In re Hammermaster
| Decision Date | 07 October 1999 |
| Citation | 139 Wash.2d 211,985 P.2d 924 |
| Court | Washington Supreme Court |
| Parties | In the Matter of the Disciplinary Proceeding Against A. Eugene HAMMERMASTER, Municipal Court Judge. |
Kurt Bulmer, Seattle, for Judge Hammermaster.
Byrnes & Keller, Paul R. Taylor, Seattle, for Commission on Judicial Conduct.
Beth M. Andrus of Skellenger Bender P.S., for amicus curiae American Civil Liberties Union of Washington.
Municipal Court Judge A. Eugene Hammermaster appeals a determination by the Commission on Judicial Conduct (the Commission) ordering censure, and recommending suspension for 30 days without pay. The Commission found that Judge Hammermaster violated the Code of Judicial Conduct (CJC) Canons 2(A), 3(A)(1) and 3(A)(3) by making improper threats of life imprisonment and indefinite jail sentences, improperly accepting guilty pleas, holding trials in absentia, and engaging in a pattern of undignified and disrespectful conduct toward defendants. Judge Hammermaster admits that he engaged in the alleged conduct, but maintains that his conduct was a reasonable exercise of judicial independence which did not violate the Canons. We affirm the Commission's findings of misconduct, but also find that Judge Hammermaster's practice of ordering defendants to leave the country constitutes a violation of Canon 3(A)(3). We substantially agree with the Commission's order of censure but find that a six-month suspension without pay is more appropriate than the sanction recommended by the Commission.
Judge Hammermaster is an appointed part-time municipal court judge for the Sumner, Orting, and South Prairie courts of Pierce County, Washington. He has been a judge for one or more of these courts for 30 years. Report of Commission Proceedings (RP) at 322. On June 25, 1996, the Commission on Judicial Conduct received a letter of complaint about Judge Hammermaster from an inmate at the Sumner City Jail who was serving jail time because he had not paid a fine imposed by the judge. In the letter the inmate stated that CJC, Finding of Probable Cause (May 13, 1998). The letter goes on to request an investigation of the inmate's situation.
In response to the complaint, the Commission reviewed 21 cases in which Judge Hammermaster had presided between June and November 1996, to determine whether and to what extent any misconduct occurred. A number of those cases are discussed below and serve as examples of the Commission's case in chief.
On March 17, 1998, the Commission filed a Supplemental Statement of Allegations and informed Judge Hammermaster that the Commission was pursuing initial proceedings against him.1 On April 22, 1998, the Commission filed its final amended Statement of Charges, alleging that Judge Hammermaster had engaged in misconduct which violated Canons 1, 2(A), 3(A)(1) through (5), and 3(B)(3) of the Code of Judicial Conduct. Amended Statement of Charges (April 22, 1998) at 8 (hereafter Statement of Charges).
The Commission's first allegation charged that the judge had abused his authority and exhibited a demeanor that is not respectful or dignified by threatening defendants with life imprisonment or indefinite jail sentences; routinely ordering Spanish-speaking defendants to enroll in English courses, become citizens or leave the country; issuing or threatening to issue orders beyond his legal authority as a municipal court judge; and making statements or issuing orders that denigrate unmarried individuals who lived together. Statement of Charges at 1-4.
The Commission's second allegation charged the judge with conducting criminal proceedings in a manner which violated defendants' basic due process rights, thus calling into question the integrity and impartiality of the judicial office and his own competence and faithfulness to the law. The allegation was based on Judge Hammermaster's practice of accepting guilty pleas without first determining whether defendants' pleas were knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently made; the use of guilty plea forms which failed to comply with CrRLJ 4.2; holding trials in absentia; and using unlawful not guilty plea forms. Statement of Charges at 3-4, 6.
The Commission's third allegation charged that the judge's conduct raised the appearance of impropriety as a result of (1) his relationship with the City of Orting Police Chief whom he allowed to act as a city attorney before the court and (2) an alleged arrangement that his son serve as a pro tem judge in his absence. Statement of Charges at 7-8. The allegation regarding the Police Chief was dismissed by stipulation.
