Mississippi Com'n on Judicial Performance v. Guest, 97-CC-00973-SCT

• Citation: 717 So.2d 325
• Decision Date: 23 July 1998
• Docket Number: No. 97-CC-00973-SCT,97-CC-00973-SCT
• Parties: MISSISSIPPI COMMISSION ON JUDICIAL PERFORMANCE v. Jerry W. GUEST.
• Court: United States State Supreme Court of Mississippi

Page 325

717 So.2d 325

MISSISSIPPI COMMISSION ON JUDICIAL PERFORMANCE v. Jerry W. GUEST.

No. 97-CC-00973-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

July 23, 1998.

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

Lee Sorrels Coleman, West Point, for Appellee.

En Banc.

BANKS, Justice, for the Court:

¶1 The present action concerns allegations of judicial misconduct on the part of Justice Court Judge Jerry W. Guest. After careful consideration, we follow the recommendation of the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance. Accordingly, Judge Guest is suspended for ninety days without pay, fined $1,500.00, and assessed all costs of this proceeding, which total $839.65.

I.

¶2 On June 20, 1996, Orlando Thomas appeared before Jerry W. Guest, Justice Court Judge of District 1, Clay County, Mississippi, on charges of driving with an expired driver's license and an expired inspection sticker. During his arrest Thomas had apparently become uncooperative and cursed at one of the officers. It was only after Thomas appeared in court, however, that he learned of an additional charge of public profanity stemming from this incident. Thomas pled guilty to the traffic charges, and was then tried and found guilty by Judge Guest of public profanity.

¶3 During the course of this trial, Thomas was uncooperative and repeatedly interrupted the officer who was testifying. In response to this conduct, Judge Guest reportedly told Thomas to "sit down, boy, and shut up." After he was found guilty, Thomas walked from the courtroom toward the exit. Shortly before he reached the exit, Thomas muttered, "fuck y'all." Thomas was immediately placed under arrest, handcuffed behind his back and brought back before the court. After refusing to answer questions, Thomas was escorted out of the courtroom by two officers. According to Judge Guest, Thomas then cursed again, and "when he said that, I come down off the stand." Thomas claims that Judge Guest called him a "black son of a bitch." Thomas stated that during the ensuing scuffle the judge put him in a headlock and hit him several times.

¶4 Judge Guest argued that his actions were necessary to protect Ms. Gwen Collums, the court clerk. The judge admitted, however, that it was Ms. Collums, aided by a constable, Floyd McKee, who pulled him away from the handcuffed defendant. The judge further agreed that it is "not a judge's job to physically restrain a defendant, no matter what he says to you." In response to the question of whether he cursed the defendant in the courtroom during the altercation, Judge Guest stated that he "[p]robably did." ¹

¶5 On September 27, 1996, the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance (Commission) filed a Formal Complaint against Judge Guest. The original complaint contained three counts. Count I alleged that Judge Guest's conduct during Thomas's trial violated Canons 1, 2(A), 2(B), 3(A)(1), 3(A)(2) and 3(A)(3) of the Code of Judicial Conduct of Mississippi Judges. Count II alleged irregularity with regard to the affidavits and arrest warrants connected with the subsequent contempt of court charges filed against Thomas. Count III charged that the alleged misconduct outlined in Counts I and II were a violation of Section 177A of the Mississippi Constitution and constituted willful misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice which brings the judicial office into disrepute.

¶6 On December 24, 1996, Judge Guest filed an Answer to the Formal Complaint denying the allegations of judicial misconduct. On February 19, 1997, the matter was heard before a three-member Hearing Committee (Committee) composed of members of the Commission. At the conclusion of this hearing, the Committee voted to dismiss Count II and made a finding that the conduct of Judge Guest alleged in that count did not violate the contempt powers of the court.

¶7 In its Findings of Fact and Recommendations, the Committee found by clear and convincing evidence that Judge Guest had used inappropriate language in the courtroom and had come down from his bench and grabbed Thomas around the head. Despite the judge's denial that he had ever met Thomas before June 20, 1996, the Committee also found that the judge knew Thomas from a prior confrontation relating to the judge's private business, and that during this confrontation the judge had called Thomas a "nigger." Based on his conduct both in and out of the courtroom, the Committee concluded that Judge Guest had violated Canons 1, 2(A), 2(B), 3(A)(1), 3(A)(2) and 3(A)(3) of the Code of Judicial Conduct. The Committee recommended that Judge Guest be publicly reprimanded, fined $1500.00 and assessed all costs of the proceeding.

