Carter Schildknecht
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Carter Tinsley Schildknecht is the judge of the 106th District Court in Texas.[1] She was appointed to the court by former Republican Governor Rick Perry in July 2001, filling an unexpired term left by the retirement of Judge George Hansard.[2][3] She was re-elected after running unopposed on November 4, 2014, for a term beginning on January 1, 2015, and expired on December 31, 2018.[4][5]
Elections
2014
See also: Texas judicial elections, 2014
Schildknecht ran for re-election to the 106th District Court.
Primary: She ran unopposed in the Republican primary on March 4, 2014.
General: She won without opposition in the general election on November 4, 2014.
[5][6]
2010
Schildknecht was re-elected to the 106th District Court after running unopposed.[7]
Education
Schildknecht earned an A.A. degree from Stephens College, going on to receive her J.D. from Texas Tech University. She was admitted to the bar in 1992.[8]
Career
Prior to her judicial appointment in 2001, Schildknecht was a partner with the law firm of Renner, Snell and Schildknecht.[3]
Noteworthy cases
Jury mistake leads to light sentence for drunk driver
A drunk driver was convicted of causing an accident that resulted in a 10-year-old boy losing his leg, but his sentence included no jail time due to an error by the jury. Sammy Carl Williams was found guilty of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, intoxicated assault and failure to stop and render aid. When Williams appeared in court, the jury submitted its verdict to Judge Schildknecht who recommended that the defendant to be placed on probation. After the judge read the verdict, the bailiff reported to her, "The foreman of the jury is telling me that they didn't do that right. They wanted him to get 10 years and then probation." Later, all 12 jury members filed affidavits with the court explaining that they had filled out the form incorrectly and intended to issue the harsher verdict. However, Judge Schildknecht decided that it was too late to change the verdict.[9]
| “ | I have received a verdict...I have read it. Not only read it, but I have sentenced the defendant according to the verdict...now all I have to do is place the conditions on the community supervision.[10] | ” |
| —Judge Carter Schildknecht[9] | ||
District Attorney Michael Munk appealed the case to the Seventh Court of Appeals which upheld the lower court's verdict. The dismissal order read in part,
| “ | The record is clear the trial court received the verdict and ascertained through questioning the presiding juror that the verdict was unanimous.[10] | ” |
Articles:
Noteworthy events
Public reprimand issued against Schildknecht
On May 11, 2015, the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct issued a public admonition against Schildknecht for her conduct while presiding on the bench. The commission cited three specific incidents. The first took place on July 2014, in which Schildknecht referred to a district attorney as a "New York Jew," and later expelled him from her courtroom. The second incident also took place in July 2014, and involved Schildknecht's probation revocation court session, which lasted from 1:00 p.m. on July 2, 2014 until 4:00 a.m. on July 3, 2014. The third incident involved Schildknecht's comments regarding the beard of an assistant district attorney, to whom she stated: "You look like a Muslim, and I wouldn’t hire you with it."[12][13]
The commission found that Schildknecht "failed to comply with the law and demonstrated a lack of professional competence in the law," that she "failed to treat litigants, attorneys and others with patience, dignity and courtesy," and, as evidenced by her words, Schildknecht "manifested a religious and/or cultural bias." The commission then issued the public admonition against Schildknecht and further ordered her to receive mentoring from another judge as well as obtain additional education in the areas of the "Open Courts" doctrine and "eliminating explicit and implicit bias and/or prejudice."[12]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Dawson County Texas, "106th District," accessed December 3, 2014
- ↑ Lamesa Press-Reporter, "Schildknecht seeks re-election as district judge," November 16, 2013 (dead link)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, "Lamesa attorney given court bench," July 27, 2001
- ↑ Judgepedia.org, "Judicial selection in Texas," accessed November 21, 2014
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Texas Secretary of State, "2014 March Primary Election Candidate Filings by County (A-L)"
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "2014 March Primary Election Candidate Filings by County (M-Z)" (Search "Dawson")
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "2010 General Election," November 2, 2010
- ↑ Martindale, "Carter Tinsley Schildknecht Judge Profile," accessed December 3, 2014
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 KCBD, "KCBD Investigates: In Pursuit of Justice," October 7, 2014
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, "Appeals court: Probated sentence stands for Tahoka drunken driver who took boy's leg," September 23, 2015
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct, "Public Admonition and Order of Additional Education: Honorable Carter Tinsley Schildknecht," May 11, 2015
- ↑ The Texas Tribune, "Judge Who Referred to DA as "New York Jew" is Reprimanded," May 18, 2015
Federal courts:
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Texas, Western District of Texas, Northern District of Texas, Southern District of Texas • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Texas, Western District of Texas, Northern District of Texas, Southern District of Texas
State courts:
Texas Supreme Court • Texas Court of Appeals • Texas Court of Criminal Appeals • Texas District Courts • Texas County Courts • Texas County Courts at Law • Texas Statutory Probate Courts • Texas Justice of the Peace Courts
State resources:
Courts in Texas • Texas judicial elections • Judicial selection in Texas
