Judge Gary Donahoe Charged with Bribery

The Maricopa County judge who sent a detention officer to jail recently could end up in jail himself thanks to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday.

Superior Court Judge Gary Donahoe has been charged with a number of crimes, including bribery and obstructing a criminal investigation.

County Attorney Andrew Thomas insisted the charges against Donohoe are about justice and putting an end to corruption; they have nothing to do with any issues his office has had with the judge.

"We cannot allow the precedent to be set that if you are a powerful politician and have powerful friends in court you can avoid prosecution or investigation for crimes," Thomas said.

Thomas and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio held a joint news conference Wednesday to explain the charges against the judge.

They allege that Donahoe participated in a scheme to hinder an investigation into possible criminal conduct by the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors and to block an investigation into the judge himself.

The charges center on Donahoe's role in the new court tower under construction in downtown Phoenix and whether the judge received any benefits from the project.

The judge is also accused of failing to disclose an attorney-client relationship with two lawyers involved in the court tower's construction.

"I've worked corruption around the world and never seen this type of situation," Arpaio said. "It gets worse and worse as time goes on."

The sheriff and the county attorney said the charges against the judge have nothing to do with Donahoe holding a sheriff's detention officer in contempt and putting him in jail for looking through a defense attorney's papers.

They also insisted that the Sheriff's Office's dispute with Donahoe over transportation of prisoners is unrelated.

"The issues with transportation and the deputy incarcerated had nothing to do with it, other than the fact that it is simply interesting that the pattern of outrageous conduct by the judge involves these other matters," Thomas said.

CBS 5 News contacted Donahoe's office to get reaction to the criminal complaint, but the judge had no comment.

A preliminary hearing has been set for Jan. 11.

Judge Andrew Moreland & Wife Arrested for Theft

A Knox County judge and his wife are arrested on theft charges.

Indiana State Police say Bicknell City Judge Andrew Moreland, and his wife, Cindy Moreland, stole money from the Bicknell city court.

They turned themselves in Wednesday morning. The couple was released after posting bond.

Troopers say an investigator conducted an audit and found nearly $21,000 missing.

They say the money is from traffic ticket fines and other fees.
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http://www.fox59.com/news/wxin-knox-county-judge-arrested-101409,0,2196231.story

Judge David Abruzzo Arrested for Drunk Driving

Judge David Abruzzo, of the Preble County Common Pleas Court, was arrested late Friday night, Sept. 18, on charges of driving while under the influence of alcohol and failure to yield to a public safety vehicle, the Ohio State Highway Patrol said.

The judge was given a citation directing him to answer to the charges in Eaton Municipal Court at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 21, the patrol said.

Abruzzo, 61, of Eaton, refused to take a breath test after he was stopped at 11:41 p.m. Friday along U.S. 127 just north of the Eaton city limits, the patrol said. He was alone in a 2007 GMC station wagon when he was stopped, the patrol said.

No other details were available on Saturday, patrol dispatcher Lisa Roberts said.

Judge Patrick McKay Arrested for DUI

An Anchorage superior court judge has been arrested for driving under the influence.

Police say Judge Patrick McKay was pulled over on the Glenn Highway for a traffic stop Thursday around 9 p.m., and the officer found him to be under the influence.

He was released on a $500 bail and is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 14.

Judge Charles Nebel Arrested for Drunk Driving

Authorities say an Upper Peninsula judge has been arrested for suspected drunken driving after police clocked him speeding more than 100 miles an hour.

The Mining Journal of Marquette reports Charles Nebel was arrested Friday evening in Schoolcraft County.

The county prosecutor's office says Nebel's blood-alcohol level was above the legal limit of 0.08 percent. He was arrested and lodged overnight in the county jail.

Schoolcraft County Prosecuting Attorney Peter Hollenbeck says the case has been turned over to Attorney General Mike Cox for a decision on any charges.

Nebel said in a statement he "made a series of bad and inappropriate decisions" and is prepared to face the consequences.

Nebel is a probate judge for Schoolcraft and Alger counties.
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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-mi-upjudgearrested,0,4792390.story

Judge John Thaddeus Doyle Arrested for Drunk Driving

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge was arrested for suspicion of drunken driving in Baldwin Hills.

Judge John Thaddeus Doyle, 56, was arrested around 11:15 p.m. Thursday by officers from the Los Angeles Police Department's South Traffic Division, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Doyle was pulled over in the 4500 block of Don Felipe Drive, near La Brea Avenue, for a traffic violation, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Doyle was released at 4:36 a.m. today on $30,000 bail.

Doyle is assigned to courthouses in Compton and Glendale.
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http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_12751716?nclick_check=1

Judge Gerard Maney Arrested for Drunk Driving

Albany County Family Court Judge Gerard Maney is accused of using bad judgement.

Green Island Police say the 59-year-old judge was drinking and driving on Thursday night.

At about 8:30 p.m., police say Maney's car approached an Albany County Stop DWI Checkpoint on the Green Island Bridge.

