252nd District Court issues prison terms, probation orders and a yearlong hospital recommitment

Judge West opened a lengthy docket in the 252nd District Court that produced several prison sentences, probation orders and a court-ordered recommitment to a state psychiatric hospital.

The most consequential rulings included an 8-year sentence to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for Matthew Wadsworth after the court accepted his guilty plea to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon; a court order requiring Christopher Stephen Norris to remain at Rust State Hospital for one year for inpatient treatment; and multiple other pleas that resulted in prison terms, deferred adjudication or continued supervision.

Those outcomes matter because they change defendants’ custody status and, in some cases, the length of supervision the community can expect. Some decisions also required or referenced specific treatment programs or the court’s consideration of prior criminal history and jail incident reports.

Judge West accepted a negotiated cap sentence and imposed an 8-year term in the institutional division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice on Matthew Wadsworth, who had pleaded guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The court entered an affirmative deadly-weapon finding and handed the defendant the written admonishments required after a guilty plea, including notice that he is ineligible under Texas law to possess a firearm or ammunition.

In a separate hearing, the court reviewed yearly forensic and medical reports for Christopher Stephen Norris, who previously was found not guilty by reason of insanity and ordered into inpatient treatment under an earlier commitment. After taking judicial notice of the Rust State Hospital reports and a forensic violence-risk assessment, Judge West found that Norris remains mentally ill and likely to cause serious harm and ordered him to remain at Rust State Hospital for an additional one-year inpatient commitment.

The court also finalized a series of other dispositions:

- Esker Boykin pleaded guilty to a class A misdemeanor assault and was sentenced to 90 days in the Jefferson County Jail following the court’s finding of competency and an admissions-and-waivers colloquy.

- John Wade, who pleaded guilty to…