Why sworn statements matter
It is a crime to lie on a sworn statement. It’s called perjury.
Twenty-four years ago I was given a copy of a sworn affidavit signed by Cheryl Turner, just days before I aired a story on Sylvester Turner. I never disclosed the contents on television. Five years later a judge ruled the affidavit was simply too prejudicial against Sylvester Turner to let a jury see it.
Last week, local advocate Dave Wilson called a news conference to finally release the sordid document. Within hours the Turner campaign issued a statement, signed by Cheryl Turner, that the whole document she swore to was a lie, all unsubstantiated rumors. Apparently news managers across the city agreed not to talk about it on television.
Friday, Wilson called for a criminal investigation and posted the affidavit on the internet at davewilsonhouston.com. The media all but ignored it, again.
Sure there are pretty salacious third party claims in the affidavit, but also some indisputable facts. But that’s not the only reason why those old sworn statements matter in 2015, and why the media is cheating Houston voters of journalism.
Last week, the HISD school board issued an audit exposing mismanagement in yet another HISD bond election. Sylvester Turner had been a vocal opponent of that election, but in just one month decided to support it and convince African-American voters to make the difference. They did.
A few journalists who are still doing their job in Houston, reported recently that Sylvester Turner’s title company had made $144,000 on one of the real estate deals, but there may be other dots worth connecting.
E-mails obtained by the FBI as part of an ongoing HISD corruption probe reveal lobbyist Darryl Carter was a “bag man” for getting and delivering legal campaign contributions from school contractors. The Superintendent was in the know. So was Mayoral Candidate Bill King, who ran the bond campaign in 2012.
Darryl Carter is a lawyer lobbyist for Linebarger, Goggan, Blair & Sampson, the tax firm that has a lucrative HISD tax collection contract. Carter also gets a paycheck from HISD to lobby for them. In 2012 he was clearly engaged in hitting up contractors for campaign money to pass the bond.
So what does all this have to do with Cheryl Turner’s sworn statements?
In that 1991 affidavit, which has not been published yet by Dolcefino Consulting, Cheryl Turner claimed Darryl Carter told her he had control of Sylvester Turner because he knew Turner’s “deepest, darkest secrets.” Mrs. Turner also says Carter was employed by her husband and allegations could be substantiated from financial records. At the time, she also claimed Mr. Turner funneled money to Carter through cash campaign contributions. Of course now, Cheryl Turner wants you to believe that sworn statement isn’t true.
What about the sworn deposition she gave three years later?
In April of 1994, Cheryl Turner told a jury she found checks that Sylvester Turner wrote to Darrell Carter, and she repeated that same allegations, “I know that Darrell Carter on one occasion informed me that there were things that he did not go into specifics, that he knew about Sylvester and that he was therefore not concerned about Sylvester ever doing anything to him.”
Since the deposition was part of the court record, a copy is attached. Interesting reading. Isn’t it fair to ask Sylvester Turner if Darrell Carter lobbied him in 2012 to change his stance on the HISD bond election, and the dramatic consequences it has had for the school children of Houston?
Sworn statements matter. Are they telling the truth now, or were they telling the truth then?
READ: Cheryl Turner Oral Deposition
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