Matter of Starcher

• Decision Date: 23 January 1998
• Docket Number: No. 23681.,23681.
• Court: West Virginia Supreme Court
• Parties: In the Matter of Honorable Larry V. STARCHER, Judge, Circuit Court of Monongalia County.

501 S.E.2d 772

202 W.Va. 55

In the Matter of Honorable Larry V. STARCHER, Judge, Circuit Court of Monongalia County.

No. 23681.

Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia.

Submitted October 7, 1997.

Decided January 23, 1998.

Charles R. Garten, Judicial Disciplinary Counsel, Charleston, for Judicial Hearing Board.

Thomas V. Flaherty, Christopher W. Jones, Flaherty, Sensabaugh & Bonasso, Charleston, for Respondent, Honorable Larry V. Starcher, Judge. HOLLIDAY, Judge:¹

This is a disciplinary proceeding charging the respondent, Judge (now Justice) Larry V. Starcher, with a violation of the Code of Judicial Conduct (1996). Specifically, Judge Starcher was charged with violating Sections 5A(3)(a), 5A(3)(d)(i), 5A(3)(d)(ii) and 5C(2) of the Code of Judicial Conduct. The Judicial Hearing Board recommended an admonishment with respect to the violation of Section 5C(2).

I.

The circumstances giving rise to this disciplinary proceeding arose during the 1996 Democratic Party primary election, in which Judge Starcher was a candidate for one of two seats on this Court for which the elected justice would serve a full term. The parties have stipulated the relevant facts. The parties entered into the following stipulations:

No. 23681

BEFORE THE WEST VIRGINIA JUDICIAL HEARING BOARD

IN THE MATTER OF JUDGE LARRY V. STARCHER, COMPLAINT NO. 90-96

STIPULATIONS OF FACT

Come now the undersigned and stipulate to the following Stipulations of Fact in this Case:

1. At all times relevant to the allegations contained in the complaint filed in this matter, Judge Starcher was serving as a Circuit Judge for the 17th Judicial Circuit and was a candidate for Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals for West Virginia.

2. During the course of the campaign, Judge Starcher authored, typed, signed, and personally sent a letter dated March 9, 1996, to individuals involved with an endorsement committee of the Tri-County Labor Council. A copy of this letter with attachment is attached hereto and stipulated into the record as Stipulated Exhibit A.

3. The letter was prepared during the course of a weekend immediately preceding the last nine weeks of the Primary Election campaign in the race for a seat on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.

4. The letter came about during the course of a planned campaign trip to the Northern Panhandle. During the course of a luncheon on March 7, 1996, with the Democratic chairperson in Marshall County the conversation drifted to Labor's role in the Supreme Court races and to the State AFL-CIO COPE's endorsement of Justice Recht. Judge Starcher was informed that the local Building Trades Council (Marshall-Wetzel-Tyler Counties) had discussed the question of endorsing him rather than Justice Recht. He was informed that the "endorsement committee" of the Union was meeting again on March 16 and that perhaps the Council might reconsider the State COPE's endorsement position. It was suggested to Judge Starcher that the matter be discussed with another individual who was retired, but a politically active AFL-CIO worker.

5. This individual advised Judge Starcher that there was some hope that the Tri-County Council's "endorsement committee" may reconsider the previous endorsement of Justice Recht at its meeting and gave Judge Starcher a list of people that he should write concerning the issue.

6. Mr. Montes who received Stipulated Exhibit A was among the individuals on the list and letters identical to that sent to him were also sent to the other individuals on the list.

Reviewed and approved by:

/S/ Charles R. Garten /S/ Thomas V. Flaherty Charles R. Garten, Esq. Thomas V. Flaherty, Esq Post Office Box 1629 200 Capitol Street Charleston, WV XXXXX-XXXX Fourth Floor JUDICIAL DISCIPLINARY Post Office Box 3843 COUNSEL Charleston, WV XXXXX-XXXX COUNSEL FOR JUSTICE LARRY V. STARCHER /S/ Larry V. Starcher THE HONORABLE LARRY V STARCHER, JUSTICE WEST VIRGINIA SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS Room E-307, Building 1 1600 Kanawha Boulevard, East Charleston, WV 25305

The letter which is the source of the controversy giving rise to this proceeding was attached to the Stipulations of Fact as Exhibit "A". The letter is on letterhead captioned "Starcher for Supreme Court Committee," and was authored, typed and sent to the addressee by Judge Starcher. The letter reads as follows:

March 9, 1996

Mr. Melvin Montes

504 Benwood Road

Benwood, WV 26031

Dear Melvin:

It is my understanding that a committee of the Marshall-Wetzel-Tyler Labor Council is meeting next Saturday to consider local endorsements. I respectively request that you folks consider taking a courageous act and endorse my candidacy for the State Supreme Court at that time. You will not be standing alone. You will be doing what is right for labor.

