SOUTHEAST TEXAS RECORD

GALVESTON - Suspended Galveston County Court-at-Law No. 3 Judge Christopher Dupuy's custody hearing continued with his ex-fiancée's attorney on the stand.

Michael Aldous, Tara Compton's counsel, resumed fielding questions from Dupuy's ex-wife's lawyer, Lori Laird, about his alleged efforts to discredit Compton.

Aldous's testimony is part of the legal flash point triggered by revelations Dupuy plotted to kill Adrienne Viterna and whisk their two children away to New Zealand.

For an hour in the afternoon of June 3, Aldous and Laird went back and forth about the circumstances surrounding Compton and Dupuy.

Laird accused Aldous of relaying his client's confidential information to the Dupuy team to which the Santa Fe attorney refuted with claims the former tried to get her to lie.

Aldous labeled Laird and her group "gangsters" as well as insinuated they were in on the so-called "corruption" in Galveston County.

He asserted Laird was also behind a social media smear campaign targeting Dupuy, at one point asking her why she did not add him as a friend on Facebook.

Laird argued that Aldous sought to shield Compton from being served.

When asked if he said he would "obliterate [Compton's] credibility to the f****** ground," Aldous stated it was contextually because Laird coached her to lie on the stand.

According to Aldous, Laird attempted to get Compton to say that she saw the silencer on the firearm Dupuy was believed to own and she was afraid of him.

Aldous denied he made her testify that she did not believe Dupuy would go through with a plan to kill Viterna and move out of the country with their son and daughter.

The hearing came about out of Viterna's request for an emergency protective order.

Dupuy was arrested and indicted by a local Grand Jury, facing eight criminal counts arising from allegations he abused his power.

In addition, he is the focus of a lawsuit filed in the Galveston County 10th District Court that seeks his ouster from the judgeship.

The Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct suspended him without pay.

Dupuy and Compton dated and became engaged while he assisted her in a custody battle over her daughter.

Their engagement was short-lived.