UPSHUR COUNTY, Texas — To remove any potential conflicts, Upshur County District Attorney Billy Byrd announced Wednesday that he has recused himself as a prosecutor in the driving while intoxicated charge against 115th District Judge Jerald Dean Fowler II.
Fowler was arrested on Sept. 10 after Texas Department of Public Safety troopers responded to a crash on Highway 154, east of Gilmer around 10 p.m., according to the Upshur County Sheriff's Office.
He was then charged with a DWI and booked into the Upshur County Jail and released on $1,500 bond.
In a statement Wednesday, Byrd said four days after Fowler's arrest, he filed a motion with Alfonso Charles, presiding judge of the 10th Administrative Judicial Region, to recuse himself from prosecuting the case.
Charles approved the request and assigned Smith County District Attorney Jacob Putman to serve as prosecutor, Byrd said.
"Judge Fowler and I work closely every day in the 115th District Court," Byrd said. "I wanted to ensure our citizens that there was no appearance or actual impropriety and the only way to do that was to remove myself. Our citizens need to know that their business is being handled professionally and that the pursuit of justice is always our goal."
He added that this would remove any potential conflicts or appearance of impropriety.
