October 13, 2008
Plaintiff against Sheriff's office no-billed

Okay, so back in July a part-time municipal court judge named April Jill Walker, who is also a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by the Ibarra brothers alleging that the Sheriff's office retaliated against people who had filed complaints against it, was arrested by Sheriff's deputies after she intervened when her two sons were being questioned over a traffic incident. There were sharply differing accounts of what happened - she said the deputies followed her home, they said she was verbally abusive and then fled the scene when they ordered her to stand aside. Now a grand jury has declined to indict her on the charges for which she was arrested.


After hearing from several witnesses, the grand jury chose not to indict April Jill Walker, an associate judge who also teaches law at Texas Southern University, on any criminal charges.

The July 2 arrest came after Harris County sheriff's deputies alleged that Walker interfered with the questioning of her two sons during an arrest, then sped away in her car after an officer asked her to stop. Walker has said that the charge against her was harassment, following an earlier run-in with the sheriff's office on an unrelated charge.

Walker was first arrested in January after calling 911 to report suspicious activity in her neighborhood. Sheriff's deputies charged her with impersonating a public official after she identified herself as a judge. The charges were later dropped when officials realized she was, in fact, a judge.

Walker filed a complaint against the deputies, and has called her July 2 arrest an act of retaliation for her complaint.

[...]

The Harris County District Attorney's office does not expect to pursue the charges any further, said spokeswoman Donna Hawkins.

"It takes pretty extraordinary circumstances to assemble another grand jury," Hawkins said. "It's not anticipated."


Another fine moment for Tommy Thomas. Here's some free legal advice: When Lloyd Kelley makes a settlement offer this time, give serious thought to accepting it.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on October 13, 2008 to Local politics
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