Texas Judge Resigns: Caught Texting Prosecutor During DUI Trial

The legal deck is stacked against defendants and defense lawyers in DUI cases, we all know that. These days, "presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt" is nothing more than a tag line at the end of COPS.

In DUI cases the prevailing prosecutorial mindset is that Defendants are guilty until the jury is tricked into a "not guilty" verdict. Plea bargains are squeezed out of defendants by prosecutors who load up on charges in order to get an agreement to plead guilty to DUI.

Recently, (former) Judge Elizabeth E. Coker of Texas signed an agreement with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct to resign. Among other things, the complaint alleged that Judge Coker texted the prosecutor about specific questions to ask during the trial and how to refresh the recollection of a police witness.

Her efforts to help prosecutors obtain a guilty verdict in the case were lost on the wisdom of the jury, who found the defendant "NOT GUILTY".

In a similar incident, former Texas prosecutor and judge Ken Anderson pled guilty to intentionally failing to disclose evidence in a case that sent an innocent man to prison for murder. As a prosecutor, Anderson had evidence that could have cleared him. Anderson withheld the evidence and secured a murder conviction against the defendant. The wrongfully convicted defendant served 25 years in prison while Anderson went on to become a judge.

Add incidents like this to prosecutors who tell police officers how to testify, or who withhold evidence from the defense and you see what we are up against day after day.

For over 30 years, Miami DUI Attorney Jonathan Blecher has been defending DUI cases with positive results for his clients. For more information about my firm Jonathan Blecher, P.A. and my qualifications, please visit my website www.duilawdefense.com.