Judge Hammermaster admitted that he engaged in conduct which the Commission has grouped into five types of inappropriate behavior: (1) improper threats of life imprisonment; (2) denial of basic due process in taking guilty pleas; (3) trials in absentia; (4) conduct that is not "dignified, patient or courteous"; and (5) ordering Hispanic defendants to leave the country. Commission Decision (CD) at 2-5. He disagreed with the Commission's characterization of that conduct as improper, however.
The Commission held a hearing on May 13 and 14, 1998, and filed its decision on August 7, 1998. With regard to the allegation regarding Judge Hammermaster's son serving as a pro tem judge, the Commission found no intentional arrangement had been made and thus concluded no violation had been committed. CD at 5. The Commission also found that the allegation charging the judge with abuse of authority in his treatment of Hispanic defendants was proved, but declined to find a violation of the Canons because federal law regarding a court's authority to order persons to leave the country is ambiguous and because the orders were alternatives to other lawful conditions of sentencing. CD at 6. Eight members found that Judge Hammermaster had committed the remaining acts of alleged misconduct and concluded that such misconduct violated Canons 2(A), 3(A)(1) and 3(A)(3). CD at 5-6.
After considering aggravating and mitigating factors, the Commission ordered censure and recommended suspension for 30 days without pay. CD at 7-8. The Commission also ordered that Judge Hammermaster take a corrective course of action including (1) completing judicial education courses in criminal procedure, ethics, and diversity, approved in advance by the Commission and paid for at his own expense; (2) meeting with a judicial mentor prescribed by the Commission; and (3) Commission monitoring for a period of two years. CD at 7-8.
One member of the Commission filed a dissenting opinion. He found only one violation based on Finding of Fact 3(a)2 and disagreed with the majority's recommended discipline, arguing instead for reprimand. CD at 3-4, 8 (Dissent by Judge Schultheis).
Judge Hammermaster told 12 different defendants that he would either impose an indefinite jail sentence or life imprisonment until fines and costs were paid. The following excerpts from a few of those cases are illustrative.
In City of Sumner v. Link, No. 15779, the defendant requested another chance to make arrangements to pay his fines:
Judge: Then why shouldn't I treat you the same way you treated me? So that's back to my original question, should I not just allow you to remain in jail?
Defendant: By rights I would, that's what I'm expecting you to do, but I ask of you not to.
Judge: Why should I not do it?
Defendant: Because this is the last time I will allow myself to not comply with what I tell you. I can't believe that, this is the third time I've had to see you for this, such matter and—
Judge: In other words what I should do is find you in contempt of court, should I not?
Defendant: Yes, you should.
Judge: And if I do that, then you're going to have to pay 40 dollars a day, each day you're in jail, which means you'd be in jail the rest of your life because every week you'd owe another 300, every month you'd owe another roughly 1200, every year you'd owe roughly another 15 thousand.
....
Defendant: Okay, after I leave here today and if I don't make contact with somebody that would do this for me, what do I do then?
Judge: I guess you stay in jail the rest of your life. I can't think of any other alternative. I've given you two alternatives. If you want to come up with a third one, do so, but I gave you two of them. And I guess you don't like either one of them....
....
Defendant: No, no I just can't, I can't call my grandmother to call because she will then call my mother and my mother will say I won't do it, so why should you. Nobody just thinks that I[sic] worth giving the chance to. I haven't given anybody a reason for that.
Judge: Well, you've sure given me reasons. You've lied to me time after time after time. Maybe you've lied to them too, I don't know. You've given me lots of reasons to throw away the key.
Defendant: I know that sir.
Judge: In fact, I guess you should feel fortunate that at this point I've not found you in contempt of court.
Exhibits Notebook (Link) at 1-2, 6-7.
In seven other cases, Judge Hammermaster made nearly identical comments regarding the defendant's debt compounding to such a high amount that he would have to find the defendant in contempt of court, and the defendant would have to stay in jail either indefinitely or for life. See City of Orting v. Lybeck, No. 5382; City of Sumner v. Sattler, No. C00010554; City of Orting v. Sita, No. 4605; City of Orting v. Powell, No. 6120; City of Sumner v. Leggitt, No. 13846; City of Sumner v. Ceras-Campos, Nos. XXXXXXXXX, C00010522; City of South Prairie v. Batten, No. C00058228; City of Orting v. Cebula, No. C00000189.
In City of Sumner v. Reisenauer, No. 13361, the defendant...
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