In re Judge Leo Boothe Seventh Judicial Dist. Court Catahoula

• Decision Date: 15 March 2013
• Docket Number: No. 2012–O–1821.,2012–O–1821.
• Citation: 110 So.3d 1002
• Parties: In re Judge Leo BOOTHE Seventh Judicial District Court Catahoula and Concordia Parishes State of Louisiana.
• Court: Louisiana Supreme Court

110 So.3d 1002

In re Judge Leo BOOTHE Seventh Judicial District Court Catahoula and Concordia Parishes State of Louisiana.

No. 2012–O–1821.

Supreme Court of Louisiana.

Jan. 29, 2013.

Rehearing Denied Mar. 15, 2013.

Judiciary Commission of Louisiana, Clare Dolores Fiasconaro, Interim Commission Counsel.

Office of Special Counsel, Mary Frances Whitney, Special Counsel, Michael Bewers, Barbara Lynn Edin, John Eric Keeling, for applicant.

Leo Boothe, Patrick Leo Boothe, Henry Howard Lemione, Jr., for respondent.

VICTORY, J.

[2012-1821 (La. 1]This matter comes before the Court on the recommendation of the Judiciary Commission of Louisiana (the “Commission”) that respondent, Judge Leo Boothe of the 7th Judicial District Court, Parishes of Catahoula and Concordia, be removed from office and ordered to reimburse and pay the Commission $11,731.79 in costs incurred in the investigation and prosecution of this case. The Commission conducted an investigatory hearing, made findings of fact and law, and determined that Judge Boothe violated Canons 1, 2A, 2B, 3A(1), 3A(6), and 3C of the Code of Judicial Conduct and engaged in willful conduct relating to his official duty and persistent and public conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice that brought his judicial office into disrepute, in violation of La. Const. art. V, § 25(C). After reviewing the record and the applicable law, we find that certain charges against Judge Boothe were proven by clear and convincing evidence; however, we reject the recommendation that he be removed from office and find that he be suspended from office for a period of one year, without pay, and ordered to reimburse and pay the Commission $11,731.79 in costs.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Judge Boothe assumed his office on January 1, 1991, and has been re-elected without opposition three times thereafter, including most recently in October 2008, [2012-1821 (La. 2]for a term of office commencing on January 1, 2009.¹ The relevant conduct relates to the case of James Skipper (“Skipper”) and involves circumstances which we admittedly find very hard to understand. In 2002, Skipper was convicted by a Concordia Parish jury of three counts of distribution of cocaine and one count of attempted possession of a controlled dangerous substance with intent to distribute. He had been offered a plea bargain that would have allowed him to serve approximately five years in prison, but he claims he rejected that offer based on a conversation with his nephew, Justin Conner, in which Mr. Conner threatened that Skipper's family would no longer associate with him if he took the plea. Judge Boothe sentenced Skipper to serve a total of eighty years at hard labor—twenty-five years on each count of distribution and five years on the attempted possession charge. In 2003, Judge Boothe amended Skipper's sentences to make the sentences on all counts run concurrently. The court of appeal subsequently affirmed Skipper's conviction and the concurrent sentences, and this Court denied writs. State v. Skipper, 03–0842, 03–0844 (La.App.3 Cir.12/10/03), 861 So.2d 796,writ denied,04–0003 (La.4/23/04), 870 So.2d 298.

After his twenty-five year sentence became executory in May 2004, Skipper filed numerous pleadings with the 7th JDC in an effort to have the sentence reduced or vacated.² These motions, most of which were filed pro se, were routinely denied [2012-1821 (La. 3]by Judge Boothe. One motion alleged that Judge Boothe had agreed to release him from prison on an appeal bond and would allow him to remain free, on probation, if he helped the Concordia Parish Sheriff garner enough African–American votes to win re-election in 2003. Judge Boothe adamantly denied these allegations and later contended that the alleged “deal” was “cooked up” to hurt him politically by falsely tying him to the sheriff, who, according to Judge Boothe has “a ton of enemies” and is one of the “most unpopular people in Concordia Parish politically.” The allegations by Skipper against Judge Boothe were frequently reported in the local newspaper and discussed extensively on a now-defunct website known as the Concordia Underground. Judge Boothe admitted that he was very concerned about this negative publicity because “at that time I still had an election ahead of me.”

