Dallas attorney James Lee Bright faced a dilemma: he had to appear in court but he recovering from knee surgery with a large leg brace and an ice machine attached to his leg to stop swelling. He could not fit his pants over the hardware so he wore a shirt, tie, jacket, and shorts. That did not go over well with Judge Etta Mullin (left) who refused to hear his motion to dismiss a weapons charge for a client because he was wearing shorts. It was a rather unsympathetic and inflexible decision but it was not the first for this particular judge. However, it is the mounting criticism of Mullin that raises the question of why the Democratic party has pushed for her reelection and why the state bar has not investigated allegations of injudicious conduct.
The decision to bar Bright was clearly abusive in light of his obvious medical excuse. What is curious is that women are allowed to appear without ties or jacket and wearing skirts. Yet, a male attorney who has to appear in a leg brace and shorts is tossed out of court.
Bright is now seeking to have Mullin removed. The rigidity and lack of sympathy shown by Mullin is something of a signature for the judge. Indeed, so is the motion seeking to avoid her as a judge in this court. Lawyers complain that Mullen is often rude and arbitrary with both clients and attorneys. Many now avoid her courtroom and the horror stories have previously appeared in local stories.
According to news reports, Mullin has been given the lowest ratings by lawyers — ratings that are often quite generous to judges. In a 2012 poll by the Dallas Criminal Bar Association, 89 percent of attorneys ranked Mullin’s overall performance in the “needs improvement” category, the lowest category.
In the case of Amber Buford, the defendant agreed to plead guilty to a prostitution charge. It is a routine case that ended up in from of Mullin. Since Buford was indigent, she was given appointed counsel. However, before accepting the plea, Mullin insisted that Buford, the indigent, pay the $267 bill for court costs in one lump sum. Her lawyer explained that she was obviously indigent and did not have the money. Mullin refused to accept the plea bargain and set the case for a full jury trial that neither the prosecutors nor the defense wanted. She forced both sides to go through the preparation for an expensive trial before finally accepting the plea on the day of jury selection.
Mullin routinely demands cash for defendants on the spot — a highly uncommon practice since few come to court with wads of cash on hand. This was the case of the client of DWI attorney Lee Bright when Mullin suddenly demanded $1,000 cash for a bond. He suggested the common use of a surety bond for the amount but she refused. She allegedly threatened to send the client back to jail unless he paid the cash or Bright paid the money out of his own pocket.
In another case, she is accused of refusing to allow a defendant to explain that she could not have messing around with a an interlock device on a car (she was out of town at the time of the alleged misconduct). He says that Mullin was ticked that he had disagreed with her on an earlier case and took it out on his next case.
Attorneys complain that she makes them wait hours in her courtroom and sometimes simply walks out without explanation or notice. She is also accused of attacking lawyers or demeaning them. It is rare for lawyers to publicly criticize a judge. After all, there is a fear of a backlash from the judge or her colleagues. However, lawyers have been lining up to publicly denounce Mullin. John Gioffredi, a DWI attorney told the press that Mullin is “the most inefficient and inconsiderate judge” that he has encountered in his career. It has gotten to the point that lawyers routinely seek transfers out of her court and some actually charge clients more if they have to deal with Mullin.
On lawyer, John Corn sent Mullin a letter reflecting this dissatisfaction after he said Mullin accused attorneys standing in line of laughing at her. Corn wrote:
“No one — certainly not a single lawyer who stood in line with me on that day — was laughing at you. To the contrary, we were amusing ourselves during what felt like an interminable wait. . . .You frequently demean and belittle lawyers — most egregiously, in front of clients and others. Tearing up pass slips and telling lawyers to go to the end of the line, for instance. You demand that lawyers approach the bench and concert with you on every single setting in a case, and this often takes an inordinate amount of time … and, in this depression, when clients have little money, you don’t allow enough time for lawyers to collect their fee before final disposition.”
What is astonishing is that despite the disclosure of these allegations and controversies, the Democratic leaders publicly supported her. However she only received 36.4% of the vote Trey Bunch and Lisa Green. Mullin will face Green in a primary runoff election on May 27, 2014. In 2010, she barely defeated Alexander Fitzenhagen in the general election with 51.34% of the vote.
Mullen previously worked in juvenile and family services as well as a probation worker. She earned her undergraduate degree from Texas Woman’s University in Denton and her law degree from Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University in Houston.
Schulte above refers to a Merit Selection plan which is used in two counties or so in Arizona. Missouri has a similar plan used in a few counties and for the appellate judges. The electorate is not savvy enough to choose judges running on a ticket. Preferred private interests can elect their preferred candidate. If one Google’s : Merit Selection or The Missouri Plan, one can read up on this more. Lawyers in that county out there with this nut judge should disqualify her in their cases and that is the short of it.
PRW – Merit selection is also used for the appellate judges in Arizona. This judge would not have made the first cut under merit selection. The chief judge in Maricopa County also keeps statistics on criminal sentences to make sure that similar crimes receive similar sentences. Any one who gets heavy handed or over soft has to talk to the chief judge and explain themselves.
Some people love power;
and the right to demonstrate they have some.
Even though (obviously) they should never have been granted the right
to be wrong
so often!
