How many times in the middle of a heated trial has one party questioned the judge's rulings.
Defendant: I can't believe it. They are winning every objection! That lawyer must be sleeping with the judge. LOL.
Well, maybe it is not so funny. In fact, it may be darn right alarming if true. A former judge and an ex-Texas prosecutor are being accused of an alleged sexual affair which may have affected some cases which they tried together. For example, Charles Dean Hood received the death penalty for killing a 26 year old topless dancer and her 46 year old boyfriend in Plano, Texas in 1990. Hood's lawyers are arguing former Judge Verla Sue Holland was biased because of her alleged sexual relationship with ex-Collin County District Attorney Thomas O'Connell.
Hood's claim that the judge and prosecutor having a sexual relationship "would have had a significant impact on the ability of the judicial system to accord Mr. Hood a fair and impartial trial." Hood is no longer on the bench. But in the interest of justice, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals will reconsider the appropriateness of jury instructions given in Hood's trial. In the mean time, the 1990 affair has apparently halted Hood's execution. See: Affair halts execution.
Hood's claim that the judge and prosecutor having a sexual relationship "would have had a significant impact on the ability of the judicial system to accord Mr. Hood a fair and impartial trial." Hood is no longer on the bench. But in the interest of justice, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals will reconsider the appropriateness of jury instructions given in Hood's trial. In the mean time, the 1990 affair has apparently halted Hood's execution. See: Affair halts execution.
The canons of ethics mandate avoidance of the appearance of impropriety. Former assistant district attorney Matthew Goeller provided affidavit testimony that it was "common knowledge" that the judge and prosecutor "had a romantic relationship" during the time Hood was tried in 1990. Neither Holland nor O'Connell have been disciplined by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct or the State Bar of Texas. Because of this appearance of partiality (even if it did not exist) a new trial for Hood is likely.
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6 comments:
Pretty scary notion of justice when the judge may be sleeping with the man trying to put you on death row!
Guys a hood! Deserves to die because he killed two people!
No way did the defense attorneys not know about the relationship. The defense could have asked for a new judge back then but didn't! Sounds like crying over spilt milk to me.
'Although there are precious few studies on the links between sex and death, a recent Welsh study has shown that men who have regular sex (three times a week or more) live longer than their one- or two-time-a-week counterparts."
From this we can conclude that aleast Attorney O'Connell should live longer!
Attorney O'Connell should live longer!
Thats funny!!!
They did this all the time on "The Practice" and it never affected the outcome of the cases. :)
This is real life, big time love not scripted affairs on the practice.
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