Posted 12:59 pm Monday, August 27, 2012
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Attorney sentenced for lying in Smith County courtroom
By DAYNA WORCHEL
dworchel@tylerpaper.com
An attorney who lied to a Smith County judge last September during an aggravated assault of a public servant trial -- saying his mother had died when she had not -- received a 6-month jail sentence and a $500 fine this morning for contempt of court, a special prosecutor said.
Joel Mallory of Houston was not present in court this morning and has not shown for any of his required hearings on his contempt of court charge, special prosecutor Rick Hagan said. There is now a warrant out for Mallory’s arrest, Hagan said. Retired Senior Judge Joe Clayton sentenced Mallory.
Mallory represented Corey Darnell Webb, who was accused of shooting an intake worker inside the Smith County Juvenile Attention Center in July 2010. Judge Kerry Russell of the 7th District Court sentenced Webb to 50 years in prison on Dec. 14 after Webb pleaded guilty to the shooting. Before he was sentenced, Webb tried to withdraw his guilty plea, changed defense attorneys and urinated in a courtroom trash can as his trial was set to begin.
Russell originally presided over the Webb case, but asked that Judge John Ovard, an administrative judge in Dallas, appoint an outside judge to hear the contempt case.
The Smith County District Attorney's Office investigated after Mallory asked the judge for a delay and learned Mallory's mother died Sept. 22 rather than Sept. 16.
Mallory then asked for the Smith County District Attorney's Office to recuse itself from his case. Clayton appointed Rick Hagan, a Longview-based attorney, to serve as a special prosecutor in the Mallory contempt case.
Russell sentenced Webb to 50 years in prison on Dec. 14. Before he was sentenced, Webb tried to withdraw his guilty plea, changed defense attorneys and urinated in a courtroom trash can as his trial was set to begin.
Ovard appointed Clayton, who held the hearing in a smaller courtroom adjacent to the Smith County 7th District Court.
dworchel@tylerpaper.com
An attorney who lied to a Smith County judge last September during an aggravated assault of a public servant trial -- saying his mother had died when she had not -- received a 6-month jail sentence and a $500 fine this morning for contempt of court, a special prosecutor said.
Joel Mallory of Houston was not present in court this morning and has not shown for any of his required hearings on his contempt of court charge, special prosecutor Rick Hagan said. There is now a warrant out for Mallory’s arrest, Hagan said. Retired Senior Judge Joe Clayton sentenced Mallory.
Mallory represented Corey Darnell Webb, who was accused of shooting an intake worker inside the Smith County Juvenile Attention Center in July 2010. Judge Kerry Russell of the 7th District Court sentenced Webb to 50 years in prison on Dec. 14 after Webb pleaded guilty to the shooting. Before he was sentenced, Webb tried to withdraw his guilty plea, changed defense attorneys and urinated in a courtroom trash can as his trial was set to begin.
Russell originally presided over the Webb case, but asked that Judge John Ovard, an administrative judge in Dallas, appoint an outside judge to hear the contempt case.
The Smith County District Attorney's Office investigated after Mallory asked the judge for a delay and learned Mallory's mother died Sept. 22 rather than Sept. 16.
Mallory then asked for the Smith County District Attorney's Office to recuse itself from his case. Clayton appointed Rick Hagan, a Longview-based attorney, to serve as a special prosecutor in the Mallory contempt case.
Russell sentenced Webb to 50 years in prison on Dec. 14. Before he was sentenced, Webb tried to withdraw his guilty plea, changed defense attorneys and urinated in a courtroom trash can as his trial was set to begin.
Ovard appointed Clayton, who held the hearing in a smaller courtroom adjacent to the Smith County 7th District Court.
