15 lawyers want Dallas County Judge Amber Givens recused from 104 criminal cases

Fifteen criminal defense lawyers are taking the rare step to get an embattled Dallas judge recused from their cases — 104 in total. The lawyers say in court records they can’t get fair trials before state District Judge Amber Givens, who is under investigation by the Texas Department of Public Safety over accusations she ordered a staffer to conduct a virtual hearing in her place last year. Many of the lawyers belong to the Dallas County Defense Lawyers Association, the group that filed a grievance last year with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct against Givens over the accusation. The Commission asked the Texas Rangers to investigate. Givens responded by accusing the lawyers group of defamation and asked a civil court judge to allow her to take depositions from its members. She has denied the accusation and called it an effort to suppress the voters’ choice for the 282nd District Court.

Lawyers affiliated with the group say the civil proceedings alone are enough to have Givens removed from their cases. Prosecutors did not object to the recusals, and joined in some of the requests. Administrative Judge Ray Wheless, who oversees a region including Dallas, granted two attorneys’ requests to transfer five cases to another court during a virtual hearing Friday. Givens did not attend the hearing. Wheless said he will host additional hearings to consider the remaining cases. Givens voluntarily recused herself from about 20 cases not included in the 104, Wheless said. In an email, Givens told The Dallas Morning News that state ethics rules for judges prohibit her from commenting about the recusals, the Rangers investigation or a pending case in which she is a witness. Her lawyer, Nicole Knox, previously said an investigation would show Givens and her staffer did nothing improper. Also on Friday, Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot asked Wheless to recuse his office from the Rangers’ investigation, should they refer a case for prosecution. Attorneys Jeff Lehman and Allan Fishburn, who are seeking recusals, want Givens to testify in one of their cases. They represent Wesley Jones, who Givens said sent her threatening emails in an attempt to thwart his robbery trial last month. A jury found Jones guilty and sentenced him to life in prison. During his trial, Jones enlisted a friend to send racist threats to Givens, authorities allege in an arrest-warrant affidavit. Jones faces a charge of making a terroristic threat against a peace officer or judge. Givens and Jones both are Black.