"He did a U-turn on the bridge to avoid the checkpoint," says Green Island Police Chief Chris Parker.

Police say Maney didn't pull over until he got to Route 32 in Watervliet.

"Nobody was in danger but he did fail to comply with the lights and sirens for approximately a mile and a half," says Chief Parker. "He never stopped until Route 32."

Paul Tommasini tells us he saw the arrest from his house.

"Another two cars came and they were looking around and discussing what they were going to do to him," Tommasini tells us.

Police say officers smelled alcohol and Maney failed field sobriety tests.

Investigators say Maney had a blood-alcohol content of 0.07 - just shy of the 0.08 BAC that constitutes being legally drunk.

Maney is charged with DWAI - driving while ability impaired by alcohol.

The judge is also charged with making an illegal U-turn and failing to comply with a traffic stop.

According to the New York State Unified Court System web site, Maney has spent 18 years as a family court judge.

He recently served as a member of the City of Albany's Gun Violence Task Force.

He was back on the bench on Friday.

A court spokeswoman says there will be no changes to Judge Maney's judicial duties while the matter is pending.

Albany County Stop DWI Sergeant Lenny Crouch calls the allegations against Judge Maney sad, adding, "You see things like this and you say, 'Boy, you never saw that coming.'"

Neither Judge Maney nor his attorney had any comment on Friday.

Maney is due in Green Island Town Court on July 7th.
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Information & Video: http://wnyt.com/article/stories/S986875.shtml?cat=300

Judge Woody Ray Densen Accused of Keying Car

A Harris County grand jury on Thursday indicted a state district judge on a criminal mischief charge after his neighbor gave prosecutors a videotape that he says proves the judge keyed his car.

Woody Ray Densen, 69, could face 180 days to two years in a state jail and a fine of up to $10,000 if convicted. He could also be disciplined by the state Commission on Judicial Conduct.

Adam Kliebert, a 40-year-old home builder, set up a surveillance camera in his Rice Village-area driveway that recorded a man he identified as Densen walking behind his 2006 Range Rover and appearing to pause and tamper with it on May 23. Kliebert has said he was frustrated that someone kept damaging his SUV, leaving him with repair bills for $3,000.

Passed lie-detector test

Densen, who has long served as a visiting judge in Harris County and other counties surrounding Houston, did not return a call seeking comment Thursday. But his attorney, Robert Pelton, insisted the judge is innocent and said they were disappointed by the indictment.

Pelton does not deny Den­sen is the man seen on the video, but said he did nothing wrong. The judge also passed a polygraph exam during which he denied damaging Kliebert’s car, Pelton said.

“There is no actual proof that he did anything to this man’s car because he didn’t do anything to the man’s car,” Pelton said. “This is a case of a neighborhood dispute. We had an investigator showing the damages could not have been the amount” claimed by Kliebert.

Kliebert had a different reaction to the decision. “I’m happy that the grand jury indicted him,” he said.

Kliebert set up the motion-activated cameras inside his Rice Village area townhouse to film all activities on his driveway because he kept finding scratches and damages to his Range Rover and his ex-girlfriend’s Mercedes-Benz.

Kliebert turned the video over to Houston police.

Although the actions by the man on the video are partially obscured on the surveillance footage, his arm can be seen making contact with the car, sometimes gliding or moving in a jerking motion along the rear door.

Sidewalk blocked by SUV

In a secretly videotaped conversation, Densen told Kliebert he didn’t know who damaged the vehicle, but suggested the vandalism might have occurred because the SUV was partially blocking the sidewalk.

Densen presided over criminal cases as judge of the 248th State District Court in Harris County from 1983 until he was defeated in a bid for re-election in 1994.

After that, he served as a visiting judge for many years, but stopped accepting courtroom assignments in 2007 when the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association filed a complaint against him with the state Commission on Judicial Conduct. The state commission dismissed that complaint without taking any action.

Now that he has been indicted, Densen will likely be suspended from serving as a visiting judge in any courtroom.

Densen was making arrangements to surrender on a non-arrest bond late Thursday or today, Pelton said.
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Information: http://esqblog.me/2009/06/18/judge-arrested-after-keying-neighbor%E2%80%99s-car-on-security-video/

Judge Jacquelin Gibson Charged with Battery on 92-year-old Mother

A part-time Fulton County Juvenile Court judge rejected a plea offer Friday on charges of battering her 92-year-old mother while trying to remove her from a sibling’s home.

In a hearing Friday morning, an assistant solicitor offered Jacquelin Gibson a deal that would grant her “first-offender status,” meaning the battery charge would be wiped from her record after she completed terms of the sentence, which would require that Gibson undergo anger management counseling. Gibson declined to accept the deal.

A hearing on the battery charge, which is a misdemeanor, has now been rescheduled for July 17.

According to a police report, Eula Gibson was injured when Jacqueline Gibson and her brother Gary Gibson — at the time their mother’s legal guardian — went to their sister’s home to fetch their mother. Eula Gibson had been living with a daughter, Blair King, and her son-in-law, Alex King, for a few weeks at that time, said the Kings’ attorney, Elizabeth Vila Rogan.

