Private Order of Additional Education of a Justice of the Peace (02/14/03)
02/14/2003
The judge improperly exercised his contempt authority by failing to serve the alleged contemnors with proper legal process, and by failing to provide them with full and unambiguous notification of when, how and by what means they had been guilty of contempt. The judge also failed to properly admonish the defendants about proceeding without counsel at the contempt hearings when they faced the possibility of a jail term. He also failed to obtain the defendants' knowing and voluntary waiver of counsel, before finding them in contempt and ordering them to jail. Further, the judge failed to provide proper notice to the parent or guardian of a minor charged with a criminal offense, as required by Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Art. 45.0215. The judge's actions in exercising his contempt authority, and his procedures involving a minor charged with a criminal offense, demonstrated a lack of professional legal competence. [Violation of Canon 3B(2) of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct.] Private Order of Additional Education of a Justice of the Peace (02/14/03)
