Harris County District Judge Natalia “Nata” Cornelio has been publicly reprimanded for her actions in a capital murder appeal. Investigators found she showed bias toward the inmate and undermined confidence in Texas’ courts.
Cornelio reportedly transferred inmate Ronald Haskell to an MRI appointment by scheduling a fake court appearance that did not exist. The MRI was to be used as evidence in his appeal.
The State Commission on Judicial Conduct (SCJC), responsible for investigating allegations of this kind, issued the public reprimand on October 10.
Judge Cornelio, a Democrat, will continue to preside over the 351st Criminal District Court in Houston. The public reprimand is merely a mark on her public record that could affect her reelection campaign. She had previously been removed from Haskell’s capital murder appeal.
Background
Haskell was found guilty of murdering six members of his ex-wife’s family in Spring, Texas, in 2014. While he was looking for her, he instead found her sister’s family. Haskell had them lie face down and shot each of them execution-style.
This included his ex-sister-in-law Katie Stay, her husband, Stephen, and four of their five children—aged four to thirteen. The only survivor was 15-year-old Cassidy Stay, who was shot but survived by playing dead. After the shooting, Haskell fled but was later arrested following a standoff with police.
Haskell was charged with six counts of capital murder. During his 2019 trial, his defense argued insanity, claiming he heard voices telling him to kill. However, the jury rejected this defense and found him guilty of capital murder. He was sentenced to death by lethal injection and is currently on death row at the Allan B. Polunsky Unit in South Livingston, awaiting execution.
On June 27, 2024, Judge Cornelio signed a bench warrant to transport Haskell for his MRI that read, “The case is set on the court docket for July 22, 2024, at 12:00 a.m. in the Harris County District Court listed above.”
However, no court proceeding was scheduled for this date in Haskell’s appeal.
The State reportedly learned about the Bench Warrant from “a survivor of Haskell’s attack,” who received a notification from the Texas Victim Information and Notification Everyday (“VINE”) system.
The VINE stated that Haskell was transferred to the Harris County Jail for a court proceeding. In response, the State subpoenaed Haskell’s transport logs on August 29, 2024.
On September 12, 2024, Haskell filed a motion to quash the State’s subpoena, which Judge Cornelio promptly granted, never allowing the State to be heard.
On October 27, 2024, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office filed a recusal motion to have Judge Cornelio removed from the case—alleging bias, misconduct, and showing a “high degree of favoritism” toward Haskell.
Judge Susan Brown, the presiding judge of the Eleventh Administrative Judicial Region, granted the recusal motion, removing Judge Cornelio from the Haskell case on January 15, 2025.
The Public Reprimand
The commission initiated this complaint in December 2024 after becoming aware of news reports about a recusal motion filed against Judge Cornelio seeking her removal from Haskell’s capital murder appeal.
Judge Cornelio was advised by letter of the commission’s concerns and provided a written response. On October 2, 2025, Judge Cornelio appeared before the Commission and gave testimony regarding this matter.
According to the SCJC, “Judge Cornelio acknowledged the Bench Warrant contained inaccurate information about a nonexistent court appearance. Judge Cornelio explained her staff used a standard electronic form for the Bench Warrant and, as is a common practice in Harris County, identified a docket setting even though the defendant was not going to appear in court. Judge Cornelio admitted she ‘should have been more careful about the details of the form [she] was signing’ and that it was ultimately her responsibility to ensure the Bench Warrant did not contain misleading information.”
She also acknowledged having granted the motion to quash the State’s subpoena on a Saturday, “without setting a hearing or inviting the parties to brief the issues.” She said she no longer rules on motions without either holding a hearing or confirming that the parties do not want a hearing.
Judge Cornelio reportedly stated she has taken steps to ensure “a situation such as this” does not occur again.
The commission concluded that Cornelio should be publicly reprimanded for:
- Performing her judicial duties with bias, and manifesting by words or conduct bias in the performance of her judicial duties towards Haskell when she signed and issued the Bench Warrant, knowing it contained false information about a nonexistent court appearance
- Failing to afford the State an opportunity to be heard on the Motion to Quash.
“Judge Cornelio’s failures in the foregoing respects constituted willful and persistent conduct that is clearly inconsistent with the proper performance of her judicial duties and cast public discredit on the judiciary and on the administration of justice …,” concluded the reprimand.
Judge Cornelio did not respond to Texas Scorecard’s request for comment in time for publication.
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