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October 23rd, 2013
Judge’s ruling clears ex-cop of domestic violence rap [PRO]

Retired San Marcos police Sgt. Dan Misiaszek confers with his attorneys, Charles Soechting and Kathryn Sullivan, during a recess in a pre-trial hearing late last month. Hays County Court at Law No. 2 Judge Linda Rodriguez granted Misiaszek’s request to throw out a deferred prosecution agreement he signed in 2010 to avoid a domestic violence charge. Misiaszek and his wife, Kathy, a San Marcos police detective currently on suspension, face deadly conduct charges resulting from an alleged road rage tirade in November 2011. SAN MARCOS MERCURY PHOTO by BRAD ROLLINS

Retired San Marcos police Sgt. Dan Misiaszek confers with his attorneys, Charles Soechting and Kathryn Sullivan, during a recess in a pre-trial hearing late last month. Hays County Court-at-Law No. 2 Judge Linda Rodriguez granted Misiaszek’s request to throw out a deferred prosecution agreement he signed in 2010 to avoid a domestic violence charge. Misiaszek and his wife, Kathy, a San Marcos police detective currently on suspension, face deadly conduct charges resulting from an alleged road rage tirade in November 2011. SAN MARCOS MERCURY PHOTO by BRAD ROLLINS

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by BRAD ROLLINS

Hays County Court-at-Law Judge Linda Rodriguez says she will throw out an agreement struck in December 2010 between former San Marcos police Sgt. Dan Misiaszek and visiting prosecutors that allowed the retired officer to avoid trial on a domestic violence charge.

If it withstands an all-but-certain appeal, Rodriguez’s ruling invalidates an arrangement under which Misiaszek admitted to family violence assault, agreed to be evaluated for domestic violence and alcohol problems and waived his right to fight the original charge should he be charged with anything else within 18 months of signing the deal. The Travis County Attorney’s office, in exchange, agreed not pursue a misdemeanor charge that Misiaszek assaulted his wife, San Marcos police Det. Kathy Misiaszek, by shoving her during an argument at their home in October 2010.

When both Misiaszeks were indicted and arrested in April last year on charges of deadly conduct — unrelated, but more serious, accusations stemming from an alleged road rage blow-up the previous fall — Travis County dusted off the deferred prosecution agreement and re-filed the assault charge against Dan Misiaszek.

But Rodriguez, writing in an Oct. 9 letter to the attorneys involved, said she has decided to grant a motion from defense attorneys Charles E. Soechting and Kathryn Sullivan to void, or “quash,” the agreement, saying that the document is “rife with errors and jurisdictional defects” and that “the mistakes are careless without regard to form or substance.” Throwing out the deferred prosecution agreement means throwing out Misiaszek’s guilty plea and he cannot be re-tried because the two-year statute of limitations has run out.

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10 thoughts on “Judge’s ruling clears ex-cop of domestic violence rap [PRO]”

  1. Has the female detective had any alleged issues in the past concerning her job performance? How do the victims feel about the outcome?

  2. That wheelchair looks pretty sparkly new, the tires or even clean. Must’ve been fought for the photo op. Hack!

    Total posed dramatic shot.

  3. I am not going to comment on this story except to say that Mr. Misiaszek had just had both knees replaced and is required by law to be at the hearing, thus the wheelchair.

  4. Programming note: I don’t know how dramatic the photo is but it definitely isn’t posed. I pulled out the camera as soon as the judge left the bench. I snapped a few picts as quickly as possible because I wasn’t sure if she allowed photography in her courtroom. The rules vary from judge to judge.

  5. So what about the road rage case? When is that trial if any? Sounds like he may have some anger issues.

  7. Shane,

    The MercuryPro version of this article goes into more detail about the road rage case. The cliff’s notes version is: It was put on hold through mutual agreement between prosecutors and defense attorneys until Dan Misiaszek’s domestic violence case is adjudicated.

  8. The story confuses me a bit bec of the inside baseball of the lawyer/judicial/prison industrial complex. Does this mean he gets away with commiting domestic violence, so-called “scot-free”?

    And why the question above about the woman/wife/detective? What relevance might that have to this matter.

    Finally, Travis County has bith a District and a County Attorney [Hays Co does not] so that is not clear, but Judge Rodriguez is a Hays County Judge so how has a Travis County prosecution wound up in a Hays County Court or have I missed something or misread something?

  9. The story confuses me a bit bec of the inside baseball of the lawyer/judicial/prison industrial complex. Does this mean he gets away with commiting domestic violence, so-called “scot-free”?

    And why the question above about the woman/wife/detective? What relevance might that have to this matter.

    Finally, Travis County has both a District and a County Attorney [Hays Co does not] so that is not clear, but Judge Rodriguez is a Hays County Judge so how has a Travis County prosecution wound up in a Hays County Court or have I missed something or misread something?

  10. Thom,

    I think I remember reading that Hays County asked Travis to send “special prosecutor” for the road rage case because of his prior relationship with prosecutors in Hays County. I’d assume this case prompted a similar request.

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