Julie H. Kocurek (born October 2, 1964) is an American attorney and judge who is currently a

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

state court judge, having served as presiding judge of the 390th District Court in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

since January 1999, being appointed by then-governor

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

. Prior to serving as a Texas state judge, Kocurek served as an

Assistant District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a loc ...

Travis County Travis County is located in south central Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,290,188. It is the fifth-most populous county in Texas. Its county seat is Austin, the capital of Texas. The county was established in 1840 and is na ...

for seven years. On November 6, 2015, Kocurek survived an assassination attempt outside of her Austin home. She returned to work in February 2016.

Early life

Originally from

Dayton, Texas Dayton is a city in Liberty County, Texas, United States. The population was 8,777 at the 2020 census. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all but is land. Demographics As of the 2020 United ...

, Kocurek graduated from Dayton High School, then received a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

, and a J.D. from

St. Mary's University School of Law St. Mary's University School of Law is one of the professional graduate schools of St. Mary's University, a private Catholic university located in San Antonio, Texas. Academics The School of Law has an enrollment of about 770 students, pursu ...

in 1990. Kocurek was an

in the Travis County District Attorney's Office for seven years, under District Attorney

Ronnie Earle Ronald Dale Earle (February 23, 1942 – April 5, 2020) was an American politician and judge who was, from January 1977 to January 2009, the District Attorney for Travis County, Texas. He became nationally known for filing charges against House ...

. She became board certified in criminal law in 1998, and in 1999 was appointed by Governor

to a seat on the newly created 390th district court, becoming the first female district judge in Travis County.

State judicial service

Her caseload has included presiding over cases brought against Texas governor

Rick Perry James Richard Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who served as the 14th United States secretary of energy from 2017 to 2019 and as the 47th governor of Texas from 2000 to 2015. Perry also ran unsuccessfully for the Republica ...

and U.S Congressman

Tom DeLay Thomas Dale DeLay (; born April 8, 1947) is an American author and retired politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1985 until 2006. He was Republic ...

. In Perry's case, Kocurek presided briefly before recusing herself from the matter due to her previous association with the Travis County District Attorney's Office, and transferring the matter to judge Billy Ray Stubblefield, who assigned the matter to senior state district judge Bert Richardson. Kocurek dispelled a claim made by former Alaska governor

Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 R ...

that the case had been brought by Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, whom Perry had tried to force from office.

Assassination attempt

On November 6, 2015, Kocurek was shot and seriously wounded by an assailant in the driveway of her home in the

Tarrytown Tarrytown is a administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the administrative divisions of New York#Town, town of Greenburgh, New York, Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson Rive ...

neighborhood as she and her son were returning home from a football game at her high school. Kocurek lost a finger due to the attack, but was able to return to the courtroom by February 2016. The culprit behind the attack was Chimene Onyeri, an aspiring rapper whom Kocurek previously sentenced for running a tax refund scam. On April 26, 2018, a federal jury convicted Onyeri of all 17 counts charged against him, including charges related to the assassination attempt. Onyeri was found guilty of fraud, theft, and a racketeering charge linked to the attempted murder of Judge Kocurek and was sentenced to life in federal prison. Had Kocurek died from her injuries, Onyeri would likely have faced the death penalty. Onyeri is currently serving his sentence at

United States Penitentiary, Florence High The United States Penitentiary, Florence High (USP Florence High) is a high-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Colorado. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice ...

, having been transferred there from

Pollock Pollock or pollack (pronounced ) is the common name used for either of the two species of North Atlantic marine fish in the genus ''Pollachius''. ''Pollachius pollachius'' is referred to as pollock in North America, Ireland and the United Kingd ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kocurek, Julie Texas state court judges University of Texas alumni St. Mary's University School of Law alumni American shooting survivors Living people People from Dayton, Texas 1964 births