¶8 At the meeting of the entire Commission on August 8, 1997, the Commission adopted most of the Committee's Findings of Fact and Recommendations. The Commission seemed hesitant to unqualifiedly adopt the Committee's finding, however, on whether Thomas and Judge Guest knew each other from a prior confrontation. The Commission softened the Committee's language in regard to this incident, stating only that the judge's denial of the prior incident had been "called into question" by Thomas's testimony, and that "Mr. Thomas further testified that during that confrontation, Judge Guest called Mr. Thomas a 'nigger.' " In spite of its hesitancy to make an express finding as to the prior incident, the Commission increased the recommended penalty. By a vote of six-to-one the Commission recommends to the Mississippi Supreme Court that Judge Guest be suspended from office for a period of ninety days, fined $1,500.00 and assessed all costs of the proceeding, which total $839.65. One dissenting member of the Commission recommended removal from office.

¶9 In his brief, the Respondent admits that his conduct was inappropriate for a judge. Accordingly, he seeks only to have the Court reinstate the original recommendation of the Committee for a public reprimand instead of a ninety-day suspension.

II.

¶10 "In judicial misconduct proceedings, this Court is the trier of fact, and it has sole power to impose sanctions." In re Quick, 553 So.2d 522, 527 (Miss.1989). See also In re Garner, 466 So.2d 884, 885 (Miss.1985). Although this Court has an obligation to conduct an independent inquiry, it nonetheless gives great weight to the findings of the Commission, which has had the opportunity to observe the demeanor of the witnesses. Id.; Mississippi Comm'n on Judicial Performance v. Peyton, 645 So.2d 954, 956 (Miss.1994). However, this Court is not bound by any recommendations of the Commission. Mississippi Comm'n on Judicial Performance v. Russell, 691 So.2d 929, 942 (Miss.1997); In re Quick, 553 So.2d at 527.

III.

¶11 Judge Guest admits in his brief that his conduct was inappropriate for a judge, and seeks only to have this Court reinstate the original recommendation of the Committee for a public reprimand instead of a ninety-day suspension. Accordingly, this Court adopts the Commission's findings that the conduct of Judge Guest violated Canons 1, 2(A), 2(B), 3(A)(1), 3(A)(2) and 3(A)(3) of the Code of Judicial Conduct.

¶12 This Court concludes that Judge Guest's conduct constitutes willful misconduct in office and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice which brings the judicial office into disrepute. MISS. CONST. art. 6, § 177A. Even in the absence of Judge Guest's admission, a detailed discussion of each Canon he violated would not be necessary to arrive at such a conclusion. It has been remarked that "[w]e can generally recognize examples of such conduct when it is displayed before us." In re Anderson, 412 So.2d 743, 752 (Miss.1982). Here, the judge assaulted a litigant in a crowded courtroom and directed profane language at the defendant during the altercation. The actions of Judge Guest clearly rise to the level of willful misconduct in office and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice which brings the judicial office into disrepute.

IV.

¶13 Section 177A of the Mississippi Constitution provides that upon recommendation by the Commission, a judge may be removed, suspended, fined, publicly censured or publicly reprimanded by this Court. MISS. CONST. art. 6, § 177A; Mississippi Comm'n on Judicial Performance v. Vess, 692 So.2d 80, 83 (Miss.1997). When considering the appropriateness of a particular sanction in judicial discipline cases, this Court endeavors to impose a sanction which fits the offense and is consistent with other like cases. Mississippi Comm'n on Judicial Performance v. Fletcher, 686 So.2d 1075, 1078 (Miss.1996); In re Bailey, 541 So.2d 1036, 1039 (Miss.1989).

¶14 There are few cases involving physical assault by a judge. In arguing for a reprimand instead of a suspension, Judge Guest compares his case to Mississippi Comm'n on Judicial Performance v. Whitten, 687 So.2d 744 (Miss.1997). In Whitten, a municipal court judge, along with several friends, stopped at gunpoint a vehicle carrying three individuals whom the judge suspected of trespassing on his neighbor's property. Judge Whitten fired several shots in an attempt to stop the vehicle and eventually shot out the tire. The individuals were then made to lie on the ground at gunpoint while the judge attempted to ascertain their identities through threats of serious bodily harm. Id. at 745-46. For his role in this incident, the judge was publicly reprimanded and fined $2,500.00. Id. at 749.

¶15 Judge Guest concedes that his conduct occurred in the courtroom and is thus more fittingly the subject of judicial sanctions than that of the judge in Whitten. He argues, however, that the "unjustified use of deadly force should more than outweigh the consideration of where the offense occurred." In addition, he argues that Whitten is a licensed attorney while Judge Guest "is a justice court judge with a GED from a vocational center."

¶16 In regard to the first argument, it is important to look at the...