 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 
|
|
 |
||||||||||||||||
|
Bar News - March 17, 2006 State of New Hampshire–Judicial Conduct Committee - Annual Report 2005
There were fundamental changes in 2005 regarding the operation of the Committee.
As of July 1, 2005 a new Supreme Court Rule 39 went into effect creating a new process for determining the composition of the Committee. Instead of all members being appointed by the New Hampshire Supreme Court the new Rule provides that five members will be appointed by the Court (one active or retired judge each for the Superior, District and Probate Courts, one clerk of court and one public member), two members by the President of the New Hampshire Bar Association (one a lawyer, one public member), two public members by the Governor, and one public member each by the President of the New Hampshire Senate and Speaker of the New Hampshire House. As a result of this change the terms of four sitting members of the Committee expired. Alfred Catalfo, III was replaced by William Hall (Bar Association appointment); Harland W. Eaton by Susan Herney (Governor’s appointment); Jay Rosenfield by Thomas Moses (Senate President appointment); Elizabeth Lown was reappointed by the Speaker of the House. A further change was that the Committee’s budget was removed from the Supreme Court budget and became a separate line item within the Administrative Office of the Courts. Finally, the office of executive secretary became subject to the appointment of the Committee rather than an appointment of the Supreme Court. The Committee determined that Anthony McManus would continue to fill that position. During the course of the year the Committee dealt with a total of 66 grievances. Two remained pending into 2006. Supreme Court There were two grievances filed, involving four judges. Superior Court There were 36 grievances filed: 19 related to 14 judges, 15 involved nine marital masters, two clerks of court, and one included a court monitor. District Court There were 21 grievances filed; these related to 18 judges and one clerk of court. Family Court Six grievances were filed: four judges were named and one related to the handling of the case by judges and court staff. Probate Court There were two grievances, both involving the same judge. (Note: the total grievances are higher than the number of docketed cases because a single grievance may have involved more than one individual.) Disposition All matters that were outstanding at the start of the year were resolved. Two matters received in 2005 remained unresolved as of the end of the year. In January of this year the Committee completed its work on the 2004 Committee-generated complaint involving District Court Judge Franklin Jones. It was alleged that in May of 2004, while attending a statewide conference on domestic and sexual violence, Judge Jones became intoxicated and engaged in inappropriate physical contact with several women who were co-attendees. The Committee learned of the incident from media reports and by referral from the Administrative Judge of the District Court. Within several days of the incident Judge Jones was suspended with pay by order of the New Hampshire Supreme Court. The Committee immediately opened a file on the matter but pursuant to Rule 40(8)(i) voted to suspend its review pending the outcome of an ongoing criminal investigation. On September 10, 2004 Judge Jones was found guilty of five counts of simple assault. He was then suspended without pay by the New Hampshire Supreme Court and the Court referred the matter to the Committee for further inquiry. The Committee then voted to hire outside counsel to review the file and determine if formal charges of misconduct were warranted. These charges were issued by outside counsel on November 10, 2004 and an answer on behalf of Judge Jones was received on December 14. The Committee held a public hearing on the charges on January 5, 2005 with a continued hearing on January 14, 2005. Following review of the record and the presentation of evidence by counsel, the Committee found violations of Canon 1 (that Judge Jones had undermined the integrity and independence of the judiciary); Canon 2A (that his conduct resulting in criminal convictions violated the prohibition against behaving with impropriety or the appearance of impropriety and undermined public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary); and Canon 4A(1)(2) and (3) (by engaging in extra-judicial activities that demeaned the judicial office, cast reasonable doubt on his capacity to act in an impartial manner, and which interfered with the proper performance of his judicial duties). Based on these findings of judicial misconduct the Committee voted unanimously to recommend that Judge Jones be suspended indefinitely from all judicial duties, without pay, and that he not be considered for reinstatement at any time in the future. It was the Committee’s understanding that this was the highest level of discipline available to the Committee by way of recommendation to the New Hampshire Supreme Court. The Committee also recommended that Judge Jones be assessed the costs associated with the investigation and prosecution of the charges of misconduct. On the same day as the issuance of the Committee’s findings and recommendations Judge Jones submitted his resignation to the New Hampshire Supreme Court. The resignation was accepted, but the Court allowed Judge Jones until March 7, 2005 to advise whether he contested the factual findings and legal rulings of the Committee’s report and the Committee’s recommendation for assessment of costs. Judge Jones filed no objection within that time. By agreement, the costs were determined to be in the amount of $9,240.00 and that has since been paid in full by Judge Jones. Resolution of Grievances With regard to the 2005 grievances: Because of a conflict situation with the full Committee, two matters were referred to a Special Panel of alternates. The Committee sought responses in 10 of the 66 matters reviewed. All but one of the 64 grievances that were disposed of during the year were dismissed. In that case the Committee made a finding of judicial misconduct based on a violation of Canon 2 on the grounds of the appearance of impropriety. The Committee found that a court employee, whom the Committee determined to be within its jurisdiction, had made ex parte telephone contact with four employees of another county’s clerk’s office where her daughter’s marital case was pending. Although there was no evidence that the employee attempted to influence the outcome of the case, the Committee determined that she knew or should have known that these contacts were improper. By informal agreement, the Committee issued, and the employee accepted, a public reprimand. Two grievances were dismissed as being beyond the Committee’s statute of limitations. One was dismissed when the Complainant failed to produce information requested by the Committee. Four were dismissed on the grounds that they did not allege sufficient facts to warrant a finding of misconduct. Thirty-five were dismissed on a finding of no judicial misconduct. The balance were dismissed on the basis that they related solely to the rulings of the court and amounted to a substitute for an appeal. In three cases, even though the Committee voted to dismiss the grievance, letters of caution were sent. One was with regard to demeanor issues; two related to the Committee’s concerns with the public’s perception of the sufficiency of rulings and/or adherence to the Court Rules/Procedures. Submitted by the Executive Secretary Anthony McManus |
|
Home | About the Bar | For Members | For the Public | Legal Links | Publications | Online Store New Hampshire Bar Association |
