Opinion ID: 7347067
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Count 1(C): Williams

Text: Edwin Williams has been a pastor at Judge Stanford’s church since 2000. He and the judge are good friends. They see each other regularly at church services and in connection with the Good Samaritan Center, a church-run homeless ministry where Judge Stanford volunteers. They also play tennis together regularly at Judge Stanford’s home. Williams’s daughter held her wedding reception at the judge’s home.
In October 2003, Williams received a ticket for failing to stop at a red light. The total bail, excluding the traffic school fee, was $326. Williams discussed the ticket with Judge Stanford who told Williams he would suspend all the fines except the traffic school fee if Williams wanted to plead guilty. Judge Stanford explained that he offered his assistance because Williams was living on a pastor’s salary with four children and, “probably could use the money. Nothing specific ... He could have paid it. I just felt sympathy for him.” In November 2003, a traffic clerk transferred the citation to Judge Stanford’s department for arraignment at the request of “a woman” on the telephone. The clerk described this as “very awkward” because Judge Stanford’s court was a felony department. Some days after the transfer, Judge Stanford’s clerk entered a disposition waiving all fines and fees except the $52 county traffic school fee.
In March 2006, Williams was cited for speeding, driving 54 mph in a 45 mph zone. He was upset because he thought the speed written on the ticket was different from what the officer had told him. Williams wanted to get the judge’s opinion regarding his chances of successfully contesting the ticket. When Williams raised the matter, the judge offered to take care of it. Williams could not recall what the judge said about how the ticket would be handled but, as a result of the 2003 experience, his sense was that the fines and fees would be waived. Williams believes he placed a copy of the ticket in the judge’s box at the church office. A courtesy notice was sent to Williams indicating a total bail amount of $216 and a bail-plus-traffic-school-fee amount of $269.50. A week later, Judge Stanford ordered traffic school and waived all fines and fees except the $53.50 county traffic school fee. The clerk entered the disposition as “chambers work.” Williams did not appear in court. The traffic clerk who processed Williams’s payment of the traffic school fee could not recall having ever seen another order for traffic school in which all fines and fees, other than the county traffic school fee, had been waived.