I wish her well in resolving this.
Judge Kelli Johnson
Judge Kelli Johnson, 52, entered the misdemeanor courtroom — 11 floors below her 178th District Court bench — to face an elected official like herself as hundreds of defendants have done in her place. A prosecutor’s recitation of the probable cause that led to Johnson’s June 25 arrest was delayed until outside counsel could be appointed on behalf of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, who announced plans to recuse themselves.
The judge anticipates a special prosecutor will be tapped to the case by the week’s end.
Judge Leslie Johnson, who is presiding over the jurist’s case, held off on determining whether Johnson will require random urinalysis as part of her bail conditions until a new prosecutor joins the case.
Houston police arrested Johnson in the 7600 block of Kempwood Drive on the DWI charge. The arrest followed a traffic stop in April in which a Harris County sheriff’s deputy suspected that she had been drinking alcohol but issued her a verbal warning for speeding after she passed a field sobriety test, according to body-worn camera audio from the traffic stop that the Chronicle reviewed.
She took several weeks off from the bench in May and June after the traffic stop. She has since recused herself from felony driving while intoxicated cases, court officials said.
See here for the background. Reading this story, I apparently thought she had been arrested at that traffic stop in April, making this the second time she had been busted. That’s not the case and I regret the error. Even one drunk driving arrest is a serious matter, and just because she wasn’t charged with anything at that earlier traffic stop doesn’t mean she had been driving without incident. I say this to say that I want Judge Johnson to be healthy and safe, and if there is an underlying problem that needs to be addressed, which I hope she would recognize, then she needs to prioritize that. In the meantime, the next hearing is set for August 6, at which she is not required to appear, and we should have an appointed prosecutor for the case.