Motion against Fort Worth judge withdrawn after racist e-mail proven fake
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
DALLAS -- After everyone in the courtroom heard the evidence Thursday, it was clear: A racist e-mail purportedly sent by Tarrant County state District Judge Elizabeth Berry was a fake, and Berry had nothing to do with it.
In fact, the evidence was so overwhelming that African-American defense attorney Lesa Pamplin -- who had asked to have Berry taken off 17 of her cases -- withdrew her motion.
"As an African-American attorney, I had a duty to my clients to make sure it is not true," Pamplin said. "This e-mail is a fake, and I would like to withdraw my motion to recuse."
State District Court Judge Karen Gren Johnson, who was appointed by the Texas Supreme Court to hear Pamplin's recusal motion, commended Pamplin for doing the "right thing" and told Berry that she hoped this ended the "nightmare she must have been through."
"There is no evidence -- as in none -- that Judge Elizabeth Berry sent, prepared, or had anything to do with the preparation of that e-mail," Johnson said. "There is overwhelming evidence that this was not a real e-mail.
"There is evidence there could have been a setup of some kind."
Background, evidence
The purported e-mail was circulated around the courthouse in March, nearly 10 months after it was supposedly written. The e-mail appeared to have been sent from Berry to her court reporter, Judy Miller. The e-mail used a racial epithet in reference to Reginald "Reggie" Butler, a court reporter with whom Miller has a long-standing feud.
Butler works for state District Judge Jeff Walker, who presides over the Eighth Administrative Judicial Region and normally hears recusal motions. Walker asked that another judge hear the motion because of the conflict of interest.
During Thursday's hearing, Tarrant County Assistant District Attorneys Alan Levy, Lori Varnell and Marty Purselley called nine witnesses -- many of them computer experts -- in an effort to show that the "e-mail" was created in a Word document, printed out and then disseminated.
The state's witnesses pointed out that the date on the e-mail -- Monday, May 2, 2007 -- was an "impossible" date. May 2, 2007, was a Wednesday.
The state's witnesses also testified that computer analysis showed that the "e-mail" was not sent from Berry's, Miller's or Butler's county-owned computers. They also testified that the text font of the "e-mail" is not the type Berry uses. Furthermore, they testified, she doesn't sign her e-mails using an electronic cursive signature like the one at the bottom of the "e-mail."
Prosecutors suggested that Berry's signature on the e-mail came from a "signature" stamp that had been missing and possibly was stolen in May 2007. They also suggested that Butler forged the e-mail in an effort to get Berry removed from the bench and Miller fired, an accusation he denied.
Butler testified that he received the e-mail in May 2007 when it arrived through interoffice mail. Butler said he thought it was "heinous" and admitted that he copied it and showed it to others.
He also acknowledged that he has had a long-standing dispute with Miller, Berry's court reporter, and that he doesn't like her.
On April 27, 2007, Miller filed a criminal complaint against Butler, saying she felt threatened by him and that he had closed an elevator door on Berry and her, and had left a threatening note on Miller's desk. On Thursday, Butler denied that he left the note but admitted closing the elevator. He testified, however, that he was the one being harassed by Miller and Berry. He said that Berry and Miller had both called him the n-word at different times. Butler testified that Berry once tried to hit him with her car in the parking garage.
Butler acknowledged that he filed his own criminal complaint with the Tarrant County Sheriff's Department on Oct. 1, 2007, and also filed a judicial complaint against Berry.
Berry took the witness stand and testified that she did not send the e-mail and that she did not know who did. Berry passed a polygraph test; Butler refused to take one, according to court testimony.
Berry acknowledged that she accidentally almost hit Butler in the parking garage one day but immediately apologized to him. She testified that she has never called Butler the n-word.
The aftermath
Shortly after Berry's testimony, Pamplin announced that she had not been privy to the district attorney's investigation until Thursday and wanted to withdraw her motion to recuse.
After the hearing, Berry's attorney, Reagan Wynn, said he was glad the truth was heard.
"This has been a complete nightmare for anyone, in particular an elected official, to be wrongly accused of something like this," Wynn said. "It is a cloud that will be over her for the rest of her career, even though it was patently untrue."
mjmcdonald@star-telegram.com