This is just one of several incidents arising from a dispute among six of the seven surviving children of Eula Gibson over property the elderly woman owned in Social Circle.

Eula Gibson had signed over two properties — one valued at $16,000 and the other at $20,000, according to records — to one son and a grandson. She still owned the property where her house sits, a property worth about $75,000, according to records.

Some of her children were upset with her decision to sign over the property, according to Rogan.

That animosity eventually evolved into a dispute over who should care for the family matriarch.

In May, Jacqueline and Gary Gibson when to the older Kings’ house to get their mother, taking with them paperwork proving Gary Gibson’s guardianship. An Atlanta police officer accompanied the Gibsons.

The mother refused to leave with them and a struggle broke out among her adult children. Eula Gibson was inadvertently injured when Jacqueline Gibson attempted to remove her mother from the fracas, said Jacqueline Gibson attorney, Raymond V. Giudice.

The officer then arrested Jacqueline and Gary Gibson and Blair and Alex King for disorderly conduct.

Jacqueline and Gary Gibson sought arrest warrants against the Kings but their applications were dismissed on Thursday. A hearing is planned for July 15 in Municipal Court on disorderly conduct charges brought against the four.
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http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/06/18/Judge-accused-of-battering-mother-92/UPI-17461245364316/

Judge Tom Bartheld Sentences Man to only 1 year in Jail for Raping 4-year-old

A District Judge Tom Bartheld may be forced to step down from his position as an officer of the court, after he sentences a man who admitted to raping and sodomizing a four year old girl over several months to only one year in jail.

The one year sentence (which includes time served, which will bump it down to three months), was a show of gross negligence in the case. While Oklahoma attorney general Drew Edmondson is still gathering facts to the chagrin of many, two state legislators Mike Ritze and Mike Reynolds have filed a bill that, if passed by the House of Representatives, would ask a state court to remove the judge from office, and have his sentence turned for a harsher punishment. By the way, not sure why the district attorney who agreed to the plea bargain is also not under fire.

64-year-old David Earls admitted to raping the four year old girl over the course of four months, including sodomy. It is also suspected that he may have raped and abused her five year old brother. He was arrested after the children told their grandmother, the Pryor Daily Times reports. Bartheld dismissed the charge against the five year old brother, during Earls’ May 13 sentencing, “based upon the recommendation of the district attorney,” according to court records. Though Earls gave a full confession, and there was overwhelming evidence to the charges, District Judge Tom Bartheld and District Attorney Jim Bob Miller felt that a year served of a 2o month sentence was enough, and sent him on his way.

“What I know about the case at this point in time is that I was very disturbed by reports of the sentence in that case,” Attorney General Drew Edmondson who is making a run at govenor was quoted as saying by the Pryor Daily Times. Edmondson said said he will receive a report from the lawyers in his office “in due course,” before deciding if he will take action. Truthfully as an outsider looking in it appears like the two state reps. have raised the heat on Edmonson who is now trying to save face without ruining his political ambitions. Let’s hope politics doesn’t get in the way of punishing vile criminals and judges and district attorney’s that for whatever reason have failed to protect our children.

Judge James Heath Kills Self After Drunk Driving Arrest

HAMILTON TWP.

A Warren County Common Pleas Court judge who was arrested this weekend for the second time in seven months was found dead in his home the next day, according to police.

James Heath, 47, was found in the master bedroom of his Nunner Road home just after 2 p.m. Sunday, May 24, by his estranged wife, according to Hamilton Twp. Police Lt. Jeff Braley.

“She had been trying to reach him by phone and could not and went to check on him at the house,” Braley said.

Braley said although nothing has been confirmed, Heath’s death is being investigated as a suicide. An autopsy is scheduled to be performed Tuesday, May 26, he said.

Heath was arrested at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, May 23, at mile marker 11 on Ohio 48, according to Sgt. Karla Taulbee, spokeswoman for the Ohio State Highway Patrol.

Transported to a patrol post, Heath refused a breathalyzer test, Taulbee said. He was charged with operating a vehicle while impaired and a marked lanes violation and released to someone who was able to drive, she said.

Heath was arrested last October in Clinton County on the same charge. He pleaded guilty in December to the lesser charge of reckless operation of a motor vehicle.

As a result of the plea, Heath was found not guilty of the original charge of driving under the influence of alcohol.

Warren County Judge Donald Oda II said Sunday he had known Heath for 14 years and was “completely shocked” when he heard of his death.

“We all thought the world of Judge Heath,” Oda said. “He was a good man. The Warren County judges ... our bench is certainly less today than it was yesterday.”

Warren County Commissioner C. Michael Kilburn said his heart goes out to Heath’s family. “We just never know what burdens people are carrying with them,” he said. “It’s just a terrible, terrible situation.”

