State commission dismisses complaints against Judge Inna Klein
The State Commission on Judicial Conduct on Friday dismissed complaints filed against state District Judge Inna Klein based on “corrective actions” the judge took after it came to light that jury deliberations in her courtroom were being recorded and broadcasted during a murder trial last fall.
The commission, which investigates allegations of judicial misconduct, issued its decision after meeting Thursday to discuss the complaints lodged against Klein. The commission considered its investigative findings and written responses from Klein, who presides over the 214th District Court.
“After a thorough review, as mandated by the laws concerning its procedures, the Commission voted to dismiss the complaints based on the corrective actions (Klein) took to address the concerns surrounding the recording of jury deliberations,” the letter, signed by the commission’s executive director, Jacqueline Habersham, and obtained by the Caller-Times on Friday, reads.
In a November 2021 motion, First Assistant District Attorney Angelica Hernandez accused Klein of watching the jury deliberations in the trial of Derek Parra via her courtroom camera system and allowing "members of her staff, defense counsel, and state prosecutor" to watch the deliberations.
Klein recused herself from the case on the same day the motion was filed — also the day the punishment phase was set to begin.
The letter does not state what corrective actions were taken.
The Caller-Times asked for more information on those actions. Klein declined to expand on the letter through her court manager, who wrote, “I was informed (the letter) is all the information we have at this point.”
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The commission’s decision comes four days after a San Antonio judge, Sid Harle, ordered Klein to be recused from two criminal cases due to a conflict between her and the district attorney's office, which filed the complaint to the commission — marking the second and third cases from which she has been removed due to the recording incident.
Signaling the orders could affect other criminal cases in Klein’s court, Nueces County District Attorney Mark Gonzalez sent a letter requesting the judge be recused from all cases in which his office is involved — a request that, if granted, could delay hundreds of cases at a time when the county is facing a growing court backlog and an overcrowded and out-of-compliance jail.
Gonzalez did not immediately respond to an inquiry from the Caller-Times on Friday about the commission’s decision.
In his Monday letter, Gonzalez said both sides must be confident “concerning the impartiality of the proceedings” and avoid the possibility or appearance of bias in order for justice to be properly administered.
“As a result, the Nueces County District Attorney's Office requests that Judge Klein recuse herself from any matter wherein the Nueces County District Attorney's Office is a party and/or a party-representative,” Gonzalez's letter read.
The order from Harle left the door open for Klein to continue presiding over criminal cases in which the district attorney's office is a party under one condition: if Klein discloses the conflict and the defense agrees to waive it.
“This Order does not prohibit the Trial Court to disclose the nature of the conflict and allow future defendants and their counsel to potentially waive the conflict and proceed before the Court, or to request recusal while the conflict exists between the Court and the District Attorney,” the order reads.
To what degree the commission’s decision could affect the findings, if at all, was not immediately clear. Whether Gonzalez’s request will be granted also remains to be seen.
Defense attorney Terry Shamsie, who represents the defendants in the two criminal cases that Harle ruled in, said the commission’s decision should not affect the Monday ruling because Klein still did not disclose the conflict.
“The truth is the truth. She admitted that she (took) corrective action because the allegations are truthful. She had to remove the recorder. She had to stop letting people watch a jury deliberate, which is like 101 basics,” Shamsie told the Caller-Times on Friday. “Well, that's good. She's going to start following the law, but you're supposed to follow the law all the time. You're a judge.”
Klein, a Republican, won the seat in 2016, beating longtime Democratic District Judge Jose Longoria. She ran unopposed for reelection in 2020. State district judges in Texas hold four-year terms.
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This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: State commission dismisses complaints against Judge Inna Klein
