A special court of review has condemned former Judge Etta Mullin’s conduct and sanctioned her with a public reprimand—a higher level of discipline than Mullin’s public admonition by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, which she had appealed to the special court.
The special court found on Oct. 21 that the evidence in an August trial de novo proved that Mullin, former judge of Dallas County Criminal Court No. 5, treated lawyers and criminal defendants with disrespect, failed to follow the law by inserting herself into recusal proceedings, and failed to follow the law by requiring criminal defendants to make payments for costs and fees before she would accept their plea deals.
