Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance v. Thompson

80 So. 3d 86, 2012 Miss. LEXIS 35, 2012 WL 231562
CourtMississippi Supreme Court
DecidedJanuary 26, 2012
DocketNo. 2011-JP-00555-SCT
StatusPublished
Cited by12 cases

This text of 80 So. 3d 86 (Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance v. Thompson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Mississippi Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance v. Thompson, 80 So. 3d 86, 2012 Miss. LEXIS 35, 2012 WL 231562 (Mich. 2012).

Opinions

CARLSON, Presiding Justice,

for the Court:

¶ 1. The Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance (Commission) filed a Formal Complaint against Rickey W. Thompson, Justice Court Judge, District Four, Lee County, Mississippi. The multi-count complaint charged Judge Thompson with numerous instances of judicial misconduct, causing such alleged conduct to be actionable under Article 6, Section 177A of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890. Ultimately, the Commission and Judge Thompson submitted to this Court a joint motion for approval of a recommendation that Judge Thompson be publicly reprimanded, suspended from office for a period of thirty (30) days without pay, fined the sum of $2,000 and assessed costs in the amount of $100. For the reasons discussed below, we adopt the joint recommendation of the Commission and Judge Thompson.

ANALYSIS

A. Facts and Proceedings Before the Commission and General Discussion of the Charges of Judicial Misconduct

¶ 2. On August 5, 2009, the Commission filed a multicount formal complaint concerning Judge Thompson, a justice court judge in Lee County, alleging willful misconduct in office and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice which brings the judicial office into disrepute. Twenty-six counts were contained in the formal complaint (twenty-five counts actually charged Judge Thompson with judicial misconduct); however, nine counts were redacted in the record filed with us, and eleven counts were consolidated. These eleven consolidated counts charge that Judge Thompson improperly disposed of cases involving separate charges of individuals operating a motor vehicle with no proof of liability insurance. Judge Thompson filed his answer on August 31, 2009, essentially denying the allegations of the complaint. Thereafter, on March 11, 2011, an Agreed Statement of Facts and Proposed Recommendation (Agreement) was submitted and filed by the parties regarding the allegations contained in this complaint. This Agreement addressed the six remaining counts.

¶ 3. This Court makes the “final determination of the appropriate action to be taken in each case” coming before it from the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance, “conduct[ing] an independent inquiry of the record” and “accord[ing] careful consideration [of] the findings of fact and recommendations of the Commission, or its committee, which has had the opportunity to observe the demeanor of the witnesses.” Miss. Comm’n on Judicial Performance v. Boone, 60 So.3d 172, 176 (Miss.2011) (quoting In re Removal of Lloyd W. Anderson, Justice Court Judge, 412 So.2d 743, 746 (Miss.1982)).

Count One

¶ 4. According to the agreed facts:

In the fall of 2006, Florida Rogers owned a horse, a pregnant mare, that disappeared from a pasture where he had placed the horse to graze. At that time, Rogers searched for the horse, but was unsuccessful in locating her. Thereafter, on or about May 18, 2008, Rogers spotted the mare and a colt grazing in a pasture in Lee County, Mississippi.
Rogers went to the Justice Court of Lee County, Mississippi to file a criminal affidavit against the person owning the pasture where the horses were located, but Respondent refused to allow him to do so, advising Rogers that the case was a civil case.
[89]*89Although Rogers requested that the Lee County Sheriffs Department investigate the matter involving the horses, on or about July 24, 2008, Rogers received a letter from the Sheriff of Lee County, Mississippi advising him that Respondent instructed his office to take no action, as the matter was a civil matter. Rogers ultimately filed a civil replevin case in the County Court of Lee County, Mississippi and was awarded possession of the mare, the paternity of the colt being at issue.

¶ 5. Under these agreed facts, Judge Thompson involved himself in a case that was not before him. It is true that Judge Thompson may have believed that the facts amounted to a civil rather than a criminal matter, and this Court does not sanction judges for mistakes of law. Miss. Comm’n on Judicial Performance v. Martin, 921 So.2d 1258, 1268 (Miss.2005). In the Martin case, this Court dismissed the proposed sanctions of the Commission where Judge Martin erred in denying bail on two separate occasions. Id. at 1264. In that case, this Court held that:

a judge may ... through negligence or ignorance not amounting to bad faith, behave in a manner prejudicial to the administration of justice so as to bring the judicial office into disrepute. Miss. Comm’n on Judicial Performance v. Russell, 691 So.2d 929, 937 (Miss.1997). This Court can generally recognize examples of willful misconduct when they are presented for review. In re Anderson, 412 So.2d 743, 752 (Miss.1982) (Hawkins, J. specially concurring). The misconduct complained of need not be intentional or notorious; rather negligence, ignorance, and incompetence suffice as grounds for behavior to be classified as prejudicial to the administration of justice which brings the judicial office into disrepute and thus worthy of sanctions. In re Quick, 553 So.2d 522, 527 (Miss.1989).

Id. at 1264 (citing Miss. Comm’n on Judicial Performance v. Carr, 786 So.2d 1055, 1058-59 (Miss.2001)).

¶ 6. Contrary to the facts in Martin, Judge Thompson’s communication with the sheriffs office crossed the line into involving himself in a criminal investigation at a time when there was no case pending before him concerning the matter.

Count Two

¶ 7. According to the agreed facts:

On or about December 1, 2008, a local attorney, Frank B. Liebling, went to the Lee County Justice Court office to file a complaint against a client who ha[d] stopped payment on a check issued to Liebling for attorney fees.
Liebling did not file the complaint and no action was pending before the court. Instead, Liebling took the proposed complaint and engaged in an ex parte conversation with Respondent. As a result of the meeting, Respondent signed an order nullifying the stop order on the check in question and ordered the bank to cash the check immediately.
The bank officers, being suspicious of the order, contacted the attorneys for the bank and the next day after a conference with the bank attorneys and Liebling, Respondent rescinded the nullification order due to improper process.

¶ 8. Judge Thompson signed an order where there was no case pending and engaged in ex parte discussions in the facts of this count.

Count Three

¶ 9. According to the agreed facts:

On or about June 21, 2008, Holley Kris-tian Galloway, a minor, was arrested and issued a citation for driving under the influence of alcohol, with a B.A.C. of .09. [90]*90The case, State of Mississippi v. Holley K. Galloway, Docket 295, Page 430, was randomly assigned to Lee County Justice Court Judge John Sheffield and was set for trial on December 4, 2008. When the officer came into the clerk’s office to inspect the file prior to court, it was discovered that Respondent had previously non-adjudicated the minor at the request of Galloway and her father. Respondent non-adjudicated the minor in violation of Mississippi Code Annotated § 63-11-30(3).

¶ 10.

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Bluebook (online)
80 So. 3d 86, 2012 Miss. LEXIS 35, 2012 WL 231562, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mississippi-commission-on-judicial-performance-v-thompson-miss-2012.