Board Certified in both Personal Injury and Civil Trial Law, w/family law experience. General Jurisdiction Judge since 2009, prior to that, criminal law judge (2000-2009)
Claims to be rock solid Ted Cruz constitutional conservative Strict constitutionalist.
Claims 4th amendment is being trampled on by lower courts.
Not afraid to take on the status quo/establishment (claims he was nicknamed "Honey Badger" (HB) by those lawyers his county, in which he claims he & Ted Cruz joked about it that they were both HB's in their respective positions.
Wants to expedite the timeframe in which appeals take place
Thank you for the opportunity to correct Judge Wheless once again.
With his written comments on civil asset forfeiture, Judge Wheless reveals that his claim to be a strict constitutional constructionist is merely pandering.
The Texas Constitution gives the Court of Criminal Appeals no civil jurisdiction. Thus, civil asset forfeiture cases will never land in the Court of Criminal Appeals.
Judge Wheless, however, using a daisy-chain of misrepresentations about the Code of Criminal Procedure, claims he would grant jurisdiction to the Court of Criminal Appeals to hear those cases. He does not even acknowledge the Texas Constitution’s explicit limits on the court’s jurisdiction.
Who is he to ignore constitutional limits on the court’s jurisdiction? The same trial judge who ignores higher court precedent: a law unto himself.
In the prosecution of criminal cases, the State, having the burden of proof, gets to speak both first and last during final argument, with the accused citizen having just one opportunity to argue his case. Judge Keel apparently thinks that rule applies in politics. At our forum at the Cypress Tea Party, I spoke first, then she spoke and then, being adamant about getting to speak again, she was allowed to. Therefore, I would have declined the opportunity to address her rebuttal, but because her comments are already posted, I will respond.
Forfeiture of Property:
The Texas Code of Criminal Procedure has two chapters dealing with property seized at the time an arrest, Chapter 18 and Chapter 59. Both authorize the forfeiture of an accused person’s property, which could include unlimited amounts of property. The Eighth Amendment to the U.S.... More
Rebuttal from Opponent - Judge Mary Lou Keel Source
Thank you for notification and for the time you and your committee put into the vetting process.
I just finished watching Judge Wheless' interview for the first time and must point out a couple of things that immediately struck me as misleading:
(1) Asked about civil asset forfeiture abuse, he said that the Court of Criminal Appeals "should take a look at it if the Legislature doesn't."
The Court of Criminal Appeals has no jurisdiction over civil asset forfeiture cases. Those are civil cases that would wind up in the Texas Supreme Court and never in the Court of Criminal Appeals.
(2) Judge Wheless questioned how conservative I am, in part because my brother Terry was endorsed by Joe Strauss in his 2006 race for the Court of Criminal Appeals.
He fails to mention that all but one of the House Republicans... More
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