Harris County criminal court judge accused of family violence still at work

In our society, judges are held to higher standards than most people because, after all, they are judges. They are the deciders of fates for people who commit crimes and are expected to be morally elevated above all others. But that is not the case with one Harris County criminal court judge recently.

Judge Frank Aguilar of Harris Couty's 228th Criminal District Court was accused on December 31st of family assault for allegedly impeding the breathing of a female victim. Misdemeanor charges have been authorized, but he has yet to be formally charged as of the time this article was written.

After initially saying he would take time off, Judge Aguilar has since returned to work. He is even hearing cases on the bench that include the same charges he is facing.

Attorney Michele Maples says, while it is bad optics, he is innocent until proven guilty.

"There is no law, nor is there any ethical regulation out there that says he cannot sit on the bench," she says. "However, any judge worth his grain of salt would recuse himself from the bench in this case because it looks bad."

Aguilar is accused of holding his foot down on a woman's neck at a party until she was unable to breathe. He argues that the victim was highly intoxicated and throwing beer cans at him but did not answer any further questions.

While a jury can decide his fate, there is another way of getting him off the bench, which would be the State Commission on Judicial Conduct.

"They can do their own investigation and issue a decision to remove him...or give a slap on the wrist," she says.

Maples says that Aguilar clearly needs to take a leave of absence while this plays out, but likely will not.

So, how will this play out? It is still fairly hard to tell.

"I do not know the facts...it is going to be up to a judge, or jury of his peers, to determine if he is guilty, or not guilty," she says. "But if I were on the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, I would say this guy has got to go."

Funny enough, this story has been mostly dormant since it happened. No real stories have been made about it. According to Maples, there might be a reason for that.

"If this were a Republican judge...I wonder if this makes national media," she says. "But because it is a Democrat judge, it is being swept under the table."

First elected in 2018, Aguilar won re-election in 2022 although he had been identified as one of several judges who frequently released repeat violent offenders on bond.