Judge recuses in ex-Fort Worth cop’s perjury case; jury instruction error won him new trial

Personal discord between a defense attorney and a state district judge whose recusal was compelled last year in the case of a defendant indicted in Tarrant County on murder has again flared and resulted in a raft of new recusals in cases in which the defense attorney also is involved.

In a response to a defense motion that requested he relinquish responsibility in the cases of nine defendants, Judge David Hagerman last week voluntarily recused himself in each, although he suggested he has a harmonious professional relationship with the attorney, Bob Gill.

The motion does not refer by name to the defendant in the 2022 recusal, though details recounted in the document make clear it is Aaron Dean, who was a Fort Worth police officer when in 2019 he shot to death Atatiana Jefferson. A jury in December found Dean guilty of manslaughter at a trial at which another judge presided.

In an order on Sept. 21, Hagerman wrote he, “has no knowledge of the rudeness and hostility cited to in defense counsel’s motion and has in fact, had minimal contact with defense counsel since the filing and granting of defense counsel’s previous motion to recuse, other than to conduct regular business in court.”

Sixty-three of Gill’s cases in the 297th District Court in which Hagerman presides have been disposed without complaint, the judge wrote.

“Since the previous recusal was granted, this Court has signed and approved for payment bills submitted by [Gill] for investigation services provided to [Gill] by [Gill’s] own investigation company ... without question,” Hagerman wrote.

Hagerman’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned in each case in which Gill represents the defendant, the defense attorney argued in the motion.

“Judge Hagerman’s continued attitude towards defense counsel clearly shows that he has a personal bias or prejudice concerning defense counsel.

“With the passage of time and through the course of several proceedings in front of Judge Hagerman, he has grown increasingly hostile, overbearing and rude to defense counsel. This conduct was especially evident in a previous case that resulted in Judge Hagerman’s recusal from that case,” Gill wrote.

A capital murder case in which the defendant is Jacoby Jones is among the cases that will be transferred to other courts. David Evans, the presiding judge of the Eighth Administrative Judicial Region of Texas, will reassign the cases.

The recusal list also includes the case of Jon Romer Jr., a former Fort Worth police officer whose aggravated perjury conviction was reversed on appeal.

The Second Court of Appeals concluded in October that Hagerman erred when he included an element of the instructions used by the jury and that the flaw should be corrected in a new trial. The instruction error resulted in a verdict that made Romer ineligible for probation in the case in which he is accused of intentionally making a false statement during grand jury testimony.

The case stems from a November 2016 encounter in the lobby at Texas Harris Methodist Hospital Fort Worth between Romer and Henry Newson Jr., a patient waiting two hours after his discharge to be picked up.

A special prosecutor alleged Romer lied when he testified under oath to a grand jury that Romer told Newson he was under arrest before the officer struck him.

As they worked in February 2018 to determine whether Romer should be indicted, grand jurors asked Romer why they could not hear him say that Newson was under arrest in a body-worn camera recording.

Romer told the grand jurors that he was certain that he said it and that he could not help them understand why they did not hear it.

The trial jury should not have been asked to consider the consequences of Romer’s statement because what the officer said or did not say could not affect the legal uses of Newson’s statements during the encounter, the appellate court held.

Hagerman denied a Romer defense attorney’s objection to the inclusion of the special issue question. The jury in December 2019 found Romer guilty of aggravated perjury.

Lance Wyatt and Tim Choy represented Romer at trial. Gill and Miles Brissette have represented him since April 2021.

The appellate opinion, written by Justice Dana Womack, concluded the jury should not have also been asked to respond to the special issue question, which it answered affirmatively. Beyond Womack, Justice Elizabeth Kerr and Justice J. Wade Birdwell considered the appeal.

“Nothing in the record shows that the admissibility of any statements Newson made would have been affected by whether Romer had told Newson before striking him that he was under arrest,” Womack wrote in the opinion.

Romer, who was fired by the Fort Worth Police Department when he was found guilty, elected to have Hagerman determine the sentence, which the judge set at five years in prison. The possible sentence range was between two and 10 years.

The Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office recused itself in the aggravated perjury case, and it was handled by special prosecutor Russell Wilson II.

In response to an inquiry from a reporter in November, Wilson wrote in an email that he expected to pursue a new trial. Wilson in June noted the case remained pending and declined to say whether plea negotiations were underway.

On Nov. 5, 2016, Romer subjected Newson to unlawful mistreatment, arrest, and search and seizure, according to a related official oppression indictment. Romer is accused of striking Newson with his fist, choking him with his hands and pushing him.

Romer arrested Newson on suspicion of resisting arrest and criminal trespass. Under prosecutorial discretion, the charges against Newson were dismissed in March 2017.

Newson testified at Romer’s trial that he was waiting at the hospital lobby for his mother to arrive when Romer approached and put his hands on him. Newson said he did not touch the officer.

Romer maintained that Newson was resisting arrest by tensing his muscles, spinning 180 degrees and firmly planting his feet.

In another case, Romer was in February 2011 driving a transport van when he stopped a 32-year-old driver at the request of other officers who had been conducting surveillance on the man during a drug trafficking investigation.

Romer placed his hand into the partially open window of a Ford Expedition to try to unlock the door so Charal Thomas could be arrested on driving offense warrants.

Thomas began rolling up the window and put the sport utility vehicle into gear, speeding off while Romer’s wrist and watch were trapped inside the window. Romer jumped on running boards.

Romer freed his hand and clung to the luggage rack. He said he repeatedly ordered Thomas to stop. Romer fired 12 rounds from his gun. Eight projectiles struck Thomas, killing him.

A grand jury declined to indict Romer. The Fort Worth Police Department concluded the deadly force was justified.