She allegedly hired escorts, did drugs and sexted a coworker — and is a popular judge
Hilary Green, a Democrat in Houston who has served as a justice of the peace since 2007, may be removed from the bench after an explosive report from the Texas judicial commission.
Among other offenses, the report alleges that Green abused ecstasy, marijuana and Tussionex, a brand of cough syrup, engaged in extramarital affairs and hired prostitutes, took marijuana confiscated by the court bailiff, sexted a fellow court employee and ruled in favor of a convicted conman with whom she had a relationship.
The State Commission on Judicial Conduct filed its report with the Texas Supreme Court on Wednesday, asking that Green be suspended indefinitely, according to Courthouse News. Most of the report’s allegations come from interviews with her former husband, Ronald Green, and a former lover, Claude Barnes, who had a five-year extramarital affair with Hilary Green.
In response, Green’s lawyer has attacked the legitimacy of Barnes’s testimony, calling him “somebody who is vowing to destroy her and her career,” per Click2Houston.
In the commission’s report, Green did admit to using illegal drugs and misusing cough syrup, but denied the other allegations, per the Houston Chronicle. And even still, her lawyer argued those actions should not result in her suspension because they took place and were well-publicized before her 2016 re-election.
According to Texas state law, “an officer may not be removed ... for an act the officer committed before election to office,” the Chronicle reports. Green is arguing that exempts her from discipline, but the commission is claiming that the statute covers all of her conduct dating back to when she first took office in 2007.
When Green and her husband, a former Houston controller, divorced in 2014, he alleged in the proceedings that she had engaged in multiple extramarital affairs and was addicted to prescription drugs, per the Chronicle. Ronald Green also alleged that his wife had lied to the commission and denied having any personal and business conflicts of interest when she ruled twice in favor of convicted conman Dwayne Jordon.
But the bulk of the commission’s allegations come from Barnes, with whom Green admitted to having an affair from 2009 to 2015. Barnes told the commission that he and Green had hired prostitutes on two occasions to engage in three-way sexual encounters, and that he obtained cough syrup and marijuana for her on the “black market.”
Barnes also alleged that Green and her bailiff exchanged sexually-charged text messages and discussed obtaining drugs. At one point, Barnes said Green told him that she had obtained marijuana “off a kid in her courtroom,” according to the Chronicle.
Green was re-elected to her seat in 2016 with more than 80 percent of the vote, “so obviously the citizens of her precinct don’t think she’s doing a bad job,” according to her lawyer. Green plans on fighting the motion to suspend, which will be adjudicated in a formal proceeding by the state’s high court, per Courthouse News.
This story was originally published May 5, 2017 at 5:50 PM with the headline "She allegedly hired escorts, did drugs and sexted a coworker — and is a popular judge."