Opinion ID: 1162726
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: medical condition as mitigation or excuse for misconduct

Text: The commission found and concluded as follows: 1. [Judge Goldman's] own physician, Dr. Mayor, testified that he can determine no organic basis for claimed disability. 2. [Judge Goldman's] own physicians do not identify, to the satisfaction of this Commission, any mental or physical condition which would explain his persistent abuse of contempt power or the other events of misconduct described above. While Dr. Thornton, one physician who examined [Judge Goldman] on behalf of the special prosecutor, agreed [Judge Goldman] was suffering from depression and stress, which Dr. Thornton thought contributed to [Judge Goldman's] inappropriate acts, there is no suggestion in the testimony of either [Judge Goldman's] expert witnesses or in the testimony of Dr. Thornton that [Judge Goldman] at any time did not know the difference between right and wrong or that he failed to understand the nature and quality of his actions. 3. The Commission is persuaded by the testimony of Dr. Gerow that [Judge Goldman's] actions are not adequately explained or justified by the fact that he may be temporarily depressed, and the Commission determines as a matter of fact that Dr. Gerow has accurately testified to the facts concerning [Judge] Goldman's behavior. 4. In weighing the testimony of various experts and in according credit to the testimony of Dr. Gerow, the Commission has noted and finds as a fact that numerous incidents of abuse of power and improper public statements reflect conscious deliberation and planning inconsistent with any claim that [Judge Goldman] was either acting pursuant to an irresistible impulse or that he did not know the difference between right and wrong or know the nature and quality of his actions. 5. Furthermore, the Commission finds as a fact, that [Judge Goldman's] various abuses of power and other misconduct have extended over a long period of time during which [Judge Goldman] has been quite functional in other areas of his life and judicial activities, which fortifies the Commission in its determination that [Judge Goldman] has the capacity to tell the difference between right and wrong. The Commission believes [Judge Goldman] understood the nature and quality of his actions, and that he could control his conduct were he so disposed. 6. Based on [Judge Goldman's] testimony and behavior on the witness stand as perceived by the Commission, and based on the testimony of Dr. Gerow, the Commission finds, as a fact, that [Judge Goldman] has failed in his burden of proving that his various inappropriate actions, as referred to in the above findings, resulted from disability. The Commission also finds affirmatively that the Commission's counsel has demonstrated clearly and convincingly such inappropriate conduct did not result from any disability which can be deemed to excuse his conduct. 7. To the extent that the Commission can discern reasons for [Judge Goldman's] misbehavior, the Commission finds, as a fact, that [Judge Goldman's] behavior has resulted from [his] inaccurate perception of his role as a judge, and from his unwillingness to tolerate actions by others which are not in harmony with his apparent belief that those who do not meet or respond to his demands and expectations are subject to imprisonment and punishment under the court's contempt power. 8. Based on the foregoing findings, the Commission further finds that [Judge Goldman's] misconduct, as described above, is not excused, and must, therefore, be deemed willful misconduct... . Our review of the record reveals clear and convincing evidentiary support for the commission's findings. In particular we note that, when questioned whether specific instances of alleged misconduct may have been due to depression, appellant insisted, I don't excuse any conduct because of depression. I excuse my conduct because it was right. Additionally, in his motion to amend and strike certain portions of the commission's order of formal complaint, appellant maintained that he had not tendered the issue that my allegedly improper conduct was the product of any disability, either directly or indirectly. [34] These statements, when coupled with the failure of appellant's counsel and experts to establish any correlation between appellant's condition and his willful misconduct, provide more than adequate support for the commission's finding that appellant failed in his burden to show that any misconduct resulted from or was excused by disability. Even discounting appellant's statements, however, our review of the record reveals that, although Dr. Thornton indicated that some of appellant's misconduct could have been a manifestation of his depression, Dr. Gerow emphatically testified that it was absurd to raise [the] possibility that depression was the cause of any of the allegations of misconduct in question. Assuming without deciding that serious physical or mental disability could have even constituted a defense with respect to appellant's removal, [35] Dr. Thornton's equivocal statement was insufficient to establish a direct relationship between the misconduct in issue and appellant's physical or mental condition. See Matter of Yaccarino, 502 A.2d 3, 30 (N.J. 1985) (court rejected judge's contention that medical condition constituted mitigating circumstance sufficient to excuse unethical conduct where medical evidence did not directly relate to judge's motive or intent). Accordingly, we conclude that appellant not only failed to fulfill his burden of proof but also that the evidence affirmatively established that appellant's misconduct was neither mitigated nor excused by a disabling condition.