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   From: nobody@yamn.paranoici.org   
      
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   HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A sexual assault suspect who was mistakenly released   
   from police custody refused to appear in court overnight.   
      
   Houston police spent more than a week looking for 40-year-old Eric Brown. He's   
   accused of raping a student on campus at the University of Houston. Now, it   
   appears he won't be getting out of jail anytime soon.   
      
   It's uncommon for a suspect to refuse to enter the courtroom for their initial   
   appearance in front of a judge. Despite refusing to appear, his charges were   
   still read.   
      
   Brown is charged with aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon and two counts   
   of aggravated sexual assault. In court overnight, a judge set Brown's bond at   
   $15 million total for all three charges.   
      
   The rape of a 21-year-old UH student on the second floor of the Welcome Center   
   Student Parking Garage happened on Feb. 7. According to charging documents,   
   the victim was cleaning her vehicle as she was preparing for a sorority event   
   when Brown came up to    
   her and asked to borrow a pen. That's when Brown reportedly forced his way   
   into her vehicle and raped her at knifepoint, documents said.   
      
   Brown was arrested hours after the alleged attack. However, he was quickly   
   released in what's become a game of he-said-she-said between the District   
   Attorney's Office and the UH Police Department.   
      
   UHPD said they wanted charges pressed for Brown's interaction with police, but   
   District Attorney Sean Teare, who spoke at a press conference with UHPD on   
   Tuesday, said there was not sufficient evidence, and he was released.   
      
   According to Teare, the UHPD officers focused on an assaulting a peace officer   
   charge and only mentioned the sexual assault as an aside.   
      
   Teare added that the officers didn't specifically ask for a sexual assault   
   charge, but Teare admits his staff should still have flagged the case.   
      
   Brown was arrested again on Tuesday after being spotted by a civilian on the   
   METRORail near Shell Energy Stadium.   
      
   At Tuesday's press conference, officials said Brown is believed to be homeless   
   and, before his arrest, was spotted using the METRORail and libraries in the   
   area.   
      
   Brown is due back in court on Thursday, though it's unclear who will represent   
   him since he didn't give permission to be represented by a public defender.   
      
   Documents reveal that Brown has a lengthy history of charges, dating all the   
   way back to 2002. His most recent charge was a misdemeanor assault on a family   
   member in 2018, documents said.   
      
   The sexual assault is not the only recent crime on UH's main campus. Within   
   the past few weeks, two students were robbed of their scooters, and another   
   student was robbed of his cellphone at gunpoint.   
      
   Last week, 28-year-old Steven Simon was arrested in connection with the   
   scooter thefts.   
      
   So far, no one has been taken into custody for the cellphone robbery.   
      
   The university said it has committed to increased police presence and   
      
   https://abc13.com/post/eric-brown-charged-rape-university-housto   
   -student-refuses-appear-court/15931377/   
      
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