Fort Worth woman found guilty of hindering Tarrant County Commissioners Court
A Fort Worth woman arrested after speaking at a Tarrant County Commissioners Court meeting was found guilty Monday of hindering a government proceeding.
A Tarrant County jury agreed with prosecutors that 61-year-old Carolyn Rodriguez disrupted the Jan. 28 meeting after being escorted out by sheriff’s deputies.
Prosecutors argued Rodriguez was motivated by social media attention, while defense lawyers countered she was exercising her First Amendment rights.
Rodriguez was speaking in opposition to a new decorum policy that prohibited profanity.
She alleged the policy violated the First Amendment right to free speech before listing off a series of profanities.
Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare then cut Rodriguez off, and asked sheriff’s deputies to remove her from the chamber.
As she was walking out, Rodriguez yelled another profanity, which prosecutors said was the reason for her arrest.
Assistant district attorney Lloyd Whelchel pointed to Rodriguez’s promotion of her YouTube channel when she began her comments at the Jan. 28 meeting.
“If it’s not about the likes, then why does she mention it?” Whelchel asked rhetorically in his closing argument.
It’s easy for anyone to wrap themselves in the flag and argue they’re standing up for free speech, Whelchel said, adding that the case was about Rodriguez’s conduct.
Rodriguez’s conduct didn’t disrupt the Jan. 28 meeting, her lawyer Mark Streiff said in his closing remarks.
He played a video of the incident and noted Rodriguez was cooperating with deputies as she was leaving the chamber.
It was only after being put under arrest that Rodriguez got loud, Streiff said.
He also noted that the meeting proceeded without interruption, using testimony from Precinct 2 Commissioner Alisa Simmons to support his argument.
“What did she hinder?” he asked.
Speaking after the verdict, Streiff called the result disheartening.
While emphasizing his respect for the jury’s verdict, Streiff argued there was plenty of evidence the six-member panel wasn’t able to hear.
“It boils down to free speech,” Streiff said.
He pointed to the testimony of Chief Deputy Craig Driskell, who said he wouldn’t have arrested Rodriguez if she had said “thank you for your time.”
Driskell did add, however, that if Rodriguez had been yelling that hypothetical he would have had to arrest her.
Strieff said the prosecution was the culmination of a number of factors including Rodriguez’s history of filming police officers.
In December, Rodriguez was sentenced to 30 days in jail and ordered to pay a $750 fine after jurors found her guilty of interference with public duties.
She had been directed to move away from an investigation scene in June 2024 and was injured when an officer forcibly arrested her. The officer was fired after an administrative investigation into the on-duty use-of-force incident.
In 2019, she was arrested after recording and posting a video of herself entering a county building and pulling up her YouTube channel on a computer. She pleaded guilty to a charge of breach of computer security and was sentenced to one day in jail and fined $2,000.
“If you rock the boat in Tarrant County, they prosecute you,” Strieff said, adding that he’s not done fighting this case.
The jury reconvened at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, June 17 to begin the punishment phase. The maximum Rodriguez could receive is a one-year jail sentence and $4,000 fine.
This story was originally published June 16, 2025 at 8:58 PM.
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