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Judge Dismisses Suit That Sought To Remove Dallas County DA Susan Hawk From Office

Christopher Connelly
/
KERA News
Dallas County District Attorney Susan Hawk, in an earlier picture. A judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit that sought to remove her from office.

A judge on Friday dismissed the case that sought to remove Dallas County District Attorney Susan Hawk from office.

The lawsuit was filed by Cindy Stormer, an ex-prosecutor. The suit alleged that Hawk should be removed from office for incompetency and misconduct.

Lawyers Bill Wirskye and Jennifer Balido, who were both fired by Hawk, submitted affidavits saying they believe the district attorney is mentally unfit for the job.

Hawk has also been criticized for firing key employees since she took office last January.

Hawk took a leave of absence last summer to get treatment for depression. She returned to work this past fall. (Here's the KERA Friday Conversation with Hawk shortly after she came back on the job.)

The Dallas Morning News reports:
 

“The truth came out today,” Hawk ... a Republican, said afterward while standing alongside her lawyers. “I can’t tell you how happy I am. I can’t tell you how ready I am for this fresh start and to get back to work.” She had appeared to tear up briefly when the judge announced his decision. Then she went around the courtroom to hug her attorneys and each of the employees who showed up in court to support her. “Of course, I’m emotional,” she said. “Just having this behind me, behind all of us. It was like a black cloud that’s over our office. It needs to go away because we are doing fantastic things.”

WFAA-TV reports:

In their filings, Hawk's attorneys opposed the motion for her temporary suspension, arguing that she had shown she was more than capable of continuing as Dallas DA. They argue that the complaints by former employees were nothing more than "inter-officer personality conflicts." "If suffering from depression is enough to disqualify a licensed attorney from being a district attorney, then roughly a quarter of the state bar is disqualified," they argued. "In this country, we embrace the notion that that when one of our fellow citizens gets ill, we support their efforts to get treatment and applaud their recoveries."