Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins has filed a motion indicating he plans to appeal the dismissal of mortgage fraud cases against oil family heir Al Hill III.

State District Judge Lena Levario dismissed the charges at a hearing in March in which Hill had accused Watkins of prosecutorial misconduct. Hill alleged Watkins filed the charges as a favor to Watkins’ friend and political benefactor Lisa Blue.

Watkins’ staff has not yet filed the appeal. The DA’s office has only filed a motion in Levario’s court saying prosecutors intend to file an appeal with the 5th Court of Appeals in Dallas.

Such motions are necessary to meet a 30-day deadline after cases are dismissed.

At the hearing, Watkins refused to testify and Levario held Watkins in contempt. Blue invoked her Fifth Amendment right to not incriminate herself and did not testify. Blue was not held in contempt. Had Watkins taken the Fifth, he could not have been held in contempt.

Levario cited Watkins’ refusal to testify as part of the reason she dismissed the charges.

Blue and other attorneys were suing Hill for attorneys fees. Hill said that the pending criminal charges prevented him from taking the stand in the fee dispute case. The attorneys were awarded an amount later reduced to $22 million.

Hill was accused of taking out the $500,000 loan using the Highland Park home where he lived as collateral. But public records show he owned only 20 percent of the home, with the remainder owned by a trust that benefited his father, Al Hill Jr. The percentage of ownership in the home is a matter of dispute.

Watkins said he was refusing to testify because how prosecutors do their jobs should not be questioned in court. Legal experts said he had a good argument but gutted it by allowing other prosecutors to testify.

State District Judge Bob Brotherton was appointed to the case because officers of the court are given a hearing when they are held in contempt. If Brotherton upholds Levario’s contempt citation, the case will be sent back to Levario to decide whether Watkins is fined, jailed or faces no sanction.

The DA’s office has said it is considering whether to refile charges against Hill.

The hearing in which Brotherton will decide whether to uphold the contempt charge has been tentatively set for mid-April.