Home > Austin Legal > Archives > courthouse happenings category
courthouse happenings
February 8, 2012
Austin federal courthouse opening delayed
U.S District Judge Lee Yeakel said Wednesday that Austin’s future federal courthouse is now scheduled to open in November, about two months after originally estimated. When officials broke ground on the eight-story courthouse in September 2009, they estimated it would be completed in three years.
According to documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, the federal government’s contract with White Construction Company set a Nov. 30, 2012, completion date. The contractor must pay $2,755 for every day of delay beyond that date, the contract states.
The $123 million project is being predominantly funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Yeakel said it remains on budget.
Workers have largely completed the exterior of the eight-story, 252,420-square-foot building that is bounded by Fourth, Fifth, San Antonio and Nueces streets downtown. Much of the remaining work, Yeakel said, will occur inside, which will feature eight courtrooms and chambers for 10 judges.
Officials have said that the current federal courthouse on West Eighth Street is too small to handle the growing federal docket.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment Categories: courthouse happenings
December 23, 2011
Burst pipe drenches downtown courthouse
Travis County officials have been working today to clean up flooding at the downtown Blackwell-Criminal Justice Center after a water pipe burst on the fifth floor, drenching parts of that floor and floors below.
“It is a mess,” said County Court-at-Law Judge Nancy Hohengarten, who had assessed the damage to her fourth-floor courtroom and chambers. “My bench was all wet, my computer was fried. Parts of my courtroom were dry and parts of it were a mess.”
Hohengarten said other courtrooms and the district attorney’s office were damaged but that the water was coming down on the northwest corner of the building, away from the District Clerk’s office, which holds critical records.
The flood was discovered by sheriff’s officers this morning, said Capt. Wes Priddy of the Travis County sheriff’s office.
The courthouse and other county offices were closed for the Christmas holiday today but the building was still open for bonding services.
Priddy said he did not know the extent of the damage but said the cleanup is ongoing.
Defense lawyer Benjamin Blackburn said he was at the building at about 7 a.m. trying to get a client released from jail and observed a mess.
“It was raining on the inside lobby on the first floor,” Blackburn said.
The building has had its share of problems since opening in December 2000, including past problems with leaking pipes and malfunctioning elevators. The building ended up costing the county $45 million, more than twice the original estimate.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: courthouse happenings
May 19, 2011
Man sentenced to 1 year and 50 days for causing courthouse bomb scare
A Travis County jury today sentenced a man who caused a bomb scare at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center last year to a year and 50 days in prison.
The same jury on Wednesday found Douglas Scott Hoopes, 49, guilty of making a false alarm and report after a trial in the 299th District Court, said prosecutor Mary Farrington.
Hoopes has been locked up since his arrest in May 2010. He spent part of that time in a state mental hospital after being found incompetent to stand trial.
The nine-story building that houses most of the county’s criminal courtrooms and other offices was evacuated May 14, 2010, and not reopened for nearly five hours while authorities investigated a suspicious bag.
According to an arrest affidavit, Hoopes left the bag in the pretrial services area of the justice center and then told a Travis County detective that he had “committed a terroristic threat” and that there was a “terrorist plot inside the bag.” The Austin Police Department bomb squad and FBI agents opened the backpack and found a camera and a note that said “IRS plane crash, Austin Texas,” but nothing dangerous, the affidavit said.
The affidavit said Hoopes told investigators that he had been upset at a Travis County judge’s refusal to allow him to use a camera as evidence in a civil case involving his wife and that he had “hoped to get a reaction and cause alarm.”
Permalink | | Categories: courthouse happenings
September 15, 2010
Witness attacks murder defendant in court
This story has been updated with information on a man charged in the courtroom fracas.
A witness attacked a murder defendant in a Travis County courtroom late Tuesday, prompting a man in the audience to jump over a short wall in an attempt to attack the witness, prosecutors said.
