Disciplinary Proceedings Against Turco, In re
| Decision Date | 28 January 1999 |
| Docket Number | No. JD,JD |
| Parties | In the MATTER OF the DISCIPLINARY PROCEEDINGS AGAINST Honorable Ralph G. TURCO, Tacoma Municipal Court Judge. 13. |
| Court | Washington Supreme Court |
Kurt Bulmer, Seattle, Counsel for Judge Turco.
We must determine in this case whether the extrajudicial conduct of Tacoma Municipal Court Judge Ralph G. Turco violated the Canons of Judicial Conduct, and the appropriate sanction, if any, for such violation. We hold Judge Turco violated Canons 1 and 2(A) by intentionally striking or pushing his wife in a public setting, causing her to fall to the ground. Although the Commission on Judicial Conduct recommended Judge Turco's censure and removal from the bench for his misconduct, we disagree. We order that Judge Turco be censured and suspended from the bench without compensation for a period commencing
October 21, 1998 through the end of his term of office. We further order him to complete a domestic violence program as described in RCW 26.50.150 before he may serve in any future judicial capacity.
1. Was Judge Turco prejudiced by delay so that the charges should be dismissed?
2. Did Judge Turco violate Canons 1 and 2(A) by his extrajudicial conduct of pushing or shoving his wife in a public setting?
3. What sanction, if any, is warranted for violation of Canons 1 and 2(A) in this case?
Judge Ralph Turco was admitted to the practice of law in Washington in 1961. He was a deputy prosecutor until 1964, whereupon he went into private practice. He had a general law practice until 1991, when he was elected a Tacoma Municipal Court judge.
On December 8, 1995, Judge Turco and his wife, Frances Adrian (Pat) Turco, attended a madrigal feast at a Tacoma church. According to Mrs. Turco, she drove herself and Judge Turco to the church. The judge exited the car and entered the church vestibule without waiting for her. She was delayed by having to remove from the trunk of the car a wreath and some baskets she was bringing to the event.
When she finally entered the vestibule of the church and placed the wreath and baskets on the floor, she approached Judge Turco, who was waiting for her there, and noticed he appeared to be very angry. Mrs. Turco testified Judge Turco said to her, "I've got these God damn tickets, why the hell did you keep me waiting." Report of Proceedings at 23. She says she responded, "Had you helped me with the items from the trunk, it would have taken less time." Id. Mrs. Turco then testified: "He said to me, 'Nobody talks Under questioning by the presiding judge at the disciplinary hearing, Judge William Howard of the Jefferson County Superior Court, Mrs. Turco testified as follows:
to me like that and gets away with it,' and he was right--I could hear him and he struck me and I fell to the floor." Id. She described being struck and falling to her knees with her purse flying open and its contents spilling out onto the floor. Report of Proceedings at 24.
Q. And you have testified that the judge was angry. Was there anything other than the words that were spoken that led you to believe that he was angry?
A. Yes, he was very red faced and he said he had the God damn tickets and why did I keep him waiting, and I knew that he was upset when he started using that language.
Q. You testified that the judge was behind you and that you were struck. Is there any way of describing the degree of force with which you were struck?
A. Only that it was forceful enough for me to fall to the floor, if that's an answer.
Q. You were examined concerning the shoes that you were wearing at that time. A person might fall because they were caught off balance, they might fall because they were struck real hard, and I'm asking a question to try to find out just how you felt, the extent of that impact.
A. It was [a] severe, powerful impact and it startled me that he would, you know, strike me in public, so it was just a pretty forceful blow to my back.
Q. Did you see it coming?
A. No, sir, I didn't.
Q. Did you have any warning that you were about to be struck?
A. No, I didn't.
Report of Proceedings at 52-53.
Judge Turco claims he did not push his wife. He says her fall was an accident Q. [Direct examination] Now, you don't deny that your arm had contact with your wife, do you?
A. [Judge Turco] No.
Q. What part of her body did your arm have contact with?
A. As I recollect, it was her left shoulder, the back part of her left shoulder.
....
Q. At the time you had contact with your wife's shoulder, were you upset with her?
A. Well, what I said is, "I don't need this" and I kind of, I don't know, I kind of went like that and I caught her shoulder and she went down to her knees, and I was shocked that she went down. She got right back up. I was disgusted and kind of walked out of the door [of the church]. She came out and got me.
