While a similar state law claim against him has been allowed to go forward, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has dismissed a federal malicious prosecution case filed against a former Beaumont state district judge who allegedly had a process server arrested for showing up at the courthouse to serve a lawsuit on him.
The background to the dispute is as follows according to the Fifth Circuit’s recent decision in Hartman v. Walker: In 2013, process server Stephen Hartman attempted to serve a summons on 252nd District Court Judge Layne Walker while he was presiding in his courtroom. Walker served on the bench from 2003 until his retirement in 2014. He joined Beaumont’s Provost Umphrey in 2015.