Earlier this year, Kilburn criticized Heath for his behavior, showed a video of him pleading with a state trooper not to arrest him and called on him to resign. Following Kilburn’s comments, Heath admitted he made a mistake, apologized for his actions and said he was taking steps to ensure they did not happen again.

Heath, a Miami University graduate, first took the bench of the Warren County Court in December of 1994, according to the court’s Web site. He is survived by his wife and three children.
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http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090524/NEWS0107/90524007/Warren+judge+is+dead

Judge Brian Kedik Pleads Guilty to DWI

The would-be town judge faces probable jail time.

Brian Kedik, who was elected to Edinburgh Town Judge last year but never took office, pleaded guilty Monday to felony driving while intoxicated, Saratoga County District Attorney James A. Murphy III said.

State Park Police arrested Kedik, 33, on Nov. 11 on the Avenue of the Pines in the Saratoga Spa State Park. He had been driving a 2001 Cadillac 43 mph in a 25 mph zone, and was charged with speeding, driving with a suspended license and DWI for operating a vehicle with a blood alcohol content of 0.17 percent, Murphy said.

Kedik faced a felony because he was charged with a prior misdemeanor last year in Fulton County, Murphy said. Sentencing is set for July 16.

A judge is expected to impose a sentence of five days in the Saratoga County jail, five years of probationary supervision, fines and surcharges totaling $1,295, Murphy said.

Kedik was convicted of larceny last month in Schenectady County for stealing $12,000 from his former mother-in-law.

He was elected to Edinburgh Town Judge in November, but declined the position and was never sworn in after the Nov. 11 arrest. The post was left vacant.

Judge Christine McEvoy Held up by Officer During Booking

A prominent judge arrested earlier this month in Lexington for drunken driving was held up by a police officer at her booking because “she was unsteady while walking or standing” after drinking at a 99 pub, according to Concord District Court records.

A high-heeled Superior Court Judge Christine M. McEvoy told Lexington police who stopped her 2007 Audi sedan just after 10:30 p.m. on April 15 she was headed home to Belmont from the 99 Restaurant and Pub in Woburn, where she’d had “a couple glasses of wine,” the arresting officers’ reports state.

But court filings obtained by the Herald yesterday show McEvoy, 58, who has been sitting in civil sessions at Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn, was followed down Route 128 south and onto Route 2A by a concerned Samaritan, who first notified state police about her alleged “erratic” driving, then sought out a Lexington cop to get her off the road.

The Registry of Motor Vehicles has suspended McEvoy’s license for 180 days for refusing a Breathalyzer test. Police reported she also refused to participate in field sobriety tests and wouldn’t even let a cop check her “glassy and bloodshot” eyes with a horizontal gaze nystagmus test because, the officer reported, “she responded that she did not believe in it".

She also told police she’d had hip surgery “and could not balance on one leg.”

McEvoy, who is charged with operating under the influence of alcohol and violating marked lanes, is due back in district court May 8 for a pretrial hearing. Her attorney, William H. Kettlewell, did not return a call yesterday seeking comment. Immediately after her arrest, McEvoy asked Superior Court Chief Justice Barbara J. Rouse to steer her clear of any civil or criminal cases involving drunken driving.

The Lexington officer who followed McEvoy on Waltham Street at the Samaritan’s urging noted in his report he observed her car “swerve within its own travel lane, touch the double yellow center line then at a later point completely cross over the double yellow center line.”

When he first rapped on the Audi’s driver’s window, he said McEvoy “did not react for a few seconds and then opened the door.” Her speech was “slurred,” he said.

McEvoy’s driving history includes three surchargeable accidents since 1994 and a speeding stop in Marshfield in 1991, according to RMV records.

Judge Christine McEvoy Arrested for Drunk Driving

An esteemed judge of the state Superior Court has been arrested for drunken driving, but is already taking responsibility for her alleged actions.

Judge Christine M. McEvoy, 58, of Belmont, was stopped by police in Lexington at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday. She was released on personal recognizance following her arraignment yesterday in Concord District Court.

McEvoy is due back in court May 8 for a pretrial conference. Middlesex District Attorney Gerard Leone Jr.’s office will be calling in an outside prosecutor to handle her case because McEvoy is the sister of his chief trial counsel, John McEvoy Jr., spokesman Corey Welford said.

Defense attorney William H. Kettlewell said in a statement, “Judge McEvoy has the greatest respect for the institution of the court. She deeply regrets the fact that her actions may have cast the court in an unfavorable light and intends to deal with the pending case as swiftly as possible.

“Judge McEvoy,” he continued, “has requested that the chief justice of the Superior Court not assign her to any matters, civil or criminal, involving a charge of operating under the influence for the foreseeable future.”

Superior Court Chief Justice Barbara J. Rouse, who issued her own statement, said, “I have agreed to her request. Judge McEvoy for now will continue to sit in civil sessions in Woburn, where she is currently assigned.”

McEvoy, a mother of two, has presided over several of the state’s most high-profile cases, including the trial of Dr. Richard Sharpe, the cross-dressing dermatologist who shot his estranged wife to death in Wenham in 2000. Sharpe hanged himself in prison last year.