On June 15, 2008, Skipper wrote to Judge Boothe from prison and wished him a happy Father's Day. Skipper lamented that because of his incarceration he was unable to see his teenaged son. This letter contained arguments relating to hardship that Skipper had already raised in prior pleadings. Judge Boothe replied to Skipper's letter on June 29, 2008. In his handwritten response, Judge Boothe acknowledged receiving Skipper's letter and stated that he wanted to address a few of the things Skipper had written. After telling Skipper that “[f]or some unknown reason you tried to intimidate the court in several ways from the start,” Judge Boothe referred to a “deal” Skipper had come up with that Judge Boothe had never heard of “which was [2012-1821 (La. 4]obviously calculated to embarrass me and cripple me politically.” Apparently, the “deal” had to do with Gene Allen, the Mayor of Ferriday, and his election efforts. Judge Boothe then addressed the issue of Skipper's sentence, stating:

As far as you getting any modification of your sentence I always keep an open mind and I certainly would be fair and objective in this matter. As I indicated earlier, nothing would please me more than for you to use your talents in a constructive manner.

At this point no judge can help you unless the District Attorney agreed to waive the state's right to an objection of untimeliness.

I think you need to understand that the judicial system cannot be bullied, intimidated or manipulated, at least as far as my court is concerned. You will be treated fairly and when and if your conduct merits it you will learn that to be truthful and forthright will get better results than the methods you have employed up to now.

On July 8, 2008, Skipper filed a pro se “Motion to Revisit Defendant [sic] Sentence to Consider Family Heartship [sic] Circumstances which has caused Burden on Defendant [sic] Family,” [hereinafter sometimes referred to as the “reconsideration motion”] asserting that his sentence should be reduced because his incarceration was a hardship for his wife and son. After Skipper filed the motion to reduce his sentence, he wrote back to Judge Boothe and asked that he be granted a hearing and be allowed to appear before Judge Boothe in person, along with the District Attorney, to argue the motion. In the letter, Skipper also accused Gene Allen of misleading him and promising he would be released from prison if he helped his election campaign. (The same “deal” referred to in Judge Boothe's letter.) Judge Boothe testified that he did not read the entirety of this letter from Skipper. There was nothing in the record before the Hearing Officer or the Commission to indicate that Judge Boothe notified the District Attorney of any of the ex parte correspondence or filed any of it into the record of Skipper's case.³

[2012-1821 (La. 5]On August 1, 2008, Judge Boothe signed an order setting the motion for hearing on August 13, 2008. Asked why he set this particular motion for hearing when he had denied many earlier motions by Skipper which raised the same hardship argument, Judge Boothe testified that by 2008, Skipper had already served more time than he would have had he accepted the plea offer made to him prior to his trial. Judge Boothe was also troubled that Skipper's son, whom he frequently saw at church, was growing up without his father present in the home. However, while Judge Boothe testified he decided to grant the reconsideration motion out of concern for Skipper's son, he also admitted he relied on matters beyond the reconsideration motion when he decided to schedule the hearing. Judge Boothe testified he had a “whiff” of something going on with Judge Kathy Johnson, the other judge in the 7th JDC, but did not know it had anything to do with Skipper's situation.⁴ Judge Boothe did not know precisely what was going on with Judge Johnson, but someone had told him that it would “blow her [Judge Johnson] out of the water” and he “had heard that there were some tapes or something.”

[2012-1821 (La. 6]Immediately before the Reconsideration Hearing, DA John Johnson called Skipper into his office and they met with the door closed.⁵ DA Johnson and Judge Johnson had previously been married, and DA Johnson told Skipper that he was very angry at Judge Johnson for something she had said to his mother. DA Johnson threw transcripts of recorded telephone conversations on the desk and told Skipper he had transcripts of Skipper and “Little Bird.” These conversations were recorded from the prison and were between Skipper and Mr. Conner, and one included Judge Johnson.⁶ At first, Skipper did not know who DA Johnson was referring to because he did not remember Judge Johnson being called Little Bird. DA Johnson told Skipper in no uncertain terms that if he testified that it was him, Mr. Conner, and Judge Johnson in the recorded telephone conversations, DA Johnson would not oppose his motion for reconsideration. Skipper's impression was that DA Johnson was not going to recommend that his sentence be reduced unless Skipper admitted it was Judge Johnson in the transcript.

Skipper was optimistic when DA Johnson told him he would not oppose the reconsideration motion. He knew that in most cases, if the DA did not object to a motion, the judge was going to go along with it. Therefore, Skipper was not worried that Judge Boothe had denied all of his previous motions for reconsideration. On the day of the hearing, before he met with DA Johnson, Skipper testified he intended to [2012-1821 (La. 7]testify about the family hardships upon which he had based his motion to reconsider sentence. However, in his opening statement, he stated:

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