Eleanor Dearman

Corpus Christi (Texas) Caller-Times

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — For years, District Judge Guy Williams has sat at the bench to dispense justice. On Friday, he stood before it as a defendant.

Williams, 67, was indicted Friday on two second-degree felony counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

"How would you like to plea, guilty or not guilty?" asked Sid Harle, a judge from Bexar County who was assigned to preside over the case.

"Not guilty, your honor," Williams replied.

He is accused of attempting to run another vehicle off the road and pointing a gun at its occupants in an April 28 incident.

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The Corpus Christi Police Department referred the case to the Texas Rangers to avoid a conflict of interest. The Nueces County District Attorney's office referred the case to the Attorney General's office.

His bond was set at $25,000, which jail officials said was posted by one of his attorneys.

Trial is set for March 19.

Williams questioned a bond condition that required him to surrender his guns.

"Y'all are going to require that I give up all my firearms, even in my household?" Williams asked of the court.

"Yes sir. That's a standard condition of bond here, that's what they tell us," Harle replied.

"Well, I've had violent threats levied against me, so y'all are leaving me at home without protection," Williams said.

Harle assured him that law enforcement officers could come to his aid, if he needed it.

A police log shows that a woman called 911 on April 28 and told dispatchers the driver of a Mercedes attempted to run her car off the road.

Williams has also been named in two earlier incidents, from 2013 and 2015. He hasn't been charged in those cases. Williams told the Caller-Times earlier this year he's been the "victim" in these incidents and is "a very courteous driver."

He also said he bought the Mercedes described in the incidents as a reward to himself after taking the bench in 2011.

"People don't like a Mercedes zipping past them, I don't think," Williams told the Caller-Times in May. "Ever since I got that white Mercedes I've noticed people don't like people driving a white Mercedes."