Meyers thought plea deal was unfair

Meyers

pay his fine after pleading guilty to speeding Aug. 8. The warrant put Meyers at risk of being booked into jail if he were pulled over in a traffic stop.

Efforts to reach Meyers, the longest-serving current judge on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, were unsuccessful Thursday. His payment was confirmed by municipal court staff and a review of online court records.

In a series of interviews Wednesday, however, Meyers said he had declined to pay the fine in order to preserve his right to appeal his conviction, saying he believed the city judge had improperly left him little choice but to accept an unfavorable plea arrangement with prosecutors.

During his final interview Wednesday evening, Meyers at one point said he had decided to pay the fine, and forgo his appeal, “to get this whole thing over with.” Meyers then changed his mind, indicating he wanted to press ahead with his appeal.

News of the arrest warrant spread across the nation Thursday as media Internet sites, legal blogs and the American Bar Association Journal mentioned Meyers’ case. An online version of the Statesman story generated three dozen negative comments from readers, with many accusing Meyers of displaying arrogance or misusing the court system, and a version also ran on the front page of his hometown newspaper, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Meyers’ original ticket included a $193 fine, court records show, and at various times as his case progressed, the municipal court tried to collect a $200 fine.

The $535.90 includes court costs, related fees and a $50 “warrant fee” assessed for the bench warrant for his arrest.

The case began Aug. 12, 2008, when Meyers was pulled over and ticketed for driving 79 mph in what was then a 60 mph zone on North Interstate 35 in Austin.

He entered a not guilty plea but missed his court date, then pleaded no contest when the case was reheard in 2010. Meyers then failed to pay his $200 fine, prompting a municipal court judge to issue the first of three bench warrants for his arrest. That warrant was rescinded after Meyers filed a writ of habeas corpus to overturn his conviction, followed by a motion for a new trial after another hearing and guilty verdict.

“They have never referred cases to us, and they’ve cited the confidentiality rules as a reason for that,” he said.

Defending the agency’s intent with the recommendation, Clancy said it was spurred by the question of “how to pursue sharks and avoid the pursuit of minnows. … We are sometimes hampered to pursue a case because we are primarily an administrative agency, not an enforcement agency.”

“In order for our agency to be effective in enforcing the law, we need a little more resources,” he said.

Untermeyer agreed. “Many people complain this is a toothless agency,” he said. “People shouldn’t complain if we seek to get a few teeth.”