Private Reprimand of a Senior Judge. (09/16/13).
09/16/2013
The judge failed to follow the law when he sua sponte remanded a defendant into custody and doubled her bond after she appeared in court without her attorney. There was no evidence in the record that (a) the defendant had missed a court date or was late for the hearing, (b) her bond was defective or insufficient, or (c) "other good and sufficient cause" existed for sending her to jail. Absent a record of the judge's reasons for finding the bond insufficient, one could conclude that the defendant served three days in jail simply because she came to court without her attorney. [Violation of Canon 2A of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct.] Private Reprimand of a Senior Judge. (09/16/13).
