MCKINNEY - From the beginning, Suzanne Wooten maintained her innocence in a convoluted case mired in politics, improprieties and felony charges.

She didn't waver. Not even in 2011, when a Collin County jury convicted the former state district judge on nine counts that included bribery and money laundering. She was sentenced to 10 years of probation and fined $10,000.

Now, years after being forced to resign from office and having her law license suspended, Wooten has found the beginnings of the justice she so desperately sought.

Before a packed courtroom Wednesday, Wooten, 49, was acquitted of all charges and declared innocent.

"This is not over," Wooten said in her first public statements since being targeted after taking office in January 2009. "I'm not going to be quiet any longer."

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Wooten said she may have been naive when she filed in 2008 to run against longtime District Judge Charles Sandoval, but she refused to be bullied.

Her election win "upset the wrong people apparently," she said. "This was fabricated from the beginning."

She said she was told in October 2009 by a representative of the district attorney's office that if she didn't resign her bench, she'd be sent to prison for a very long time. She was threatened with the loss of her property, her children and her reputation.

She didn't back down. The criminal indictments against her came one year later.

Wooten's trial attorney, Peter Schulte, called the bribery charges against his client "a legal fiction that was brought by the corrupt politics of Collin County, which still exists to some extent today."

Attorney Peter Schulte represented former judge Suzanne Wooten as she sought a declaration of innocence on charges that he called "a legal fiction." (Louis DeLuca / Staff Photographer)

"This was the worst travesty of justice I've ever seen in my legal career," Schulte said. "It wasn't a crime back in 2009 and it's not a crime today."

The Texas Attorney General's Office, which prosecuted Wooten and three others, agreed earlier this month that Wooten's convictions should be vacated. No one from that office attended Wednesday's hearing.

At all of the trials, prosecutors presented voluminous records to show how Wooten accepted money for her 2008 judicial campaign in exchange for future favorable rulings in court.

The process leading up to Wooten's acquittal actually began last year when the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals found insufficient evidence to support the bribery and money laundering convictions of a University Park couple, David and Stacy Stine Cary. They won their appeal after being convicted by separate juries in 2012 and 2013.

The Carys' acquittals became the basis for Wooten's writ filed earlier this year seeking a declaration of innocence.

"Stacy and I are happy for Judge Wooten and her family; we know she is innocent, " David Cary said in an email Wednesday. "Most people are confused what these cases were about. That is because they keep assuming there was a basis for the prosecution. Once they realize there is no basis for the prosecution, it all becomes very clear."

How it began

David Cary had been involved in a lengthy and heated child custody battle with his ex-wife in Collin County's 380th District Court after their 2004 divorce. Several rulings by Sandoval had not gone Cary's way.

Former Judge Suzanne Wooten (center) was all smiles as she visited with her attorney Peter Schulte (left) and family and friends in the foyer of the Collin County Courthouse after her 2011 convictions were vacated. (Louis DeLuca / Staff Photographer)

Prosecutors said at Wooten's trial that Cary worked through Steven Spencer to find someone to run against Sandoval in 2008. But Wooten testified that she decided to run against Sandoval before she even met Spencer, who would become her campaign manager.

Evidence at trial showed that Stacy Stine Cary made six payments totaling $150,000 to Spencer between January and March 2008. The couple said it was for consulting work unrelated to politics.

Spencer used some of that money to cover Wooten's campaign expenses, evidence showed, including pricey radio ads that were unheard of in a judicial campaign. He then sent Wooten invoices for those costs over several months.

Her campaign finance reports show she paid for all of the expenses, which totaled more than $125,000, using donations and personal funds.

There was no evidence Wooten ever received any money from the Carys. In fact, Wooten had never heard of them. And after being elected, she recused herself from Cary's custody case because of a connection to another attorney.

Former Judge Suzanne Wooten (with her back to camera) got a hug from Cynthia Fitzgerald Lacy after Wooten's 2011 convictions were vacated in the 416th District Court in McKinney on Wednesday. (Louis DeLuca / Staff Photographer)

"This has been an absurd witch hunt that targeted Judge Wooten because she beat a bad judge," said Spencer, who lives in the Austin area. "This is long overdue for her. She is an honorable person who never did anything wrong."

Spencer pleaded guilty in 2013 to three felony charges in exchange for probation for his role in the case.

'They didn't stop'

Wooten said her options were severely limited as a convicted felon on probation for 10 years. She could no longer practice law. She couldn't pass a background check.

She couldn't volunteer at her children's schools or go on field trips with them.

With the McKinney family's income cut short, her husband, Wes Wayland, ended up taking a job in Houston for three years. She had to get a travel permit just to leave Collin County to pick him up at the airport.

Her convictions included a $10,000 fine and 1,080 hours of community service.

The family's home and car insurance policies got canceled - twice - after someone alerted the company to her convictions. Her credit cards were also canceled.

"They didn't stop," Wooten said. "This has been terrorizing for my family."

Former Judge Suzanne Wooten talked with the media as her husband, Wes Wayland, and son Cal listened after her 2011 convictions were vacated. (Louis DeLuca / Staff Photographer)

But she overcame those setbacks. She has since built up her own trial consulting and mediation business. Her husband has moved back home. And she's grateful for those who stood by her over the years.

Wooten is still weighing her options for what's next. Her law license will be reinstated. Whether she will run for judge again, she couldn't say.

She'd also like her portrait returned to the courthouse wall to hang among all the other judges who have served in Collin County. At one point it had been removed and thrown in the garbage.

Schulte, who plans to continue representing her, possibly in a future malicious prosecution suit, issued a warning.

"The dirty politics that still goes on in this county today? They're going to be held accountable."