Inadmissible

In 2006, U.S. District Judge Richard Schell of the Eastern District of Texas sentenced Michael Allen Hammonds to 55 months in prison after Hammonds pleaded guilty to bank robbery. Now, Hammonds could spend additional time in prison for allegedly threatening Schell. On April 7, a federal grand jury in Texarkana indicted Hammonds on two counts of mailing a threatening communication in violation of 8 U.S.C. §876. As alleged in the indictment in United States v. Hammonds, Hammonds mailed a letter to Schell in April 2009 that reads in part: “You took 55 months of my life. I just wanted to tell you it’s about over and one day you will have to pay for the 55 months you gave me my way.” The indictment further alleges that in August 2009, Hammonds mailed another letter to Schell that reads in part, “See you when I get out. Sleep well.” Gregg A. Marchessault , the assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting Hammonds, says Hammonds, if convicted, could receive up to 10 years in prison for each letter. Marchessault says Hammonds, who is incarcerated in a federal Bureau of Prisons facility, does not have an attorney representing him.

Place 3 Race

Debra Lehrmann , judge of the 360th District Court in Fort Worth, won the April 13 Republican primary runoff for Place 3 on the Texas Supreme Court, defeating Dripping Springs solo Rick Green . Lehrmann received 52 percent of the vote versus Green’s 48 percent, according to the Texas secretary of state’s Web site. “I am thankful and grateful,” says Lehrmann. A recorded telephone message at Green’s campaign office asks reporters to refer to his statement on his Web site, which reads in part: “Our race was a David vs. Goliath battle of average citizens against the entire establishment of lobbyists and big law firms. Even after the five-to-one money advantage . . . the race came down to the wire. The people of Texas are looking for leaders with an understanding of our nation’s founding principles and founding documents, as well as the backbone to fight for those principles.” Lehrmann says Green called her the evening of April 13 to concede and pledged to have his supporters back her. In a telephone interview on April 15, Green says his post-election conversation with Lehrmann was brief and did not include any commitment from him to have his supporters back her bid. “I haven’t said yes or no to that,” says Green. “I haven’t had a discussion with her about that, and I would like to make that clear.” In November, Lehrmann faces Democrat Jim Sharp , a justice on Houston’s 1st Court of Appeals. Lehrmann says she plans to start preparing for the November general election now. She notes that Sharp has a particularly familiar name, which in the past has proven to be an asset in judicial races. (He bears the same last name as John Sharp, a former state representative and railroad commissioner and onetime candidate for lieutenant governor.) What are Sharp’s odds, given that a Democrat hasn’t been elected to the high court for 18 years? Sharp says, “The Jim Sharp for Supreme Court campaign has a big hill to climb. I’m in the race, but we’ll see how it goes.” He plans to campaign over the next few months but says he also will be busy with his day job, reviewing and deciding cases on the 1st Court. As the only Democrat on his court, Sharp says, he is “not riding the same railroad” as the other judges on his court, and drafting dissents requires more work than simply signing on with the majority. Politically, Sharp says, rural parts of Texas remain decidedly more “red” or Republican. He views Dallas County as “blue” or Democratic and Harris and Bexar counties as purple, up for grabs by both parties.

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