Despite two open warrants, there's one person you won't find inside the Harris County jail. John Ray Harrison, III, according to his attorney, is nowhere to be found, not even by his father, the district attorney's chief investigator.
"No, don't know where he is," said Harrison.
Two months, ago, the state issued two warrants for Harrison's arrest, both for violating deferred adjudication stemming from two felony convictions in 2004 -- one for theft, the other for forgery. We have a $3,700 check Harrison pleaded guilty to writing.
Since the warrants were issued October 31, Harrison has been a free man. All the while, his father, John Ray Harrison, Jr., has continued his work at the district attorney's office. KTRK legal analyst Joel Androphy says it doesn't look good.
"If someone else who doesn't have any connections to the sheriff's department or the DA's office gets arrested, you expect relatives of the DA's office to get arrested," he said.
But the sheriff's office maintains there has been no special treatment. Sergeant Dana Mackey says there are as many as 30,000 warrants ahead of Harrison's and only 40 officers to serve them.
"We will get him as soon as possible," she said.
But could finding Harrison be as easy as going to his father's Deer Park house?
"Mr. Harrison, is that your son?" we asked.
We went there Thursday night. One young man avoided our camera. His father explained it this way.
"I have two sons and that is not my son," he said.
"That's not the one who has the warrants out for his arrest?" we asked.
"No, I don't know where he is," he answered. "Tell him to call his lawyer and turn himself in."
"Have you told him that?" we asked.
"Yes ma'am," he answered.
"When was the last time you talked to him?"
"Good evening," said Harrison, as he walked away.
The attorney for the 28-year-old Harrision says he doesn't know where his client is either. We found Harrison has another conviction from 2003 for impersonating a Harris County district attorney investigator. By the way, when Harrison is found, District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal says a special prosecutor will handle the case to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest.
