DA opposes judge removal in Santa Fe case
Less than a week after attorneys representing the man accused of killing 10 people at Santa Fe High School in 2018 sought to remove the judge overseeing the case, prosecutors are formally opposing that request.
Galveston County District Attorney Jack Roady this week filed a response to a motion to recuse Judge Jeth Jones, arguing defense attorneys’ reasons to seek removing him weren’t enough to show unfair bias.
“Even assuming arguendo that defendant’s allegations are true, he has not established bias or prejudice by Judge Jones that would warrant recusal,” the motion asserts. “Indeed, defendant faults Judge Jones only for his remarks, unfavorable rulings and opinions expressed concerning the efforts taken so far, and proposed future efforts, to restore defendant’s competency.”
Defense attorneys must show not just bias, but that the judge’s bias denies a defendant due process of law, the motion asserts.
Nicholas Poehl, one of attorneys of Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 22, last week accused the judge of being determined to hire someone to find his client competent to stand trial and moving to do so behind the scenes, even as he publicly agreed to keep Pagourtzis committed for at least another year at the North Texas State Hospital in Vernon.
Jones last week said rules around recusal motions stop him from commenting on them. But the motion will be referred to regional Presiding Judge Susan Brown for handling, Jones said.
A hearing to determine whether to approve the recusal motion is tentatively set for 9:30 a.m. April 20, according to Galveston County court records.
Pagourtzis was committed to the hospital based on mental health evaluations by three doctors.
He is facing charges of capital murder of multiple persons and aggravated assault against a public servant in connection with the mass shooting, according to court records. He has been committed to the state hospital since November 2019.
He is accused of entering Santa Fe High School on May 18, 2018, with a sawed-off shotgun and a .38-caliber pistol, and killing eight students and two teachers and injuring 13. A junior at the school at the time, Pagourtzis admitted to being the mass shooter after his arrest, according to court documents.