While frustration from law enforcement and prosecutors over bond amounts is not uncommon, it isn’t typical for parties to publicly complain about the process involving specific cases.
“While you can criticize facts, and disagree with a ruling, you should always show respect for the process,” said Fort Worth criminal defense attorney Benson Varghese, who said he couldn’t remember another instance where an elected DA had named judges to criticize bond amounts.
As police were looking for Lancelot Dawkins, the girl’s father, the release pointed out and named a magistrate who had set a $3,500 bond for Dawkins after he was accused of strangling the girl’s mother in December.Saturday, another release named a magistrate who set a total bond amount of $15,000 for Valerian Osteen. The release said after Osteen was released, he is suspected of murdering Marissa Grimes, who disappeared in mid-February.
Criticism of a judge on a case is against decorum, Fischer said, and that state rules of professional conduct warn attorneys not to make public statements that could prejudice a case.