Former prosecutor, now a judge, discplined by state bar for role in texting scandal

More fallout from the Polk County case where Judge Elizabeth Coker was caught texting suggested questions for witnesses to the prosecution team in criminal cases during trial. In the latest episode,  then-prosecutor, now District Judge Kaycee Jones was the target of the state bar's public disapprobation, receiving one of the state bar's rare public reprimands for exchanging texts with Judge Coker and relaying them to the first chair. Via the Houston Chronicle ("State bar reprimands former prosecutor in texting scandal," May 27):

The Texas Bar Association has issued a public reprimand to state district Judge Kaycee Jones for her role in clandestine texting during a criminal trial while she was a prosecutor and before her election to the bench last year.

Jones, who oversees the 411th court in Polk, Trinity and San Jacinto counties, signed the agreed judgement citing her for "professional misconduct" just before she came in front of the bar's grievance panel for a hearing this month.

Jones, 39, was an assistant Polk County prosecutor for 11 years before becoming a judge in 2013. ...

The agreed judgment documented how Jones had received text messages from state district Judge Elizabeth Coker, while she was seated on the bench during a trial in a child injury case.

Jones, then an assistant prosecutor and observer during the trial, wrote down the message that suggested a line of questioning to bolster the prosecution's case and relayed it to the lead prosecutor.

The improper communication violated the "ex parte rule" which forbids judges, who must remain impartial arbiters, from communicating about a case unless both sides are present. ...

An ethics expert at South Texas College of Law, Jim Alfini, also said the state bar's action was a mere slap on the wrist for a serious violation.

"Jones was an admitted accomplice to a serious judicial ethics violation," he said. "They went very easy on her. I could imagine a much more severe sanction."

But judicial ethics expert and author Lillian Hardwick said Jones will not come through this unscathed as she will be required to disclose the reprimand on her bar record for the next 10 years.

Now that the state bar has publicly spoken, one wonders if the State Commission on Judicial Conduct will follow up to evaluate Judge Jones' fitness to serve on the bench?

Strange electoral news from the judiciary

A couple of bizarre developments on the electoral front:

First, Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Larry Meyers has changed parties and announced he's running for the Texas Supreme Court as a Democrat. His term on the CCA isn't up until 2016 so he doesn't have to resign to run. Noted Burnt Orange Report, "Judge Meyers, who has spent 21 years as a statewide elected Texas Republican, did not give a reason for why he was switching." Fascinating. Who knows what's behind it?

Meanwhile, Polk County District Judge Elizabeth Coker, who resigned last Friday as part of an agreement with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct after she was caught texting advice to prosecutors during trials from the bench, has signed up to run for Polk County District Attorney. Reported the Houston Chronicle:

Coker will be challenging the incumbent prosecutor, Lee Hon, who was among the witnesses who testified about Coker this year before the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. ...

Local attorney Laura Prigmore is mulling over whether to ask the courts if a prosecutor can be considered a "judicial" position since it is listed under the judicial branch in the Texas Constitution.

The last time a state district judge voluntarily stepped aside to avoid possible disciplinary action was in 2009 when Central Texas Judge Emil Prohl was accused of spending forfeiture funds.

The scandal has all but engulfed the Polk County legal system:

Hon, who was exonerated by investigations into his office's dealings with Coker, said he intends to "regain the public's trust after this unfortunate turn of events" and that he is the only candidate with experience as a prosecutor. ...

Cecil Berg, an attorney who filed complaints against Coker and who is running to replace her as district judge, described Coker's campaign as "the most brazen thing I've ever seen."

"I'm dismayed by it," he said. "After all the improper communiqués she's had with assistant district attorneys while a judge, now she wants to run the department. It's beyond my comprehension."

Kaycee Jones, a former assistant Polk County prosecutor, is facing a hearing before a state bar grievance committee in March for her admission that she improperly used text messages from Coker during a 2012 trial.

