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Due Process? In the current Judiciary? That’s just an Outrageous and Frivolous Request from any litigant.

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— LawsInTexas (@lawsintexasusa) December 28, 2020

State Admonishes San Antonio judge for Violating Due Process

Originally Published: Sept. 12, 2020 | Republished by LIT: Dec. 28, 2020

A longtime Bexar County court-at-law judge has been ordered to complete two hours of professional education after being admonished by the State Commission on Judicial Standards for denying a defendant due process.

The commission publicly admonished Judge Wayne Christian for failing to have a witness sworn in, denying prosecutors the opportunity to be heard on a motion to revoke, denying the defendant the right to present evidence and denying the defendant bail pending appeal in violation of the state judicial code.

Attorney John Convery, who represented Christian in the matter, said the judge “took full responsibility” for what he called “a misunderstanding and miscommunication with the defense counsel.”

“Before it went to the commission, he revised his procedures in his court and is endeavoring to ensure something like this doesn’t happen again,” Convery said.

Probation case

The admonishment stems from a case involving Allison Jacobs, who was convicted of driving while intoxicated in 2017 and was placed on community supervision/probation.

The document states that Oct. 1, 2018, Christian presided over the state’s third motion to revoke probation over allegations that Jacobs had tested positive for methamphetamine and had failed three drug tests, according to a probation officer who was not sworn in.

Jacobs pleaded “not true” to the allegations. Her defense counsel said Jacobs denied taking methamphetamines and said she didn’t show any signs of taking the illegal drug. The attorney said she was taking diet pills and that her mother would testify to that on her daughter’s behalf.

1-year sentence

Two weeks before Jacobs was to complete her probation, Christian granted the state’s motion to revoke and sentenced Jacobs to one year in jail. The defense asked for a contested hearing, but Christian denied that.

Jacobs appealed the judgment revoking her probation and filed a motion for reasonable bond pending appeal.

On June 12, 2019, the 4th Court of Appeals sided with Jacobs and reversed the judgment of the trial court and remanded it for further proceedings.

The appellate court held that Christian “deprived Jacobs of due process, including her right to disclosure of the evidence against her, an opportunity to be heard, present evidence and cross-examine witnesses, and a neutral and detached hearing body.”

Procedure cited

Christian, a retired Army colonel and a judge for more than 30 years, responded in writing to the commission, stating he believed the hearing to be “uncontested or informal,” and that his procedures were the same used by other judges and that he has used for 15 years.

He said “in retrospect,” he should have stopped the proceedings, considered the matter a miscommunication or misunderstanding and conducted a formal contested hearing.

The commission has ordered Christian to complete the education courses within 60 days of the order, which was dated Aug. 12 and made public Sept. 4.

Christian, a Republican who presides over Bexar County Court-at-Law No. 6, oversees misdemeanor cases in Veterans Treatment Court and thousands of other cases in his regular court.