How many times in the middle of a heated trial has one party questioned the judge's rulings under their breath?
Imaginary Defendant: "I can't believe it. They are winning every objection! That opposing 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 may have 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.
Update 9-18-09 Technically, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals postponed Charles Dean Hood's execution because it wanted to reconsider whether the jury instructions were flawed.
The appellate court generally dismissed claims by Hood's attorneys that the trial was not fair because of the relationship between Judge Verla Sue Holland and former Collin County District Attorney Tom O'Connell.
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14 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.
Update 9-18-09 Technically, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals postponed Charles Dean Hood's execution because it wanted to reconsider whether the jury instructions were flawed.
The appellate court generally dismissed claims by Hood's attorneys that the trial was not fair because of the relationship between Judge Verla Sue Holland and former Collin County District Attorney Tom O'Connell.
"The appearance of impropriety is absolutely there and it does affect the integrity of the system," said Rick Hagen, president of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. "And you can't deny that."
This mess had to come from Texas, the land where defense attorneys regularly sleep through their indigent clients' trials.
Everything, including stories, are bigger out of Texas.
What did the law do to the judge & DA?
As for Judge Verla, she voluntarily retired from the bench.
I was facing Verla Sue's Court!!! MY Attorney advised me to take a Plea "Bargain" because the Judge was "in bed" with the DA.....and yet, I still had to PAY for this "advice." 20 years later and it still gnaws at my soul.......and TEXAS!?!?! has me on the Sex Offender Registry even though the Plea Bargain specifically stated that I would NOT have to register and being a "deferred" case the charges were ultimately DROPPED/Dismissed when the probation was up......so HOW can they have me listed as a CONVICTED Sex Offender when there was no "conviction?" I'm hoping this will be the 100MILLION $ question when I get it in front of a Jury for a Civil Suit............
Good luck anon. Consult a Texas civil lawyer to. See if you have a cause of action.
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