a prominent judge was pulled over on suspicion of DUI have you had anything to drink tonight no you sure because I can smells either you've drown yourself in perfume or she asked for special treatment from the police I'm a judge and it's um you're a judge best thing about a lot of these behind the scenes things that I don't think we realize went on before we became judge I mean I could my entire career you're right your honor and here's the thing your honor I could lose my entire career if I let you use the position of that you being a judge not using a position to do this and they did give her special treatment but if I do this test and you don't think I do well I lose my career yeah I mean can you call I mean can we I'd like a witness can we call Ben kri I'll call Sydney Miller um uh Deputy I mean Sheriff Gonzalez I mean this is a huge deal for me even though they believed that she had been drinking and they watched her driving on the wrong side of the road she was Leo with just a warning so I'm going to write you a warning Citation for the speeding 77 na65 and let it go with that fair enough all right the cops covered up their body cams so that no video was saved just the audio then she disappeared which in and of itself made national news that this judge who had handled several recent high-profile trials had mysteriously disappeared because our society it's based on laws [Music] well now she has reappeared she just got arrested and charged with a DUI but not from this traffic stop where she had been let go with a warning but rather a new incident Houston police arrested judge Kelly Johnson early this morning officers described her as almost zombie likee and say she scored very low on a fi field sobriety test it was her second such test in 2 and a halfs judge Kelly Johnson is a prominent Democrat judge in Houston Texas who was elected twice in Harris County Texas once in 2016 and again in 2020 and I believe is actually up for election right now she was well known as the first openly gay female judge in Harris County before taking the bench she spent 17 years as a prosecutor and I hope to think that I was known as a a very Progressive prosecutor and so I just got to appoint my career I thought you know I'm doing what I believe is right if I get fired I'm still a lawyer you know I can always go out and be on the other side but I really thought that I had a lot to contribute if I ran as a judge uh and you know it kind of gave me a different platform a different seat in the courtroom if you will at one point in time she worked as the felony chief for the DA's office in the court that she now presides she presided over several high-profile recent cases such as the AJ Armstrong case she she was actually right in the middle of a high-profile trial when this stop occurred so this stop happened on April 12th at 8:00 p.m. only 3 days before Judge Johnson found this guy Brian couter guilty of murdering his girlfriend's son whose body was left to rot for a year in fact she mentioned the case twice during the 45 minute encounter I'm a judge and it's um you're a judge I'm a criminal District Judge yes okay long week can I tell you where I've been sure so I've uh been at a so I've tried the Brian cter case which is y'all's all week there the judge is speaking to Harris County Sheriff's deputy Sergeant McHugh who can be heard explaining in the recording that he had stopped Judge Johnson for multiple traffic violations that he witnessed her driving on the wrong side of the road on Jack Rabbit Road near us 290 go to the next exit drive to the next exit and get off the freeway then after she was pulled over McHugh said that he smelled alcohol do you know the reason why you've been stopped I'm sure I was feeding correct and you're driving over on uh uh Jack Rabbit you're driving on the wrong side of the road okay okay have you had anything to drink tonight no you sure cuz I can smells either you've drowned yourself in perfume or if you would like to do fil Somey test you can all right I'll have someone come over and take care of that then Deputy Sandra M arrives to perform the field sobriety test but when she gets there Judge Johnson then does not want to get out of the car instead she doesn't want Deputy mace to perform the test she wants to call the sheriff or other high-ranking law enforcement officials she knows so they can be a witness but if I do this test and you don't think I do well I lose my career yeah and this is I mean can you call I mean can we I'd like a witness can we call Ben kri I'll call Sydney Miller um a deputy I mean Sheriff Gonzalez I mean this is a huge deal for me okay ma'am here here's the thing I am her supervisor okay she is asking you to exit the car so she can admit her sfsts to you everything we do is recorded on that camera this body camera every everything that we here we're not calling lieutenant kri and we're not calling Sheriff Gonzalez this is an investigation into an impaired driver I mean I could my entire career you're right you're honor and here's the thing your honor I could lose my entire career if I let you use the position that you being a judge not using a position to do this I smelt it she sees that your eyes are she sees that your eyes are red in blood shot shot so she finally does get out of the car and she performs the field sobriety test but because they were obstructing their own body cam cameras we can't see the up close results but we can hear the deputies discussing her performance and the fact that she was likely drinking but again we see nothing because they were covering their cameras multiple traffic violations speeding uh unsafe Lane changes driving on the wrong side of the road what she's probably been drinking just not to the level of when you got her out could you smell it I could smell it then once she got out so I'm going to write you a warning Citation for the speeding 77 na65 and uh let it go at that fair enough all right so even though they saw her speeding they saw her driving on the wrong side of the road Etc and they suspected that she was drinking they let her go they let her drive off and there she went and that could have been the end of it certainly this has happened many times before around the country but then she disappeared and there are all sorts of news articles on where she is then just a few days ago on June 25th she's still a presiding judge of the 178th criminal District Court she gets pulled over by an officer with the Houston Police Department and ends up getting charged with driving well intoxicated her lawyer gave a statement to the news media sta ating that his client was not intoxicated when she was pulled over and that she had volunteered to take a breath test he said that the breath test came back 0.0 which means that there was no alcohol found in her system he said this situation was not caused by alcohol or drug abuse issue the brief medical episode is being immediately addressed with her doctor she asks for privacy while addressing this personal health matter she looks forward to returning to the bench and continu to provide respect fairness and justice to all who come before her the worst part about this is not the DUI she wouldn't be the first judge or prosecutor or public official to get a DUI the cover up is always more concerning to me do we really even need a BAC or a drug test result because she did something worse she got pulled over and she said hey I'm a judge and I demand special treatment I demand special privileges and she received those the body cams were covered everything was kept quiet until she got in trouble again and disappeared had she just returned to the bench we never would have heard about any of this this only came out because the problem whatever problem she was having persisted eventually it was going to come out which it did and that in turn exposed this little cover up that happened with evidence of this cover up occurring does it even matter whether she happened to be intoxicated while driving on that night in April no because the conspiracy that this uncovers is way worse this illustrates the close relationship that exists between judges and law enforcement and imagine if this had not even been exposed and the judge returns to the bench she's now beholden to law enforcement or certain members of law enforcement who basically have dirt on her she's compromised basically we don't even know what sort of quidd pro quos are going on ethical issues aside constitutional issues aside and here's another thing why are the police protecting this woman when she was saying she doesn't even trust them to do the field soy test if they're not trustworthy enough to do field soy tests on her then what about the rest of us this really is outrageous that that first incident was completely covered up imagine if just rather than her getting a DUI she ended up killing somebody so apparently the election is still ongoing right now so if you're a voter in that District in Harris County Texas perhaps this is a good time to evaluate or re-evaluate your options for the next round of judicial elections who involved in the law enforcement side of this has been held accountable thus far probably none are they going to hold anyone accountable for covering up and giving special treatment to a sitting judge in that jurisdiction for this incident in April of this year the citizens ought to demand accountability and if law enforcement officials aren't going to provide it maybe they need to be replaced also so thanks for watching if you have a video you want me to review please use the submission link below please subscribe both here and at the blog at the Civil Rights lawyer.com and if you're already subscribed on YouTube check to make sure that they didn't unsubscribe you as is happening to a lot of people remember our rights don't end where your fear begins freedom is scary deal with it [Music]