The melee happened in state District Judge Mike Lynch’s court during the trial of Daniel Joe Hernandez, 23, who is charged in the August 2009 shooting death of Francisco “Pancho” Iruegas, 24, in East Austin.
Prosecutor Mark Pryor said that witness Kris Rivera had told a Travis County jury about that night, when he held his friend Iruegas in his arms while waiting for emergency responders.
Rivera is serving a 5-year federal prison sentence for felon in possession of a firearm and was escorted in and out of court by sheriff’s deputies.
When his testimony concluded, Rivera was led from court by the defense table when he lunged at Hernandez and swung his arms, apparently landing a couple of punches, Pryor said.
“He was emotional,” Pryor said.
At that point someone in the audience jumped over a wall separating the lawyers’ tables from the audience and appeared to be trying to get at Rivera, Pryor said.
Travis County sheriff’s office spokesman Roger Wade said that man, Richard Zapata, struck a sheriff’s deputy in the face.
“In a split second, the deputies jumped on the witness, they jumped on the interloper,” Pryor said. “They did a very good job.”
Wade said in an e-mail that Zapata, 23, was arrested and charged with assault on a public servant, a third degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. He said charges against Rivera “are possible and are being considered at this time.”
The killing took place on Willow Street at Robert Martinez Jr. Street at about 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 20, 2009, according to an arrest affidavit.
A witness said that there had been bad blood between Hernandez and Iruegas and that Iruegas was hanging out with friends at his mother’s house when Hernandez rode up in a car and shot at Iruegas, the affidavit said. Iruegas suffered gunshot wounds to his torso and died a few hours later; two other men were also shot but suffered only minor injuries.
Permalink | Comments (12) | Categories: courthouse happenings
July 2, 2010
Sentenced to 2 years, man runs from court
There was a fracas on the eighth floor of the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center this morning after a defendant bolted from court after he was sentenced to two years in state jail.
Brandon Tuff, 21, pleaded guilty in May to possession of a controlled substance after a police affidavit accused him of selling crack cocaine to a police officer downtown. Tuff did not have a plea bargain, meaning state District Judge Charlie Baird could sentence him up to the maximum for the crime — two years in state jail.
Baird assigned Tuff to what he calls his “Friday morning pee team.” That means that Tuff was one of a list of defendants who were ordered to show up on Friday mornings to take drug tests, which the judge would ultimately use to determine their sentence.
When Tuff, who had been free on bond, showed up for court today, he tested positive for cocaine, Baird said. Baird called him to the bench and announced the two-year sentence.
At that point, according to Baird’s bailiff Art Guerrero, Tuff’s girlfriend cried out from the courtroom gallery and Tuff turned and ran for the door.
Guerrero said he tried to tackle Tuff but that Tuff slid away. Guerrero said he and sheriff’s deputy Mark Smith then ran after Tuck, finding him waiting for an elevator.
As Smith and Guerrero were scuffling with Tuff, his girlfriend joined the fracas, Guerrero said.
Guerrero said he pulled the girlfriend away and prosecutor Jim Young helped Smith subdue Tuff. Eventually, Guerrero said, another deputy came and Tuff was led away in cuffs.
“It was a real struggle,” Guerrero said. “This guy was like a cat. He wasn’t going to be taken down.”
Tuff’s lawyer, Ricardo Maldonado, said he believes his client was shocked that Baird dispensed such a stiff jail term.
“I don’t think,” Maldonado said, “he thought Baird would do what he said he would do if he were dirty (had a positive drug test).”
Permalink | Comments (23) | Categories: courthouse happenings
May 19, 2010
Mental evaluation ordered for man charged in last week's bomb scare
A judge today ordered a competency and sanity evaluation for a man charged with false alarm or report in connection with a bomb scare that closed the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center in Travis County last week.
Douglas Scott Hoopes, 48, remains in jail, with bail set at $130,000.
