Julie Kocurek

Julie H. Kocurek (born October 2, 1964)[1] is a Texas state court judge, having served as presiding judge of the 390th District Court in Austin, Texas since January 1999.[2][3] Her caseload has included presiding over cases brought against Texas governor Rick Perry and U.S Congressman Tom DeLay.[3]

Originally from Dayton, Texas, Kocurek graduated from Dayton High School, then received a B.A. in economics from the University of Texas at Austin, and a J.D. from St. Mary's University School of Law in 1990.[2] Kocurek was an Assistant District Attorney in the Travis County District Attorney's Office for seven years, under District Attorney Ronnie Earle. She became board certified in criminal law in 1998, and in 1999 was appointed by Governor George W. Bush to a seat on the newly created 390th district court, becoming the first female district judge in Travis County.[2]

In Perry's case, Kocurek presided briefly before recusing herself from the matter due to her previous association with the Travis County District Attorney's Office, and transferring the matter to judge Billy Ray Stubblefield,[2] who assigned the matter to senior state district judge Bert Richardson. Kocurek dispelled a claim made by former Alaska governor Sarah Palin that the case had been brought by Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, whom Perry had tried to force from office.[4]

On November 6, 2015, Kocurek was shot and seriously wounded by an assailant in the driveway of her home in the Tarrytown neighborhood.[3] Kocurek lost a finger due to the attack, but was able to return to the courtroom by February 2016.[5]

References

  1. ↑ "Julie H. Kocurek - Texas State Directory Online". txdirectory.com. Archived from the original on December 24, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Travis County judge in the news is a Dayton native". www.yourdaytonnews.com.
  3. 1 2 3 Greg Botelho and Carma Hassan, CNN (7 November 2015). "Police: Texas judge shot outside her home". CNN.
  4. ↑ "Sarah Palin incorrect Rosemary Lehmberg's office convened grand jury that indicted Rick Perry". @politifact.
  5. ↑ "Standing ovation welcomes Judge Kocurek back into the courtroom", KXAN-TV (February 28, 2016).
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/23/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.