A state district judge in Comal County said God told him to intervene in jury deliberations to sway jurors to return a not guilty verdict in the trial of a Buda woman accused of trafficking a teen girl for sex.  Gloria Elizabeth Romero Perez, age 32,  was convicted on one count of continuous traffic of a person. She was sentenced to 25 years in prison for continuously trafficking her teen niece to a much older man. They found her not guilty of a separate charge of sale or purchase of a child.

The judge apologized for intervening and he offered an explanation why he did it, which is weirder that the intervention itself. The judge’s justification for this unprofessional move was that “when God tells me I gotta do something, I gotta do it,” according to the Herald-Zeitung in New Braunfels. And, that’s it. Of course, God’s voice in someone’s head is — according to this judge — above evidence, trial, jury and the actual crime commited in the first place. Thankfully, the jury gave priority to the evidence in this case over the hallucinations of the judge.

Robison reportedly recused himself before the sentencing phase and was replaced by Judge Gary Steele who presided over the remainder of the trial. Robison is scheduled to return to the bench in Comal County on Jan. 31.

Statesman reports that this isn’t the first time Robison has been in trouble for his behavior during trial:

Robison’s actions could trigger an investigation from the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, which has disciplined Robison in the past.

In 2011, the commission slapped Robison with a private reprimand for improperly jailing a Caldwell County grandfather who called him a fool for a ruling Robison made in a child custody case involving the man’s granddaughter.

The reprimand, the commission’s harshest form of rebuke, said Robison “exceeded the scope of his authority and failed to comply with the law” by jailing the man for contempt of court without a hearing or advance notice of the charge.

In this case, the jury went against the judge’s wishes and found Gloria Elizabeth Romero Perez guilty. But knowing the effect and authority of the judge during the trial, something like this should not be repeated because someone guilty could easily be acquitted.

Photo Credits: StrangeHistory