Heres the actual story. I dont know what a paywall is, but I am guessing its not letting you see the story.
A Polk County district judge is accused of sending text messages from the bench to an assistant district attorney to help bolster the prosecution's case during a trial, according to an investigator's report. State District Judge Elizabeth E. Coker declined to return phone calls to comment on the allegations laid out in a report by Polk County investigator David Wells. Wells was Polk County District Attorney Lee Hon's criminal investigator when he made the report, but he now is a detective with the Angelina County Sheriff's Department. After reviewing the report written five months ago, Hon issued a statement this week saying he had found no communications from Coker that had influenced a trial's outcome. He added that he expects the case to be reviewed by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct for possible ethical violations that could require disciplinary action against the elected judge. The Texas Defense Lawyers Association also is investigating the incident, which it deems "unusual," said association spokesman Stanley Schneider. Message relayed According to Wells' report, the investigation was triggered when he saw assistant prosecutor Kaycee Jones relay a text message from Coker during the Aug. 8 jury trial of David Reeves. Reeves was being tried on a felony charge of injury to a child. Jones was not assigned to the Reeves case but was in the courtroom during the trial as an observer. Before the trial began, Reeves' attorney, Ryan Deaton, and the prosecutor had reached an agreement in which Reeves would plead guilty in exchange for spending six months in jail. However, Coker rejected the plea agreement, which sent the case to trial, where Reeves ultimately was acquitted. Trinity County Judge Elizabeth E. Coker oversees the 258th district court that covers Polk, San Jacinto and Trinity counties. Coker is accused of the "very unethical" practice of sending text messages from the bench to an assistant district attorney to help bolster the prosecution's case during a trial, according to an investigator's report. Credit: Trinity County But before the jury reached the verdict, Wells' report said Jones, the assistant prosecutor, had passed along a note that contained the judge's text message to lead prosecutor Beverly Armstrong. The written note, which Wells secured as evidence, appears to pose a question for witnesses: "Judge says baby pooped on (Reeves) - if he threw a dog off the bed because the dog peed on bed what would he do if baby pooped on him?" Testimony during the trial showed that after Reeves became angry when a new puppy soiled his bed with urine, he threw the animal against a wall or pitched it on the floor. Additional testimony showed Reeves' baby had severe diarrhea the night he was injured. Wells said Armstrong never used that particular question but told him the judge was regularly interjecting herself into trial proceedings via text messages. "(Armstrong) advised it was not the first time, as Jones is in her ear all the time regarding information she believes to be given her by Judge Coker via text during trial," the report said. Wells added that he and the first assistant prosecutor, Joe Martin, felt such communication was "very unethical." However, Hon, the district attorney, contended Wells' report "was not entirely accurate," indicating Armstrong was unable to substantiate the texting was a regular occurrence. Wells said he stands by his report. Armstrong could not be reached for comment. Jones, the prosecutor who initially received the text, has since been elected 411th state district judge. She declined to be interviewed but issued a brief statement that stressed how the "indirect" communication by text had no influence on the outcome of Reeves' trial and promised to cooperate fully with any inquiry. Deaton, Reeves' defense attorney, declined comment except to say he was not aware of the texting until five months after the trial. 'Administrative steps' Laura "Sissy" Prigmore, a Coldspring attorney who has cases in Coker's court, said the district attorney should have hired a special prosecutor to investigate the issue to avoid any appearance of impropriety since his staff was involved. "I believe this judge was texting constantly, something that can't be known without getting the phone records," Prigmore added. "This makes me sick." Hon said he never asked for a special prosecutor because his internal review could find no criminal offense that had occurred. He added that he had taken "administrative steps" to prevent future occurrences. He declined to elaborate because of the pending judicial probe. Prigmore and others, such as Cleveland attorney Richard Burroughs, believe Coker violated rules preventing judges from talking about issues related to a trial without all parties present. "I think it's absolutely shocking," Burroughs said. The judicial commission's executive director, Seana Willing, said confidentiality prevents her from revealing whether there is an ongoing investigation. She said an average probe can take from nine months to a year to complete. On Oct 28, 2013, at 3:26 PM, Larry C. Lyons <[email protected]> wrote: > > nice if it didn't have a paywall in front of the article. > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:368219 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
