Inset left: Rosie Speedlin-Gonzalez”s official judicial profile picture (Bexar County). Inset right: Speedlin-Gonzalez in a booking photo (Bexar County Jail). Background: The Cadena-Reeves Justice Center in San Antonio, Tex. (Google Maps).
A Texas judge has lost her position and is permanently barred from serving in a judicial role within the state following an incident where she allegedly had a lawyer handcuffed in her courtroom due to a disagreement.
In January, Rosie Speedlin-Gonzalez, aged 61, was charged with unlawful restraint by a judicial officer and misdemeanor official oppression. These charges stem from a courtroom altercation that took place in December 2024.
Until recently, Speedlin-Gonzalez served on the bench of Bexar County Court 13. However, she suffered a significant defeat in the Democratic primary last month, sealing her exit. Despite this, the circumstances surrounding her departure have led to her being “forever disqualified” from serving as a judge in Texas.
In February, Speedlin-Gonzalez was suspended without pay by the Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct due to the allegations. She was at risk of facing additional measures from the judicial ethics board depending on the resolution of her criminal case.
However, any further professional repercussions have been avoided through a voluntary resignation agreement she reached with the commission, which allowed her to step down in lieu of disciplinary action.
This resignation agreement addresses five different complaints submitted to the commission about Speedlin-Gonzalez’s conduct while serving as a judge.
The “parties agree that the allegations of judicial misconduct, if found to be true, could result in further disciplinary action” on top of the suspension, the agreement reads. Speedlin-Gonzalez also “has officially and formally resigned her judicial duties” and agrees “to resolve the above-referenced complaints in lieu of disciplinary action.”
The document spells out several judge-aligned actions Speedlin-Gonzalez can no longer perform — and one she still is allowed to do.
From the resignation agreement, at length:
[U]pon the Commission’s approval of this Agreement, Judge Speedlin-Gonzalez shall be forever disqualified from judicial service in the State of Texas, including: (a) sitting or serving as a judge, (b) standing for election or appointment to a judicial office, and/or (c) performing or exercising any judicial duties or functions of a judicial officer, including the performance of wedding ceremonies. This agreement does not prohibit Judge Speedlin-Gonzalez from the performance of wedding ceremonies under…the Texas Family Code, provided she does not wear a robe or refer in any way to a judicial function or authority in the performance of a ceremony.
The agreement between Speedlin-Gonzalez and the commission, however, does not extinguish the criminal case filed against her. Also on Monday, her attorney filed a motion to dismiss the indictment.
On the day of the underlying incident, attorney Elizabeth Russell was appearing with a client during a hearing over a motion to revoke probation, San Antonio-based ABC affiliate KSAT reported in January.
The defendant in that case reportedly responded to one of the allegations by pleading “true,” which prompted Russell to interject and ask for a moment to confer with her client.
The judge nixed the defense request and said attorneys are not allowed to coach their clients, according to a transcript of the proceedings obtained by the TV station. When the court moved forward with the plea, the defense attorney objected. This time, Speedlin-Gonzalez volubly took issue with Russell’s lawyering.
“Stop,” the judge said. “It’s on the record. Your argumentative ways are not going to work today. Stop. Stop, or I’ll hold you in contempt, Ms. Russell. I will hold you in contempt.”
The judge added that Russell was “not allowed to be argumentative and argue just for the sake of argument,” the transcript says.
Soon, however, the upbraiding turned into action.
“Take her into custody and put her in the box,” the judge directed a bailiff. “We are not having this hearing this way.”
After that, Speedlin-Gonzalez lectured the attorney again.
“You will not run around these courtrooms, especially [court number] 13, and think that you can just conduct yourself in the way you’ve been conducting yourself for at least the last six years, Ms. Russell,” the judge said.
In response, the lawyer noted that she had only been practicing law for five years. After being freed, Russell filed a criminal complaint.
In July 2025, the first judicial complaint was filed against Speedlin-Gonzalez, alleging she “exhibited unprofessional demeanor, threatened a defense attorney with contempt, and ordered the bailiff to handcuff the defense attorney and place her in the jury box,” according to a summary in the Monday resignation agreement.
In October 2025, a second judicial complaint was filed alleging she “exhibited unprofessional demeanor toward a criminal defendant and that she failed to timely proceed on a motion to modify bond conditions and two writs of habeas corpus.”
Three additional judicial complaints were filed in February and March of this year alleging she “abused her judicial authority” by ordering court employees to have “no contact” with former employees.
The defendant is next slated to appear in court on June 5.
