Opinion ID: 852732
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Findings of the Masters

Text: In sum, the Masters found that the following occurred. On the evening of Sunday, December 7, 2005, Respondent's fifteen year old daughter left the home where she lived with Respondent's ex-wife. Respondent and his ex-wife searched for her for over twenty-four hours. The search included an incident where Respondent burst into one home where Respondent had been told the daughter could be found, shouting accusations of wrongdoing at the occupants. Later that evening Respondent was told that the daughter could be found at a house occupied by Ashley Snodgrass, a recent high school graduate, her fiance Shawn Flores, age 21, 18 year old Bryan Schiltz, and two other males. Respondent and his ex-wife went to the house where only Snodgrass was at home. Snodgrass permitted a search of the home to satisfy the pair that their daughter was not in the home, and promised to call Respondent if the daughter was located. Snodgrass then reached Flores by phone at his brother's home and was told that Respondent's daughter was also there. Snodgrass requested Flores to return with the daughter, and called Respondent to report that the daughter would be at her house shortly. Respondent and his ex-wife arrived at Snodgrass's house before Flores returned. In the meantime Flores and Schiltz had started to drive the daughter to their home, but the daughter exited the car and ran to a house a few streets before they arrived, claiming that she knew its occupants. Flores and Schiltz continued to their home, intending to report where the daughter could be found. It was at this point that the testimony of Snodgrass, Schiltz, Flores, Respondent's ex-wife, and Respondent differed. The evidence is undisputed, however, that Respondent confronted Schiltz concerning the whereabouts of Respondent's daughter, used some degree of force to get Schiltz to sit on the loveseat inside the house, and pointed his loaded handgun, which he had brought with him, at Schiltz during the confrontation. The major differences in testimony were between Respondent, on the one hand, and the other four witnesses, on the other. Respondent claimed the gun was produced for only about 3-5 seconds because Respondent, who believed Schiltz was under the influence of drugs and claimed the house reeked of marijuana, made an aggressive move toward his ex-wife. The others, however, all testified that Schiltz made no aggressive move toward anyone, was very compliant and tried to explain to Respondent where Respondent's daughter was, that the house did not smell of marijuana, and that Respondent had pointed the gun at Schiltz unprovoked and kept it pointed at Schiltz, possibly inches from his face, for a much longer period of time while stating something akin to, If this Mother F _____ doesn't start talking he's going to die. The Masters, after reviewing the evidence and assessing the credibility of the witnesses, found the four Commission witnesses, rather than Respondent, to be more credible. The Masters unanimously found in relevant part: The testimony of Ashley Snodgrass, Shawn Flores, Bryan Schiltz, and Connie Pfaff differed in some respects, including whether Judge Pfaff first confronted Bryan Schiltz on the porch... or as he entered his house, when Judge Pfaff's gun was first drawn, how Judge Pfaff maneuvered Bryan Schiltz onto a loveseat, and for how long the gun was pointed at Bryan Schiltz and at what portion of his body. Those differences not withstanding, Ashley Snodgrass, Shawn Flores, Bryan Schiltz, and Connie Pfaff were each credible witnesses to the critical events on the evening of December 8, 2003.... [Their] accounts established clearly and convincingly that when Judge Pfaff encountered Bryan Schiltz, he forcibly grabbed and restrained Schiltz and pointed a loaded firearm at his head, that Bryan Schiltz was under Judge Pfaff's control from the initiation of the encounter and did not make any threatening moves, that Judge Pfaff pushed Bryan Schiltz onto a loveseat and continued pointing his gun at him, that Judge Pfaff said to Bryan Schiltz at gunpoint, This Mother F_____ better talk or he's going to die, or words to that effect, and that Judge Pfaff held Bryan Schiltz at gunpoint from a minimum of thirty to forty seconds (testimony of Ashley Snodgrass) to a good minute (testimony of Shawn Flores) to three and a half or four minutes (testimony of Bryan Schiltz) to five minutes (testimony of Connie Pfaff). (Masters' Rep. at 40-41.) They also found that Respondent had been untruthful when he provided a vastly different account to the Special Prosecutor later assigned to investigate the matter and to the Commission when it investigated the judicial complaint lodged against Respondent.