Smith County District Clerk arrested

TYLER – Smith County District Clerk Penny Clarkston was arrested for contempt of court for not handing over information related to a high profile case. According to our news partner KETK, Court documents said that the district clerk was given several chances over the last two months to hand over information to the district court pertaining to the William Davis capital murder case. Davis was found guilty and sentenced to death in October 2021 after accusations that he intentionally blew air in the arterial lines of patients at a local hospital where four patients were killed and several injured.The case has recently reentered the spotlight with accusations that Davis’ defense team was harassing jurors in April.

On May 20, the Office of Capital and Forensic Writs wrote to Judge Reeve Jackson of the 114th District Court, requesting information regarding their jury summons process. It requested information as to the method used to randomly select prospective jurors in 2021. It also asked for statistical information on prospective jurors summoned during this time. The agency said they were not asked for information on individual jurors, only information on statistical and demographic information.

In a document filed by Judge Jackson, Clarkston was aware of the agency’s request the same day it was sent, however almost 60 days later, her office had still not sent the documents. On July 17, the court issued an “Order to Produce Information” to Clarkston, setting a July 22 deadline for her to comply.

His order warned that refusal to comply could result in her being held in contempt and subject to a fine of up to $500 or up to six months in jail. It was filed with the court on July 17.

On July 24, Clarkston filed a sworn affidavit that was dated two days prior, explaining the process of getting the information from all involved parties and stating that she had fulfilled the response from the state agency. She said she forwarded the information to the Office of Capital and Forensic Writs on July 22. When the court still had not received the information on July 23, Reeve Jackson issued a notice of allegations of contempt, an order setting a hearing and an order to appear in court on July 25. The document specified that the sheriff of Smith County would personally serve Clarkston with a copy of the order.

On July 25, Clarkston was arrested for civil contempt of court. After being initially processed in the Smith County Jail, she was taken to the Gregg County Jail due to her status as a Smith County employee. She was released the same day.