ODonnell v. Harris County, Texas et al

Filing 371

ORDER entered: A hearing is set for Tuesday, January 23, 2018 at 2:00 p.m. in Courtroom 11B. The Hearing Officers who testified or who submitted affidavits in this court or to the Commission on Judicial Conduct and the Harris County Criminal Courts at Law Judge defendants are ordered to appear in person.(Signed by Chief Judge Lee H Rosenthal) Parties notified.(leddins, 4)

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
HOUSTON DIVISION
MARANDA LYNN ODONNELL, et al.,
On behalf of themselves and all others
similarly situated,
Plaintiffs,
VS.
HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS, et al.,
Defendants.

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United States District Court
Southern District of Texas

ENTERED
January 18, 2018
David J. Bradley, Clerk

CIVIL ACTION NO. H-16-1414

ORDER SETTING PREMOTION HEARING
The plaintiffs have requested a premotion hearing to address the prior production of
materials, and whether they were incomplete or insufficient so as to require orders compelling
timely, corrected, and sworn responses, and imposing sanctions. Specifically, the plaintiffs request
materials concerning whether Harris County Criminal Courts at Law Judges instructed Hearing
Officers on how to set bail and grant or recommend bond, and whether the Hearing Officers’
discretion to recommend bond was limited by such instructions. The plaintiffs also request materials
and testimony submitted to the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct, which publicly
admonished and sanctioned the Hearing Officers on January 10, 2018 for “strictly following
directives not to issue personal bonds to defendants per the instructions of the judges in whose court
the underlying cases were assigned.”
A hearing is set for Tuesday, January 23, 2018 at 2:00 p.m. in Courtroom 11B. The
Hearing Officers who testified or who submitted affidavits in this court or to the Commission on
Judicial Conduct and the Harris County Criminal Courts at Law Judge defendants are ordered to
appear in person.
SIGNED on January 18, 2018, at Houston, Texas.
______________________________________
Lee H. Rosenthal
Chief United States District Judge