DALLAS — A petition filed Tuesday afternoon asks for the immediate removal of District Attorney Susan Hawk.
The petition was filed by Cindy Stormer, a former high-ranking prosecutor fired by Hawk in September.
Representing Stormer, attorney Kelly Puls called Hawk "a threat to Dallas County."
Less than one month after Stormer expressed her desire to oust the district attorney, the official petition was filed with the 101st civil court, where state District Judge Staci Williams presides.
"We filed this after careful deliberation, careful thought and after we gained a lot of the evidence," Puls said Tuesday afternoon.
The move comes less than two weeks after Hawk's return to office following a more than two-month absence. During her leave, Hawk said she sought in-patient treatment for a severe bout of depression.
"She's admitted publicly she's going to seek treatment from a psychiatrist every week for the rest of her life," Puls said of statements made by Hawk upon her return.
Puls said they're calling for the immediate removal of Hawk under a local government code that cites elected officials may be removed from office due to incompetency and gross ignorance. He said they're also seeking access to Hawk's "medical background over the last year, and all of her care providers who provided care and treatment for her psychiatric disorder."
In the petition, Stormer listed six specific reasons why she's seeking Hawk's dismissal:
- Drug addiction: "DA Hawk has admitted that during her 2013 campaign she was treated for prescription drug addiction and abuse in an in-patient rehabilitation facility."
- Mental illness - Attention Deficit Disorder: "DA Hawk has publicly announced her profound Attention Deficit Disorder, which has become remarkably more pronounced after her drug use and after the election."
- Mental illness - Depression: "DA Hawk's treatment occurred after her election to office ... "Hawk disappeared without telling any employees of the District Attorney's Officer where she was."
- Addiction to other drugs: "Those close to DA Hawk have publicly acknowledged that she is also addicted to OxyContin and Hydrocodone."
- A complete break with reality after the election: Dallas lawyer Bob Hinton, who is also DA Hawk's neighbor, said he and others have noticed bouts of paranoia and mistrust since DA Hawk became district attorney in January of 2015."
- Paranoid delusions after the election: "There have been numerous instances of paranoid; psychotic and incompetent behavior."
Listed under Hawk's alleged paranoid delusions, the petition cites the terminations of the chief of checks division on Jan. 9 and Tommy Hutson on Jan. 16. Hutson worked with the DA's office for more than 21 years before Hawk dismissed him from the job.
"He was called to DA Hawk's office and noticed her 'crazy' look," the petition alleges the district attorney said to Hutson after seeing "Tommy's Wi-Fi" come up on her Wi-Fi computer connection. "DA Hawk accused him of spying on her through her computer and demanding, 'I want to know why you are in my computer.'"
In an interview with WFAA last week, Hawk admitted that she thought of killing herself back in July. She also acknowledged that she did have bouts of paranoia, but claimed it didn't affect her decision making.
One specific moment of paranoia she admitted to involved her former second-in-command, Bill Wirskye, who was fired back in March. Hawk accused Wirskye of using forfeiture funds to make a key to break into her home and steal a compromising photo.
Now, she says she doesn't believe he broke into her home and has since apologized. However, she stands by his dismissal, and the others.
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"The reason why I went and got help, it was not for this job, it was for my life," Hawk told News 8. "I would step down if I couldn't do it. I know the difference between being well and not being well."
Meanwhile, Stormer seeks Hawk's removal through trial by jury.
"A district attorney that makes life and death decisions on a weekly basis ... needs to be competent," Puls said.
Puls added he believes additional plaintiffs will join the petition.
