Judge appoints attorney to represent woman accused of threatening District Court Judge Jason Cashon. And she’s not happy.
A woman who allegedly threatened Erath County District Court Judge Jason Cashon will not represent herself in her upcoming trial, despite her insistence that she should be allowed to do so.
During a hearing on Monday, Saundra Marcoot was expected to have either hired an attorney or have one appointed to represent her by Judge Donald Jones.
Marcoot is charged with the third-degree felony offense of obstruction or retaliation of a public official. If convicted, she faces two to 10 years in prison.
The majority of Monday’s hearing involved Marcoot attempting to file a string of motions on her own behalf and arguing that she has been unlawfully charged.
But Judge Jones wasn’t having it.
“I’ve decided I am going to represent myself,” Marcoot said to which Jones replied, “I don’t think so.”
After a series of arguments over a variety of irrelevant issues, Jones said, “You cannot knowingly and intelligently represent yourself... it’s going to be a circus.
“You have delayed this case for as long as I am going to delay it.”
When Jones told Marcoot he would appoint an attorney to represent her, she insisted it not be anyone from Erath County.
When he mentioned a name of an attorney in Granbury, she said she didn’t want him either.
Jones said he will make the appointment by the end of the day.
THE BACKSTORY
This whole debacle began, according to the arrest affidavit, because Marcoot was upset over a custody dispute presided over by Judge Cashon.
She was arrested in November 2023 after allegedly leaving an angry message on the district court’s phone system saying, “watch me come through the back door because enough is enough.”
Following the incident, Stephenville police placed a close patrol on the courthouse annex.
The affidavit also states that in January 2023 Marcoot was served with two criminal trespass warnings after allegedly threatening to blow up a building on Graham Street in Stephenville and threatening bodily harm to one of its employees.
In October 2023, she allegedly called the Stephenville Police Department and threatened to go to the home of Chief Dan Harris unless she was allowed to speak with him.
Marcoot’s case was first postponed when she fired her attorney so she could represent herself.
Jury selection in her trial was set to begin Aug. 5, but when Marcoot had what Judge Jones called a “meltdown” in the courtroom, he sent prospective jurors home and gave her a week to find an attorney.
This case is far from over and Beneath the Surface News will be following it closely, so stay tuned.
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