I heard about this. More proof that the judiciary is as corrupt and complicit in tyranny add the other branches On Oct 28, 2013 3:33 PM, "Bruce Sorge" <[email protected]> wrote:
> > 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:368221 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
