Misconduct Report: September 2014

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

October 15, 2014

By: State Courts Staff

Two judges publicly censured for sexual misconduct; four judges suspended for drunkenness, tardiness, lack of mental fitness, and falsification of records; one judge indicted; and another pleads guilty.

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 censured by the California Commission on Judicial Performance

Cory Woodward: On September 2, 2014, the California Commission on Judicial Performance censured Woodward, a judge for the Superior Court of Kern County in California, for having intimate relations with his courtroom clerk. Commission findings conclude that Woodward had sex with his clerk, a married woman, in both his judicial chambers and in public places, exchanged personal emails with the clerk on court computers, passed notes of a sexual nature during court proceedings, and allowed the clerk to address him in an overly familiar manner.

Instead of removing Woodward from the bench, the Commission decided to publicly censure Woodward instead, citing Woodward's cooperation with their investigation, his acknowledgement of wrongdoing, his expression of great remorse, and his reputation among his colleagues as a hardworking, conscientious, and intelligent judge. The complete order imposing the censure can be read here.

Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission suspends judge again

Brenda Karen Sanders: Sanders, a district court judge for the 36th District Court in Michigan, was suspended by the Michigan Supreme Court on September 18, 2014, for her alleged judicial misconduct and contempt of court in her failure to submit to an independent mental health examination.

The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission had filed a complaint against Sanders on September 9, 2014, seeking her suspension based on, among other things, Sanders' lack of mental fitness and failure to cooperate with the Commission. According to the complaint, beginning in March 2014, the Commission requested that Sanders undergo an independent mental medical examination. Sanders failed to go to any of the scheduled appointments. A doctor then issued an opinion on Sanders' mental health condition based on documents, including those written by Sanders. The doctor's opinion stated in part that Sanders suffered from "psychotic delusions," her "delusions are paranoid in nature," there remains "an urgency for Judge Sanders to be evaluated for psychiatric disorders," and in the meantime she "should not be sitting in judgment of anyone until she is determined to be free of the psychosis that renders her a danger to self and others."

Judge suspended for intoxication at work

Emily Dean: On September 12, 2014, the Iowa Supreme Court suspended Dean, an associate district court judge in District 8B in Iowa, for 30 days without pay for a 2012 incident in which she arrived at the courthouse intoxicated.

The Iowa Commission on Judicial Qualifications filed their complaint against Dean charging her with multiple incidents related to the judge's alleged alcoholism, including an instance in which Dean spent a weekend with family members without alcohol and had a grand mal seizure due to withdrawal, and another where Dean purportedly acted strangely in court at one time asking the lawyers and others appearing before her: "Why are you all here?". Additional charges include an episode where she pressed the panic button on the bench while there was no emergency, stating that she wanted to "test it," and another where a member of the public reported seeing her driving while under the influence and urinating in the street. In handing down the suspension, the Iowa Supreme Court noted that:

“

Judge Dean has confronted her disease and now has demonstrated a deep personal commitment to recovery...She appears to have overcome the denial, recovered from the embarrassment, recognized the depth of the problem...and most importantly has been able to establish the kind of supportive framework associated with successful recovery over a lifetime.

”

Ohio judge indicted by grand jury

James M. Burge: Burge, a Lorain County Court of Common Pleas judge in Ohio, was indicted by a grand jury on September 24, 2014, for charges which included the "falsification, tampering with records, soliciting improper compensation and having an unlawful interest in a public contract."

These charges stem from the period when Burge owned and rented an office building he owned to local attorneys, some of whom had cases before Burge. The charge involving the tampering with records allegedly arose when Burge provided false information on financial disclosure statements related to his ownership of the office building. While the case is pending, Burge is barred from presiding on the bench.

Judge's admission of fraud reveals fake case used by FBI

Joseph C. Waters, Jr.: On September 24, 2014, Waters, a judge for the Philadelphia Municipal Court in Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to wire and mail fraud, an admission that was partially attributed to a fake court case the FBI used to test him. In 2012, court records show that David Khoury was arrested on a felony charge for the illegal possession of a pistol. He was released on bond and scheduled to appear before Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge Dawn Segal. However, Khoury was not actually a criminal, or a real person at all. The identity and crime were created by the FBI to test whether Waters would be more loyal to his campaign donors or to the law.

One of Waters' campaign donors, who had contributed $1,000 to the judge's campaign in a prior election, was in on the sting. Court documents stated that Waters had told the donor: "Anything I can do to help you or anybody that you're interested in, all you do is pick up the phone and call me." The donor then contacted Waters regarding the Khoury case, describing the fictitious man as the cousin of a business associate. Waters reached out to Judge Segal, asking her to help out Khoury, who he described as a friend. Khoury's sentence was later reduced to a misdemeanor, though Segal had not been charged with any wrongdoing at the time of Waters' guilty plea.

Judge censured for sexual conduct with women in judicial chambers

Scott A. Steiner: On September 2, 2014, Steiner, a judge for the California Superior Court of Orange County, was censured by the California Commission on Judicial Performance for having sex with two women on more than one occasion in his judicial chambers. One woman was his intern, the other a local attorney, and both women were former students of Steiner, who taught as an adjunct professor at the Chapman University School of Law. The complete order imposing the censure can be read here.

In addition to his sexual misconduct, the Commission found that Steiner had acted outside the scope of his office permitted by the California Code of Judicial Ethics, when he wrote a recommendation for this intern and then proceeded to contact the potential employer to express his irritation when she had not been hired. As for his conduct with the local attorney, Steiner disqualified himself from the cases in which she was set to appear before him, but then assigned her cases to specific judges on the court.

The censure serves as a public reprimand and is the severest form of punishment meted out by the Commission, outside the removal of a judge from the bench all together. Since Steiner has expressly admitted to the findings of the Commission and agreed to the conditions of the public censure, he will be permitted to remain on the bench with full pay and benefits.

Judge suspended for 30 days for repeated tardiness

Sheila Ann Gibson Manning: In September 2014, the Michigan Supreme Court ordered Gibson Manning, a judge on the 3rd Circuit Court, suspended from the bench for 30 days without pay. Manning was on suspension since September 17, 2014, due to a complaint filed against her by the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission. The complaint alleged judicial misconduct stemming from Gibson's repeated tardiness. The Commission investigated Gibson Manning's tardiness over a week's period of time in October 2012. They found that she arrived to the court after 10:00 a.m. and then left around 4:00 to 4:30 p.m. on numerous occasions, leaving parties waiting in the courtroom as early as 9:00 a.m. Gibson Manning cited "family reasons" for her tardiness. Her suspension began on October 8, 2014.

Alaskan judge suspended for 45 days for falsified affidavits

William L. Estelle: On September 12, 2014, Estelle, a district court judge for the Third Judicial District in Alaska, was suspended by the Alaska Supreme Court per the Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct's recommendation. He was suspended for 45 days without pay upon Commission findings that show, from September 2011 to February 2013, Estelle had signed pay affidavits incorrectly stating that he had no matters that were undecided for more than six months.

Under Alaska law, judges cannot be paid if they have uncompleted cases for more than six months.The court in its opinion noted that Estelle had not intentionally falsified the affidavits (Estelle admitted he had acted negligently), and thus this served as a mitigating factor to reduce the suspension from the warranted 6 months to a shortened 45 days.

See also

• Misconduct Report
• The Judicial Update
• JP Election Brief