Mike – specifically how is the Roberts court corrupt?
Well yes the “Roberts” court is corrupt. But on the subject of this judge she is certainly off balance with her assumption of the robes. Texas has a pretty good record of tossing out imperious judges and it is one of the benefits of election over merit selection. The reason she draws opposition on the ballot from BOTH Democrats and Republicans is her record. Party leaders cannot bar someone from the ballot or endorse in primaries as in other states, which is a good thing. Q: Will she survive a run-off? [run-offs also a good thing].
A: Only the voters know.
Were I not so lazy , I would set up a non.profit to accept $$$ to purchase a larger set of panties for her majesty … er , I mean her honor (larger set of drawers for such ♂ judges) .
Why has not someone in TX started a change.org post ?
The “Heydrich” solution is probably contrary to law , and since we are not at war , the “Freisler” solution is not available.
DJB Nemo Me Impune Lacessit
xicano2n2: Your comment makes no sense. The KKK would want her removed because of their skin color. It is possible that she is being allowed to remain because of her skin color. Also, as “truth” commented, possibly because she’s a woman.
By the way, it’s obamanation and holder who try to play the race-card when faced with warranted criticism. Shame on them.
There wass a prosecutor in Tarrant County, Texas who was asked to resign his position. He did so among serious accusations of total disregard for citizen’s constitutional rights. Some argue he sent innocent people to jail knowing they could not afford to pay the expenses related to the defense. He did resign but he and his family had their friend Governor Perry appoint him to the bench in Weatherford, Texas. Trey Loftin was appointed to the position. He embarrassed and humiliated the citizens of Parker County on a daily basis. He appeared to have a GOD fixation. He showed signs of an unshakable belief characterized by consistently inflated feelings of personal ability, privilege and infallibility. Often he participated in ex-parte communications from his office. He refused to admit the possibility that he made errors even in the face of complex or intractable evidence. He regarded his personal opinions as unquestionably correct and felt he could disregard the rules of society. Many in the local legal community lost respect for him.
As soon the citizens had an opportunity to elect someone to be their District Judge they sent Loftin on his way. He has never been elected to a position to this day. Some legal scholars argue that judges should not be elected. In Texas it is not so much the choice to vote for a judge as it is the opportunity to vote against one. That is the process we use to weed out the bad judges? We certainly have our share.
Similar to a recent case in Lansing Michigan where a man with schizophenia admitted to a crime to police and then denied the crime (he was not the perpetrator). The prosecuting attorney charge him with lying to the police and would not hear of dropping the charges until a large outcry from the public via letters to the editor in the local newspaper. Prosecutor and the wrongly charged man are both black. The prosecutor’s father was a prominent local attorney in the 1960’s. He was well spoken but had a great talent of speaking with the ghetto Black dialect when necessary in public forums. These kind of actions are reprehensible but if one says so he/she is immediately termed a racist.
Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely.
Not sure if Judge Mullin ever watched the “Ironside” series
starring Raymond Burr.
Court room needs to be handicap accessible, sugar plum.
This is for those who leave racist comments. I have news for you. Stupid judges don’t come in any particular color or gender. There have been several stories about such judges on this blog.
There was a judge in south Mississippi (white male) years ago who would not allow women lawyers to appear in his courtroom in a pantsuit. They had to wear dresses. Not only that, but the current fashion at the time was long dresses, some almost ankle length. He decreed the skirt any woman wore would come no higher than the top of her kneecap to the bottom of her kneecap. IIRC, his decree also extended to women in the jury pool.
I suppose I should be OK. My kilt is fitted to reach almost to the bottom of my kneecap.
Charlton-Well said. That’s also been my experience. My guess is that Judge Mullin was not exactly setting the world on fire as an attorney.
jimnjoy you kind of remind me of the KKK!
This is not true in every instance, but I have observed over the years when some lawyers put on those black robes, they take on aspects of the Deity.
Funny thing is, in my experience, the ones most likely to act this way are those lawyers who are so bad they could not make it in private practice, but “look like” a judge, so run for the office and win. Kind of like the character Ted Baxter on the old Mary Tyler Moore Show “looked like” a TV anchor.
It’s a shame she’s not a Judge in Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee’s District…They’re both lunatics who seem to get off on abusing people.
I know people regularly make fun of Arizona, but we led the nation in merit selection of our judges in our two largest counties, Maricopa and Pima. Judges are not elected, but are up for re-approval every so often. It is a yes/no vote. If there are more nos than yeses, they lose their job and a new judge is selected. It is not without its faults, but since we started this no judge selected by this system has every lost their job.
If “Blade Runner”, Oscar Pistorius showed up with Dr. OZ,
things would have been different.
“it is the mounting criticism of Mullin that raises the question of why the Democratic party has pushed for her reelection and why the state bar has not investigated allegations of injudicious conduct”
Because
1. She is black
2. She is a woman
I imagine if she weren’t a person of color she would have been removed long ago. Kind-of reminds me of obamanation and holder.
Well excuse me your highness, I mean, Your honor. Who does this judge think she is? She was elected a judge not a king. He conduct is unbecoming a jurist and she should be disciplined.