Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeLocal / Area NewsCourt of Appeals Spanks Kelly Case… Again

Court of Appeals Spanks Kelly Case… Again

https://montgomerycountypolicereporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Hicks.jpgFor the second time in less in than six months, an appellate court has reversed an order dismissing an indictment issued by District Judge Kelly Case. Today the Court of Appeals for the Ninth District of Texas in Beaumont ruled that Case erred in dismissing a five-year-old indictment because the Drug Enforcement Administration declined to reveal to defense attorneys internal records regarding a confidential informant employed by the federal government.

Phillip Edward Norwood was arrested on January 21, 2010, upon completion of a joint state and federal investigation, and was charged with possession of approximately seven kilos of cocaine. Three years later, Judge Case granted a motion for disclosure of the identity of the confidential informant who introduced an undercover police officer to Norwood. Although prosecutors opposed the motion for disclosure, the DEA complied with the order by disclosing the identity of the informant to Norwood’s attorneys. Judge Case then granted another defense motion seeking disclosure of “the entire law enforcement/DEA file” for the informant and a “complete list of all cases wherein [the confidential informant] was utilized by law enforcement . . . [and] his compensation.” When the DEA declined access to the records, in accordance with federal regulations, Judge Case dismissed Norwood’s indictment on February 17, 2015.

District Attorney Brett Ligon appealed Judge Case’s order. This morning the Court of Appeals in Beaumont held that, “Because the trial court could not require the State to disclose evidence that was in the DEA’s possession, custody, or control, dismissal of the case was improper,” and it remanded the case to the district court for further proceedings on the indictment.

Judge Case’s handling of Norwood’s case stands in sharp contrast to the disposition of the case against his codefendant, Armando Hicks. Hicks’s indictment was transferred to the 359th District Court in 2011, and after his motion for disclosure of the identity of the informant was denied, he was convicted of possession of cocaine on August 25, 2011, and was sentenced to imprisonment for life. Hicks’s conviction and life sentence were affirmed by the Court of Appeals for the Thirteenth District of Texas in Corpus Christi, Texas, on February 28, 2013. Two and a half years later, Norwood’s case is still pending in Judge Case’s court.

“Sometimes the wheels of justice grind very slowly in the Ninth District Court,” said Ligon today.

In April the Beaumont court of appeals held that Judge Case erred in dismissing an indictment charging Michael Burl Massingill with the offense of online solicitation of a minor, and remanded the case to his court. Judge Case has since held in another case that the online-solicitation-of-a-minor statute is unconstitutional, and Ligon is appealing that order.

The Beaumont court of appeals previously held in April of 2014 that Judge Case erred in granting a new trial to Kevin Ray Sneed, who was convicted of evading police in a motor vehicle. In February of that year, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed Case’s order for additional DNA testing in the Larry Ray Swearingen capital murder case. In addition, Case has been the subject of five mandamus proceedings, four of which resulted in the Court of Appeals finding that Case was required to withdraw unlawful orders. A fifth mandamus petition was dismissed after Case withdrew an expansive discovery order in the Massingill case.

 

 

Source: Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office

- Advertisment -
RELATED ARTICLES
- Advertisment -
- Advertisment -

Most Popular

- Advertisment -

Recent Comments

- Advertisment -