A special review panel in Austin kept the public reprimand of Harris County District Judge Natalia Cornelio in place, leaving the disciplinary finding against her intact while she remains on the bench.
The State Commission on Judicial Conduct issued the reprimand in October 2025 after Cornelio’s handling of Ronald Lee Haskell’s post-conviction proceedings drew scrutiny. Haskell was convicted and sentenced to death in 2019 for the 2014 murders of Katie Stay, Stephen Stay and their four children in Spring. The commission found that Cornelio showed bias and that her conduct cast public discredit on the judiciary and the administration of justice.
One of the central issues was a June 27, 2024 bench warrant Cornelio signed that referenced a court appearance that never existed. The warrant was used to bring Haskell to Harris County for an MRI at a private imaging clinic near the Texas Medical Center, and he spent about three weeks in the Harris County Jail during that process. The commission also faulted Cornelio for agreeing, without a hearing, to keep Haskell’s transport logs sealed.
Cornelio acknowledged that the warrant contained inaccurate information because her staff used a standard form. She said she should have been more careful and has since taken steps to prevent similar mistakes. She has continued to dispute the findings, and the case has remained active through the appeal process.
The Special Court of Review in Austin heard the challenge before a panel of three justices. Attorneys with the Texas Attorney General’s Office called Cornelio as their first witness. Harris County prosecutors filed a motion to recuse her from the case on Oct. 7, 2024, arguing that she had abandoned neutrality and become an advocate for Haskell.
Cornelio took the bench in 2020 and had never handled a death-row case before Haskell’s. She was elected by her peers in October 2025 as Harris County Administrative Judge, a two-year post overseeing the county’s 29 Harris County Criminal District Courts, while her judicial term runs through 2028.
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