Court documents: Prosecutors want to drop former judge's public intoxication case
Eleanor Dearman
Prosecutors are moving to dismiss a former district judge's public intoxication case, court records show.
Guy Williams, who previously presided over the 148th District Court, was set to go to trial on Thursday for the misdemeanor charge, which stems from a May 2018 incident on Padre Island.
The case was postponed for a third time, according to a order signed Wednesday by Municipal Court Judge Gail Loeb. Although the case has been delayed, attorneys on both sides have agreed it shouldn't go to trial.
On Thursday, attorneys for Williams and a city prosecutor filed an agreed motion to dismiss the case. It would leave open the possibility the case could be refiled. without prejudice. In the document, the court is asked to dismiss the case or set the motion for a hearing.
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Chris Gale, one of Williams' attorneys, said he was made aware of the move to dismiss the case on Monday. He at first opposed it because Williams wanted his "day in court."
Ultimately, Williams' defense team acquiesced.
"He's been through enough, and while we'd like the opportunity to combat fire with fire, sometimes it's just better to let it go," Gale said in an interview Thursday with the Caller-Times. "If they're willing to dismiss and say 'we don't want to prosecute this case' for whatever reason, then ... we're fine with that."
The motion comes after a Monday docket entry by prosecutor Eric Simonton recommending the dismissal, court records show.
It's unclear why prosecutors are moving to dismiss the case. Simonton on Thursday declined to comment, citing pending litigation.
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Corpus Christi police have said Williams was a passenger in a vehicle that crashed at Whitecap Boulevard and Park Road 22, striking two palm trees. The driver was pinned inside the vehicle.
When Williams was approached for medical attention, he refused, cursed at firefighters and police, according to an arrest report.
Williams was also arrested on suspicion of resisting arrest. That charge is pending before visiting Judge Sid Harle, of Bexar County, in state district court.
The arrests are separate from a November incident in which Williams was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated unlawful carrying of a weapon.
Eleanor Dearman covers the justice system and Texas politics. Consider supporting local journalism with a digital subscription to the Caller-Times.
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