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Chuck it: the only surprising thing about the self-destruction of the Harris County district attorney is that it took so long.

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January 17 was a great news day in Houston. Texas Supreme Court justice David Medina and his wife, Francisca, were indicted by a Harris County grand jury for charges related to a fire that torched their McMansion in the suburb of Spring. But it became an even better news day when district attorney Chuck Rosenthal quickly asked that the indictments be dismissed and two grand jurors went to reporters to complain of hankypanky--that is political favoritism--by the Republican DA on behalf of the Republican jurist. Pretty much overnight, the Medina case became a story about Rosenthal and added to the hysteria (if you were an R) or euphoria (if you were a D or a defense lawyer or both) over the ongoing melt down in the infamous Harris County DA's office. Three weeks earlier, the release of scandalous e-mails by a judge in a separate case had led to calls for Rosenthal's head. Rosenthal admitted that the messages were inappropriate, but in an e -mail to Ed Emmett, the county's chief executive officer, he downplayed them by saying that "thankfully, stupidity [was] not grounds" for resignation.

Stupidity is an understatement. After three decades of dealing with arrogant behavior-first as an assistant prosecutor and the past seven years as the DA--everyone is more than willing to concede the point. Rosenthal, who grudgingly ended his plans to run for reelection this November, has seen his professional life slip through his fingers, and it's his own damn fault.

No place in the entire state sends more people to death row than Harris County, and no public institution has brought Houston more embarrassment than the DA's office. This near flawless system works like--depending on which analogy you prefer--a conveyor belt, an assembly line, or a stacked deck. The DA's office, located in an imposing criminal justice center downtown, has nearly unlimited resources to prosecute; defendants have little money, less political clout, and, usually, negligible legal representation. Yet--unsurprising in this day and age--the scandal that took down Rosenthal had nothing to do with something as substantial as capital punishment. Instead, he was done in by his own e-mails, which were unsealed by a judge in...

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