Miss. Comm'n On Judicial Performance v. Ralph Boone.

• Decision Date: 28 April 2011
• Docket Number: No. 2010–JP–01082–SCT.,2010–JP–01082–SCT.
• Citation: 60 So.3d 172
• Parties: MISSISSIPPI COMMISSION ON JUDICIAL PERFORMANCEv.Ralph BOONE.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

60 So.3d 172

MISSISSIPPI COMMISSION ON JUDICIAL PERFORMANCE

v.Ralph BOONE.

No. 2010–JP–01082–SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

April 28, 2011.

Darlene D. Ballard, Ayanna B. Butler, attorneys for appellant.Wayne Dowdy, Magnolia, attorney for appellee.EN BANC.CARLSON, Presiding Justice, for the Court:

¶ 1. On August 6, 2009, the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance (Commission) filed a Formal Complaint charging Lincoln County Justice Court Judge Ralph Boone with willful misconduct in office and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice which brings the judicial office into disrepute, thus causing such alleged conduct to be actionable pursuant to the provisions of Section 177A of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890, as amended. Judge Boone filed an answer to the formal complaint on September 8, 2009, denying the claims. On April 8, 2010, a three-person committee appointed by the chair of the Commission conducted a hearing in this matter, and at the conclusion thereof, the committee took this matter under advisement. Counsel for the Commission filed Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law on May 13, 2010, and Judge Boone filed his Proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law on June 1, 2010. The committee filed its Findings of Fact and Recommendation on June 11, 2010, in which the committee unanimously recommended to the Commission that Judge Boone be removed from his judicial office and assessed the costs of all proceedings.

¶ 2. On July 6, 2010, the Commission filed with this Court its Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Recommendation. Specifically, the Commission found that Judge Boone's conduct violated Canons 1, 2A, 2B, 3B(2), 3B(4), and 4A of the Code of Judicial Conduct, and that such actions constituted willful misconduct in office and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice which brings the judicial office into disrepute pursuant to Article 6, Section 177A, of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890, as amended. The Commission recommended to the Court that Judge Boone be removed from the office of justice court judge and that he be assessed the costs of all proceedings before the Commission, in the amount of $1,907.05. One of the several allegations of judicial misconduct lodged against Judge Boone was that he had made sexual advances toward a female litigant. As will become apparent, infra, there is not a consensus among the justices of this Court on whether the facts surrounding this alleged sexual conduct with a female litigant have been established by clear and convincing evidence; thus, we are unable to adopt the Commission's recommendation that Judge Boone be removed from office. We do find that Judge Boone's conduct violated various canons of our Code of Judicial Conduct, and we impose a ninety-day suspension without pay, a public reprimand, and assessment of costs in the amount of $1,907.05.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COMMISSION

¶ 3. In its formal complaint, the Commission alleged, inter alia, that on the morning of April 15, 2009, Judge Boone presided over the trial of defendant Christina Twaddle. Judge Boone imposed a $239 fine, to be paid no later than 5:00 p.m. the same day. The formal complaint further asserted:

Around noon on April 15, 2009, [Judge Boone] spotted Twaddle at a local gasoline station and inquired as to whether he knew her. Twaddle told him she had appeared before him that very morning in court. He then asked if she would ride with him in his automobile to discuss payment of the fine. Twaddle agreed and left the gasoline station with [Judge Boone].

During the time [Judge Boone] and Twaddle were in his vehicle, [Judge Boone] touched Twaddle on the breast and crotch area. [Judge Boone] told Twaddle that he would “fix her fine” in exchange for a sexual act. [Judge Boone] drove Twaddle to a local business and asked that she meet him around 3 p.m. [Judge Boone] and Twaddle exchanged telephone numbers and [Judge Boone] left. [Judge Boone] called Twaddle on numerous occasions on the afternoon of April 15, 2009.

On the afternoon of April 15, 2009, Twaddle paid $139.00 to the justice court clerk of Lincoln County, Mississippi after [Judge Boone] sua sponte reduced the amount owed by $100.00.

¶ 4. On these alleged facts, the Commission charged Judge Boone with violations of Canons 1, 2A, 2B, 3B(2), 3B(4), and 4A of the Mississippi Code of Judicial Conduct. The Commission further asserted that Judge Boone's alleged judicial misconduct was actionable pursuant to the provisions of Section 177A of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890, as amended. The Commission complied with the provisions of Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance Rule 6C concerning proper notice to Judge Boone, as well as his right to respond pursuant to Rule 6D.