At a hearing, state District Judge Charlie Baird ordered forensic psychiatrist Richard Coons to conduct the evaluations. Baird also said that prosecutors in the Travis County District Attorney’s office believe that federal prosecutors may take over the case. It has been reset for two weeks from today.
The nine-story building that houses most of the county’s criminal courtrooms and other offices was evacuated Friday and was not re-opened for almost five hours while authorities investigated a suspicious bag.
According to an arrest affidavit, Hoopes left the bag in the pretrial services area of the justice center and then told a Travis County detective that he had “committed a terroristic threat” and that there was a “terrorist plot inside the bag,” an arrest affidavit said.
The Austin Police Department bomb squad and FBI agents investigated Hoopes’ backpack and found that it contained nothing dangerous, the affidavit said.
Inside the backpack they found a camera and a note that said “IRS plane crash, Austin Texas,” the affidavit said.
The affidavit said that Hoopes told investigators that he had been upset at a Travis County judge’s refusal to allow him to use a camera as evidence in a civil case involving his wife and that he had “hoped to get a reaction and cause alarm.”
Hoopes’ lawyer, Todd Dudley, could not be reached for comment.
Permalink | | Categories: courthouse happenings
September 1, 2009
Statesman willing to push for open courts
The Austin American-Statesman is part of what New York Times reporter Adam Liptak says is a shrinking group of major news organizations willing to challenge the closure of court proceedings.
Liptak wrote in a column Monday that with diminishing budgets, many newspapers are shying away from the legal fights that they had previously deemed “a matter of civic responsibility.”
Last week, the Statesman was preparing to file a court challenge to ensure access to the first day of jury selection in Paul Devoe’s capital murder case in Travis County. That became unnecessary after the judge allowed me to attend the proceedings.
Here’s a recap of what happened:
On Monday, state District Judge Brenda Kennedy told me in an interview that Friday’s start of jury selection would likely be closed to the public because there would not be enough room in court to accommodate spectators (including members of the public) and prospective jurors. Kennedy said that 300 jurors had been summoned that day to be questioned about the case — half to appear at 9 a.m. and half at 1:30 p.m.
Kennedy explained that she had not planned to order the courtroom closed, but there would likely not be room for anyone other than prospective jurors to attend. Her bailiff said she would call me if they had figured out a way to fit me in the room.
Statesman editors enlisted the support of the news directors at four local television news stations and the help of Austin lawyer Bill Christian, who on Wednesday wrote Kennedy on behalf of the Statesman as well as KTBC Fox-7 News, KVUE Television, KEYE Television and KXAN Austin News.
“Excluding the public and news media from any part of a criminal proceeding is a drastic measure,” Christian wrote. “The Media believes that closing the courtroom in this case would be a violation of the free speech and free press guarantees of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.“
Christian’s letter suggested that there were alternatives to closing the courtroom, such as allowing a video feed to an overflow room or reserving a small number of seats for media.
On Wednesday, Court Administrator Debra Hale said that officials would try to squeeze in anyone who wishes to attend the hearing. Hale said that Kennedy had always intended to try to find room for onlookers, including the media, after the potential jurors had been seated. Hale said Kennedy is adamant that she never intended to close the courtroom to the public.
On Friday, Christian waited with me as prospective jurors filed into the room at the Heman Sweatt Travis County Courthouse. When they were all in, court officials said there would be room for me because several prospective jurors had not come. They squeezed me into a row of prospective jurors at the back of the room.
Here is the story.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: courthouse happenings
August 14, 2009
Travis County criminal courthouse now has free wireless
The criminal courthouse in Travis County in now equipped with free WiFi in all courtrooms and the lobby, according to Nolan Martin, technology manager for the Travis County courts.
There’s even a signal in the plaza outside the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center, which is at 509 W. 11th St. The building is where most of the county’s felony and misdemeanor cases are resolved.
So if you’re a potential juror, defendant or lawyer in a criminal case, bring your laptop and get some work done during the frequent delays in the court dockets.
