Sid Harle is an American judge and Republican politician who presided over several high-profile cases.

Biography

Sid Harle was appointed as Judge of the 226th

District Court District courts are a category of courts which exists in several nations, some call them "small case court" usually as the lowest level of the hierarchy. These courts generally work under a higher court which exercises control over the lower co ...

(Felony Criminal Bench) in 1988 by Governor

Bill Clements William Perry Clements Jr. (April 13, 1917 – May 29, 2011) was an American businessman and Republican Party politician who served two nonconsecutive terms as the governor of Texas between 1979 and 1991. His terms bookended the sole ...

. He held the position for over 29 years before his retirement in 2016 and his appointment as the Fourth Administrative Judge. Prior to his appointment, Harle served as a prosecutor for the

Bexar County Bexar County ( or ; ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas. It is in South Texas and its county seat is San Antonio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,009,324, making it the state's fourth-most populous county. Bexar County ...

District Attorney's Office and as the Chief Municipal Prosecutor for the City of Hill Country Village. Additionally, he was appointed by the

Texas Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Texas (SCOTX) is the court of last resort for civil matters (including juvenile delinquency cases, which are categorized as civil under the Texas Family Code) in the U.S. state of Texas. A different court, the Texas Court o ...

to the Judicial Conduct Commission, where he was elected Chair and served for two consecutive terms. Harle received his J.D. from St. Mary's University School of Law in 1980, and has worked as an adjunct professor of trial advocacy for over 20 years.

High Profile Cases

During his campaign for the Court of Criminal Appeals, Harle was stated to have had more death penalty experience than any District Court judge in Texas, and that none of his death penalty sentences had been overturned on appeal.

Michael Morton

Michael Morton was convicted in 1987 for the murder of his wife, Christine Morton, and sentenced to life in prison. DNA testing exonerated Morton 25 years later when Judge Sid Harle formally acquitted him on December 19, 2011.

Adrian Estrada

Adrian Estrada, a former youth pastor at the El Sendero Assembly of God church in San Antonio, was sentenced to death by Judge Sid Harle for the murder of a pregnant 17-year-old woman who attended the congregation. After over 40 appeals made on Adrian Estrada's behalf by the ACLU, the case was revisited by Judge Harle and the death sentence was revoked in exchange for a life sentence and Estrada ceding his right to appeal the ruling.

Jackie Len Neal

Jackie Len Neal, a former

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

Police officer, was accused of abducting and sexually assaulting 19-year-old female in his patrol car in 2013. Neal was fired after being accused of the assault, and was sentenced to 14 months in prison by Judge Harle after he pled guilty to a lesser charge. The case sparked outrage across

and the city's South Side district where the assault occurred.

Kevin Watts

Judge Sid Harle pronounced the death penalty for Kevin Watts, who was found guilty of three execution style murders at the Sam Won Garden Restaurant in San Antonio, Texas. Watts was executed by

lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium) for the express purpose of causing death. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but t ...

in October 2008.

Awards and honors

Judge of the Year – Texas Gang Investigators Association Bexar County Republicans Hall of Fame

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harle, Sid Justices of the Supreme Court of Texas Texas Republicans Year of birth missing (living people) Living people