RSS Feed
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
UPDATE By Jim
Cox The court
reporter for Circuit Judge Stuart DuBose has resigned and retained an attorney
who confirmed Wednesday that a complaint has been filed with the Alabama
Judicial Inquiry Commission in Chrissy Dunn's
resignation was effective Monday, said her attorney Cooper C. Thurber of the
However,
Thurber declined to reveal the allegations of the complaint and Ginny Garrett, a
spokeswoman with the Judiciary Inquiry Commission, said she could neither
confirm or deny that a complaint has been received.
Courthouse
rumors suggest some kind of disagreement or mishandling of court transcripts and
records but that cannot be confirmed. Judge DuBose,
contacted by phone Wednesday, said he was unaware of any complaint having been
filed. "Remember it is
'innocent until proven guilty.' We will have to see what they have accused me of
and act accordingly," DuBose said. The Judicial
Inquiry Commission receives and investigates complaints against judges involving
ethical questions and the Canon of Judicial Ethics. If the commission decides a
complaint has merit or should proceed further, it can file a formal complaint
with the Court of the Judiciary, a special court that convenes to hear such
matters. The Court of
the Judiciary is composed of judges from different levels, attorneys and
citizens who are not attorneys. They can hold a hearing, similar to a trial, and
remove from office, suspend or censure a judge or apply other sanctions if they
decide there has been misconduct or violations. Cooper Thurber
said he understood that Judge DuBose will be served within 10 days of the
commission's receipt of the complaint and he will be given the opportunity to
respond. The commission will then decide if the matter needs to go further.
Controversy has
surrounded Judge DuBose since he took office almost a year ago. He was involved
in an estate dispute that dated to when he was in private practice and was
accused of writing a will for a person without meeting with the individual. He
became executor of the estate and was embroiled in a long legal battle with the
sole heir who claimed DuBose was not properly handling the estate.
In August the
trial judge in the case ordered DuBose to pay over $1 million and to convey 605
acres to the heir. The Alabama Bar
Association's disciplinary commission reprimanded DuBose in the matter in late
2006 before he became a judge. The Alabama Supreme Court rejected the reprimand
as not being severe enough and sent it back to the bar. When the disciplinary
commission set another hearing after DuBose became a judge, DuBose argued that
the bar no longer had jurisdiction since he was a sitting judge and the bar's
disciplinary appeals board agreed. The bar's attorney disagreed and appealed to
the Supreme Court. That was in September and the high court has not acted on the
appeal. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
