A divided appellate panel on Wednesday granted Caballero's request for a writ of mandamus, which orders a judge to sign a disciplinary order he had refused to sign. The court ordered a visiting judge to sign an agreement putting Caballero's license on probation for nine months and charged her $1,000 in fees.
Two members of the three-justice panel ruled that the judge, George D. Gilles of Midland, did not have the discretion to reject a 2012 punishment agreement between Caballero and the State Bar of Texas' Commission for Lawyer Discipline.
Caballero and her co-counsel, Stuart Leeds, faced punishment stemming from their behavior in a 2011 trial in which their client, 448th District Judge Regina Arditti, was acquitted of bribery.
Caballero was accusing the judge, Steven Smith of College Station, of racism even before the trial started. In 2012, Caballero and Leeds were convicted of criminal contempt after a weeklong long trial of charges Smith filed against them.
During the Arditti trial, Caballero improperly accused the judge and the prosecutor of being in cahoots and she intentionally impeded the trial, the judge in the contempt case ruled. Caballero was fined $900, but the judge probated the fine.
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El Paso lawyer Theresa Caballero wins in disciplinary matter before appeals court