Dallas County judge receives public reprimand for what she says was a ‘politically motivated attack’

DALLAS — A Dallas County district judge has been publicly reprimanded by the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct for allowing her court coordinator to conduct a bond hearing while the judge’s image appeared on screen during a 2021 Zoom proceeding.

The Honorable Amber Givens, judge of the 282nd Judicial District Court in Dallas, was sanctioned after an investigation into an Aug. 3, 2021, hearing in State of Texas v. Floyd Aaron. The commission determined that Givens directed her court coordinator, Arceola Warfield, to conduct the hearing without informing anyone.

In a statement from her attorney, Givens disagreed with the commission’s conclusions and called the reprimand “a politically motivated attack.”

According to court documents, those participating saw Givens’ image on screen but heard an unidentified voice conducting the hearing. The defendant, Floyd Aaron, and his attorney, Tim Jeffrey, addressed the voice as “your honor” and “judge” without being corrected. At the hearing’s conclusion, the court reporter had to remind the “judge” to state “off the record.”

This led both Aaron and Jeffrey to believe that the voice was not Judge Givens, and instead, they inferred that it was Warfield, the document states. Because of this belief, the prosecutors in the Aaron case reported it to Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot. 

According to the document, after Givens found out that the prosecutors reported her to the DA, she sent an email that said it was “an absurd allegation” and “extremely troubling.” Givens said she would file a Bar complaint against the Assistant District Attorney who made the report once she learned of their identity. 

The complaint was subsequently investigated by the Texas Rangers Public Integrity Unit, the document stated. 

Phone records obtained by the Texas Rangers showed Warfield had no incoming or outgoing calls on her office phone during the hearing. However, the records revealed she made one eight-second call to Givens on her cell phone that went to voicemail.

In October 2022, Givens provided testimony to the commission, the document states, that contradicted the Texas Rangers’ phone record findings during the hearing. Givens claimed she spoke during the hearing via cell phone speakerphone. 

The document states that Kaufman County District Attorney Erleigh Norville Wiley declined to press criminal charges in September 2023, stating that while she believed Givens’ behavior was “unprofessional and improper,” it didn’t warrant any criminal charges.

Givens’ attorney, Russell Wilson, released the following statement on the public reprimand:

“Judge Givens disagrees with the commission’s conclusions. She has previously indicated that this was a politically motivated attack and provided statements from law enforcement that contradicted the commissions conclusions.

Judge Givens does not plan any further comment on this issue.”

Court documents show the commission also cited Givens for poor judicial temperament. More than 100 recusal motions were filed against her in 2022 by both prosecutors and defense attorneys, accusing her of “lacking impartiality, making unfair rulings, treating lawyers with disrespect, and having a ‘retaliatory nature.'”

The public reprimand, issued June 23, 2025, found that Givens violated several sections of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct by committing the following acts:

• Directing her court coordinator to conduct the Zoom hearing in the Aaron case
• Failing to treat attorneys Jaime Young, Tom Cox, Rebekah Dall’Asen and Ron Goranson with dignity in her court
• Performing judicial duties with bias or prejudice
• Failing to comply with and maintain professional competence in the law
• Failing to treat Presiding Judge Wheless with dignity