Former Harris Co. prosecutor Sean Teare questioned over plea deal in deadly hit-and-run case

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The handling of a case by former Harris County prosecutor Sean Teare has come into question after a man charged in a deadly hit-and-run case was initially given a plea deal.

Teare, on his last day on the job as the assistant district attorney, authorized the deal for Mansoor Ali Abbasi, who is accused of leaving the scene of the accident on Highway 6 near Briar Forest on Dec. 12, 2020.

Abbasi has been under felony indictment for failure to stop and render aid after officials said he hit Dontrae Broussard, who was walking across the road.

ORIGINAL STORY FROM 2020: Man killed in hit-and-run on Highway 6

Teare left the district attorney's office weeks ago, but the office now says the issue with the case is that the plea deal wasn't appropriate given that there was a death.

The office also claims that Broussard's family was never notified of the plea deal and has now revoked it, instead moving forward with a trial.

"Proper protocol was not followed. The district attorney herself, Kim Ogg, has to approve a matter like this, and she would not have approved it. The case is going to go to trial, and the chips fall where they may with the jury," said First Assistant District Attorney Chief of Courts David Mitcham.

Teare was also in the courtroom on Friday and told ABC13 that the facts didn't lend themselves to a conviction, maintaining the plea deal was the correct thing to do.

According to the medical examiner, Broussard was taking his own life at the time of the accident.

But why wasn't the victim's family notified of the plea deal?

In response to that, Teare said, "I evaluate the case and make the recommendation and the line prosecutor who's handling it subsequently sits down and explains that to the victim's family."

Teare said that the line prosecutor didn't have a chance to reach out to the family because that's when the district attorney's office got involved.

Broussard's mother appeared outside of the courtroom. A representative said, "She loved her son Dontrae, very, very much. It was her only son, her only child, and it's very important to Miss Harris that there is justice in this case for the loss of her son."

As for what's next in the case, a judge will set a trial date, potentially in the next three weeks.

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