252nd District Court grants partial expunction, issues jail time and probation, and orders bond forfeitures

The judge in the 252nd District Court granted part of a petition for expunction, imposed a 42-day jail sentence in one plea, placed several defendants on deferred-adjudication probation and ordered at least one bond forfeiture during a docket that included pleas, sentencings and many resets.

The ruling on the expunction petition concerned cause number 24 DCCR 2166. The prosecutor told the court the state was not opposed to the petitioner’s first three requests but opposed a fourth request tied to cause number F1726964 (reindicted as 17-28331) because the defendant was convicted in that matter. The court granted the petition for expunction as to the listed cause numbers provided to the judge and instructed clerks to mark out the specified felony entry on the court’s order.

The court accepted a guilty plea from Thomas Brandt Lewis to the lesser-included offense of resisting arrest or detention (a Class A misdemeanor) in cause 23 DCCR 2018 and sentenced him to 42 days in the Jefferson County Jail with credit for time served. The judge signed the trial-court certification demonstrating the plea agreement and noted Lewis had waived his right to appeal.

The court deferred adjudication and placed several defendants on probation with conditions and evaluations. Holly Rawls was placed on three years probation, ordered to pay a $500 fine and to complete a mental health evaluation and any recommended treatment as conditions of her probation. A similar disposition was entered for a defendant reduced to a misdemeanor theft charge (Patterson/Patterson matter): two years deferred adjudication, a $500 fine and ordered substance-abuse and mental-health evaluations after a positive THC test during the hearing.

The court pronounced sentence and probation terms in two related forgery cases for Bobby Brown (cause numbers 23 DCCR 1496 and 1497). In each case the judge imposed a two-year state-jail term but probated the sentence and ordered restitution: $744 in one case and $1,280.80 in the other. The judge provided written admonitions about firearm possession prohibitions tied to the judgments and handed the trial-court certifications to Brown.

On bond forfeitures and nonappearances, the judge declared the bond for Christie Capel forfeited for nonappearance and reset the cases with bonds set at $100,000 in each case. The court also called multiple names on the bond-forfeiture docket, announced warrants or resets where appropriate, and instructed clerks to prepare written judgments for bond forfeitures where required.

Several felony cases were set or reset for trial dockets, including defendants who rejected plea offers and asked for trial dates. The court repeatedly directed defendants who had bonded out to try to hire counsel; those who could not were told to consult at least three attorneys and bring the names of attorneys they contacted to the next court date. The court also directed probation staff to prepare pre-sentence investigations in cases where the judge wanted more information before sentencing.

The judge ordered routine administrative directions: clerks to take judicial notes and enter judgments where indicated, probation to meet with defendants in the courtroom to complete paperwork, and counsel to exchange discovery and designate witnesses for scheduled hearings.

Court officials repeatedly reminded defendants that compliance with probation conditions — including treatment, testing, wearing drug patches when ordered, and payment of restitution and court costs — would determine whether deferred adjudication remains in place or results in a conviction and incarceration. "If you do this probation correctly and follow all of the rules, at the end of the probation, the case gets dismissed," the judge told one defendant during the hearing.

The docket included many additional initial appearances and resets for defendants to obtain counsel, continuing the court’s calendar for future weeks. Several cases were expressly set for jury selection on trial dockets; others were given final reset periods (typically 30–45 days) for announcements or to finalize plea negotiations.