In 2005, McEvoy sentenced Saudi Prince Bader Al Saud to one year in the Dukes County House of Correction on Martha’s Vineyard for killing a pedestrian with his BMW SUV in a drunken-driving crash.

Last month, she ran the trial of Casimiro Barros, the first of two men convicted for the 2007 shooting death of Chiara Levin.
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http://www.masslawyersweekly.com/index.cfm/archive/view/id/447934

Former Heroin Addict "Sold" By Judge in "Kids for Cash" Scheme

Ann Harris (not her real name), shown here playing with her 7-month-old daughter at Optimist Park Playground, is building a new life for herself in Lebanon after being victimized by Luzerne County Judge Mark A. Ciavarella's "Kids for Cash" scheme.


Ann Harris makes no excuses for her behavior as a teenager.

But she can find no excuse other than greed to explain the behavior of Judge Mark A. Ciavarella — one of two Luzerne County judges who are facing jail time for what has been dubbed the “Kids for Cash” scandal.

Harris (who asked that her real name not be used to protect her privacy) was a 16-year-old, heroin-addicted, ninth-grade dropout in January 2003 when she first appeared in Ciavarella’s courtroom on charges of simple assault that stemmed from a fight with her boyfriend.

It was Harris’ first arrest, and she trusted the judge to be fair in his treatment of her. At the outset, she said, he was.

“At first, I really liked him,” she said.

After she pleaded guilty, Ciavarella sentenced Harris to 90 days at the adolescent drug-treatment center in which she had enrolled shortly after she was arrested. Then, when she violated terms of her probation by using heroin again, he sent her to a youth crisis center in Utah, where she spent the next 14 months before being released to a halfway house in Altoona.

At the halfway house, Harris claims, she was sexually harassed by a male counselor. To escape his abuse, she ran away for one day before returning voluntarily. She had not used any drugs while away, but the infraction was enough to put her before Ciavarella again.

Harris told the judge about the ordeal with the counselor, thinking it would soften his response.

“I remember breaking down into tears and telling him that I was harassed by my counselor. And he told me he would look into it,” she recalled. “But then I was remanded before he even checked into it. ... He was just so cold. He didn’t care.”

Harris was shocked when the judge sentenced her to nine to 12 months at PA Child Care, a prison-like juvenile detention center.

“I thought I might be sent to another, maybe stricter halfway house,” she said.

With no lawyer to defend her, Harris had no choice but to go to the detention center. She ended up serving six months before being released a month before her 18th birthday.

“It was like a jail,” she recalled. “It has cinderblock walls, and you have your own little cell with a metal bed, and metal drawers, and a little metal desk.”

Sentencing kids to PA Child Care was common practice for Ciavarella.

At the urging of the Juvenile Law Center, which noticed his inordinate number of harsh sentences, state authorities eventually investigated Ciavarella and learned that, between 2003-08, he sent hundreds of juveniles to the facility for offenses as minor as presenting false identification when caught driving without a license and conspiracy to shoplift. In many cases, the juveniles had no lawyer, because the judge did not advise them of their right to one.

In February, Ciavarella and a fellow judge, Michael T. Conahan pleaded guilty to accepting $2.6 million in kickbacks from the builder and former owner of PA Child Care detention center for helping them to construct the facility, and a similar one in Butler County, and agreeing to sentence juveniles there. In all, the facilities’ raked in more than $30 million in contracts and detainee charges from the county.

In a plea agreement, the judges agreed to serve 87 months in prison. They are free on bond while a federal court reviews the plea.

The owner of the detention center, Robert Powell, and the builder, Robert Mericle, are cooperating with prosecutors and have not been charged.

Harris is now 22 and lives in Lebanon with her fiancee and their 2-year-old son and 7-month-old daughter. She has earned her high-school diploma and stayed out of trouble since being released from PA Child Care in October 2005. Most importantly, she has not used heroin since 2005, although she does take methadone to stay off it.

Harris said she was a normal girl who loved riding horses and competing in horse shows before starting to use drugs. Her parents were divorced, and her mother worked nights as a pharmacist, often leaving her alone and unsupervised. Craving attention, in eighth grade she started hanging out with the wrong group of friends.

“I was a good kid. I really was,” she said. “I played the clarinet in my church choir. But one thing I was never good at was making friends. And that is what using drugs did — I made friends. I started losing weight and guys started noticing me. I wanted attention and friends that I had never had before. And that is what took me down that path.”

When Harris was arrested, her mother was relieved.

“I saw it as an opportunity to get her help and get her out of that environment,” said Helen Murray (also a fictitious name), who still lives in Luzerne County.

Murray and her daughter have mixed feelings about Ciavarella because Harris’ time spent at Cinnamon Hills Youth Crisis Center in Utah was life-changing — perhaps life-saving.

“It helped me out a lot,” said Harris. “When I went there, I was very unsure of myself. I was a very depressed person and very insecure. They have a really good therapy program, and you get individual help. I came out of there and I didn’t have that low self-esteem anymore.”