I urge you to look carefully at Court candidates' backgrounds. Also, you should check with labor leaders and labor lawyers who actually know the candidates. I believe that you will find I have been a good public servant for working men and women. My life as been one of "living labor" and working to see that working men and women get a fair shake in our courts.

The candidate that your State COPE Committee endorsed may be a fine gentleman, but he is also a lawyer who had made his living on the backs of labor and who finagled the endorsement through a political deal. Enclosed is a copy of a page from Martindale-Hubbell, a rich lawyer's advertising book. Look at the companies my opponent lists as his clients. Do you really believe that a man who has worked for those companies will provide a level playing field for labor? My opponent is a lawyer who has represented asbestos companies and joined in asking for delays in the processing of asbestos-injured workers' cases while I have steadfastly moved nearly 20,000 of these cases through court in order that injured workers can receive compensation.

I, like you, have lived the life of a working family. My youngest brother and his wife are teamsters—they team drive cross country. My oldest brother is a mechanic. Another brother and a brother-in-law work in HVAC. I have several cousins and nephews working in the building trades and in the plants in the Ohio Valley. Personally, I have been a member of two unions and as a lawyer represented a third.

Larry Starcher has always believed that litigants have the right to have issues timely resolved; therefore, I have insisted on moving my docket at a quick pace. I have tried thousands of asbestos cases (most for construction tradesmen), many wrongful discharge cases, picket line injunctive matters, complicated litigation of all types and about every type of case imaginable. And, I believe that people would say that labor gets treated fairly in my court.

It would be particularly helpful to my candidacy to have official labor endorsement. I have been endorsed by several AFL-CIO Oaffiliated [sic] locals and/or bodies and feel that I will likely be endorsed by additional AFL-CIO groups, the UMWA, the State FOP, State Deputy Sheriffs' Associ-ation [sic] and hopefully by the teamsters and Weirton Independent Steel Workers' Union.

You might check with other labor leaders to get an idea of how I stand with labor. If any of you know Shelby or Gary Leary, Bill Dean, Bob Campbell, Tom Springer, Rick Williams, Tom Johnson, Kenny Perdue, G.V. Mehalic, Jim Stubenrod, Charlie Jordan, Denny Longfellow (Morgantown), B.B. Smith, Steve White, Carlo Tarley (pleased read the enclosed letter from Carlo), and I could go on and on, you might ask these folks about my reputation with labor.

And, if you seriously consider the alternatives, I am sure you will agree that I have an affinity for working men and women of our State that is not shared by other candidates. I assure you that neither you nor labor will be disappointed with a justice such as me on the high court. And I say "thanks" for your help.

Sincerely,

/S/ Larry V. Starcher

Larry V. Starcher

LVS

Attached to the letter was a copy of biographical information extracted from "Martindale-Hubbell" respecting Arthur M. Recht, who was at that time a Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, an incumbent candidate for a seat on the Court, and an opponent of Judge Starcher in the Democratic Party primary. The information extracted from "Martindale-Hubbell" related to a time when Justice Recht was a partner in the firm of Schrader, Recht, Byrd, Companion and Gurley. The biographical information attached to the letter indicated that while in the private practice of law, Justice Recht's areas of practice included Labor and Employment Law. A circle was drawn around these two areas of practice with a line leading to a hand-drawn star and the handwritten comment, "FOR THE COMPANY." The biographical information also contained a list of clients with a triangular hand-drawn bracket to the notation, "RECHT'S CLIENTS." The list of clients consists primarily of businesses.

As stipulated by the parties, this same letter was sent to several individuals associated with the Tri-County Labor Council.

On September 23, 1996, the Judicial Investigation Commission filed a complaint against the respondent, charging him with violations of Sections 5A(3)(a), 5A(3)(d)(i), 5A(3)(d)(ii) and 5C(2) of the Code of Judicial Conduct.

On January 9, 1997, the matter came on for hearing before the Judicial Hearing Board. The parties having previously entered into the stipulations of fact set out above, the stipulations were entered into the record by the Judicial Hearing Board.

On May 27, 1997, pursuant to the provisions of Rule 4.8 of the West Virginia Rules of Disciplinary Procedure, the Judicial Hearing Board filed its "Recommended Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Proposed Disposition." A majority of the Judicial Hearing Board found that Judge Starcher had violated Section 5C(2) of the Code of Judicial Conduct, and recommended that he be admonished. The Board did not make any findings of fact or...