THIS TIME, THE LAW FAILED

The Daily News recently went to the Texas attorney general to get a
report on an innocent bystander who was critically hurt in a drug
raid.

We thought you might want to know why we raised such a fuss.

Henry Ashford, who is 19, was hit by a flash-bang, a concussion
grenade designed to distract people while police enter a building.

Two other people were arrested and face drug charges in the raid,
which was led by the Texas Department of Public Safety and which
included members of the Galveston Special Weapons and Tactics team.
Ashford was not charged.

Investigators at the scene declined to disclose the identity of the
wounded teen. They said the wounded man's next of kin had not been
notified, which is understandable.

The Daily News got the teen-ager's name from an unimpeachable source
- - his mother, who was understandably angry. The newspaper also got
information on the raid from the Galveston Police Department.

But the Department of Public Safety later contended that it was under
no obligation to release information, which is disturbing.

Under the Texas Open Records Act, the public has the right to see
"basic information," which ordinarily appears on the front page of a
police report.

The law intended the report to be reasonably complete. The law
clearly states that its intent is to keep citizens well informed.

The remarkable thing about the department's report of the raid is
that it left out the fact that someone was hurt.

The report does say two people were arrested and charged. It doesn't
mention anyone was seriously wounded. It doesn't mention that anyone
else was in the apartment.

Maybe it's too much to expect that the public will get enough
information to determine whether the use of an explosive device was
justified. But surely the public has a right to know that there might
be a problem with the raid.

Exactly when does the public have the right to learn about this
person who was hurt?

Does the public get to find out when it pays the medical bills?

What if there is a lawsuit? Do the taxpayers, who are going to pay
that bill, have the right to know that someone was hurt?

The Department of Public Safety said no. Sadly Attorney General John
Cornyn did too. He said the only recourse The Daily News has is to
file suit for the information.

It was a disappointing answer. And we hope the attorney general will
reconsider. We also hope our legislators will consider changing the
existing law.

Think about it. When the average citizen goes to the official records
to see what really happened, the answer is silence. The official
record of the raid - at least the part that the public can see - is
that two people were charged with drug offenses and no one else was
there.

That kind of record-keeping is an excellent way for government
agencies to avoid accountability. After all, it's hard for the public
to insist on accountability when it can't even get an account of what
really happened.

The Texas Open Records Act was designed to keep concerned citizens
informed. In this case, the law didn't do what it was intended to do.