Martin said that adjacent Heman Sweatt Travis County Courthouse, where civil cases are tried, should be wireless at the end of August or early September.
In May, Martin told Austin Legal that implementing the wireless capability in the Blackwell-Thurman building will cost $11,686, which includes the purchase and installation of equipment.
Permalink | | Categories: courthouse happenings
May 28, 2009
Travis County to add WiFi access at criminal justice center
When I started regularly covering criminal trials at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center in 2005, I often headed to Wooldridge Square Park across the street from the courthouse to write trial updates for statesman.com and email them to an editor.
The park had the closest wireless Internet access to the courthouse and I returned there in the heat and the cold, often sharing a picnic table or a bench with some homeless people.
One time, after a jury returned a verdict in a murder trial after 10 at night, I set up shop in Wooldridge Square in the dark, unfolded my laptop, and put the finishing touches on my story. While I worked I formulated a plan in the event someone tried to take my laptop — I was going to tell the person they could have my computer without a fight as long as they let me email the story first.
In the past year I have not spent much time in Wooldrige Square, as the Statesman now has mobile broadband cards for reporters to use. These let me send trial updates straight from the courtroom. Now I often find myself typing up one update while taking notes for the next.
Soon I won’t even need the access card, according to county officials, who say that wireless internet access will soon be available to the public at the criminal justice center. The WiFi access points will be in courtrooms, all hallways outside courtrooms and in the courthouse lobby, said Nolan Martin, technology manager for the Travis County courts.
The 4th floor, home to County Court-at-Law #4 Judge Mike Denton and 427th District Court Judge Jim Coronado, already has working Wifi.
Martin said implementing the wireless capability will cost $11,686, which includes the purchase and installation of equipment.
I’ll still return to the park on nice days.
Permalink | Comments (4) | Categories: courthouse happenings
May 5, 2009
Lehmberg: DA investigators need guns in court
Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg weighed in today in the debate over whether out-of-uniform law enforcement personnel should be able to carry their guns inside the downtown Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center, saying that her office’s investigators — who don’t wear uniforms — need their guns to provide protection during high-stakes criminal cases.
“When they go to the courtroom it is always to assist with the trial and often to provide extra security in particularly volatile cases,” Lehmberg said, noting that often the investigators escort prosecutors in and out of the courtroom past criminal defendants who are free on bond or family members and friends of the accused.
“I would certainly urge the judges to allow our investigators to be armed during those periods.”
Lehmberg said she plans to speak to the felony judges who told the Statesman that they would limit guns in their courtroom.
Five of the 14 county, district and magistrate judges that occupy the justice center said they would prohibit out-of-uniform officers from bringing guns into their courtrooms. One — state District Judge Charlie Baird — said he would also prohibit uniformed officers, not including the sheriff’s deputies who provide courtroom security, from bringing guns to court.
One of the five — state District Judge Wilford Flowers — said he is considering making an exception for district attorney’s office investigators, who are well known to the courthouse security officers.
Three judges said they would not restrict guns, and three said they had not reached a decision. One said he would only restrict guns if a party in the case believed it had a prejudicial effect on the jury. Two judges couldn’t be reached.
Sheriff’s deputies who secure the building carry guns, and law-enforcement officers from other agencies — who come to the building to testify, to have warrants signed by judges and for other reasons — have long been allowed to carry their weapons inside.
Members of the public are prohibited from bringing any weapons into the justice center.
Judges and sheriff’s officials interviewed for Sunday’s story said they believe that keeping guns from out-of-uniform officers would reduce confusion in case of an emergency; otherwise, an out-of-uniform officer who pulled a weapon could be mistaken as a threat.
One judge said she was concerned that some out-of-uniform officers don’t always use a holster and could lose track of their weapons, as happened in September when an Austin police officer left his gun in a courthouse bathroom.
Lehmberg said she believes all of her investigators use holsters and said they are well known by court personnel.
