Fall 07
Vol. 12 No. 4

City prosecutor Kimberly Gamble considers a plea bargain with defense attorney Rodrick Gibson.

Story and photo by John Perry

Among Houston’s municipal courts prosecutors, she’s known as the “Queen of Multi-tasking.” And with 150 to 180 cases crowded into each day, she has to be.

Kimberly Gamble arrives at her Municipal Courts office at 7:30 a.m. to go over the day’s dockets.

“I have 155 cases. That’s a light day for me,” said Gamble, an assistant city attorney II.

The cases are for Class C misdemeanor violations of city and state law, including not having insurance, expired drivers licenses, speeding, running red lights and stop signs, not having license plates, public intoxication, and building code violations.

“Probably 65 percent are traffic-related,” said Gamble, who has prosecuted more than 10,000 cases. Fines range from $1 to $2,000. And violators can be jailed for not appearing in court or failing to pay their fine.

Municipal courts are in session from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. during the week.

At 8 a.m., she takes her place at the prosecutor’s table in Court 11. Defense attorneys are across the aisle. The courtroom, with a capacity of 246, is filled with defendants, witnesses, police officers, and interested parties.

Presiding Judge Herbert W. Gee calls the docket of cases.

Gamble calls defendants’ names and interacts with defense attorneys and police officers while referring to the court’s integrated case management system.

“I can view the entire case history and even read the citation as the case is called,” said Gamble, who has tried municipal cases for the past 13 years.

With the ICMS, she can read copies of previous citations and arrests for a defendant.

“In one case, we had a defendant say he had a clean driving record,” Gamble said. “I pulled up his record, found a series of traffic violations, and impeached his testimony as he was testifying.”

Of Cuban ancestry, Gamble is fluent in Spanish and explains court procedures to Hispanic defendants.

“I am actually trilingual. I can also do sign language,” she said.

“I have a lot of respect for Kim,” said Eddie Calderon, a former city prosecutor turned defense attorney. “She knows the law. And she’s got too much experience to be bluffed.”

Many defendants opt for deferred adjudication or choose to plead guilty or “no contest” and pay the fine.

Gamble is willing to dismiss a case or offer a plea bargain if there is insufficient evidence for trial or the defendant has corrected the violation since the citation was written, she said.

“Plea bargaining is a necessary evil,” Gamble said. “If we tried each and every case we’d never clear cases. The docket would become hopelessly clogged.”

Other cases are dropped if a witness fails to appear. Sometimes a continuance is granted, postponing the case. In a few instances, the defendant asked for a trial by jury.

“Once they ask for a jury trial, there’s no turning back for them,” Gamble said. “Unless they change their plea to guilty and pay the fine and court costs, they’ll have to see it through.”

Municipal courts have six-person juries.

By 10:30 a.m., the first docket has been cleared.
Judge Arthur Lincoln replaces Gee and calls the next docket with 30 cases.

Eighteen are dismissed. Some because the citation contained a “fatal flaw.”

“That usually happens when the police officer neglected to date or sign the citation, or wrote the wrong location,” Gamble said.

One defendant has failed to appear, and a warrant is issued for her arrest.

“Not good. That’ll land her in jail,” Gamble said.

Jail dockets are held at various times and on weekends.

By 11:30 a.m., only six people remain to pay their fines. Returning to her office, Gamble attends to administrative duties till 4 p.m.

“This is a great place to gain trial experience,” she said. “Legendary attorneys Richard ‘Racehorse’ Haynes, Dick DeGuerin and Rusty Hardin have tried cases in our courts.”

“Kim is a knowledgeable member of our team who can be trusted to handle important assignments,” said Randy Zamora, senior assistant city attorney and chief of the prosecutor’s division. “I can hand a case to Kim, walk away, and know it will be dealt with properly. And that makes my job a lot easier.”

Gamble is a native Houstonian and graduate of Madison High School. While attending the Air Force Academy, she served two years on active duty. A 1994 graduate of Texas Tech School of Law, she joined the Legal Department in May 1994. She met her husband HPD Sgt. Troy Gamble in 1995 while prosecuting a case. They have four children.

“I enjoy working with the public and seeing justice done,” Gamble said. “Laws are in place to help the citizens. And I like being part of that system.”

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