Texas juvenile judge releases defendants after election loss

HOUSTON (AP) — A day after losing his re-election bid, a Texas judge released nearly all of the juvenile defendants who appeared before him after asking them whether they intended to kill anyone.

Harris County prosecutors expressed concerns after Judge Glenn Devlin made the decision in a Houston courtroom Wednesday morning. The juveniles face charges ranging from misdemeanors to violent crimes.

The longtime Republican jurist rescheduled all of the cases for the first week in January. That’s when the Democrat who beat him during Tuesday’s election will take the bench. It’s unclear how many juveniles were released.

District Attorney Kim Ogg released a statement saying prosecutors opposed “the wholesale release of violent offenders at any age.” Ogg said the move “could endanger the public.”

Devlin declined comment when contacted by the Houston Chronicle .

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Information from: Houston Chronicle, http://www.houstonchronicle.com