Opinion ID: 1832209
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Charge II: Ban of Mr. Pierre from courtroom and dismissal of forty-one criminal cases

Text: On May 14, 1997, in response to the adverse media attention surrounding Judge Jefferson's decision to hold Mr. Pierre in contempt of court on two separate occasions, the Mayor of Monroe convened a meeting between himself, Judge Jefferson and Mr. Pierre in an apparent attempt to resolve the conflict that had arisen between the two men. Judge Jefferson testified before the Commission that during the meeting the mayor told him that Mr. Pierre was willing to apologize for his actions. In response, Judge Jefferson said as soon as he does that, he's free to return to my courtroom, and banned Mr. Pierre from his courtroom until an apology was forthcoming. In a letter dated June 4, 1997, from Judge Jefferson to Mr. Steve Scheckman of the Judiciary Commission, Judge Jefferson explained his actions, stating, the result of that conference [with the mayor and Mr. Pierre] was that Mr. Pierre was banned from my courtroom because no assurances were given that his conduct would comport with proper courtroom decorum. Mr. Pierre testified that the mayor suggested to him that Judge Jefferson wanted an apology from him to clarify that the judge had engaged in no wrongdoing. On May 15, 1997, the day after the meeting, Judge Jefferson convened criminal court, but because Mr. Pierre had been banned from Judge Jefferson's courtroom, no attorney was present to represent the City. Judge Jefferson instructed a non-lawyer employee of the prosecutor's office, who was present in the courtroom attempting to continue the scheduled matters, to represent the City in the prosecution of the cases. After at least seven of the defendants whose cases were scheduled to be heard that day protested, Judge Jefferson dismissed the charges against forty-one defendants, including those of at least seven DWI cases. Although Mr. Pierre reinstated the charges against these defendants, some of these charges were challenged based on the constitutional prohibition against double jeopardy. Judge Jefferson abused his authority when he banned Mr. Pierre from his courtroom until he received an apology for wrongs he perceived were committed against him. Although judges are empowered to require or prohibit certain conduct in their courtrooms, Judge Jefferson's act of banning Mr. Pierre from his courtroom until he received an apology constituted an extreme and unwarranted abuse of his judicial authority. While we recognize that judges must sometimes admonish and punish attorneys who disrupt their courtrooms, we simply find that in the instant case Judge Jefferson's actions went beyond the bounds of acceptable judicial behavior. Furthermore, in an act of additional perversity, Judge Jefferson convened court on May 15, 1997, despite the fact that he knew, because of the improper ban against Mr. Pierre's presence in his courtroom, Mr. Pierre would not be present to prosecute the cases. Although there was no attorney representative from the prosecutor's office present in the courtroom, the judge called the trial docket and then proceeded to dismiss forty-one cases that included a total of 105 offenses and at least seven DWI cases. In so doing, the judge exhibited poor judgment and brought disrepute upon his judicial office. In dismissing these charges, Judge Jefferson potentially impeded further prosecution of the charges in that the defendants were given the additional defense of double jeopardy. Even though Mr. Pierre reinstated the charges the next day, Judge Jefferson's action created needless judicial expense in correcting this matter. Additionally, Judge Jefferson's act of banning Mr. Pierre from his courtroom and dismissing forty-one criminal charges brought even more negative attention to his court. Such acts, which were conducted in open court, were widely reported in the media and caused members of the public to view the judicial system in Monroe City Court negatively. For example, one newspaper article reported that Judge Jefferson dismissed the cases as the result of an ongoing battle between City Court Judge Larry Jefferson and City Prosecutor James Pierre. This newspaper article and others like it that referred to an ongoing feud between the two men eroded public confidence in the court system and brought the judicial office into disrepute. For all of the above reasons, we find that Judge Jefferson abused and exceeded his authority, demonstrated poor judgment and brought his judicial office into disrepute when he banned Mr. Pierre from his courtroom and subsequently dismissed 41 criminal cases when no prosecutor was present to proceed. As such, Judge Jefferson's conduct patently violated Canons 1, 2, and 3 A(1), (2) and (3) of the Code of Judicial Conduct because the judge's actions did not preserve the integrity of the judiciary, were not in accordance with the law and did not show patience or dignity toward lawyers and others with whom the judge deals in an official capacity. Furthermore, as illustrated above, the sum of Judge Jefferson's acts also constituted a violation of Section 25(C) of the Louisiana Constitution in that his persistent and public conduct was prejudicial to the administration of justice and brought the judicial office into disrepute.