Judge orders warrant, accepts pleas and imposes deferred sentences in multiple cases at 187th District docket

A judge in the 187th District Court handled a busy docket Thursday, ordering a judge's warrant for a missing defendant and accepting multiple pleas that the court resolved with deferred adjudication, fines and treatment-oriented probation terms.

The court ordered a warrant after defense counsel Bridget Garza told the judge that her client, Donald Crawford, had not appeared. "The court will issue a judge's warrant and remain your client without bond," the judge said, directing a deputy to make an announcement in the hall.

Several other defendants entered pleas or had pleas accepted. The judge accepted a plea in State v. Kit Kilpatrick and announced a disposition that included a finding of guilt deferred to probation: an eight-year sentence suspended with four years of community supervision, regular reporting…