“Of course we’ll abide by whatever rule each judge establishes,” she said.
Permalink | Comments (10) | Categories: courthouse happenings
April 9, 2009
U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton resigns
U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton of Austin, who is the top federal prosecutor for a 68-county swath of central, south and west Texas, told his staff today that he is resigning the post effective April 19.
Spokeswoman Shana Jones said Sutton e-mailed a letter of resignation this morning to President Barack Obama and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.
Jones said Sutton would not speak to the media until next week and currently does not want to disclose his future plans.
Sutton, 48, was appointed by President George W. Bush in 2001. Obama has not named a potential successor. Among the names mentioned as a possible candidate is Travis County Attorney David Escamilla.
As the district’s top law enforcement officer, Sutton has had final say on all crimes and lawsuits handled by the federal government in his region.
Sutton is perhaps best known for his office’s prosecution of two former Border Patrol agents who were convicted on assault charges for shooting in the back an unarmed, fleeing drug smuggler near El Paso in 2005 and then trying to cover it up.
Jose A. Compean was sentenced to 11 years in the shooting and Ignacio Ramos received 12 years. Bush commuted their sentences and both are now free.
Sutton defended the prosecutions as the right thing to do, despite criticism from some politicians and anti-immigration advocates.
Sutton is a University of Texas graduate who played baseball for the Longhorns. He was most valuable player in the 1983 NCAA Central regional tournament, a year the team won the national championship.
Sutton was a prosecutor for eight years in Houston before coming to Austin as then Gov. George W. Bush’s criminal justice policy director.
Sutton followed Bush to Washington, working on the transition team and then serving in the Justice Department, where his responsibilities included advising on U.S.-Mexico border issues.
During his tenure, Sutton was the chairman of a group of U.S. attorneys who travel to Washington regularly to advise the attorney general on policy.
Permalink | Comments (53) | Categories: courthouse happenings
March 13, 2009
Former judge is Escamilla's new first assistant
New First Assistant Travis County Attorney Stephen Capelle said he plans to share his decades of legal experience with younger lawyers in the office and to ensure they are highly trained as part of his duties as County Attorney David Escamilla’s top deputy.
Capelle said Escamilla has charged him with administering the office that prosecutes misdemeanor crimes, represents the county in court and counsels the Commissioners Court.
“I’ll try to solve problems whenever they come up,” Capelle said Friday, more than a month after taking the job. He replaces Randy Leavitt, a criminal defense specialist who has returned to private practice.
Capelle, 62, graduated from the University of Texas School of Law in 1972. He worked off and on as a Travis County assistant district attorney and a private family and criminal defense lawyer before joining the Texas District and County Attorney’s Association in 1981. He rose to the level of executive director at the association, leaving in 1987.
That year, Capelle was appointed a federal magistrate judge, overseeing pretrial criminal matters, misdemeanor criminal cases and some civil cases. He served as a magistrate in Austin until 2003 and in Midland as a temporary magistrate until 2005.
Capelle worked as a civil litigation attorney in the Texas attorney general’s office from 2005 to 2007, when he was hired to work in the Escamilla’s civil law division.
Escamilla said Capelle’s experience made him a perfect candidate for the job.
Permalink | | Categories: courthouse happenings
January 7, 2009
10 years for defendant whose lawyers struck mayor from jury
The man who almost had his criminal case decided by Mayor Will Wynn struck a deal with prosecutors in the middle of his trial today. Alfred Charles Waddell pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, according to Jon Evans, one of his lawyers.
Wynn was among the 75 prospective jurors who on Monday reported to state District Judge Charlie Baird’s court for jury selection in the case. Evans used one of his peremptory challenges to keep Wynn off the panel. A challenge allows each side in a lawsuit to remove a certain number of jurors for perceived bias without giving a reason. Evans declined to say why he struck Wynn.
