Because a visiting judge used a subjective, instead of objective, legal standard in deciding a disqualification and recusal motion, an Austin lawyer convicted of theft from the Pedernales Electric Cooperative will get a second chance to argue that the trial judge shouldn't have presided over his case.
The 3rd Court of Appeals has abated the appeal filed by former Clark, Thomas & Winters shareholder Walter Demond and remanded the case. The Austin appellate court instructed the visiting judge, Senior Judge Bert Richardson, to use a different legal standard during a new disqualification and recusal hearing regarding 424th District Judge Daniel H. Mills.
