Public Admonition for Texas Judge Who Called Litigant's Testimony 'Crap'
State District Judge Jonathan Bailey's “course of conduct throughout the entire proceeding showed a deep-seated antagonism for father that violated father’s constitutional right to a fair trial,” the public admonition said.
August 02, 2019 at 01:12 PM
4 minute read
State District Judge Jonathan Bailey was publicly admonished for showing deep antagonism for a father in a child-custody case and violating the father’s rights to due process and a fair trial.
The Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct this week released the July 16 public admonition, which condemns Bailey’s conduct.
Judicial ethics rules require judges to recuse themselves when it’s appropriate, to be patient, dignified and courteous to those who appear before them in court, and to perform their duties without bias or prejudice.
“Judge Bailey’s course of conduct throughout the entire proceeding showed a deep-seated antagonism for father that violated father’s constitutional right to a fair trial,” the public admonition said. “The judge failed to treat father with patience, dignity and courtesy by characterizing his trial testimony as ‘ridiculous’ and ‘crap’ and threatening him with prosecution for perjury.”
Bailey didn’t immediately return a call or email seeking comment. However, when he responded to the judicial misconduct complaint, he admitted to making mistakes in the case that ruined his impartiality as a judge and violated the father’s rights.
“He stated that he recognizes the mistakes he made in the father’s case and, ‘will not repeat them,’” said the public admonition.
The admonition explained that Bailey, judge of Denton County’s 431st District Court, presided over two cases involving the same parents. In both cases, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services was seeking temporary managing conservatorship, or to terminate parental rights. The first case involved two older children and the second involved a baby, Luke. Bailey acted inappropriately toward Luke’s father during the entire proceeding in Luke’s case, the admonition said.
For example, he expedited Luke’s case based upon what happened in the older siblings’ cases. The judge told the father that his poor performance completing recommended services in the older children’s cases made Bailey skeptical it would be different in Luke’s case.
“I am frankly not holding my breath, and I don’t think it is in Luke’s best interest to delay the inevitable,” Bailey told the father, according to the admonition.
The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services told Bailey it wasn’t ready for the termination trial because the goal was family reunification, and Luke’s father was making progress. The father’s court-appointed lawyer also wanted a continuance to prepare for trial. The judge eventually granted a one-week delay, but admonished the department for failing to make parents follow orders and failing to seek termination.
“Bottom line is, father is the one that elected to put himself in the corner, put his back against the wall. I think the child’s permanency is an overriding concern, and I’m gonna continue to focus on that,” the judge said, according to the admonition. “From what I hear his is not capable of looking out for himself right now, much less a child.”
In March 2017, the father’s case proceeded to trial, and Bailey said he was taking judicial notice of the court’s file for Luke’s older siblings. The judge’s derogatory comments toward the father continued, with the judge warning the father not to “start lying” or he would “call downstairs and have them prosecute you for perjury.” He questioned the father’s lack of child support payments and failure to provide Luke’s foster family with baby gear, such as a car seat or crib.
“You understand why that upsets me? It insults me as a father and as a judge to hear that crap. Because all you care about is you, not that child,” Bailey told the father, according to the admonition.
In the end, the judge terminated the father’s parental rights on April 10, 2017. The father appealed.
In September 2017, the Second Court of Appeals in Fort Worth reversed Bailey’s order and remanded the case for a trial before a new judge. The appellate opinion detailed Bailey’s inappropriate conduct throughout the proceeding. Among other things, it said the judge stopped being an impartial fact finder and started acting as an advocate for terminating the father’s rights, according to a summary of its ruling included in the admonition. It also said Bailey coerced the department into seeking termination, rather than reunification, and that he was biased against the father.
|Read the public admonition:
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllEven With New Business Courts, Texas Is a Long Way from Taking Delaware's Corporate Law Mantle
5 minute read'Courts Do Get It Wrong': Legal Experts Discuss State-Law Certification Pros and Cons
9 minute readTrending Stories
- 1Infant Formula Judge Sanctions Kirkland's Jim Hurst: 'Overtly Crossed the Lines'
- 2Preparing Your Law Firm for 2025: Smart Ways to Embrace AI & Other Technologies
- 3Abbott, Mead Johnson Win Defense Verdict Over Preemie Infant Formula
- 4Greenberg Traurig Initiates String of Suits Following JPMorgan Chase's 'Infinite Money Glitch'
- 5It's Time Law Firms Were Upfront About Who Their Salaried Partners Are
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250