Office of the Attorney General Report State Rep Leach; Improper Influence in Robertson Capital Punishment Case
October 29, 2024 – The Office of the Attorney General notified the Texas Supreme Court of unethical “ex parte” communications sent by Representative Jeff Leach to a sitting Judge on the Court of Criminal Appeals. In those text messages, Leach sought to exert improper influence on the Robert Roberson capital punishment proceedings by explicitly imploring that Judge to change his or her vote in Roberson’s latest round of postconviction proceedings and thereby engineer an alternative outcome for Roberson. Roberson was sentenced to the death penalty in the 2002 murder of his two-year-old daughter, Nikki.
Nikki was found to have “a bruise on the back of her shoulder, a scraped elbow, a bruise over her right eyebrow, bruises on her chin, a bruise on her left cheek, an abrasion next to her left eye, multiple bruises on the back of her head, a torn frenulum in her mouth, bruising on the inner surface of the lower lip, subscapular and subgaleal hemorrhaging between her skin and her skull, subarachnoid bleeding, subdural hematoma, both pre-retinal and retinal hemorrhages and brain edema.”[11] Additionally, four separate doctors testified Nikki had “multiple blows to different points on the head”, which could not have been caused by falling off a bed.
On October 25, the Court of Criminal Appeals alerted counsel that Leach sent the private messages to a Judge on the Court in an attempt to influence the proceedings. In the text messages, Leach wrote: “Judge – I’ve wracked my brain about whether I should send you this message… about where I even can send you this message legally and ethically. […] One Judge. That’s all that is needed to simply say… there are too many questions and too many holes and too much uncertainty… and Robert Roberson deserves a new trial. […]”
Leach continued, “Only sending this message to you. And you alone. As my friend and as a wonderful Judge who I have so much faith in, I hope you’ll consider doing so.”
The Judge immediately reported Leach’s conduct. In the notification to counsel, the Court of Criminal Appeals wrote, “This Court sees this communication as a clear violation of Texas Disciplinary Rule of Professional Conduct 3.05”.
To read the OAG letter to the Texas Supreme Court and the notification to counsel from the CCA, click here.