Harris and her mother have joined a class-action civil lawsuit filed by the Juvenile Law Center on behalf of about 125 juveniles who were sentenced by Ciavarella.

Although the lawsuit asks for damages, Murray said she just wants to see her daughter’s record expunged.

Recently, the Supreme Court did expunge the records of hundreds of Luzerne County juveniles. Harris was not among them, but hundreds more are being reviewed, and she still holds out hope.

Harris and her mother are not vindictive; they do not feel a need to confront Ciavarella.

“I am able to move along with my life,” said Harris. “I mean, that is what I am doing. I am happy being a mother. That is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I love it. It is absolutely a joy.”

Murray said she will leave it to God to judge Ciavarella. She is just grateful that her daughter survived her ordeal with drugs, in part because Ciavarella sent her to the Utah youth center.

“Whatever made these men make these decisions that were so wrong, God has used it for good,” she said. “The most important thing is, it was the power of God, and our faith in God that brought us through and saved my daughter’s life.”

Judge Manuel Barraza Arrested for Soliciting Bribes & Sexual Favors from Defendants

After being in office for only a few months Manuel J. Barraza, a state district judge in El Paso, TX, has been arrested by the FBI for soliciting cash bribes and sexual favors from criminal defendants, including an undercover agent, in exchange for favorable treatment in his court:

In November 2008, voters elected him as the first judge of Criminal District Court No. 1, created to primarily handle felony drug cases. "I think since I've grown up here, I know the people," Barraza said during an interview before his election. "When someone goes to court, they shouldn't be afraid of the judge. They should feel like they should be treated with courtesy, dignity and respect."

Yesterday's arrest was not the first for Barraza:

Thursday's arrest was not Barraza's first time in handcuffs, or the first time he faced a misconduct charge. He was arrested in 1983 on charges of bribing a deputy probation officer. He allegedly gave the officer $30 to influence a case. That charge against Barraza was dismissed for lack of evidence.

The border town El Paso is just 2 miles from Juarez, Mexico -- ground zero in the cartel drug wars -- and federal agents are all over the place. Local judges assigned to felony drug cases along the border from Texas to California should be on notice that they are being watched, and any corruption better stop.

Barraza's "indictment and arrest are not related to the FBI's larger ongoing public corruption investigation in El Paso" according to an agency spokesperson.

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http://bitterqueen.typepad.com/friends_of_ours/2009/04/newly-elected-texas-judge-arrested.html

Judge Manuel Barraza Arrested for Asking for Sex from Defendants

EL PASO, Texas

A state judge accused of taking money and asking for sex from defendants in exchange for help on felony cases in his El Paso court made his first federal court appearance Thursday.

Manuel J. Barraza, 53, did not enter a plea during the brief afternoon hearing. He is scheduled to be arraigned next week.

Outside the federal courthouse, he told reporters that he had faith in the justice system.

He was released after posting $10,000 bail.

The FBI arrested Barraza, who was elected in November and took the bench in January, at his house Thursday morning. He was indicted on four counts, including mail fraud, wire fraud and lying to a federal agent.

The 10-page indictment alleges Barraza took cash bribes and asked for sex from defendants, including an undercover FBI agent, in exchange for his help in felony cases.

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http://www.lcsun-news.com/ci_12055167

57 Felony Counts Filed Against Ex-Judge Herman Thomas

A special Mobile County grand jury today returned indictments on 57 felony counts against ex-circuit court judge Herman Thomas, including ethics violations, first-degree kidnapping, first-degree sex abuse, first-and-second-degree extortion and first-degree sodomy.

The indictments involve eight alleged victims Thomas supposedly extorted for sexual favors during his time as a judge. Thomas resigned from the circuit court just over two years ago amid an Alabama Judicial Inquiries Commission investigation into allegations he spanked inmates in a secret room in the courthouse and also surreptitiously removed cases from other judges’ dockets and had them placed on his own. Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson, Jr. delivered the indictments during a 2:30 press conference at the Mobile County Courthouse.

Named as victims in the indictments were Jhordis Woods, Necester Warmack, Douglas Hill, Akil Figures, Mitee Meardry, Thaddeus Hale, Deangelo Daughtry, Marcus Vaughn and Darrius Lane. Figures is the son of State Sen. Vivian Davis Figures. All men are either currently housed in the Mobile Metro Jail, or have spent time there. Normally Lagniappe would not name victims of alleged sexual abuse, but given the highly charged political nature of this case we believe it is unrealistic to expect they will stay secret and even unfair to Thomas.

The grand jury charged Thomas with sexually violating all of the men and with using his position to solicit sexual favors from them. In the case of some alleged victims like Woods, the grand jury also found that Thomas used Woods’ labor for his private benefit to materially affect his financial interest. Tyson would not elaborate on the specifics of what the charges meant, saying he was going to be extremely careful with information surrounding the case, and that he was unhappy with what he considered to be the dissemination of sensitive information. “I’m really disturbed about some of the leaks that I have been reading about in that regard. We’re going to find out as best we can from where all that came,” Tyson said.

