33rd / 424th District Courts

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Golf Tournament Raises $24,000 for California Drug Court.

Before I discuss this topic, I want to make it clear that while I would personally appreciate a raise, the issue is much larger than just any one judge. The bottom line on judicial compensation is that the Texas judiciary will steadily decline in the quality of its judges if the pay continues its downward spiral -- downward in comparison not only to other large and progressive states, but also in comparison even to the average salary of a 10-year lawyer.

We (judges and lawyers alike) frequently deal with the "Objection, 401, 404b, 403" litany and we know intellectually what all that means, but do we have a structure within which to actually "run the traps" on the filter that those sections of the Evidence Code provide?

A 'web page archive' is a page that is no longer an active page on the web but which has been archived by a search engine. Google does this and there is a site whose sole function is to archive web pages.

You hear all the time that there are too many lawyers.  As we know, that varies from place to place, but overall could this be? Here is an article  from the University of Illinois -  Urbana/Champaign asking Are There Too Many Lawyers?, which was presented by the Pre-Law and Law School Admissions office. While many stats are presented I can't figure out what the real point was of the article.

Interesting story with this lead-in:

Fifteen years after his trial, a convicted drug dealer in New York state belatedly got a chance to clear his name--thanks in part to an Internet search.

The following case had about $3-4,000 in controversy when the following proceedings were had (names of the attorneys and parties have been masked to protect the guilty):

CaseView II Report of Marked Text File: XXXX.CV May 10, 2004

American Lawyer Media's Law.com has an interesting article entitled Divorced Parents Must Consider Ex if Moving Away. The lead-in is:

With a decision that sharply divides children's rights advocates, the California Supreme Court on Thursday held that several factors -- including the relationship with non-custodial parents -- must be considered before children of divorced couples can be moved out of town.

Mom sues Coors over Son's Death in accident. CNN reports this. The following comment was noted on another web site:

Texas Malpractice Filings Fall After Cap - The number of medical malpractice lawsuits filed in Harris County has fallen dramatically since Texas lawmakers imposed a cap six months ago on the amount of money juries can award. The sharp drop has been welcomed by physicians and insurance companies who backed the $250,000 limit on awards for pain, suffering or other noneconomic damages. Doctors say fewer multimillion-dollar jury awards will translate into lower health care costs and improved patient care. But lawyers and other opponents of the measure that took effect Sept. 1 say the drop in filings proves the limits are too severe, leaving bad doctors unaccountable for causing deaths or life-altering injuries. "This is effectively closing the courthouse doors and eliminating the constitutional rights of many victims of medical malpractice," said Dan Lambe, executive director of Texas Watch, the Austin-based group that rallied against the limits.

Perhaps. Here's this kid, 16, been in the system since age 12. Abandoned to the juvenile system by his mother and no other relatives coming forward. Kicked out of one placement after another. Had him back in court today: but this time to observe adult criminal court oroceedings. Appropriately segregated from the adults and in the custody of the transportation officer.

The day saw several pleas including two going off to TDCJ, for 3 and 8 year terms. Other pleas for probation were heard including 1st degree agg. sexual assault of a child with admonishments regarding the range of punishment at 5-99 or life. One defendant admonished to have his shirttail tucked in the next time he comes to district court. All in all it was quite a variety of activity. Only yesterday I had told this juvenile (pseudonym John Dillenger) that while in juvenile court I and everyone else would be trying to help him and all seemed nice and friendly, in adult court it was quite different. After almost three hours of observation I asked him what he had learned and he observed "you're not as nice here as you are to me." He seemed moved by what he had seen.

Some, yes.


Last night CSCD held its first victim impact panel -- at least the first since I took the bench. It was powerfully moving to hear these victims recount their stories and even some of the probationers in attendance reacted.

"Kay" had been physically, emotionally and sexually abused by her husband to the point of being hog-tied and raped. She divorced him only after a huge, time-consuming battle and ultimately lost her car, her home ... and for seven years, custody of her children. She became yremendously distraught during her presentation and we later learned it was her first appearance on an impact panel. Her mother, Janet, was stronger in recounting her knowledge and understanding of her daughter's victimization.

