Ohio State Bar Ass'n v. Goldie

894 N.E.2d 1226, 119 Ohio St. 3d 428
CourtOhio Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 18, 2008
DocketNo. 2008-0774
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 894 N.E.2d 1226 (Ohio State Bar Ass'n v. Goldie) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Ohio State Bar Ass'n v. Goldie, 894 N.E.2d 1226, 119 Ohio St. 3d 428 (Ohio 2008).

Opinions

Per Curiam.

{¶ 1} Respondent, Susan L. Goldie of Xenia, Ohio, Attorney Registration No. 0018439, was admitted to the practice of law in Ohio in 1978. She formerly served as judge of the Xenia Municipal Court, stepping down in December 2007. In Ohio State Bar Assn. v. Goldie, 107 Ohio St.3d 201, 2005-Ohio-6186, 837 N.E.2d 782, we publicly reprimanded respondent in her judicial capacity for attempting to preside in a case after she had been removed from the case by judicial order.

{¶ 2} This case raises additional claims of judicial misconduct. The Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline recommends that we issue another public reprimand to respondent, this time for three separate violations of Canon 3(B)(2) of the Code of Judicial Conduct, which requires a judge to be faithful to the law and maintain professional competence in it. We accept the board’s findings of judicial misconduct and recommendation.

{¶ 3} Relator, Ohio State Bar Association, charged that respondent violated Canon 3(B)(2), among others, by denying three defendants due process in flagrant disregard of the law. Pursuant to Section 11 of the Rules and Regulations Governing Procedure on Complaints and Hearings Before the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline (“BCGD Proc.Reg.”), a panel of the board considered the case on the parties’ consent-to-discipline agreement, found the cited misconduct, and recommended a public reprimand. The board accepted the panel’s findings and recommendation.

Misconduct

A The Walker Case

{¶ 4} David Walker was convicted in 2003 of multiple offenses stemming from his failure to properly confine or control dogs in his care. In sentencing Walker on one of these convictions, respondent ordered Walker to surrender two dogs and serve a 30-day jail sentence, to be followed by a five-year period during which Walker would be unable to keep animals on the property where he was living. Respondent suspended both parts of the sentence, however, on the condition that Walker “cooperate” while on probation with local animal-control authorities.

{¶ 5} Thereafter, respondent presided over a series of animal-control proceedings against Walker, recounted in detail by the Court of Appeals for Greene [430]*430County in State v. Walker, 164 Ohio App.3d 114, 2005-Ohio-5592, 841 N.E.2d 376. But in this disciplinary case, the parties focus on only one of respondent’s rulings against Walker — an order directing him to pay restitution for the care and feeding of some bears that another judge had earlier ordered to be seized from his premises.

{¶ 6} In mid-February 2004, three of seven bears in Walker’s charge escaped from their enclosures and had to be captured by law-enforcement officers. The day after the escape, respondent summarily ordered Walker to remove the bears from the premises within 14 days. Walker complied with respondent’s order by moving the bears to property rented by Todd and Tammy Bell.

{¶ 7} In early March 2004, however, some of the Walker bears escaped again. A visiting judge immediately ordered the bears seized and placed in the custody of Greene County Animal Control. Within days and without providing Walker prior notice or the opportunity to present his defense, respondent ordered Walker and Bell to pay the county’s expenses incurred in transporting, feeding, and otherwise caring for the bears.

{¶ 8} By February 8, 2005, the cost of the bears’ upkeep had reached $32,127. Again without providing Walker prior notice or an opportunity to present his defense, respondent ordered Walker to pay that amount in full by the end of the month. Respondent further ordered that if Walker did not pay the ordered restitution, the bears would be forfeited and placed elsewhere.

{¶ 9} Walker appealed. In October 2005, the Greene County Court of Appeals reversed respondent’s order, in part by finding that she had had no authority to order restitution. The court of appeals held that because Walker had not been convicted of any criminal conduct relating to the wayward bears, respondent could not, on the authority of a statute allowing restitution for property damage caused by a crime, order him to pay for the bears’ care in custody. The court went on to criticize respondent’s failure to afford Walker even the pretense of due process:

{¶ 10} “In our opinion, the state’s arguments are contradictory and confusing. The state’s difficulty in clearly articulating a position may stem from the trial judge’s failure to comply with rudimentary due process requirements. As we mentioned, the trial judge never held any type of evidentiary hearing after ordering Walker to remove the bears from his property. Instead, the judge merely held various ‘review’ hearings, at which she made statements about events that happened outside court and about which no testimony or evidence was presented. The judge also did not give Walker an opportunity to examine witnesses or to present his own evidence. Then, after making her own observations of ‘fact,’ the judge issued decisions about what would be done with the bears.” Walker, 164 Ohio App.3d 114, 2005-Ohio-5592, 841 N.E.2d 376, at ¶ 60.

[431]*431{¶ 11} Elaborating on this criticism, the court continued:

{¶ 12} “We do not know how the escape [from the Bell property] occurred, or why, or even if Walker had anything to do with it — because there is no evidence in the record. Instead of holding a probation revocation hearing and issuing appropriate orders after providing Walker with due process, the trial court held a number of ‘review1 hearings, at which the court did little more than discuss its thoughts and opinions on matters that were outside the record.” Walker at ¶ 82.

{¶ 13} The parties stipulated that respondent had abused her discretion and violated Canon 3(B)(2) by ordering the forfeiture of Walker’s bears unless he paid for their confiscation and care. We therefore find this judicial misconduct.

B. The Webb Case

{¶ 14} In early August 2006, respondent held a contempt hearing for Howard Webb. Webb had been arrested and charged with contempt of court, according to the parties’ stipulations, “for repeatedly violating previous agreements to pay fines and court costs in nine criminal and traffic cases in the Xenia Municipal Court.” As to the contempt proceedings, the parties further stipulated:

{¶ 15} “At the hearing, Judge Goldie sentenced Webb to 30 days in jail for each ‘contempt.’ The sentences were ordered served consecutively, which resulted in 270 days of jail time. At the time, Webb claimed to be employed as a dishwasher earning $7 per hour. Webb appealed the sentences, which [were] later voluntarily dismissed after Webb was released from custody.

{¶ 16} “In two opinions in 2005, the Second District Court of Appeals ruled that, in order to avoid jailing a person for non-payment of court costs, a sentencing court must issue an order separating the amount of the fines from the amount of the court costs. Judge Goldie failed to follow the law by not making the necessary separation.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
894 N.E.2d 1226, 119 Ohio St. 3d 428, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/ohio-state-bar-assn-v-goldie-ohio-2008.