When last we wrote about Chief Justice Sharon Keller of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, she was down in San Antonio being tried for wrongdoing. That’s right — the top judge in the highest criminal court in this state, on trial.  State District Judge David Berchelmann, setting in Bexar County, Texas, was appointed to hear the evidence and make findings of fact.  These factfindings would then make their way to the State Judicial Commission for final resolution (read that “sentencing phase”).

All that bad, bad “Public Humiliation”

Well, last week Judge Berchelmann issued his ruling and you can read about it online at the Judicial Commission site (or download it as a pdf). And, boy howdy.  Judge Keller wins the round.

According to Judge Berchelmann, “Although Judge Keller’s conduct on that day was not exemplary, she did not engage in conduct so egregious that she should be removed from office, …[and should not receive] …. further reprimand beyond the public humiliation she has surely suffered.”

All those “Unwritten Rules”

Judge Berchelmann writes that Justice Keller did not violate any written or “unwritten” rule of procedure for this high court.  Then he discusses the rotation of the judge on duty for after-hours communications with the Court of Criminal Appeals.  Which we all know is important since they deal with last minute Death Row motions — like the one that caused all this controversy in the first place.  The duty judge business should looks like an “unwritten rule” ….

Read Page 7 of Berchelmann’s Opinion - Waffle, Waffle

It sure looks like Berchelmann found an “unwritten rule” here, too, though he fails to acknowledge it.  On page 7, (in section IV) he’s talking about the “oral tradition” that one justice would be the “point person for anything related to the case.”  Oral tradition, unwritten rule.  Potato, po-tah-toe.

And get this — in the very same paragraph where he’s discussing this “oral tradition” and how Justice Cheryl Johnson had been assigned as the point person for the Richard case, he uses the word “rule” to describe this internal court procedure.  Duoh.

Judge Berchelmann – Opinion or Argument?

Read Berchelmann’s product for yourself, and form your own conclusions.  See if you agree that what you’ve read is not a judicial determination of the facts surrounding these events, but instead a judge’s own argument to the Judicial Commission as to how it should rule.  The “factfinding” found in Section IV on page 7 does not comport with his determination that Justice Keller has done nothing wrong by his own standard of obedience to the “unwritten rules” of the Court of Criminal Appeals.

Public Humiliation, Indeed

One thing he’s got right here, and that this circumstance reeks of public humiliation.  Public humiliation on the national front of our state’s criminal justice system, and now our internal attempts to bring our judiciary to task, as well.

Apparently, things are really horrible over in France — REALLY HORRIBLE — because they are actually spending the time and money to debate, draft, and finalize into law a bit of legislation that criminalizes “psychological violence” between married couples as well as those who are cohabitating without the benefit of clergy.  Sounds like some serious domestic violence issues need addressing, right? Well, no. 

What is “psychological violence” for the French?

It’s pretty much everything you’d think might happen during a domestic dispute.  Runs the gamut between threats of physical violence, all the way over to repetitively being rude about a partner’s appearance. 

Yes, this does mean that it will be a crime in France to tell your wife that she DOES look fat in those jeans, if you say it more than once.  It’s considered verbally abusive, it’s illegal.   

The law goes into effect later this year.  No news on how the heck the French plan on enforcing this law, nor how they plan on insuring that a spouse doesn’t lie just to get their partner in trouble.  Imagine this at the crime scene:

“Officer, he said I looked fat in these jeans over and over again.  Sniff, sniff.”

“I did not.”

“Mais oui, you did.”

“Did not!”

“Oui!”

“Non!”

Yeah, those French.  They’ve got some serious criminal crises to deal with over there.

Of course, law enforcement is a stressful job.  We’re grateful to those who protect and serve and we can all understand how nerve-racking it can be to be a cop in Texas these days.  No one’s gonna deny a cop the right to a brew or two after a long day’s patrol.  On the other hand….

There are two newstories JUST THIS WEEK about drunk cops in car crashes, one out of Fort Worth and one from San Antonio. 

In Fort Worth, a woman was killed shortly after 2 o’clock in the morning when she pulled in front of an oncoming patrol car on a street with a designated 35 mph speed limit.  Guess this poor woman didn’t think that some intoxicated police officer would be hauling down the road at twice the legal speed limit…. The victim of the crash, Sonia Baker, was only 27 years old.  The cop, Jesus Cisneros, was ten years older and had a blood alcohol count of 0.17% — over TWICE the legal limit of 0.08%.  Wow.

This week in San Antonio, at 8:45 pm in the evening, a pickup truck careened across highway US 90 West, narrowly missing 4 cars of oncoming eastbound traffic, and slammed into the Blue Ribbon Housing-Fleetwood manufactured home fenced sales lot.   Driven by Sargeant Tom Alonzo of the San Antonio Police Department, there were no human injuries in this accident other than the ones that the driver himself sustained.  Riding in the truck’s cab with Sgt. Alonzo was his pal Joe Gonzalez. 

And while the eyewitness — Jason Costo of Blue Ribbon — reports that both were acting drunk (unsteady on their feet, reeking of alcohol), no charges have been pressed so far against Sgt. Alonzo for driving drunk.  Interestingly, Alonzo had a friend pick him up from the scene before any law enforcement could get there.  (Costo called the cops.)

Homicide detective Jose Trevino of the Bexar County Sheriff’s Department has told the media that their offices will not charge Alonzo because no one was hurt and the truck’s passenger — pal Joe — says that the driver wasn’t doing anything wrong, and they’re assuming it could be a mechanical malfunction that caused the pickup to veer over the highway ….

