HOUSTON – Former Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg has been summoned to show up in court related to her alleged violation of the gag order in the Jocelyn Nungaray case.
The hearing has been scheduled for July 28 where Ogg will have to show good cause for why Judge Josh Hill should not hold her in contempt of court for the alleged violation.
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The show cause order was filed on Thursday and executed Friday, according to court records.
On June 18, Judge Hill signed a new gag order in the Jocelyn Nungaray murder case following televised interviews in which Ogg revealed new details about the case.
The gag order was revised after Judge Hill was asked by both the prosecution and defense to hold Ogg in contempt court following her public comments. The defense presented additional evidence pointing to media appearances they argue violated the initial gag order that was put in place to protect the case.
Ogg is accused of disclosing that one of the suspects, Franklin Peña, allegedly raped an American woman in Costa Rica before Jocelyn’s murder in Houston.
The revised gag order now prohibits disclosing information in the case to the public for all attorneys involved, whether past, present or future.
The court also notes that “it is a violation of Texas Penal Code 39.06 or any public servant to disclose or uses for a nongovernmental purpose information obtained by means of that public servant’s office or employment and which had not been made public.”
Mitch Little, a representative for Ogg, released the following statement:
I represent Kim Ogg. I am given to understand that a show cause order was entered today, ordering Ms. Ogg to appear and show cause why she should not be held in contempt for comments made in connection with the pending prosecutions for the murder of Jocelyn Nungaray. As Ms. Ogg has previously and vocally expressed, this case should rightly be tried as a capital murder case.
Having had occasion to read the very well-paid, court-appointed defense counsel’s Motion for Contempt, I see that counsel finds the release of certain information objectionable—including the very well-known facts that these crimes are alleged to have been committed by men in the country illegally and the location and manner in which Jocelyn’s body was found after she was taken from us. These matters are well-known because they were stated by the President of the United States in describing the alleged assailants as “two illegal alien monsters from Venezuela” on national television in front of over 36 million people.
Ms. Ogg also stands accused of stating that she is “against the rape and murder of little girls”—a statement recently alleged to have been made to a local Republican club. This seems to be an opinion that used to be expressed without controversy. Why it raises the ire of defense counsel is a mystery.
Occasionally, a crime occurs that is so revolting and offensive to our sense of public justice that it commands the attention of a nation. This is certainly that case. Ms. Ogg stands accused of politicizing the matter and inserting herself into it well after her representation has expired. Today, Ms. Ogg is entitled to the same protection of her right to free expression under the Texas Constitution as every other private citizen. In our great state, prior restraints of speech carry a heavy presumption against their validity, and I look forward to zealously defending Ms. Ogg from this motion.
According to the pleading, the prosecution has joined in certain allegations against my client. The new district attorney’s zeal for politics seems to be colliding with Ms. Ogg’s zeal for victims of violent crime.
What happened?
Defense attorney Lisa Andrews asked Judge Hill to hold Ogg in contempt of court and asked the DA’s office for a criminal investigation of Ogg’s airing of new details in the case, including for possible misuse of official information.
READ: Houston judge limits what attorneys and others can say in Jocelyn Nungaray murder case
Both sides also stated that they would file state bar grievances regarding Ogg’s conduct.
Ogg said in a televised interview that Peña allegedly raped an American woman while she was on vacation in Costa Rica before the alleged rape and murder of Nungaray last June in Houston.
Joshua Reiss, general counsel for the DA’s office, called it an abhorrent violation of the professional rules of conduct.
“Former district attorney Kim Ogg took it upon herself for political reasons to reveal confidential information part of this defendant’s case and regarding the district attorney’s ongoing investigation with regard to that case,” Reiss said.
He continued, “Let me be extremely clear. The district attorney’s office, the Teare administration, absolutely, positively, 1,000% did not give Kim Ogg permission to give that interview to Fox 26. It absolutely 1000% does not condone what she did. And, in fact, this week, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office will be filing a bar grievance."
Andrews pointed out that Ogg hasn’t been privy to investigative details in the case since she left office at the end of 2024 and doesn’t know if the allegations may have been proven untrue.
“In my 27 years as a practicing criminal attorney, I have never seen a former DA or current DA go to the media and release confidential information that they learned in the scope of their employment,” Andrews said. “And let’s really think about this. Ogg hasn’t been a part of the police or DA investigation since December 31st, 2024. It is now June 2nd, 2025. She has no current knowledge about this investigation whatsoever."
The death penalty case, which has brought immigration issues to the forefront, has been high profile nationwide because the two defendants are undocumented immigrants from Venezuela.
“Former DA Ogg used this case for her own political benefit. She was defeated at the polls, but is seeking to remake herself politically by coming out strongly against illegal immigration," Andrews said.
Defense attorneys raised concerns about their clients getting a fair trial.
The initial gag order has been in place in the case since last September when defense attorneys argued Ogg was making too many extra-judicial statements, including in an interview with KPRC 2+.
READ: Harris County District Attorney breaks down Jocelyn Nungaray’s murder case
In the recent interview, Ogg said that she was making the details public because she’s concerned about decisions that have been made by her successor, Sean Teare.
