State panel slaps Bexar judge who called man “Mr. Maggot”

Judge Kelly Cross

The State Commission on Judicial Conduct issued sanctions against Bexar County Probate Judge Kelly Cross for, among other acts, calling a disabled man with infected wounds “Mr Maggot” or “Maggot Man,” comparing a disabled child’s IQ to that of a ball point pen, and demeaning other mentally disadvantaged wards of the state.

The commission handed Cross a “public admonition” and instructed her to obtain one hour of instruction from a mentor, focusing on judicial demeanor and courtroom decorum.

Cross, a first-term Republican, won her March primary race with 64 percent of the vote, but faces attorney Oscar Kazen, a Democrat, in the November general election. In 2016, Cross fired Kazen as an associate probate court judge and replaced him with her staff attorney, Art Rossi, a fellow Republican.

“None of this comes as any surprise,” Kazen said Friday after reading the decision. “I honestly think it’s just the tip of the iceberg. She has violated campaign laws … sued the county and insulted intellectually disadvantaged litigants and their families. It is an enormous embarrassment.”

Kazen, who had presided over the county’s mental health docket for nine years, said he once saw Cross angrily address an attorney in the hallway outside her courtroom and later went to speak to the judge privately about her behavior.

“She just brushed me off,” Kazen said. “She does … (verbal outbursts) almost out of joy. It takes some time for every judge to mature on the bench and understand this gift of power over people’s lives that has been given to you. She does not understand this.”

The commission’s five-page ruling says it received an anonymous complaint on Aug. 12, 2016, alleging that Cross referred to a proposed ward (“John Doe”) as “Mr. Maggot” or “Maggot Man” during a proceeding in his guardianship case. Three witnesses provided written statements confirming that account.

Judge Cross told the commission she had no specific recollection of those statements but did not doubt their veracity. She defended her off-handed remarks as just a way to distinguish litigants among thousands that come before a judge.

“Attorneys and other people talk to me about cases every day,” she testified. “They use the proper name, but I can’t remember 4,000 names …To differentiate one case from another, I might ask, ‘Is this the maggot guy? Is this the rat lady case?’…The surnames don’t stick.”

Cross told commission investigators she only used such language in front of attorneys and other “professionals appearing in her court,” and not in front of the person being discussed, but Kazen and other attorneys familiar with her courtroom behavior say this isn’t true. Probate court primarily handles wills, guardianships, eminent domain, mental health and estates.

The commission received another complaint, on Feb. 6, 2018, from San Antonio attorney Kathleen “K.T.” Whitehead providing affidavits from a number of her clients alleging a pattern of insulting or dismissive behavior by Cross.

Victoria and Eric Martinez, whose adult daughter was the subject of a guardianship proceeding, said Cross flippantly referred to their daughter’s low IQ. Her response: “I wasn’t speaking to them. I have no idea what they did or didn’t hear. The conversation was not for them.”

Another litigant, Lysa Curry, said Cross was “rude and curt” to her and Curry’s attorney and that Cross “lacked compassion for my family and other families in this process.” Cross said Curry’s attorney did not come to court prepared and that she not responsible for how attorneys interpret the mood of their clients.

Jennifer and Jo Trevino, serving as guardians of their adult daughter, told the commission Judge Cross yelled at their attorney, upsetting the couple and their daughter to the point that she had to be calmed down. Cross denied she acted inappropriately.

“Judge Cross maintained throughout her appearance,” wrote the commission’s Judge Douglas S. Lang, “that she is the victim of a conspiracy orchestrated by Ms. Whitehead and the Judge’s political opponents to ruin her reputation and her chances for re-election….and reiterated her deep commitment to the disabled community…and vehemently denied she would every knowingly disrespect or demean an incapacitated person appearing before her in court.”

On Friday, Cross said in a written statement that she appreciated the commission’s “measured response to what I believe are politically motivated allegations against me…. At times, my zealous commitment may have exceeded my skills at diplomacy…”

Last year, a survey of 419 attorneys practicing in Bexar County, asked to evaluate the county’s 51 judges, ranked Cross last in all six categories - punctuality, hard work, following the law, temperament, impartiality and overall performance.

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State panel slaps Bexar judge who called man “Mr. Maggot”