Prosecutors accused Waddell, 29, of using a gun to take the wallet and cell phone of a University of Texas student walking near Guadalupe and 21st streets in April.
Evans said that because of prior convictions, Waddell faced a minimum of 25 years in prison if convicted at trial. Before trial, Evans said, prosecutors offered 20 years in a plea bargain.
But after Sammy Ferguson, one of Waddell’s co-defendants, testified, prosecutors changed their offer to 10 years, Evans said.
“Let’s just say,” Evans said, “he (Ferguson) had some difficulties with the truth.”
Permalink | | Categories: courthouse happenings
January 5, 2009
Mayor struck from aggravated robbery jury
UPDATE: Mayor Will Wynn won’t be among the twelve jurors and one alternate who will hear Alfred Charles Waddell’s aggravated robbery case, according to lawyers in the case. The defense struck Wynn with one of its peremptory challenges, defense lawyer Jon Evans said. A challenge allows each side in a lawsuit to remove a certain number of jurors for perceived bias without giving a reason. Evans declined to say why Wynn was struck.
Waddell faces up to life in prison if convicted of the first-degree felony offense. Prosecutor Jim Young said that in April Waddell used a gun to take the wallet and cell phone of a University of Texas student walking near Guadalupe and 21st streets.
EARLIER: Austin Mayor Will Wynn is spending his morning in court after being called to Travis County’s Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center today for jury duty.
Wynn was picked to serve on a panel of prospective jurors in state District Judge Charlie Baird’s court in the case of Alfred Charles Waddell, a 29-year-old charged with aggravated robbery.
There was no word Monday morning on whether Wynn was picked to serve on the jury.
Permalink | Comments (10) | Categories: courthouse happenings
Services for former Travis County attorney tonight
Visitation for Jim McMurtry, a former Travis County justice of the peace and county attorney, will be today from 5 to 8 p.m. at Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home in Austin.
A memorial service is scheduled for tomorrow at Hyde Park Baptist Church.
McMurtry did not seek re-election as county attorney after his term expired in 1981 and he went into private practice. Twenty years later, he walked away from his civil law practice and began working full time at Smokey Denmark Sausage Co., which he owned with his daughter and son-in-law.
Smokey Denmark sells barbecue to restaurants and by mail order.
Read an obituary on McMurtry from Saturday’s Statesman here.
The county attorney’s office prosecutes misdemeanor crimes and represents the county in legal matters. During McMurtry’s tenure he took a hard line on prosecuting drunken driving cases, increasing fines and sending more convicted offenders to serve jail time for first offenses.
Permalink | | Categories: courthouse happenings
December 18, 2008
Next first assistant DA was elected prosecutor
This story was updated from the original version with quotes from Lehmberg and Neal, salary information and the size of the district attorney’s office..
Travis County District Attorney-elect Rosemary Lehmberg — who has worked in the office she is about to lead since 1976 — announced today that she will hire an outsider as her top deputy.
Lehmberg announced to her staff by e-mail at just after 4 p.m. today that John Neal, the chief disciplinary counsel for the State Bar of Texas, will begin work as her first assistant on Feb. 1.
Neal, 62, of Round Rock, is a former prosecutor who said he hopes to get into the courtroom and try cases. His main job, though, will be to administer the office of 200 employees, including 80 lawyers, in charge of representing the state in thousands of felony criminal cases a year as well as juvenile civil and criminal cases.
Neal will earn $157,500 in the post, just under the $158,272 Lehmberg will earn as district attorney.
“I am very excited about this opportunity and will do all I can to help Rosemary achieve her vision for the office,” he said.
For the past decade, Lehmberg has served as first assistant to longtime District Attorney Ronnie Earle, who is retiring.
“John has a vast amount of experience in criminal law and trials,” she said. “I have known him for many years and am, I respect, and I hold him in high regard.”
Neal earned his law degree in 1980 from Samford University in Birmingham, Ala., according to the state bar Web site. He has been in charge of lawyer discipline for the administrative agency for the judicial branch in Texas in recent years.