¶ 5. On August 14, 2009, Judge Henry L. Lackey, Chair of the Commission, entered an order appointing a three-person committee, consisting of certain Commission members, to conduct a formal, evidentiary hearing concerning the allegations contained in the formal complaint. Thereafter, Judge Boone filed an answer to the formal complaint, generally denying the allegations in the complaint. Upon the filing of Judge Boone's response, Judge Lackey entered a scheduling order providing various deadlines for discovery, the filing of motions, as well as a hearing date. On March 16, 2010, Judge H. David Clark, the new chair of the Commission, entered an amended order appointing a three-person committee to conduct an evidentiary hearing on the formal complaint.

¶ 6. The formal hearing was held on April 8, 2010, Judge Lee J. Howard presiding. Both the Commission and Judge Boone were represented by counsel. In the Commission's case-in-chief, the following persons testified: (1) Lincoln County Justice Court Judge Ralph Boone; (2) Pike County Justice Court Judge Aubrey P. Rimes; (3) Raymond O. Boutwell, Jr., the attorney who had represented Christina Twaddle at her public drunkenness hearing before Judge Boone; (4) Lincoln County Deputy Justice Court Clerk Melanie Green; (5) Mikell Buckley, Chief Investigator for the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance; (6) Christina Twaddle, the complaining witness; (7) Megel Jackson, Twaddle's godson; and (8) Truett Simmons, Investigator for the District Attorney's Office in the Fourteenth Circuit Court District, of which Lincoln County is a part. Nolan Jones, Assistant Chief of Police for the City of Brookhaven, was the only witness to testify in Judge Boone's case-in-chief. ¹ Following the hearing, the committee, on a unanimous vote, entered its fourteen-page findings of fact and recommendation for the Commission's consideration. Thereafter, the Commission entered its fifteen-page findings of fact, conclusions of law and recommendation, stating, inter alia, that “the Commission, based upon clear and convincing evidence, adopts the Committee findings....” The Commission's recommendation stated in pertinent part:

It is a sad day in the judiciary when judges, who have accepted an oath to uphold the law, engage in such conduct as witnessed in this case. [Judge Boone]'s actions have destroyed any positive perception Twaddle or her family may ever have of the judiciary and such behavior cannot be tolerated. Therefore, the Commission by clear and convincing evidence, concludes that [Judge Boone's] conduct in this case has violated Section 177A of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890, as amended, and that said conduct constitutes willful misconduct in office and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice which brings the judicial office into disrepute. The panel finds that the only sanction that will restore confidence in the Lincoln County Justice Court is to remove [Judge Boone] from the office of Justice Court Judge, and to assess all costs of this proceedings [sic] in the sum of $1,907.05 against [Judge Boone].

¶ 7. These recommendations are now before this Court.

DISCUSSION

¶ 8. Our state constitution states that this Court has authority to sanction a judge “[o]n recommendation of the commission on judicial performance....” Miss. Const. art. 6, § 177A (1890). This Court's first opportunity to address this constitutional provision, which was passed by a concurrent resolution of the Legislature in 1979, and ratified by the electorate on November 6, 1979, was in In re Removal of Lloyd W. Anderson, Justice Court Judge, 412 So.2d 743 (Miss.1982). Although we will return to Anderson infra for a more detailed discussion on our mandated responsibilities in considering cases of alleged judicial misconduct, suffice it to state here that this Court stated, for the first time, that in cases coming to us from the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance, the Court, in making a “final determination of the appropriate action to be taken in each case,” would “conduct an independent inquiry of the record” and in doing so, this Court would “accord careful consideration [of] the findings of fact and recommendations of the Commission, or its committee, which has had the opportunity to observe the demeanor of the witnesses.” Id. at 746. But somewhere along the way, post- Anderson, this Court has strayed from the wisdom of Anderson in considering cases coming to us from the Commission. We have even gotten to the point of stating that when acting on a recommendation from the Commission, we will conduct a de novo review of the Commission's proceedings, “while affording deference to the Commission's recommendations when the Commission's findings are based on clear and convincing evidence.” Miss. Comm'n on Judicial Performance v. Thompson, 972 So.2d 582, 585 (Miss.2008) (citing Miss. Comm'n on Judicial Performance v. Cole, 932 So.2d 9, 10 (Miss.2006) (other citations omitted)). On the other hand, we have stated that, while this Court does afford considerable deference to the findings of the Commission, “ ‘we are also charged to render an independent...