AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- A Travis County judge overseeing four of the cases involving 19 indicted Austin Police officers stemming from the May 2020 protests in downtown Austin has asked to recuse herself from the cases, according to court filings.
Judge Julie Kocurek filed motions of voluntary recusal in the cases involving APD officers Stanley Vick, Justin Berry, Joshua Jackson, and Joseph Cast. Hearings in two of the cases were set for Tuesday morning, and are being rescheduled.
The 19 officers were indicted in February by a Travis County special grand jury empaneled in Kocurek's court. The officers are facing charges of aggravated assault by a public servant, each of which is a first-degree felony.
According to a filing by the Travis County District Attorney's office, Kocurek told Assistant District Attorney Dexter Gilford during a Feb. 17 phone call that she believed the prosecutions were "politically motivated" on the part of DA Jose Garza. Gilford works in the Civil Rights Division of the DA's office, which is prosecuting the cases against the APD officers.
Kocurek reportedly told Gilford "she enjoyed a good relationship with law enforcement in Travis County," and "felt betrayed" because "there were so many indictments against police officers."
The filing says the call reportedly ended with Kocurek saying that she hoped the DA’s office "had evidence to support the offenses charged in the indictments."
Kocurek released the following statement Tuesday:
“I am recusing myself not because I have a bias or prejudice against the State, but rather to ensure public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.
In filing these motions, I think it is important to put my conversation with Mr. Gilford into context. My perception of our discussion somewhat differs from Mr. Gilford’s.
As the judge who impaneled the special grand jury, it was my responsibility to set bail in these cases. The purpose of my call was to discuss the bail to be set in these cases. I had just received a call from the clerk and/or jail indicating that there were 20 uniformed police officers waiting to be booked into jail and they were waiting on me to set bail in each of their cases. Moments later, I received a call from one of the attorneys of the police officers indicating that the District Attorney’s Office had agreed to setting a one dollar bail on each of these first degree felony offenses. This was highly unusual. These types of communications happen frequently in setting bail. I was calling to confirm this information with Mr. Gilford.
Due to the recent filing by the State, I believe my impartiality will be in question by some in the community. The perception of others is important, especially in a cases like these.”