Opinion ID: 1091606
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Charges IA(7) and (8)

Text: The Commission found that the allegations of Subparagraphs IA(7) and (8) had been proved by clear and convincing evidence. These charges alleged that respondent, while serving as a judge, had smoked marijuana in the presence of Diane Michels and Pat Bridges and that he had procured marijuana from Diane Michels. [6] Evidence on the allegations was provided by Michels, Bridges and respondent. Diane Michels testified that respondent visited her at her office one afternoon while Pat Bridges was there and that the three of them went for drinks to her apartment in Cane Plaza, where she and respondent shared a marijuana cigarette. She estimated the time of the event as late June, 1982, shortly after she had leased the apartment on June 10, 1982. She recalled that it was after she and Bridges had completed an automobile accident settlement on March 3, 1982, and after she and her husband had separated in May, 1982. She also recalled that Bridges, who then lived in Shreveport, was in town on banking business. Michels also testified that she had smoked marijuana in the Cane Plaza apartment with several people in respondent's presence, but did not remember if respondent had participated in the drug use. She further testified that she and respondent had smoked marijuana again in Pat Bridges' presence at her (Michels') residence in Point Place after she had moved there in August, 1982. Michels admitted that she had dealt drugs in substantial quantities since about 1978. She stated that she had known respondent since about 1977, that she had smoked marijuana with him at his apartment in about 1978, while he was separated from his first wife, and that she had furnished him with marijuana and quaaludes at his law office and with quaaludes at his apartment. Michels' husband was the person who filed the initial complaint against respondent after respondent signed a warrant for his arrest in August or September, 1982. Charles Michels had physically threatened his estranged wife with bodily harm at the Holiday Inn and had taken the car that she had received in a property settlement. After his arrest, Michels coerced his wife into taping a telephone conversation with respondent. At the outset of the conversation, Michels stated that she had just finished smoking some fantastic stuff, to which respondent replied, You dirty rat. When she offered to get him a couple joints, he replied, I believe I'd better pass. Respondent then asked her if she was working that afternoon and told her he would drop by her office. They then talked about her recent divorce, and respondent told her that her former husband had filed a complaint with the Judiciary Commission arising out of the arrest incident. In her testimony before the Commission, Michels stated that respondent went to her office that afternoon and that she gave him two marijuana cigarettes, which he put in his pocket. Pat Bridges, a former resident of Natchitoches who had lived in Shreveport since 1981, testified that she was at Diane Michels office while visiting Natchitoches to attend to banking business some time after the March 2, 1982 accident settlement, that respondent stopped by and asked Michels if she had anything to smoke, and that respondent and Michels shared a marijuana cigarette later in Michels' Cane Plaza Apartment. Bridges further testified that she saw respondent again while she was visiting Michels later in the summer at Michels' residence at Point Place. When Michels and respondent talked about marijuana, Michels said, Pat doesn't partake, and respondent replied, To each his own. She did not remember any marijuana smoking on that occasion. Pat Bridges had no other relationship with respondent and no apparent motive for testifying against him. Even respondent's attorneys admitted that she was a credible witness, but took the position that she was confused as to dates. For his part, respondent admitted that he has smoked marijuana with Diane Michels on three occasions, all before he became a judge. The first time was at his apartment around 1978, the second time was at Michels' house at Point Place (she had lived there during a previous marriage and moved there again after leaving her Cane Plaza apartment) in mid-1980, and the third time was in Pat Bridges' presence at Michels' house in August, 1980 while he was campaigning door-to-door. He stated, however, that Pat Bridges had smoked marijuana with him and Michels. He also denied ever being at Michels' apartment in Cane Plaza. Respondent further testified that he had severed his relationship with many people, including Diane Michels, after he became a judge and that he never smoked marijuana thereafter. He denied ever using other drugs. He admitted that either Michels or Judy Gay had given him quaaludes at his apartment while he was representing Gay in domestic litigation, but he stated that he had flushed them down the toilet. He also admitted going to Michels' office on the afternoon of the taped telephone conversation, but insisted it was the only time he had seen her after his induction into office and that she had not given him any marijuana. We conclude that respondent's smoking of marijuana with Diane Michels in the presence of Pat Bridges, after October 1, 1980, has been proved by clear and convincing evidence. The credible testimony of Pat Bridges supported the not-so-credible testimony of Diane Michels as to dates and places of the events. However, we conclude that the procuring of marijuana by respondent from Diane Michels was not proved by clear and convincing evidence. Only her uncorroborated testimony supported the allegation that she delivered marijuana to respondent on the date of the taped telephone conversation, and respondent's refusal of her offer of a couple joints during the taped accusation militates against a conclusion that he accepted marijuana from her several hours later. Moreover, Michels admitted that she was threatened by her husband and offered financial assistance by her husband and another man in exchange for her testimony against respondent, and the value of her uncorroborated testimony was somewhat undermined.