State Seeks Recusal of Judge Cornelio in Case of Death Row Inmate Over False Bench Warrant, Secretive Proceedings
TEXASThe Harris County District Attorney’s Office (HCDAO) is seeking the recusal of a criminal court judge who is accused of issuing a false bench warrant, engaging in secretive proceedings, and creating evidence for the defense for death row inmate Ronald Lee Haskell.
According to a motion to recuse, Judge Natalia “Nata” Cornelio issued sealed orders last June to have Haskell transported from a high-security unit for death row inmates to the Harris County Jail for a court setting on July 22, 2024 at midnight, but records indicate no court setting took place.
Instead, Haskell was kept in the Harris County Jail until Cornelio’s orders sent him to a private medical facility for a brain MRI on July 30. Photographs submitted by the HCDAO show Haskell entering a waiting room with public citizens.
Haskell was convicted in 2019 in the brutal 2014 murders of Katie and Steven Stay and their four children aged four, six, nine, and 14. A fifth child then aged 15 was shot in the head but survived by pretending to be dead. Haskell pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but prosecutors alleged he methodically planned and carried out the mass murder of his ex-wife’s family.
HCDAO also alleged that when they sought transportation records for Haskell while he was kept at the Harris County jail, Cornelio quashed the subpoena on grounds that the information was protected under attorney-client privilege. Cornelio entered her orders on a Saturday without giving the prosecution an opportunity to respond.
Prosecutors previously and unsuccessfully sought to have Cornelio recused from Haskell’s case in relation to a conversation she had with First Assistant District Attorney David Mitcham prior to her election during which she expressed disgust over Texas’ continued use of the death penalty and specifically referred to Haskell as a “sick man.”
https://thetexan.news/judicial/state-seeks-recusal-of-judge-cornelio-in-case-of-death-row-inmate-over-false-bench/article_06285328-8be8-11ef-893c-bbb772eb5cd8.html