Monday, October 14, 2024
Judge Ordered Payment Of Restitution To Himself
The Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct has reprimanded a General Sessions Court judge.
The judge had accepted a guilty plea in a case
in which the defendant had struck and damaged [his] personal vehicle and was charged with driving without a license. He was not charged with any other offense, including hitting [his] vehicle or causing property damage. As a condition of accepting the defendant's guilty plea, [he] ordered [the defendant] to pay restitution to [himself] in the amount of $590.19. The defendant was pro se, did not speak English, and an interpreter translated the proceedings.
The letter of reprimand notes that no lawyers were involved in the proceeding and that restitution for the judge's damaged truck as a condition of the plea was "solely" the judge's idea.
The plea was later set aside by the judge; a different judge dismissed the case.
In response to the complaint, the judge had called the restitution "miniscule" and contended that the ethical violation was "technical, not substantive."
The board called the circumstances "troubling in several respects" and noted that the judge had a prior reprimand.
The prior reprimand involved a post on a school's Instagram page depicting himself on the bench in judicial robes declaring his intent to "really crack down on truancy problems" in his county. (Mike Frisch)
https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2024/10/the-tennessee-board-of-judicial-conduct-has-reprimanded-a-general-sessions-court-judge-the-judge-had-accepted-a-guilty-plea.html