the court handling the case, signed off on a five-year plea deal for Conley. Her office says it was Jackson who forced its hand.
“Basically what happened to that case is what happens with so many domestic violence cases: The victim recanted her story,” said Jeff McShan with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
McShan says not only did Jackson say on several occasions that the incident never happened, she blamed it on an ex-boyfriend. But McShan says because of Conley’s long, violent history, including domestic violence against Jackson, prosecutors pursued the case for months.
“We went all the way up to the trial date hoping she would tell the truth about what happened, show up for court, but we couldn’t even locate her,” says McShan.
Complicating things even further were Jackson’s open warrants from Wisconsin for theft and bail jumping, along with previous convictions, including three for prostitution in 2001 and one for trespass in 1995.
Conley did serve the five years.
Now Anderson and her office will have another shot at putting Conley away for good, but this time they could also ask for the death penalty.
“We’re talking about a span of three to four months before that decision will be made,” Anderson told reporters outside Conley’s court hearing on Monday.
Anderson is urging domestic violence victims to tell the truth and says there is help out there from her office and the Houston area Women's Center, which has a 24-hour domestic violence hotline at 713-528-2121.
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