The Not-So-Civil Court
The Judge Fight involved Judge Carlos Cortez of the 44th Civil District Court and Judge Eric V. Moyé of the 14th Civil District Court.
According to Judge Cortez' attorney, Roger Mandel, "Judge Cortez was physically assaulted by Judge Moye in Judge Cortez's chambers." Judge Moyé's account differs a little, though:
"I went to talk to him about a couple of e-mails he sent and he was verbally abusive. I pointed my finger at him and he pushed it away. That's it."
So, unfortunately no gavel beatdowns or tearing of robes, if you accept Judge Moyé version of the events.
The battle and/or finger-pointing royale was apparently witnessed by a sheriff's deputy, but the Sheriff's department quickly passed the investigation over to the Texas Rangers (not the baseball team, although how cool would that be?) since the Sheriff's Department often "look[s] to the attorneys and judges for guidance in civil matters," according to spokeswoman Kim Leach.
It seems like Moye's probably telling the truth here, since - as an Above the Law source points out - he's a longtime student of Aikido. Aikido, like the Force for a Jedi, is used only for "knowledge and defense. Never for attack." (Yoda.)
Oh, and just in case you're curious, Cortez has a MySpace page, and Moye is on Facebook.
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