And here’s where things veer off. 

In Fort Worth, officer Cisneros not only quit his job, he has been charged with intoxication manslaughter with bond set at $25,000 (he’s free on bond right now). 

In San Antonio, nothing’s happened to officer Alonzo.  Smart enough to leave the scene before the cops could get there (isn’t there something wrong with that?), and lucky enough that those 4 cars got out of his way as he crossed over their eastbound lanes on US90West, Alonzo’s BAC wasn’t tested and isn’t known. Bexar County Sheriffs aren’t doing any investigation.  The San Antonio Police Department is reporting that they are double-checking things out, tho.  Well, hooray for that, right? 

Oh, and by the way, Alonzo is the second officer within the past 30 days – out of the same unit in the department, the SAPD’s Tactical Response Unit – to face allegations of driving drunk and crashing.  Fellow SAPD Officer Winder Morales was charged with DUI right before Thanksgiving after crashing a car, yes, on that same highway: U.S. 90 West.

Be careful out there.

Different parts of the state do things differently, and here in Dallas the way that criminal case workloads are distributed among the courts is through assigning certain judges to hear criminal cases specifically.  Other judges in other parts of Texas might have a smorgasbord of matters — civil and criminal, probate and family along with felony or misdemeanor.  Not here.  And many say that our Dallas system works just fine. 

The DA’s wife is a paid political consultant for 7 criminal court judges and the media is asking questions

However, the Dallas Morning News is disturbed because the wife of our current District Attorney is acting as a paid political consultant - i.e., working on the election campaigns – for seven judges who hear criminal cases in Dallas County.  Since Craig Watkins is the head prosecutor in Dallas, even if he isn’t personally in a courtroom on a particular day in front of one of these judges, one of his underlings is. 

And the media is suspicious about Tanya Watkins being involved in campaigning for folk who rule on cases her husband is prosecuting.  They’re wondering about it… as are others. 

Picture it. 

There’s the judge.  He’s paying a nice chunk of change to the wife of the attorney setting in front of him, arguing for a conviction on behalf of the state, so that the wife can get him re-elected.  Does that judge hypothetically have a reason to favor the prosecution? 

Now, Tanya’s campaign work for these judges has been okayed by the Texas Commission for Judicial Conduct. 

In an email that DA Watkins sent to his Republican opponent –not Gromer Jeffers and Jennifer Emily of the Dallas Morning News who are covering this story and bringing it to the public’s attention — Watkins points out that his wife has the okey-dokey of the TCJC.  Nuff said, right?

Well, maybe not.  Long ago in this state we had something we took seriously:  the idea that lawyers and judges both should avoid even the appearance of impropriety in order to keep up public respect and confidence in our efforts. 

Does the above scenario comport with avoiding the appearance of impropriety?  Many are arguing it does not. 

Perhaps Mrs. Watkins would have been wise to take her honed campaigning skills – learned from her husband’s own winning political runs – and used them in legislative and executive races.  Anything but the judiciary that has direct contact with her husband.  

Because by not doing so, this may well become a true Pandora’s box ….

Back in 1999, Michael Toney was convicted and sentenced to die for the cruel bombing of a mobile home that killed three people in 1985. 

For years and years, Michael Toney — who had no connection with the victims that was ever found, and who had no physical evidence connecting him to the crime – wrote everyone he could about his innocence.  He didn’t know who put a briefcase with a bomb inside on the Blount’s front stoop, but Michael Toney knew he hadn’t done it. 

Dead Man Walking on Texas Death Row

Few listened, few believed him.  He was the proverbial dead man walking as he spent his days awaiting execution on Texas’ Death Row. 

Amazing Revelation: Prosecutors Withheld Critical Evidence

And then an amazing thing happened.  It was revealed that the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office had withheld 14 pieces of evidence during Toney’s trial that were key to his defense.  They just didn’t share them with the other side.

With obvious chagrin, Tarrant County prosecutors turned the case over to the Attorney General for the State of Texas.  Suddenly, Michael Toney had hope.

Toney’s Case is Overturned – Michael Toney is a Free Man

And then, just last December it happened.  Michael Toney’s execution was overturned.  After some legal wrangling by the AG’s office, Michael Toney walked out of prison a free man on September 2, 2009.

Within One Month of His Release, Toney Is Dead

No one knows much about what happened between September 2nd and October 3rd.  Michael Toney took up residence in Jacksonville.  What we do know is that it was foggy that Saturday morning.  Michael Toney was out driving his pick up truck on a Texas farm to market road near to Jacksonville, when something happened.  The pickup went off the road and rolled over, throwing Toney from the vehicle.  There are rumors of alcohol being involved, but nothing is certain.   

Michael Toney’s Dies One Month After He’s Freed

So, just one month after Michael Toney walked from Texas Death Row into a second chance at life, he died on a foggy October morning all alone, in car crash.  Sure does make you wonder.

There are reports that the bombing victims’ family opine that Toney may not have died in the wreck, though the Texas Department of Public Safety seems pretty sure that Toney is indeed the one who died that day. 

Is Anyone Else Thinking that Michael Toney’s Death is Suspicious?

What hasn’t been reported yet is the possibility that Toney might have been a victim of someone’s thwarted vengence.  There were a great many folk who refused to believe in Michael Toney’s innocence, and this foggy single car motor vehicle accident should get more than its fair share of CSI treatment. 

Criminal law may make one suspicious, but surely there are some folk out there wondering if there is something rotten in Denmark about this accidental death ….