I'm always filled with admiration when I see grandparents step into a situation and raise their grandchildren. I love my grandkiddies but don't want to raise them! There is a certain delight, perverse though it may be, in spoiling them, filling them with sugar and sending them home to their parents.

But some parents can't (or won't) meet their responsibilities to the child they brought into the world and those marvelous "grands" seem to always step up. Today was a custody modification filled by grandparents upon whom responsiblity had fallen to raise children of divorced parents when the mother was having ongoing difficulties. Dad had re-entered the picture so it was a 3-way contest.

There's this kid. Was a cute "little boy" of about 12 when he came into the juvenile system but is now about 16. Call him John Dillinger for a pseudonym.

Once a tow-headed kid lacking family structure and getting into trouble, he is now getting kicked out of his 5th or so placement and I've just detained him. His problems are mostly basic behavior problems that manifest in poor school participation and poor grades, property
destruction, and destructive personal relationships. He's smart and for four years now I've had great hopes that he would make it intact into adulthood. With only a couple of years left to work with him it now appears that he has regressed in behavior to a substantial degree.

Do we acknowledge that there is little we can do externally to help him change? Do we give up? Not. Not yet at least. Maybe one day you throw in the towel but not yet. Not yet.

if not between consenting adults and you have to hear about it for 2-1/2 days. Such is the case when a 1/2 day trial on a sex offender revocation is followed by 2 days at the 3rd Annual Sex Crimes Conference!



Continuing judicial education is a good thing, but I'm not sure the timing of this conference was good. It seems that about the only cases that make it to trial any more are the sex crimes and I'm trying to keep a healthy perspective and not conclude that the entire world has gone mad with sex and drugs (which is the largest single category of crime everywhere).

Started a jury trial today in a juvenile case -- criminal mischief. Allegations are that building siding was damaged with a skateboard. To describe this case as "lighter" than the usual child molester and drug dealer cases is to launch from the sublime to the ridiculous with the adjective!

It would be a refreshing change except that a child aged 13 being in court is rarely calculated to rejuvenate the soul. At least this one is not also a child molester (some juveniles are) or a wannabe car thief as the string of UUMVs would indicate.

This is written while the case is still ongoing so I must be circumspect in any current comments about it. This "clip" has nothing actually to do with the case at hand, but with the matters of attorney discipline in general.

It is now after 5pm as I sit in the chambers formerly occupied by the Hon. Frank Montalvo who has moved on to a federal bench. The Texas Supreme Court assigns judges from outside the administrative region where the discipline case is to be heard and this is the second one to which I been assigned since 1997. And thus I find myself in San Antonio hearing this discipline case.

The legislature tinkers with measuring court performance.

This will come to be a huge problem between the legislative and judicial branches of Texas State government. It could even lead to a true constitutional crisis.

On the one hand, the legislature has implemented a system of "performance measures" (see 2002 stats on OCA's website), and on the other, has all but killed the visiting judge program that to many judicial districts (including the 33rd) was essential to moving cases. The following will demonstrate the folly of one of the measures they devised.

Fridays are interesting. This is the day usually reserved for criminal pretrials but we're now having to put a number of civil cases on Friday as well, especially in Burnet and often in Llano too. This Friday (Burnet) included 36 criminal pretrials and we took 18 pleas out of that group. More are expected on Monday at the start of the jury week. 9 of the 18 were Arredondo's. We've done Fridays in Burnet with over 60 on the docket. Lawyers, defendants (many in custody), family, witnesses for the contested hearings ... all moving and mingling, negotiating final deals, quick hearings at the bench, taking things out of order ....

Why? Because in addition to a variety of subject matter jurisdiction the judge has a variety places and people where he works. The 33rd Judicial District consists of four counties, was five when I took office in 1997 and was originally six. Mason County moved to the 198th District in (?) 1999 and many years before that Menard had been in the District.

On any given day I may be in one, two or even three of the counties and the cases may vary from felony pretrials to family protective orders to a juvenile adjudication to managing a civil case in a hearing for a docket control order. And I'll do all of that the aid of a large number of support personnel.