In October of 2018, Jim Wheeler resigned as the Wood County, Texas District Attorney. When he stepped down from public office, there wasn’t much information released about the why of the resignation. Thanks to a Texas Public Information Act request, it’s now come to light that he resigned after learning he was under investigation for sexual harassment. In fact, he resigned just two hours and 47 minutes after learning about the investigation.
As reported by Texas Lawyer, the investigation was sparked when an investigator became suspicious of Wheeler’s behavior towards First Assistant District Attorney Angela Albers. And it turns out Albers had been recording her interactions with Wheeler because she feared for her job and didn’t think others would believe her:
The allegations in the Texas Department of Public Safety Texas Ranger Division’s report show that Wood County D.A. investigator Jerry Hirsch was suspicious of Wheeler’s conduct toward then-First Assistant District Attorney Angela Albers. When Hirsch asked her, Albers admitted that Wheeler had been pursuing her for sex for eight months; she had been recording his comments for two months.
The report said Wheeler would say things like, “We could have fun together and no one would know,” and ask what Albers would do when he started putting his hands on her. He didn’t touch her physically, other than giving her “full-frontal hugs” in the office, said the report.
Though Wheeler provided no comment about the allegations, his dad had something to say:
But James Paul Wheeler, who is Jim Wheeler’s father and attorney, said that Jim Wheeler was not guilty of any crime.
“However, rather than go through any trial, if there was to be one, he made the determination that he would retire, and retired with the full retirement of 12 years and lifetime medical,” James Paul Wheeler said.
According to Upshur County District Attorney Billy Byrd, the official charged with prosecuting Wheeler, there was enough evidence to charge him with official oppression, which includes intentionally subjecting someone to sexual harassment. However, instead of filing charges against Wheeler, he asked him to resign — an exit Wheeler took. Byrd says this was done in the best interest of the victim:
“Being very involved with the victim and fully discussing all of those potential avenues of disposition, we felt this was in the best interest of justice. My oath of office is not to see that convictions happen, but to see that justice is done,” Byrd explained. “If there was a jury trial and a conviction, the same result would have happened, but getting to that point, there would have been a lot of information that was potentially harmful to other people, who were not victims.”
According to Texas law, when the District Attorney position becomes vacant, the First Assistant District Attorney becomes the acting district attorney. So, when Wheeler stepped down, Albers began managing the office and Texas Governor Gregg Abbott appointed her as D.A. in February.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).