Misconduct Report: June 2014

The Misconduct Report
A monthly round-up of notable judicial misconduct allegations

July 2, 2014

By: State Courts Staff

A judge leaves the courtroom to fight an attorney, judges on both sides of the country get DUIs, another is suspended for bias, and prosecution of a judge who made a racist comment is still pending.

The Judicial Misconduct Report is a monthly report discussing select state-level judges facing formal misconduct charges. The report discusses notable charges of judicial misconduct from the past month and offers updates on pending and resolved cases. Unless otherwise noted, any misconduct charges should be considered allegations.

News

Judge challenges attorney to brawl

John C. Murphy: An uproar at a Brevard County courtroom resulted in a heated exchange and an alleged fist fight between a judge and a public defender.

Tensions were high on June 2, 2014 between Judge John C. Murphy, of the Brevard County Court, and the public defender Andrew Weinstock. Weinstock did not want his client to waive the right to a trial, and responded to the judge's question of "What do you want to do?" with a defiant air, reinforcing his position that he did not want to waive the right to trial. Just as Weinstock started to argued that the judge's position was "an emergency created by the State," Judge Murphy said, "You know, if I had a rock, I would throw it at you right now."

After Murphy yelled at Weinstock to sit down and Wienstock refused, the judge told him:

“	If you want to fight, let’s go out back and I’ll just beat your ass.	”
—John C. Murphy

What followed was not caught on camera, as the two exited the courtroom. However, sounds of impact can be heard clearly on the recording. Initial reports accused Murphy of punching Weinstock in the face.

Blaise Trettis, public defender of the 18th Judicial Court, stated, "The attorney said that immediately upon entering the hallway he was grabbed by the collar and began to be struck."

Deputy Bryon Griffin, who was at the scene, later explained:

“	I stepped into the back hallway and saw the two of them grabbing ahold of each other's suitcoat, pushing each other back and forth...I heard Judge Murphy say, ‘Do you wanna [f***] with me, do you?’ and I heard Mr. Weinstock say, ‘Alright.' I immediately stepped in and separated the two of them as they still had a grasp on each other.	”
—Deputy Bryon Griffin

When the brief fight ended, the people in the courtroom clapped. The New York Daily News reported that they were applauding the judge. One witness told WKMG-TV that Weinstock had acted "extremely rude."

No charges were filed against the judge, though he agreed to take a temporary leave of absence and to seek anger management counseling. He was absent from the court for four weeks, and returned on June 30, 2014. He apologized to the county's residents on June 29, writing in an open letter:

“

There may not be words strong enough to express the regret I have over my actions of June 2 — not because of the consequences to me but because it was wrong and may have tarnished the reputation of the entire judiciary...I love my job and have refocused myself on doing all I can to make myself a better person and a better judge.

”

Judge crashes into Sheriff's Office vehicle after taking sleeping pills

Lynn Rosenthal: Judge Rosenthal, of Florida's Seventeenth Circuit Court, was the latest subject in a string of judicial mishaps in Broward County.

On May 27, 2014, Judge Rosenthal was arrested for DUI in the courthouse parking lot after crashing into a Sheriff's Office vehicle. Deputies at the scene said the judge did not seem to have been drinking alcohol, though she her speech was slurred and she was having trouble standing steadily. She said she had taken an Ambien sleeping pill the night before.

In addition to hitting the patrol car, Rosenthal also hit a gate multiple times before she was arrested around 8:45 a.m. Prior to the incident at the courthouse, she said that a truck had tried to run her off the road on the Interstate. However, after watching a video she took of the incident on her phone, the officers said there was no truck involved. Deputy Michael Wiley stated, "The video did display that [Rosenthal] was unable to maintain a single lane, drove in the breakdown lane and failed to avoid a collision with a concrete wall."

Defense attorney Michael Dye, however, explained, "Under Florida law, Ambien is not listed as a controlled substance...It doesn't apply to Florida's impaired driving statute."

Regardless of the substance, this was the third Broward County judge in six months to be arrested for a DUI. The others were Gisele Pollack (see below) and Cynthia G. Imperato.

Other issues in Broward County

Early last month, Broward County Court Judge Gisele Pollack was involved in a car crash and was arrested for a DUI. This followed an earlier incident where the judge was drunk on the bench. She was suspended without pay. In attempt to continue to be paid while receiving treatment for alcoholism, Pollack cited the Americans with Disabilities Act. However, the Florida Supreme Court denied her request on June 6, leaving her unpaid suspension intact.

Ana Gardiner, a retired circuit court judge since 2010, was disbarred in early June for lying, during a murder case, about her relationship with the prosecutor.

DUI for California judge

Joseph C. Scott: Judge Scott, who serves on the Superior Court of San Mateo County in California, was arrested on May 24 for a DUI, but was released at the scene.

Judge Morrow suspended

Bruce Morrow: Judge Morrow, of Michigan's 3rd Circuit Court, received an unpaid, 60-day suspension, from the Michigan Supreme Court in June. He had been under investigation since late 2013, when the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission found him guilty of partiality and improperly following the law in eight cases. After a public hearing, retired judge Edward Sosnick only found Morrow guilty of misconduct in two of the cases. The commission recommended a 90-day suspension, which was ultimately decreased to 60 days by the supreme court. The court's opinion stated:

“	In our view, the totality of the evidence in this case paints a portrait of a judicial officer who was unable to ‘separate the authority of the judicial office he holds from his personal convictions.'	”
—Majority opinion, Michigan Supreme Court

Judge Weisenberger's grand jury appearance postponed

Bill Weisenberger: Judge Weisenberger, of the Madison County Justice Court in Mississippi, has been accused of slapping and kicking a mentally disabled black man and telling him, "Run, n*****, run."

On May 8, 2014, 20-year-old Eric Rivers was trying to collect tips by asking vendors at the Canton Flea Market if they needed help loading or unloading. One of the witnesses was Robert Perkins, whose parents were vendors. Perkins said that he saw Weisenberger yelling at Rivers and explained, "[Weisenberger] pushed him, hit him, called him a n----- and told him to run." He said that afterwards, he saw Weisenberger laughing and giving a high five to a police officer.

According to Perkins' mother, Kelly Bailey Ray, Weisenberger had also cursed at her son. She said that she asked him not to use profanity around children, but when her husband entered the scene to talk to Weisenberger, the judge allegedly told him, "I'm going to deal with you because I don't take orders from a woman." Later, when she confronted him about hitting Rivers, she said that Weisenberger explained his actions by saying Rivers had groped a woman. Ray later filed the complaint with the police.

The case was passed on to District Attorney Michael Guest, though no charges have been filed yet. According to Guest, "We are awaiting records from Region 8 Mental Health Services, the facility where the victim was receiving treatment...One of the essential elements of (a potential charge) is that he qualifies as a vulnerable adult."

See also

• Misconduct Report
• The Judicial Update
• JP Election Brief