By ANDY HOGUE, Register Staff Writer
Candidates for the top judicial spot in Cooke County participated in a moderated forum Monday night to a full room of Republican voters at the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce building.
District Judge candidates Janelle Haverkamp, incumbent, and Martin Peterson, challenger, spoke at the forum, sponsored by the Cooke County Republican Eagle Club.
A story on the candidates for Sheriff appeared in Wednesday’s Register, and a report on the District Attorney candidate’s comments is set to appear in Friday’s edition.
Each candidate was given a few minutes for introductions. Haverkamp briefly outlined her role in the legal system.
“I believe the office of District Judge is a position of public trust,” Haverkamp said. “I believe as the district judge I’m a highly visible symbol of the legal system.”
She noted her record as District Attorney, which included trying three capital murder cases, and said she has earned the respect of litigants and law enforcement officers during her nearly 12 years of public service.
“I realize that the district court bench is not my bench. It’s your bench,” she said.
Peterson spared the introductory remarks and addressed his grievances with Haverkamp’s judgeship. He noted the Dec. 21, 2006, indictment of Bobby Joe Stacy for methamphetamine possession.
“But his case was not set for trial until Sept. 24, 2007. What happened during those nine months?” Peterson said. “We progressed at a snail’s pace, through an arraignment, an announcement, a hearing on pre-trial motions, each step set months apart.”
According to the case file, Stacy was arrested on April 4, 2006, and was not indicted by the District Attorney’s office until Dec. 21, 2006.
Peterson said Stacy took up a bunk at the jail taking taxpayer’s money during the time between his indictment and his conviction.
“Was Stacy’s case the aberration or the norm? Sadly, the norm,” Peterson said.
He said 18 persons presently in the Cooke County Justice Center jail have been there more than six months without being brought to trial.
“That is wrong,” he said. “It must changed. And I will change it.”
He said the often “unnecessary” pre-trial processes would be eliminated if he is elected district judge.
“It will be streamlined and sped up,” Peterson said.
He said that 1,296 were “wiped off the docket” last year, though “the average court” disposes of 2,000 cases each year.
The first question, posed by Frank Rust, moderator of the event, and prepared by members of the Republican Eagle Club, asked Haverkamp to list what she considers to be her greatest accomplishments in office and for Peterson to comment on those.
“Our district court is running very smoothly and efficiently,” Haverkamp said. “I think it’s unfortunate when a candidate will distort their opponent’s record for selfish political gain.”
She continued: “What Mr. Peterson doesn’t tell you is that we added 1,228 cases and disposed of 1,296 cases ... There is no backlog in the court ... he wants to compare us to courts in the Metroplex which dispose of 2,000 cases.”
Said she provides a fair an impartial forum for litigants and attorneys, but that she’s prone to human error.
“I, unlike my opponent, do not believe I am infallible,” she said.
Haverkamp said laws change rapidly and being a judge requires constant study in the ever changing world of judicial policy.
“One of my unique accomplishments in office is that I don’t set arbitrary time limits on litigants and their parties when they appear in court. If it’s 5 o’clock, we’ll stay up until 7 or 8 o’clock until we’re finished.”
She said she holds the district attorney office’s “feet to the fire” by requiring two criminal trials per month.
In the future, Haverkamp said she would like to establish a “problem solving court.” She said in most cases of child neglect there is drug abuse involved. She said a drug court that meets in the evenings and weekends would help — especially if going through the court was a requirement before a neglectful parent can get his/her children back.
Peterson defended his aforementioned statistical information.
“... Any statistics or statements concerning the record of our current judge are taken directly from the Office of Court Administration,” he said. “I don’t mean to mislead anyone. And I can tell you the backlog increased while Judge Haverkamp was in office.”
Peterson said the number of criminal cases pending, as of Jan. 1, 2005, was 529. He said by the end of 2007 there were 579 cases.
In civil cases, he said, there were 860 cases at the beginning of 2005. By December 2007 there were 1,031 pending.
“That’s a 20 percent increase in backlog during a time when we had two judges deciding ... cases,” Peterson said. “There are things that need to be changed in the way this court is operated.”
Peterson said many guilty pleas recommend community supervision. But he said many cases in which the defendant pled guilty are “postponed indefinitely because of a requirement that sentencing information first be gathered.”
Peterson said he opposes that requirement, which he said is set by Haverkamp.
“I don’t know of any other court that does that, and it makes no sense,” he said. “The defendant has no incentive to complete this so-called ‘PSI’”
PSI is short for “pre-sentence investigation.”
Peterson said scheduling in the District Judge’s office can be improved greatly.
In rebuttal, Haverkamp said the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure requires a pre-sentence investigation in certain circumstances.
“He is completely distorting the records,” she said. “I have the records here, too, and I encourage each and every one of you to go to the office of court administration and look at the numbers yourself.”
(Article 42.12, Section 9 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure outlines requirements for pre-sentencing investigations. Article G says a judge is not required to have an officer of the court prepare a pre-sentence report in a felony case when: a punishment is to be assessed by a jury; the defendant is convicted of or enters a plea of guilty of no contest to capital murder; the only available punishment is imprisonment; and/or when the judge is informed that a plea bargain agreement exists, under which the defendant agrees to a punishment of imprisonment and the judge intends to follow the agreement.)
Haverkamp said in the last year 1,228 cases came in and 1,296 were disposed of — “not a backlog,” she said.
Haverkamp said her court saw 747 civil cases added and 827 disposed of in the last year.
She added her belief that the District Attorney’s office bears some responsibility for the number of cases given to the 235th Judicial District docket.
“The court is running smoothly, the court is running efficiently,” she said. “It’s not about numbers, it’s about justice.”
Peterson suggested time is of the essence.
“Justice delayed is justice denied. Any particular case can take additional time. But all of the cases that have been on this court’s docket do not require the amount of time that has been divided to them.”
Peterson said some cases have “built-in delays” and the time taken for a PSI is often unnecessary.
He again said that the backlog has increased, citing numbers back to 2005.
In the second and third questions, Rust asked about each candidate’s thoughts on handgun ownership and illegal immigration. Both candidates said they are bound by the Code of Judicial Conduct to not comment. However, both candidates discussed the facts surrounding both issues.
Rust said the questions on broader issues were asked to the candidates based on views in the Republican Party’s platform.
In closing, Peterson said judicial statutes in no way require PSIs in every case. He then introduced himself as the assistant district attorney for the 235th District Attorney’s Office, working under Cindy Stormer.
Haverkamp closed with her thoughts on being thorough in reaching a verdict and sentencing.
“There’s been a lot of talk about the numbers, here,” she said. “But justice is not about numbers. It’s not like with the George Bush Tollway where it matters how many people go through that toll booth — that’s where numbers are important. Numbers are not as important in my courtroom as justice is. People’s lives are changed forever by the decisions made in my courtroom.”
On the Net:
Haverkamp’s campaign: www.keepjudgehaverkamp.com
Peterson’s campaign: www.martinpetersonforcookecounty.com
Reporter Andy Hogue may be contacted at andyhoguegdr@ntin.net
