Judge Reprimanded After Telling Jurors She 'Did Not Believe The Victim Was Raped At All'

[TexasTowelie]

A judge in Dallas, Texas has been sanctioned by the state’s judicial ethics oversight board after being accused of interfering in a case involving her nephew and shaming jurors who convicted a rapist in her court.

District Judge Teresa Hawthorne was given a Public Reprimand by the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct late last week.

The commission accused Hawthorne of abusing “the prestige of her office to help resolve her nephew’s pending case” and also claims that she “failed to treat jurors [in the case of the convicted rapist before her court] with patience, dignity and courtesy when she shamed and reprimanded them for their verdict.”

Nora Creed, the foreperson in the case involving the convicted rapist, said Hawthorne told the jury that their “punishment was too harsh,” and that she “did not believe the victim was raped at all.” Another juror, Jennifer Galek, remembers the following tsk-tsk received from the judge upon convicting the rapist:

Quite frankly, I am disturbed. I am disturbed by the way you came back with such a harsh verdict and sentence for this man’s life in such a short time. Did you even discuss the details of the case at all? I can tell y’all this. If I had been a juror on this case, it would have been a hung jury.

Read more: https://lawandcrime.com/crazy/judge-reprimanded-after-telling-jurors-she-did-not-believe-the-victim-was-raped-at-all/

Judge Hawthorne is a Democrat, but the voters in her district might want to find a better candidate.

[left-of-center2012]

1. How does a judge become involved in a relative's case?

[JDC]

3. No kidding.

[cpamomfromtexas]

2. This one claims to be a democrat. But she is a fake one

[TexasTowelie]

4. That is a possibility.

Dallas County has shifted from red to blue to red and back to blue again. During those years there were numerous judges that changed their political affiliations depending on which way the wind blew. I think that she exercised poor judgment and an alternative needs to be found so that we don't relinquish that judgeship or cause other court positions to be flipped back to the Republicans.