Judge punished for tire-deflation
July 22, 2010
Maryland: Judge Robert C. Nalley, of the Charles County Circuit Court, may be somewhat protective of his parking space. He was recently suspended without pay for five days for deflating the tire of a maintenance worker who was parked in his spot at the LaPlata, Maryland courthouse. The judge claimed that he did not know the owner of the car, Jean Washington, who was a cleaning worker at the courthouse. In his own defense, the judge stated, "It was not thoughtless. It was calculated in the sense I didn’t want to make a big deal of it. I didn’t want (the car) to be towed. I didn’t want it to be ticketed."
The offense occurred on August 10, 2009 and Nalley pleaded guilty the following October. He has since stepped down from the position of chief administrative judge and was suspended from trying criminal cases. After his 5-day suspension, he will continue to preside over civil cases. The Maryland Court of Appeals signed the order of his suspension on July 21, 2010. He was also fined $500 and instructed to write a letter of apology to Washington.[1][2]
Footnotes
Federal courts:
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Maryland • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Maryland
State courts:
Maryland Supreme Court • Appellate Court of Maryland • Maryland District Courts • Maryland Circuit Courts • Maryland Orphans' Court
State resources:
Courts in Maryland • Maryland judicial elections • Judicial selection in Maryland