In 2006, the American-Statesman wrote that he made a decision to give disciplined lawyers a break by removing reprimands older than 10 years from public view on the bar association’s Web site.
Neal is a native of Graham, about 100 miles west of Fort Worth. He was the elected district attorney for the 90th judicial district, which includes Young and Stephens counties, for 10 years beginning in 1986.
“Neal founded the third Children’s Advocacy Center in Texas, following the establishment of centers in Dallas and Austin,” according to a District Attorney’s office press release.
Neal was hired in 1996 as the division chief of the Texas Attorney General’s office statewide prosecution division, the release said, trying felony cases including capital murder, sexual assault and public corruption.
He has been at the State Bar since 2005 and currently presides over an 85-person staff, including 30 attorneys, who prosecute grievances against lawyers statewide.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: courthouse happenings
Swearing-in ceremonies set for judges, DA
The Austin Bar Association sent word today on the schedule of swearing-in ceremonies for local judges and for Travis County’s first new district attorney in 31 years, Rosemary Lehmberg.
Here’s the schedule:
Monday, Jan. 5, at 11 a.m. in the 250th District Court in the Heman Sweatt Travis County Courthouse at 1000 Guadalupe Street:
- Judge Rhonda Hurley, 98th District Court.
- Judge Scott Ozmun, 353rd District Court
- Judge Texanna Davis, associate judge
Tuesday, Jan. 6 at 11 a.m. in the Probate Court at the Sweatt Courthouse:
- Judge Laura Jacks, associate judge, probate court
Wednesday, Jan. 7 at 11 a.m. in the 250th District Court at the Sweatt Courthouse:
- Rosemary Lehmberg, district attorney
Thursday, Jan. 8 at 4 p.m. at the Allan House, 1104 San Antonio Street (will move to the 331st District Court in the Blackwell Thurman Criminal Justice Center in the case of rain):
- Judge Jim Coronado, 427th District Court
Monday, Jan. 12, 2009, at 4 p.m. at the Third Court of Appeals, 209 W. 14th Street:
- Chief Justice Woodie Jones, 3rd Court of Appeals
Receptions will follow each ceremony.
Permalink | | Categories: courthouse happenings
December 9, 2008
Randy Leavitt leaving county attorney's office
First Assistant Travis County Attorney Randy Leavitt said he plans to leave his job next month to go back to private law practice, ending a five-year stretch of running the day-to-day operations of the office that prosecutes misdemeanor crimes, advises the Commissioners Court on legal matters and represents county officials in court.
Leavitt, 54, said he wants to make more money, with his oldest child heading to college next year and two more children in middle school.
County Attorney David Escamilla said Leavitt makes about $160,000 as his top deputy. Escamilla said that salary tops his own, which is about $150,000.
“He’s done a fantastic job in every possible way,” Escamilla said.
Escamilla would not speculate on who he will choose to succeed Leavitt, but said he has received inquires from a highly qualified group of lawyers from both inside and outside of his office.
Escamilla, a former first assistant himself, has been rumored to be in the running for U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas. Some time after taking office, President-elect Barack Obama is expected to appoint a replacement to U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, a Bush appointee.
There is still no word who Travis County District Attorney-elect Rosemary Lehmberg will hire as her first assistant. Lehmberg has been District Attorney Ronnie Earle’s first assistant for the last decade.
Leavitt had considered a run for district attorney but decided against it late last year. Before joining the county attorney’s office, he was a successful criminal defense lawyer with the Minton Burton law firm for 20 years.
This time he’ll strike out on his own with an office at 1301 Rio Grande Street, concentrating on criminal defense and some civil work, he said.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: courthouse happenings
October 15, 2008
Limits on guns in Travis courthouse discussed
The undercover Austin police officer who left a gun in a public courthouse bathroom while waiting to testify last month had been carrying the gun in the back of his pants without a holster and left it hanging inside a bathroom stall, a Travis County sheriff’s office courthouse security supervisor said Wednesday.
