In Re Davis

BEA ANN SMITH, Justice.

In April 2001, the Honorable Richard “Rick” Davis, a new district judge in Brazos County, determined that a female prosecutor in his courtroom, Laura Cass, was attempting to undermine his authority. Just before his election to the bench, Judge Davis served for several months as a criminal defense attorney and had several run-ins with the same young prosecutor who was just out of law school. This history may account for the bizarre series of events that led Judge Davis to publicly humiliate Ms. Cass in most caustic terms and to write injudicious letters to the district…