Thomas was arrested outside of Mobile County Metro Jail just minutes before Tyson’s press conference. His attorney “Cowboy” Bob Clark was holding his own press conference when D.A.’s investigators walked up and arrested Thomas and took him into the jail to be booked. Prior to the arrest, Clark categorized the indictments as a, “high-tech lynching. It’s racism at its finest by the white folks at the courthouse.”

Tyson dismissed the charges of racism out of hand. All of Thomas’ alleged victims are black.

Prior to Tyson’s press conference, there was a brief moment of drama when Clark showed up and was told by one of Tyson’s investigators, Tony Goubil, that he couldn’t stay. Clark said Goubilwould have to arrest him if he wanted him to leave. Finally the Goubil told Clark he was under arrest. “One of your goons is going to arrest me,” Clark hollered as he was lead down the hallway to an awaiting Tyson. After a short meeting, Clark was allowed to return, although he sat quietly. Tyson later made certain to point out that Clark was not under arrest.

Thomas faced a bond of $287,500. He was bonded out of jail Friday afternoon.

If convicted, the former judge could face an extremely long stretch in jail, as the charges against him carry some pretty severe penalties.

“The grand jury leveled what I consider to be very serious charges. The most serious is a Class A felony. There are a number of Class Bs here and Class C felonies. The Class A is punishable by a range of 10 to 99 Bs 2 to 20, Cs 1 to 10. I would say anytime you return a felony indictment in the judicial profession you have a very serious set of circumstances,” Tyson said.

Tyson also said he does not think Thomas poses a flight risk, but his office did set three conditions upon his release. He is to have no contact with any males under the age of 21, he is to have no contact with any of the complaining victims or family members of the complaining witness and he must surrender his passport. When asked whether Thomas’ work with the Mobile County School System, specifically the Phoenix Program which deals with at-risk youth, is something that concerns his office as the investigation moves forward, Tyson pointed out the stipulation that Thomas not have contact with young men under 21. Most of his alleged victims were young inmates in their late teens or early 20s at the time they claim Thomas abused them.

Tyson said his office has been in contact with the Alabama State Bar and gave them a copy of the indictments. The bar has been in contact with Thomas in the past month. Thomas is still practicing as an attorney with the Brandyburg firm.

If Thomas is eventually convicted, Tyson said it will create a situation in which the cases he presided over will have to be examined to determine what, if any, problems there may have been related to his behavior.

“We’re going to have to take that on a case-by-case basis. I suspect we’ll get what we have been getting in that regard. I think there have been a number of inquiries, but we’ll have to do it on a case-by-case basis,” Tyson said.

Tyson also said he has been in touch with the state Supreme Court in order to begin the process of getting a judge to hear Thomas’ trial, as he expects all of the Mobile County Circuit Court judges to recuse themselves from the case.

“I don’t know if that has formally happened, but I expect it to,” he said.

He said he asked Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb to appoint a judge for the case.

“Once we’ve done that I suspect we’ll have an arraignment and set a calendar,” Tyson said.

He does expect the trial to take place in Mobile County.

Tyson has faced some criticism in recent months for the length of time Thomas has gone without being indicted. The first allegations of his paddling of prisoners and changing of court dockets started coming to light almost three years ago and he resigned from the bench just over two years ago. A series of articles in this publication brought to light complaints that Tyson’s office had stopped investigating Thomas, and also highlighted the efforts of attorney Joe Kulakowski who has independently investigated Thomas over the past two years. Tyson said this investigation has been going on for a long time, but did say the special grand jury was empanelled just a few weeks ago during the trial of Lam Luong, the man who was recently convicted of throwing his four children off the Dauphin Island Bridge.

“We used the cover of the Lam Luong trial to ask for the jurors for this special grand jury,” Tyson said. He added that they have not released the grand jury and that it will continue to investigate the case.

Clark summarized the entire list of indictments with one word – “bullshit.”

“This ain’t even close enough for government work. It ain’t close enough for hand grenades,” he said.

He went on to say the indictments came strictly from racism from other judges and members of the local legal community. He specifically named Circuit Judge Rusty Johnston and Kulakowski .

“I would start with the sixth floor then wander up to the seventh floor in this building, that’s where it’s coming from,” Clark said from the atrium of Government Plaza after Tyson’s press conference. “You don’t read the newspaper? They talked about Herman being suspended from Judge Johnston’s courtroom, Joe Koolaid hanging out in Judge Johnston’s courtroom all the time. That’s where it’s coming from, people who’ve got 20 and 30 years for Herman. If you went over to that jail and said say something bad about that judge that sentenced you we’ll let you go, they’d talk.”

Clark also disparaged the fact that the alleged victims are all people who have criminal histories.

“What’s unusual is to take the word of convicted felons and mash it into a 58-count (the grand jury handed out a 57- count indictment) indictment,” Clark said.

Asked why Thomas resigned his position on the bench if all the charges against him were false, Clark said he would have had different advice for the ex-judge.

