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Judge calls judge's order 'not legal' and 'immoral' A local circuit judge saddled with a nearly $1.2 million judgment in an estate settlement imposed by a Mobile County circuit judge has called the order illegal and immoral and said that it must not be allowed to become public knowledge. Mobile County Circuit Judge John Lockett issued a judgment on Aug. 17 in the long disputed estate case of Joseph J. Sullivan of Washington County that orders Circuit Judge Stuart DuBose of the First Judicial Circuit to pay Cheryl Weaver, his adversary in the case, $1,190,000 and to convey 605 acres of land belonging to the estate to Weaver. DuBose was in private practice when he met with Weaver, Sullivan's longtime friend and caregiver, and agreed to prepare a will for Sullivan, leaving the $2.5 million or greater estate to her. DuBose did not confer with Sullivan before preparing the will and that and other professional conduct matters relating to the case have been criticized. The Alabama State Bar Association imposed punishment prior to DuBose being elected last November but the Alabama Supreme Court rejected it as not being severe enough. The bar was directed to reconsider the matter but never acted on it and DuBose was elected in November and took office in January. Weaver and DuBose became executors of the estate and DuBose eventually became the sole executor. Weaver initially agreed to pay DuBose a fee of up to 40 percent of the estate but changed her mind and that issue was the basis for an estate dispute that was scheduled for trial last October. However, on the day a jury was to be selected the case was settled and the settlement provisions were not disclosed. Judge Lockett on Aug. 17 said the matter had not been resolved and that DuBose was in "derogation of the settlement agreement…[and]Judgment is hereby entered in favor of Cheryl Weaver and against the estate of Joseph J. Sullivan and Stuart Dubose [sic], individually, jointly and severally…." On Aug. 19, DuBose faxed copies of letters he had sent to his Mobile attorney, Jim Rosaler, to Lockett. DuBose wrote that Lockett's ruling affected him "almost as if you told me my father or close family member had died." He continued, "The Court's Order is not legal. There is no justification for a judgment against me individually. Not only is it not legal, but it is immoral. This Order must not become public knowledge. It must not be recorded. It will ruin me professionally and further ruin me financially. My credit will be irreparably destroyed." DuBose said the malpractice case against him had been dismissed and that he had only acted as a personal representative in an attempt to fulfill Lockett's orders and the provisions of the will, which had been upheld. DuBose wrote his lawyer that he demanded that A.I.M, an insurance company, pay the judgment immediately. In other correspondence included with the fax to Lockett, DuBose detailed an Internal Revenue Service audit of the estate that levied a $450,000 bill on the estate. Lockett's order details that DuBose is to take "all necessary steps" to insure that the conveyances ordered are "free from any encumbrance or lien of the IRS as pursuant to the settlement agreement 'Stuart is responsible for the IRS'."
On Aug. 21, Judge Lockett acknowledged receipt of the faxes from DuBose and termed them an ex parte, or legal, communication, and ordered that the papers be filed with the circuit clerk as a part of the court record, thereby making them public. In addition, Lockett ordered, "…the Court enjoins Stuart Dubose [sic] from making any further ex parte communications in this matter with this Court."
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