Sheriff’s office Major Mark Sawa revealed the details about the incident involving officer Jason Bryant during a meeting with criminal state district judges to discuss limiting the people who can bring guns into the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center. State District Judge Julie Kocurek requested the discussion after a defendant in her courtroom found the gun, which Bryant safely recovered
The judges and sheriff’s office personnel reached no consensus on changes, but appeared to at least agree on amending the policy to allow only uniformed law enforcement on official business to carry their guns into the courthouse. They agreed to continue discussing the issue at an unscheduled later date.
Sheriff Greg Hamilton will make the final decision on security changes.
Currently, members of the public are prohibited from bringing guns into the courthouse, but law enforcement officers with official identification — in uniform or plain clothes — are allowed to keep their weapons. Sheriff’s office deputies, who are in charge of courthouse security, also carry guns inside the courthouse.
Law enforcement officers from various local agencies go to court frequently, mostly to testify or to ask judges to sign warrants.
Kocurek has said she wants to consider the merits of a system similar to Austin’s federal courthouse, where only deputy U.S. marshals charged with courthouse security carry guns and other law enforcement officers are made to leave their weapons in lockers near the entrance.
Sawa, who said that he knows of no state courthouse in Texas that prohibits law enforcement from carrying guns inside, said forcing uniformed officers to carry “an empty holster” could be unsafe.
“He would be the first person they would come gunning for and would be unable to defend himself,” Sawa said.
Sawa also noted that district attorney’s office investigators — law enforcement officers who also carry guns — work out of the courthouse.
State District Judge Wilford Flowers noted the remarks that Austin Supervisory Deputy Marshal Hector Gomez made in a Saturday Statesman story in suggesting that only uniformed officers be allowed to carry guns inside.
In the case of an emergency, Gomez said, “We want to tell cop from criminal.”
Flowers said that prohibiting undercover officers from bringing guns inside could be “for their own safety.”
Sawa noted that undercover officers are trained to recognize that unformed officers might not know they are cops, but seemed to agree with Flowers that allowing only uniformed officers to carry guns in court might make sense.
Sawa said that courthouses in Harris County and El Paso County leave it up to individual judges on whether outside law enforcement can bring guns into the courtroom. In the cases where they are prohibited, courts provide lockers, he said.
Bryant, the officer who left the gun in the courthouse bathroom, is the subject of a pending internal affairs investigation. Police Chief Art Acevedo has said that he would emphasize training that all officers should keep their guns secure in a holster.
Sawa called it “bad practice” to keep a gun in the pants, and said using holsters would alleviate the risk of another gun being left around the courthouse.
Permalink | Comments (5) | Categories: courthouse happenings
September 25, 2008
Austin police officer leaves gun in courthouse bathroom
An Austin police officer on Wednesday left his service pistol in a public courthouse bathroom while waiting to testify in a felony cocaine possession trial, according to the defense lawyer in the case and a police commander.
Lawyer Adam Reposa said that narcotics officer Jason Bryant was waiting to testify on the 7th floor of the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center when someone found the gun and reported it to sheriff’s deputies.
Sean Mannix, commander of the organized crime division said that he has initiated an internal affairs investigation but said employment regulations prohibit him from identifying the officer.
Mannix said the gun was discovered by “a citizen” who then notified Travis County sheriff’s deputies, who provide courthouse security. By the time the deputies responded to the bathroom, the officer had noticed his gun was missing and retrieved it from the bathroom stall himself.
Mannix said the gun was out of the officer’s possession for a few minutes.
Mannix said he learned of the incident immediately after it happened Wednesday. He would not speculate how long the investigation would take.
Reposa said the defendant in the case, Armando Perez, was convicted of possession of a controlled substance and sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison.
Permalink | Comments (35) | Categories: courthouse happenings
