Ariana Venegas says that when she was accused of drunk driving, Judge Donald Jackson, told her he could ensure she would win her trial if she dated him –and would lose if she resisted. She claims she felt she had no choice but to comply.
“He told me that if I wasn’t going to get interested, that I would get convicted because he’s the judge,” she said, tearfully, while testifying against Jackson in trial this week.
Venegas claims she did go out on a date with Jackson, only because she believed she had no other option. Jackson, currently suspended from his duties, is now being tried with misdemeanor official oppression. He claims that Venegas approached him about her poor court-appointed attorney and he offered to call her later that day to help. One of Jackson’s lawyers says that he acted foolishly, but only because he was tempted by the younger woman who was trying to manipulate her way out of a DWI. His other Houston criminal attorney says there was no sexual harassment nor any deprivation of the woman’s rights as a defendant, which are two critical aspects of an official oppression charge.
To read more about the issue, see the article in the Houston Chronicle. Image Via Hans S [Flickr].