Two races were on the line as a Texas traffic cop and a top judge dueled for 45 minutes on a Houston highway after he pulled her over for multiple traffic violations.
Harris County District Court Judge Kelli Johnson was quick to tell the officer who she was and demanded he call his friends in law enforcement after he pulled her over on US290 on April 12.
Footage from both police body cameras at the scene was rendered useless due to a mysterious “obstruction,” according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
But the audio recorded by Sgt. Colin McHugh told her that he had been speeding, eating and looking at his phone, making unsafe lane changes and that he could smell alcohol.
“I could lose my entire career,” Johnson told him.
“And here’s the thing, your honor,” he responded. “I could lose my entire career if I let you use your position as a judge to do this.”
Harris County District Court Judge Kelli Johnson was arrested for speeding, eating and looking at her phone while driving, making unsafe lane changes and suspicion of DUI.
The first openly gay judge elected in Harris County has spent seven years on the court and has two children with her wife Hilary Bartlett, one 12 years old and the other 11 months old.
The glamorous Democrat had spent the week presiding over the trial of Brian Coulter, who would soon be convicted of the murder of his girlfriend’s son, whose body was left to rot for a year.
“I’m a judge,” he told McHugh.
—Are you a judge? she replied.
‘A criminal district judge. Yes,’ he confirmed.
McHugh told her why he had stopped her before a second officer arrived to perform a field sobriety test.
He asked the second officer for a supervisor and told him: ‘If I take this test and you think I don’t do it well, I lose my career and this.
‘I mean, can you call a witness? Can we call Ben Katrib? I’ll call Sidney Miller. Sheriff Gonzalez.
“This is something very important to me.”
The second officer told McHugh about his request and he returned to the car.
“Ma’am, here’s the thing,” he said. ‘I’m your supervisor, okay? She is asking him to get out of the car so she can administer her SFST.
‘Everything we do is recorded on that camera. This body camera. All here. We won’t call Lieutenant Katrib and we won’t call Sheriff Gonzalez.
Johnson, elected in 2017, is one of the state’s most prominent judges.
He was three days away from sentencing Brian Coulter to life in prison for beating a child to death inside an apartment at the CityParc II complex in Houston on Nov. 20, 2020.
He also presided over the three trials of a former NFL player’s son, AJ Armstrong (pictured), who was convicted of killing his parents when he was 16 in 2016.
“This is an investigation into a drunk driver.”
“I could lose my entire career,” Johnson told him.
“And here’s the thing, your honor, I could lose my entire career if I allow you to use your position as a judge to do this,” he responded.
“I’m not using a position,” he insisted.
Johnson, elected in 2017, is one of the state’s most prominent judges and has presided over cases such as that of former NFL star Antonio Armstrong Jr, convicted of killing his parents when he was 16 in 2016.
She is the first openly gay judge elected in Harris County and has two children, one 12 years old and one 11 months old, with her wife Hilary Bartlett.
He was days away from taking medical leave from the court and a court employee told local news station KTRK that he was exhibiting “manic behavior,” and on May 4 police would be called to the home he shares with his family for a crisis”. intervention’.
McHugh told him that both he and his colleague could smell alcohol on his breath and demanded that he get out of the car.
“She sees that your eyes are red and bloodshot,” he told her. “Now that she blows the wind, she smells it.”
The test was conducted and Johnson failed on a couple of indicators, but decided that the failures were not significant enough to warrant an arrest.
“He’s probably been drinking, but not to the level,” he told his colleague.
“So I’m going to write you a speeding warning citation, 77 in 65 and leave it at that,” he told Johnson.
‘That seems fine to me? Alright.’
Retired Houston Police Department Capt. Greg Fremin said the judge had a narrow escape.
“He’s lucky he got away with a warning, considering the multiple traffic violations,” he said. ABC13.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office said its deputies had followed the rules.
The traffic stop took place just days before police were called to a “crisis intervention” at the $820,000 home he shares with his family on the city’s north side.
“Officers use their discretion when issuing citations,” Deputy Thomas Gilliland told the station in an email.
‘A total of 64 percent of HCSO traffic stops result in a written or verbal warning.
‘The Standardized Field Sobriety Test (SFST) is a nationally recognized test used to establish probable cause to assess impairment.
“If there are not enough signs to indicate impairment, then an arrest would not be an appropriate course of action.”