Q. What didn't you need?
A. What?
Q. You said "I don't need this." What did you mean?
A. I didn't need all that carping, all this being on my back about something I didn't think I was at fault about and just raising Billy-Dickens with me.
Q. Did you hit her on purpose?
A. No.
Q. How do you account for the fact that there was contact and she went--if you didn't hit her on purpose, that she ended up down on her knees?
A. You know, I think she was kind of turning and I think she lost her balance. I didn't touch her very hard. I didn't intend to touch her even. I just went, "I don't need this." I was kind of disgusted with the whole thing.
Report of Proceedings at 113-16. On cross-examination, Judge Turco testified he had physical contact with his wife, but he did not help her to her feet or apologize to her.
There were two witnesses to the incident. One was Joann Moran, a close friend of Mrs. Turco who served as a nurse for 20 years in the Air Force, retiring as a lieutenant colonel. She testified unequivocally that Mrs. Turco's fall was not accidental:
Q. [Direct examination] Now, going back to that incident or this fall, did you notice whether or not Mrs. Turco was unsteady on her feet and maybe fell, just accidentally fell over on to the floor at the madrigal feast because of her high heels?
A. No, she was shoved.
Report of Proceedings at 62. Under questioning by Judge Howard, she reiterated that testimony:
Q. [Judge Howard] Is there any way that you could describe just how that took place, when you say it wasn't a gentle tap?
A. Well, he just said, "Nobody is going to talk to me" in a loud voice and shoved her and she fell down and she got right up again rather stunned, and that's all I can remember about that incident.
Report of Proceedings at 70. Ms. Moran's testimony was somewhat at odds with Mrs. Turco's, in that she said Mrs. Turco and Judge Turco were facing each other when the contact occurred. She testified, "Well, as I remember, he reached over, using his right arm, and hit her left shoulder." Report of Proceedings at 65. Mrs. Turco said the judge was behind her when he shoved her, as did the other witness to the incident.
Ms. Moran also testified Judge Turco admitted to her at a later Elks Club banquet he intentionally pushed Mrs. Turco:
Q. [Direct examination] Did he convince you that he didn't shove Mrs. Turco to the floor?
A. Well, I said, "Well, there's going to be a problem about the incident about you shoving her to the floor." He said, "Naw, I didn't shove her, I didn't shove her, I just pushed her."
Q. [Cross-examination] Now, at this meeting at the Elks Club did Judge Turco dispute the use of your word shove?
A. Yes.
Q. Was it apparent to you, to him there was a distinction between the word shove and push?
A. Yes.
Q. Was it apparent to you that the distinction he was making was the difference between intentional and accidental?
A. Well, it certainly wasn't accidental.
Q. Did he act like he thought it was accidental?
A. I don't think so.
Report of Proceedings at 61-62; 67.
The other witness to the incident was Mark Rake-Marona, the director of Franciscan Hospice and a member of the board of directors of the Tacoma Master Chorale, the organization performing at the madrigal feast. His function that evening was to act as greeter and announce people coming into the hall "as if they were nobility entering into King Henry's court." Report of Proceedings at 75. On direct examination, he said Judge Turco appeared angry, exchanged words with Mrs. Turco, and "then it appeared that he gave her a shove and walked out the door." Report of Proceedings at 79-80. On cross-examination, Rake-Marona equivocated somewhat:
Q. Okay. Now, when you saw the contact, there can be contact--I'm trying to get your gauge of sort of the force. When you say the contact, would you say the contact was consistent with only an intentional shove or could it have been consistent with an intentional shove or accidental shove?
A. It's really hard to characterize exactly what it was, but he meant to touch her and it looked like, you know, he meant to give her a little push.
Q. So your perception was that it was consistent with an intentional shove or could it have been consistent with an accidental shove?
A. Well, I was thinking about that and, you know, it's hard for me to visualize exactly what it looked like. I remember more than anything the shock of seeing it happen and, you know, what I told people was I saw someone, I saw a man shove his wife, and so I really felt like it was intentional.
Q. You and I talked the other day?
A. Yeah.
Q. When you and I talked, didn't you tell me that at that time you believed it could have been consistent with either?
A. I did, and, again, the only thing that I thought about in between the time that you and I talked was what I had said to other people. Again, it's still very hard for me to remember, you know, whether it was actually on the arm or the left back, but I just...
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