District Judge Won't Face Charges

For a while, things were looking pretty bad for 100th District Court Judge David McCoy of Childress, Texas. He had been suspended from his judgeship and was facing two felony charges. He had been accused of Abuse of Official Capacity and Theft by a Public Servant.

The state Attorney General's office was acting as the prosecutor in the case, but it now looks like there won't be a trial. They reached an agreement with McCoy's attorney that would result in the charges being dropped. The agreement contains five provisions:

1. McCoy will resign on March 15th.

2. McCoy will lose his law license and not seek to re-instate it at a later date, or seek a license from another state.

3. McCoy will never run for or serve in any public office again.

4. McCoy will pay $20,000 in restitution on or before March 14th.

5. McCoy will not be prosecuted for any charges under investigation.

I'm not sure I like this agreement. Personally, I believe public servants should be held to a higher standard, and he will receive no jail time or probation. An ordinary citizen would have at least received a conviction and some probation.

But it's over now. At least, he won't be able to abuse the public's trust again for his own gain (and if he steals again, he won't be protected by being a judge).