MISSISSIPPI COM'N ON JUD. PERF. v. Sanders

• Decision Date: 02 December 1999
• Docket Number: No. 1999-JP-00282-SCT.,1999-JP-00282-SCT.
• Citation: 749 So.2d 1062
• Parties: MISSISSIPPI COMMISSION ON JUDICIAL PERFORMANCE v. Lillie Blackmon SANDERS.
• Court: Mississippi Supreme Court

749 So.2d 1062

MISSISSIPPI COMMISSION ON JUDICIAL PERFORMANCE v. Lillie Blackmon SANDERS.

No. 1999-JP-00282-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

December 2, 1999.

Luther T. Brantley, III, Irene Mikell Buckley, Jackson, Attorneys for Appellant.

Reuben V. Anderson, James W. Craig, Debra M. Brown, Jackson, Attorneys for Appellee.

EN BANC.

PITTMAN, Presiding Justice, for the Court:

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

¶ 1. On April 2, 1998, the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance ("Commission") filed a formal complaint charging Lillie Blackmon Sanders (hereinafter "Judge Sanders"), Circuit Court Judge for the Sixth Circuit Court District of Mississippi, with judicial misconduct. On June 8, 1998, Judge Sanders filed a motion to dismiss, affirmative defenses, and an answer to the formal complaint.

¶ 2. A hearing on the matter was held on October 15-16, 1998, before a duly appointed committee of the Commission. The committee which presided over the hearing submitted the Committee Findings of Fact and Recommendation on December 1, 1998. On December 7, 1998, Judge Sanders requested additional time to submit objections to the committee findings. The motion was granted by order of the Commission on December 11, 1998, and Judge Sanders filed her objections on December 28, 1998.

¶ 3. On January 29, 1999, the Commission entered the Commission Findings of Fact and Recommendation recommending that Judge Sanders be publicly reprimanded, fined $3,000, and taxed with all costs ($2,156.80) associated with the prosecution of the matter. One Commission member dissented, voting for removal from office with costs.

¶ 4. The Commission filed its Commission Findings of Fact and Recommendation with this Court on February 10, 1999.

STATEMENT OF FACTS

¶ 5. On April 2, 1998, the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance filed a formal complaint charging Lillie Blackmon Sanders, Circuit Court Judge for the Sixth Circuit Court District of Mississippi, with judicial misconduct including violation of Canons 1, 2 A, 2 B, 3 A(1), 3 A(2), 3 A(3), 3 A(4), and 3 B(1) of the Code of Judicial Conduct of Mississippi Judges. Judge Sanders was also charged with judicial misconduct constituting willful misconduct in office and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice which brings the judicial office into disrepute as set forth in Article 6, Section 177A, of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890, as amended.

¶ 6. The allegations of judicial misconduct stemmed from a complaint filed by Fred Ferguson. In Count I, the Committee charged that Judge Sanders, without allowing Ferguson the benefit of or opportunity to obtain counsel, questioned him about his failure to post an order of the court, found him in contempt, and jailed him under a cash appeal bond of $500,000. In Count II, Judge Sanders was charged with illegally expunging the records of Ronald Scott Havard and Gay Nell Havard. The Havards had pled guilty to the charge of Manufacture of a Schedule 1 Controlled Substance, More than Ounce but less than Kilogram Marijuana. In Count III, Judge Sanders was charged with ex parte communications involving defendant Gregory Thomas Brengettsy, his mother, and his attorney, George West, regarding the case to be tried before Judge Sanders. The District Attorney was not made a party to this proceeding. Shortly after the meeting, the District Attorney was notified that the defendant had waived his right to a jury trial. The defendant was subsequently tried before Judge Sanders without a jury and found not guilty. Count IV charged that Judge Sanders violated Article 6, Section 177A of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890, as amended, as her conduct constitutes willful misconduct in office and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice which brings the judicial office into disrepute.

¶ 7. On June 8, 1998, Judge Sanders filed a motion to dismiss, affirmative defenses, and an answer to the formal complaint. In her motion to dismiss, Judge Sanders maintained that the prosecution of the complaint against her was for the sole reason that she is an African-American female. Judge Sanders stated that the actions of the Commission were racially discriminatory and violative of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

¶ 8. Judge Sanders filed a motion to compel on September 30, 1998. In her motion, Judge Sanders alleged that the Commission failed to provide requested information relating to the race of judges. The Commission, in its answer, objected, stating that it did not keep such records as race and sex of judges who were disciplined.

¶ 9. This matter was heard on October 15-16, 1998, before a committee composed of Circuit Judge Clarence E. Morgan, III, presiding, Chancery Judge William H. Myers, and Justice Court Judge C.E. Robertson. A hearing on the merits was held with each side presenting testimony and documentary evidence.