“I didn’t represent the judge. It’s all made up. I didn’t represent the judge back then. I would not have handled it the way it was handled,” Clark said.

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http://www.al.com/news/press-register/metro.ssf?/base/news/1238231726286670.xml&coll=3

Judge Herman Thomas Faces Several Charges Including Kidnapping

MOBILE, Ala.

Herman Thomas, while a Mobile County circuit judge, checked male inmates out of Metro Jail to exert control over them and force them into sexual activity, according to indictments released today.

About 1½ years after stepping down from the bench, Thomas was arrested today outside the same jail on charges of kidnapping, sodomy, extortion, sex abuse and ethics violations.

A special grand jury met for three weeks this month and returned 57 felony charges against Thomas. The indictment lists nine alleged victims, each of them current or former inmates.

"These are very serious charges," some carrying up to life in prison, said District Attorney John Tyson Jr. Thomas was taken into custody outside the jail as his attorney, Robert "Cowboy Bob" Clark, held an afternoon news conference amid reports of an impending arrest.

Clark suggested his client's indictment was motivated by racism.

"This is racism at its very finest. We ought to be proud we elected those bastards," said Clark in an apparent reference to Tyson and former Thomas colleagues on the bench.

As Clark was speaking, an investigator with the District Attorney's Office quietly walked up to Thomas, tapped him on the shoulder, whispered something to him and then accompanied Thomas -- without placing him in handcuffs -- to the jail 10 feet away.

There, Thomas was photographed and booked, with bail set at $287,500, according to the jail log. He was later released.

Each of Thomas' alleged victims at one time faced charges in Mobile County Circuit Court, according to online court records. The allegations against them ranged from criminal mischief to murder.

One of the inmates went before Thomas on multiple occasions over the years for several felony charges. He was eventually sent to prison for a short time, but Thomas ordered him released early.

Finally, he ended up sentenced in federal court and later released. He has since been accused of murder and attempted murder.

According to Friday's grand jury allegations, Thomas "knowingly" subjected the young men "to sexual contact, by forcible compulsion."

Thomas' resignation came in the face of a pending trial before Alabama's Court of the Judiciary, where he was charged with dozens of ethical violations.

Tyson said Clark's accusations that Thomas' troubles stem from racism at Government Plaza are "absolute nonsense."

Nicki Patterson, the chief assistant district attorney, later pointed out that all the alleged victims are black. Thomas is black.

Tyson said his investigation is not over and that the special grand jury could be called back into session at any time.

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http://www.wkrg.com/crime/article/former_judge_released_on_bond/24892/

Retired Judge James Weaver Arrested Again for Drunk Driving

DES MOINES, Iowa

A retired Muscatine County judge was arrested for a third time over the weekend on a drunken driving charge.

According to Iowa State Patrol officials, 56-year-old James Weaver of Blue Grass was arrested Saturday afternoon in Scott County on charges of operating while intoxicated, speeding, seat belt violation and disobeying a traffic-control device.

Weaver, who served as an associate judge from 1982 to 2004, posted $5,900 bond and was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday morning.

If convicted of a third drunken driving offense, he faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $7,500.

An attempt to reach Weaver on Monday morning at a number listed for the Weaver Law Office in Muscatine wasn't immediately returned.

According to the state patrol, Weaver was southbound on Highway 61 on Saturday afternoon when a trooper clocked him for speeding, saw that he failed to stop at a traffic-control device and wasn't wearing a seat belt.

The trooper caught up with Weaver at the Blue Grass exit and detected a strong odor of alcohol on the former judge's breath as well as bloodshot eyes.

Weaver failed a field sobriety test, and when he arrived at the Scott County Jail a breath test showed his blood alcohol content was 0.166, more than twice the legal limit for driving of 0.08, the patrol said.

Weaver pleaded guilty to his first drunken driving offense in November 2002 after a Scott County deputy saw his car hit a utility pole. In December 2004, he was charged with second offense drunken driving after his arrest a month earlier. In that incident, police said a caller complained that a "reckless driver" had almost caused an accident.

Around the same time, Weaver was allowed to retire from the court system with a permanent disability because he was found to suffer from major depression and alcohol abuse.

In April 2005, Weaver was sentenced on the second offense drunken driving charge. He was committed to the Iowa Department of Corrections for two years to be served at a work release center and ordered to participate in alcohol treatment.

Weaver appealed his judgment and sentence to the Iowa Court of Appeals, saying the judge in his case abused his discretion. The appeals court rejected the argument.

Corrections officials have said that Weaver was released from the work release center in the spring of 2007 after serving only 25 days. He was resentenced to one year of unsupervised probation after a district court judge heard arguments on a motion to reconsider his sentence.

Last March, the Iowa Supreme Court suspended Weaver's license to practice law based on the second drunken driving arrest and critical comments he made to the media about the judge overseeing his case. The license has been reinstated, court records showed.

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http://www.kcautv.com/Global/story.asp?S=10053657