Jones, who was later elected a district judge herself, acknowledged the secret texts exchanged to bolster the prosecution's case was "wrong."

You couldn't make this stuff up.

Texting while judging won't get you disbarred, but it might get you impeached.

State Rep. Harold Dutton this week filed a resolution to impeach state District Judge Elizabeth Coker from Polk County for allegedly texting advice and suggested lines of questioning to prosecutors in her court during trial. See coverage from Your Houston News. Hard to say what are the chances of it passing at this late hour, but it's also hard to imagine who would stand up at the Legislature to defend such behavior after they've spent half a year debating the Michael Morton Act, innocence commissions, etc.. We'll see.

RELATED: Texting while judging: Judge texted assistance to prosecutors during trial(s)

Texting while judging: Judge texted assistance to prosecutors during trial(s)

The Houston Chronicle today published an update ("Ex-prosecutor admits helping judge accused of sending secret text messages") on an ugly case of alleged judicial and prosecutorial misconduct out of Polk County. The article opened thusly:

A former prosecutor has confessed to assisting a state district judge who is accused of texting clandestine messages from the bench to bolster the prosecution's case during an East Texas criminal trial last year.

Such communication by Polk County Judge Elizabeth Coker was a violation of judicial impartiality that's required during court proceedings, said the former Polk County Assistant District Attorney Kaycee Jones. Jones has since been elected as a state district judge for Polk, Trinity and San Jacinto counties.

Her confession and a photo copy of Coker's text message - detailing a line of witness questioning that would aid prosecutors - were outlined in a letter Jones sent to the Texas Bar Association's disciplinary counsel, which is investigating the incident. The Houston Chronicle, which first reported the allegations against Coker earlier this year, recently obtained a copy of the letter.

For her part, Jones wrote, "I deeply regret that I acted in this manner. It was wrong and I knew better." An official in Jones' office said she could not comment on a pending investigation.

So not only is the judge who texted advice to prosecutors still on the bench, the assistant prosecutor accused of passing on her texts has herself been elected state district judge! What an embarrassment. Further evidence that the mechanisms for holding prosecutors and judges accountable for misconduct in Texas simply aren't effective or functional.

A report by a court observer from the DA's office found that this was "not the first time" the judge had provided such ex parte assistance and the lead prosecutor said her second chair was "in her ear all the time regarding information she believes to be given her by Judge Coker via text during trial," not just in this case but in others. Further, "Besides complaints about Coker coaching prosecutors by dictating questions, complaints have been filed against her alleging discrimination in picking attorneys to handle indigent cases."

As Mark Bennett pointed out, the surprise here isn't that a prosecution-oriented judge coached the state's attorney ex parte but that she did so in a form that could be documented and traced instead of face to face. Pretty darn brazen.

Investigator: Judge allegedly texted prosecutors tips during trial

A recent Houston Chronicle article behind their new paywall had the story of a judge who allegedly favored the prosecution so adamantly that she apparently couldn't help but give out  friendly advice to help along a weak case. Reported the Chron (Jan. 18):

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.

Regrettably, this only came to light after the communications were discovered by an outsider - the prosecutors receiving these ex parte messages didn't report the judge on their own. Moreover, it appears to have gone on in other cases. The lead prosecutor, Beverly Armstrong "advised it was not the first time, as [assistant prosecutor Kaycee] Jones is in her ear all the time regarding information she believes to be given her by Judge Coker via text during trial," according to an investigator's report quoted by the paper. Pretty brazen, it seems.

Houston attorney Mark Bennett at Defending People claims such behavior is common among Harris County judges, declaring "On more than one occasion I’ve seen Harris County judges coaching prosecutors during breaks in trial." Bennett said he's less surprised at the "underlying contempt for the adversarial process" so much as the use of an "easily documented" means of communication. Experienced judges giving ex parte advice, he seemed to imply, would never leave a paper trail.

If the allegations are true, what are the odds the judge and/or the prosecutors involved will be sanctioned?  Suggest betting lines for each in the comments.