A group of defense lawyers from Dallas County has filed a complaint with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct accusing State District Judge Amber Givens of ordering her court coordinator to pretend to be her during an online court proceeding.
The Dallas Morning News reported that the Dallas County Defense Lawyers Association filed the complaint last week.
The complaint alleges that State District Judge Amber Givens’ coordinator, Arceola Warfield, illegally acted as the judge in a court proceeding to determine a suspect’s bail and conditions for release from jail.
Amanda Branan, the association’s president, said the judge controls almost all aspects of her docket. Consequently, the coordinator did not act independently but at the explicit direction of the judge.
Branan revealed that the association conducted an inquiry with the lawyers who were involved. The inquiry found that the prosecutors in the online proceeding alerted their supervisor, who then contacted the defense attorney telling him the online proceeding had been conducted by the judge’s coordinator.
The supervisor found a note in the files of two probation officers that read, “Judge was not present for the hearing” after approaching them.
According to the complaint, Givens emailed the Dallas County District Attorney, John Creuzot, asking him to fire the prosecutor involved while adding that she plans to file a grievance against him.
According to The DMN, Creuzot confirmed on Wednesday that he got the email from the judge. Creuzot, however, did not give his prosecutors permission to comment on the issue.
Judge Givens denied the allegation, saying the situation could stem from a misunderstanding or a malicious allegation.
Givens claimed she had technical difficulties joining the meeting online, so she gave her log-in credentials to her coordinator. Givens added that she called the coordinator who put her on speaker so she could conduct the proceedings.
Givens told The DMN that she hadn’t received any notifications that she was being investigated, however, the judge recused herself from the case on November 18. She backed the decision, saying it was the right thing to do after learning of the accusation against her.
The Dallas County Sheriff’s Office and Dallas PD have revealed that they are not conducting a criminal investigation into the matter. Creuzot did not give any comment on whether his office is conducting an investigation into the matter.