Dallas County family violence judge candidate charged with family violence crime

A candidate for Dallas County’s family violence court faces a charge of family violence, according to court records.

Elissa Wev, 35, is running to be the judge of Criminal Court 10, which handles cases of family violence. She has worked for the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office since 2016, according to her campaign website.

According to court records, Wev was booked and released Thursday morning on a surety bond. She faces a charge of assault causing bodily injury/family violence from an incident that occurred on Dec. 7.

A spokesperson for the Dallas Sheriff’s Department said Wev had already posted bond when she arrived at the jail and was booked. She was fingerprinted and a mugshot was taken, then she was released.

Dallas police did not immediately respond to an emailed request for information and a copy of the arrest warrant affidavit. The Dallas Morning News reported Friday, that according to the affidavit, Wev is accused of tackling her former partner to try and grab her cell phone to see who she was communicating with as they were packing following a breakup.

The Dallas Morning News reported that the affidavit stated the fight about the phone continued as Wev and her former partner moved into the bathroom of the house. There, Wev allegedly closed the door and once again tackled her former partner, pinning her to the floor and pushing her head and neck against a heater. Wev then reportedly gave up and left the bathroom, but then attacked her former partner again in the living room. When Wev’s former partner escaped to another room and locked the door, Wev used a broomstick to try to break through the glass of the door, police said in the affidavit, according to the Dallas Morning News.

Police also said in the affidavit that the former partner recorded a video on her phone during the attack in the living room and and shared it with them, according to the Dallas Morning News. She also shared photos that were taken during the attacks, and a friend of Wev’s former partner said she saw the woman’s knuckles were bandaged and bloody a week after the fight.

According to the affidavit, Wev apologized to her former partner after attacking her and said she was out of her mind after the former partner said she was going to make a phone call, the Dallas Morning News reported. Police note in the affidavit that Wev does not have a history of family violence.

According to the affidavit, Wev and her former partner had been in a relationship for seven years, the Dallas Morning News reported.

Wev was a featured speaker at the Convention on Crimes against Women in 2020 and 2021, according to her campaign website. Wev says on the website that she is running because she believes a family violence court judge should understand what those who come through the court have experienced.

“Equity, efficiency, and expertise in the dynamics of dating and family violence are necessary to ensure all of Dallas County receives equal access to justice,” Wev wrote on her website. “I have a vision of addressing family violence that is centered on accountability through healing, providing dignity to survivors and those who offend.”