Miss. Comm'n on Judicial Performance v. Boone
| Docket Number: | 2010-JP-01082-SCT | |
| Supreme Court: | Opinion Link Opinion Date: 04-28-2011 Opinion Author: Carlson, P.J. Holding: Suspended for 90 days without pay, publicly reprimanded, and assessed costs of $1,907.05. |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Judicial discipline - Willful misconduct - Ex parte communciations - Code of Judical Conduct Canons 1, 2A, 2B, 3B(2), 3B(4), & 4A - Sanctions Judge(s) Concurring: Waller, C.J., Dickinson, P.J., Randolph, Lamar, Kitchens, Chandler, Pierce and King, JJ. Nature of the Case: CIVIL - JUDICIAL PERFORMANCE |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 07-02-2010 Appealed from: Mississippi Commission on Judical Performance Judge: H. David Clark Disposition: The Commission found that Judge Boone's conduct violated Canons 1, 2A, 2B, 3B(2), 3B(4), and 4A of the Code of Judicial Conduct, and that such actions constituted willful misconduct in office and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice which brings the judicial office into disrepute pursuant to Article 6, Section 177A, of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890, as amended. |
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| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | |||
| Appellant: | Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance |
DARLENE D. BALLARD, AYANNA B. BUTLER |
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| Appellee: | Ralph Boone | WAYNE DOWDY |
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Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
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| Topic: | Judicial discipline - Willful misconduct - Ex parte communciations - Code of Judical Conduct Canons 1, 2A, 2B, 3B(2), 3B(4), & 4A - Sanctions |
| Summary of the Facts: | The Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance filed a Formal Complaint charging Lincoln County Justice Court Judge Ralph Boone with willful misconduct in office and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice which brings the judicial office into disrepute. Judge Boone filed an answer denying the claims. A three-person committee appointed by the chair of the Commission conducted a hearing, and unanimously recommended to the Commission that Judge Boone be removed from his judicial office and assessed the costs of all proceedings. The Commission recommended to the Supreme Court that Judge Boone be removed from the office of justice court judge and that he be assessed the costs of all proceedings before the Commission, in the amount of $1,907.05. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | Issue 1: Misconduct Without question, contradictory testimony was presented at Judge Boone’s hearing. The Commission found by clear and convincing evidence that Judge Boone had fondled a litigant who had appeared before him and had requested oral sex in return for reducing her fine. Some of the evidence presented at the hearing revealed that: Judge Boone stated to Investigator Buckley that “he had allowed the devil to take hold of him” and that “the devil got ahold of his tongue and made it wicked;” Judge Boone lied to Buckley about the events of April 15 when Buckley initially presented him with the Commission’s Formal Complaint; and the litigant immediately reported the incident to her attorney and the sheriff. The conduct in today’s case involves a telephone conversation with Officer Jones, which Jones initiated. Jones was interested in the litigant becoming a confidential informant and had asked Judge Boone to reduce her fine in order to gain her trust. Despite Officer Jones’s initiating the conversation and Judge Boone’s claim that he had wanted to help Officer Jones and the litigant, Judge Boone’s actions still were highly improper. Judge Boone has a duty to follow diligently the Code of Judicial Conduct, and he failed to do so in his conversation with Officer Jones. It is obvious that Officer Jones’s ex parte communication with Judge Boone before the litigant’s hearing had an effect on the ultimate outcome, because Judge Boone in fact reduced the amount of the litigant’s fine at Jones’s request. Notably, Judge Boone’s clerk testified that the judge often reduced fines at the behest of law enforcement officials. Judge Boone admitted that he had reduced the fine based solely on Officer Jones’s out-of-court, ex parte request, despite his having had at least some understanding that such conduct was prohibited. Judge Boone’s ex parte communications with Officer Jones and the litigant, as well as the inappropriate manner in which he handled the fine reduction, run afoul of our judicial canons. The facts surrounding these actions were established by clear and convincing evidence. The Court is splintered on whether the facts surrounding the sexual allegations against Judge Boone toward the litigant have been established by clear and convincing evidence. The Court agrees that Judge Boone violated Canons 1, 2A, 2B, 3B(2), 3B(4), and 4A of the Judicial Code of Conduct, and that his actions constituted willful misconduct in office and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice which brings the judicial office into disrepute. Issue 2: Sanctions The Commission has recommended that Judge Boone be removed from the office of justice court judge and assessed all of the costs of these proceedings in the amount of $1,907.05. The appropriateness of sanctions is weighed based on the length and character of the judge’s public service; whether there is any prior caselaw on point; the magnitude of the offense and the harm suffered; whether the misconduct is an isolated incident or evidences a pattern of conduct; whether moral turpitude was involved; and the presence or absence of mitigating or aggravating factors. Judge Boone has been a justice court judge for three years. The record reveals no other public service on the part of Judge Boone. Judge Boone’s actions exhibited a monumental lapse of sound judgment, because an undetermined number of Lincoln County citizens had the occasion to see one of their elected judges riding around town with a female litigant. The magnitude of the offenses is significant and places the entire judiciary in a negative light. Judge Boone’s ex parte communications with law enforcement officials exhibit a habitual pattern of conduct. The totality of Judge Boone’s actions, including lying to the Commission investigator, constitutes moral turpitude. Although Judge Boone has not admitted his wrongful conduct on the record, he did acknowledge remorse in his statement to Buckley. Based on the totality of the circumstances, Judge Boone’s actions require the imposition of a ninety-day suspension without pay, a public reprimand, and assessment of costs of this proceeding in the amount of $1,907.05. |
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