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June 20, 2008

Delays, drug test results argued Thursday

By Loyd Cook The Corsicana Daily Sun Fri Jun 20, 2008, 12:25 AM CDT

It was almost a smorgasbord of legal arguments and different sides of the judicial process.

A pre-trial hearing and discussions about other proceedings were held Thursday as part of the continuing legal issues facing suspended justice of the peace Donna Murray.

A recent drug test presumed to be positive, motions connected with a civil proceeding, discussions of upcoming motions in a criminal proceeding, and scheduling for all of the proceedings against Murray were topics of a two-hour session in the county courtroom.

Murray was arrested in October 2007 for possession of methamphetamine. She was indicted the same month. Subsequently, the State Commission on Judicial Conduct suspended her with pay. Earlier this year, visiting Judge George Allen of Waco ruled that the suspension would be without pay, stripping her of the salary going with the job.

Last week, Murray was again arrested, this time for attempting to run a background check on a private citizen. She has been charged with a Class B misdemeanor in that case.

Thursday, during the end of scheduling discussions connected with all the proceedings, Navarro County District Attorney R. Lowell Thompson told Judge Allen he would be presenting a motion to increase Murray’s bail, saying that she had again failed a drug test.

The drug test was given after her arrest last week, Thompson said. It marks the second failed drug test by Murray since her arrest last year.

Her defense counsel, Dallas attorney Larry Finstrom, argued against the validity of the latest drug test. He said Murray passed a drug test the next day and a hair follicle test, which checks for drug use for the previous 90 days, was negative for the presence of a controlled substance.

Thompson said the disagreement makes necessary a pre-trial hearing — connected with the criminal charges — to make a determination on those claims. He expressed confidence in the results of the drug test given by local law enforcement.

Finstrom said he would be arguing a motion to have the district attorney recused from prosecuting the case. The defense attorney said he would also be arguing a motion that would ask the judge to throw out the October 2007 search of Murray’s personal vehicle, the search that yielded the methamphetamine and resulted in the drug charge now pending against her.

That hearing, connected with the criminal proceeding, is tentatively set for 3 p.m. Monday, June 23. All parties agreed, should they not be able to hold the hearing Monday, that it would be held some time next week.

As for the civil trial, its original date of June 30 is now void, after the pre-trial hearing held Thursday. Both Finstrom and assistant attorney general Kent Richardson agreed they needed more time to prepare.

Richardson is amending charges in the removal-from-office civil case to include the latest criminal charge against Murray from last week. That triggers constitutional requirements for the sharing of evidence between prosecutors and defense counsel.

No new date on the civil trial was set during Thursday’s actions.

Two motions made by Finstrom in that civil proceeding were denied by Judge Allen yesterday.

The magistrate ruled that the district court does have jurisdiction over the removal-from-office case, denying Finstrom’s argument that the decision is totally the responsibility of the State Commission on Judicial Conduct.

Judge Allen also affirmed the attorney general’s ability to prosecute the civil case, denying Finstrom’s claims that the constitution has no provision for the attorney general to step in when the district attorney is forced, by law, to recuse himself in a civil matter that could result in the removal of an elected official from office.

The date for a criminal trial on the methamphetamine charge is still set for July 14, but even that scheduling is beginning to look like it might change.

Both sides weren’t sure if they would be ready in time, but thought it might still be possible. Judge Allen instructed both the district attorney’s office and defense counsel to keep him apprised of that issue.

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Loyd Cook may be reached via e-mail at lcook@corsicanadailysun.com

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Murray back in court

Delays, drug test results argued Thursday

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