An administrative judge on July 22 refused to recuse 204th District Judge Lena Levario from a case in which she held Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins in contempt, but did not assess a punishment against the DA. Now the case heads back to Levario, presumably so she can assess a fine against Watkins.
In March, Watkins refused to testify in a hearing before Levario in which wealthy Dallas heir Albert G. Hill III sought to have several mortgage fraud indictments against him quashed. Hill alleged the criminal charges were the result of influence allegedly exerted on Watkins by Hill's former civil lawyer Lisa Blue Baron, with whom Hill has a multimillion-dollar attorney-fee dispute. Levario ultimately dismissed the charges against Hill [See "DA Craig Watkins Files Recusal Motion in Contempt Proceeding," Texas Lawyer, July 22, 2013].
