The Texas legal professional who referred to as out the viral decide caught on tape tearing into an IT employee and demanding he apologize for his behavior, was a no-show in courtroom after being ordered to seem earlier than the Justice of the Peace.
Lawyer James Stafford didn’t seem earlier than Harris County Choose Nathan Milliron on Thursday, however as an alternative a couple of dozen attorneys from the Harris County Prison Legal professionals Affiliation packed the courtroom in a present of solidarity for his or her colleague, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Milliron accused Stafford of “ex parte” communication — contacting a decide in a authorized continuing with out the opposite events’ data — after the longtime legal professional demanded he apologize for berating an IT employee who got here to assist him with a pc subject.
Stafford, who had by no means appeared earlier than the decide in any authorized proceedings earlier than the incident, rebutted the declare and ignored the order as a result of no official courtroom order had ever been issued to him.
Brent Mayr, head of the affiliation and a vocal supporter of Stafford, stated he and the opposite attorneys waited almost an hour and a half for Milliron’s bailiff to name for his or her colleague.
As a substitute, Milliron proceeded with the morning’s scheduled docket and by no means referred to as for Stafford to seem earlier than him.
“The decide isn’t taking any additional unlawful motion,” Mayr advised the outlet.
Mayr and different affiliation members haven’t filed a grievance with the State Fee on Judicial Conduct, regardless of considerations over Milliron’s remedy of Stafford.
Whereas the meat between Stafford and Milliron seems to have fizzled out, protection legal professional Wade Smith, who was among the many attorneys current Thursday, stated the decide’s conduct throughout courtroom proceedings was “very nice” — however suspects it could have been influenced by the current criticism Milliron has acquired.
“That doesn’t shock me when he’s acquired lots of eyeballs on him,” Smith advised the outlet outdoors Milliron’s courtroom.
Milliron landed in sizzling water earlier this 12 months after a viral video confirmed him dropping his cool on an IT staffer who was attempting to assist him repair an audio drawback in his courtroom.
As the primary video went viral, a second clip emerged exhibiting Milliron dropping his mood with a protection legal professional mid-hearing in one other tense courtroom change the place he instructed his deputy to take away her from the courtroom and threatened to have her “cuffed.”
A sequence of emails additionally emerged exhibiting Milliron demanding respect as a “duly elected decide” and ordering a workers member he known as a “subordinate” to do their job.
Regardless of the mountain of backlash, Milliron has by no means publicly commented on his conduct, and has since deactivated his Fb account, which he beforehand used to livestream courtroom proceedings, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Whereas it seems Milliron has dialed again his courtroom conduct, Mayr stated the decide ought to nonetheless apologize to Stafford, the IT employee and others affected by his conduct.
“I feel he owes an apology to the folks of Harris County to say that, ‘Look, I’m not going to behave like this anymore sooner or later,’” Mayr advised the outlet.
Milliron has served on the bench within the 215th District Courtroom since January 2025.
His standing as an elected decide shields him from disciplinary motion by native courtroom directors — although the State Fee on Judicial Conduct retains the authority to research complaints in opposition to sitting judges.