¶ 10. The committee submitted the unanimous Committee Findings of Fact and Recommendation on December 1, 1998. The committee found that Judge Sanders abused her contempt powers and violated the Canons of Judicial Conduct in count I. The committee further found that Judge Sanders, in count II, violated Miss.Code Ann. § 41-29-150, and violated the Canons of Judicial Conduct. Count III was dismissed for lack of evidence. Count IV alleged, and the committee found, that Judge Sanders' cumulative conduct constituted willful, official misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice which brings the judicial office into disrepute. The committee recommended that Judge Sanders be publicly reprimanded, fined $3,000, and be taxed with all costs associated with the prosecution of the matter.

¶ 11. On December 7, 1998, Judge Sanders requested additional time to submit objections to the committee findings. The motion was granted by order of the Commission on December 11, 1998, and Judge Sanders filed her objections on December 28, 1998.

¶ 12. On January 29, 1999, the Commission entered the Commission Findings of Fact and Recommendation recommending that Judge Sanders be publicly reprimanded, fined $3,000, and taxed with all costs ($2,156.80) associated with the prosecution of the matter. One Commission member dissented, voting for removal from office with costs.

¶ 13. The Commission filed its Commission Findings of Fact and Recommendation with this Court on February 10, 1999.

STATEMENT OF ISSUES

I. WHETHER THE RESPONDENT'S MOTION TO DISMISS WAS FRIVOLOUS, TOTALLY DEVOID OF MERIT, AND PROPERLY OVERRULED BY THE COMMISSION.

II. WHETHER THE RESPONDENT'S CONDUCT CONSTITUTES WILLFUL MISCONDUCT IN OFFICE AND CONDUCT PREJUDICIAL TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE WHICH BRINGS THE JUDICIAL OFFICE INTO DISREPUTE PURSUANT TO SECTION 177A OF THE MISSISSIPPI CONSTITUTION OF 1890, AS AMENDED.

III. WHETHER THE COMMISSION'S RECOMMENDATION THAT RESPONDENT BE FINED AND PUBLICLY REPRIMANDED IS SUPPORTED BY THE COMMISSION'S FINDINGS.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

¶ 14. Rule 10 E of the Rules of the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance sets forth the pertinent standard of review:

Based upon a review of the entire record, the Supreme Court shall prepare and publish a written opinion and judgment directing such disciplinary action, if any, as it finds just and proper. The Supreme Court may accept, reject, or modify, in whole or in part, the findings and recommendation of the Commission. In the event that more than one (1) recommendation for discipline of the judge is filed, the Supreme Court may render a single decision or impose a single sanction with respect to all recommendations.

Mississippi Comm'n on Judicial Performance v. Sanders, 708 So.2d 866, 871-72 (Miss.1998) (citations omitted). As this Court has further noted:

This Court conducts de novo review of judicial misconduct proceedings, giving great deference to the findings, based on clear and convincing evidence, of the recommendations of the Mississippi Judicial Performance Commission.... Although this Court considers the recommendations of the Commission, we are in no way bound by them and may also impose additional sanctions ...

Mississippi Comm'n on Judicial Performance v. Russell, 691 So.2d 929, 935 (Miss. 1997) (citations omitted).

ANALYSIS

I. WHETHER THE RESPONDENT'S MOTION TO DISMISS WAS FRIVOLOUS, TOTALLY DEVOID OF MERIT, AND PROPERLY OVERRULED BY THE COMMISSION.

¶ 15. Judge Sanders filed a motion to dismiss the formal complaint against her, alleging that the prosecution of the instant complaint, as well as one in which she was previously fined $1,500 and publicly reprimanded, Mississippi Comm'n on Judicial Performance v. Sanders, 708 So.2d 866 (Miss.1998), was a result of racially discriminatory selective prosecution. Judge Sanders then filed an unsuccessful motion to compel stating that the Commission had not replied in full to Respondent's First Set of Interrogatories and Production of Documents.

¶ 16. The United States Supreme Court has stated that a selective prosecution claim is an independent assertion of misconduct by a prosecutor, "... not a defense on the merits to the ... charge itself, ..." United States v. Armstrong, 517 U.S. 456, 463, 116 S.Ct. 1480, 1486, 134 L.Ed.2d 687 (1996). Judge Sanders is attempting to use the selective prosecution claim as a defense to the charges raised against her in the formal complaint. The charges in the formal complaint relate to alleged judicial misconduct by Judge Sanders and are a separate matter from the charges of selective prosecution against the Commission.

¶ 17. Judge Sanders asserts here that the prosecution should have been dismissed because of the statistical data that she was able to garner showing a racial disparity in the number of prosecutions. Secondarily, she asserts that if what she has presented does not warrant dismissal, the matter should, nevertheless, be remanded to the Commission for further discovery on the issue.

¶ 18. The...