Seitz, In re, 90794

• Decision Date: 01 September 1992
• Docket Number: No. 1,No. 90794,90794,1
• Citation: 495 N.W.2d 559,441 Mich. 590
• Parties: In re Hon. James McCauley SEITZ, Monroe County Probate Court, Monroe, Michigan. Calendar,
• Court: Michigan Supreme Court

Page 559

495 N.W.2d 559

441 Mich. 590

In re Hon. James McCauley SEITZ, Monroe County Probate Court, Monroe, Michigan.

No. 90794.

Calendar No. 1, Sept. Term, 1992.

Supreme Court of Michigan.

Argued Sept. 3, 1992.

Decided Feb. 2, 1993.

Concurring and Dissenting Opinion

of Justice Levin Feb. 3, 1993.

Joseph F. Regnier, Examiner, Detroit.

Frederick J. Griffith, Murphy, Brenton & Spagnuolo, P.C., Lansing, for respondent.

Before the Entire Bench.

OPINION

BRICKLEY, Justice.

INTRODUCTION

On April 12, 1991, this Court appointed retired Circuit Judge William R. Peterson as master to preside over the hearing of Formal Complaint No. 43, filed by the Judicial Tenure Commission against Honorable James McCauley Seitz, Monroe County Probate Court, Monroe, Michigan. ¹

The twenty-five paragraph complaint centered on the following general acts of alleged misconduct: ²

1. Wilful neglect of adoption docket and refusal to respond to requests by the State Court Administrator's Office (SCAO);

2. Abuse of contempt power;

3. Improper delegation of authority to release juveniles from youth home facility;

4. Order that certain youth home personnel be barred from his courtroom or from working on any cases assigned to him;

5. Improper order that predispositional assessments and psychological evaluations be conducted by outside psychologists;

6. Unprofessional relationship with and hostile attitude toward employees;

7. Installation of a telephone listening device;

8. Encouraging employees to commit perjury;

9. Improper handling of and disqualification from a particular adoption case--In re Brown;

10. Failure to file reports with the SCAO.

These events spanned two and one-half years, from August 3, 1988, through January 8, 1991. The commission charged that the alleged acts constituted violations of the standards of judicial conduct under MCR 9.205 and the Code of Judicial Conduct.

Beginning on October 7, 1991, the master heard testimony for nine days. Although he found that the commission failed to prove all the allegations of the twenty-five-paragraph complaint ³--some were not found to be proven by a preponderance of the evidence and others not to amount to judicial misconduct--he did conclude that Judge Seitz engaged in acts demonstrating a pattern of gross judicial misconduct, namely:

A. Installation of a telephone listening device;

B. Abuse of contempt power;

C. Unprofessional relationship with and hostile attitude towards employees;

D. Wilful neglect of adoption docket and refusal to respond to requests by the SCAO E. Failure to file reports with the SCAO.

After hearing the testimony of witnesses and arguments of counsel, the master submitted his report on December 31, 1991. The commission met in open session to hear oral arguments regarding the master's report on March 9, 1992. It adopted in full the master's findings of fact and conclusions of law that provided the basis for its decision and recommendation of discipline issued on April 13, 1992.

The commission concluded that Judge Seitz was guilty of judicial misconduct that served to undermine the effectiveness of the judiciary and has engendered public disrespect for the office he holds. The commission stated that Judge Seitz has demonstrated, in a number of instances, over a substantial period of time, that he does not possess those qualities essential to be a competent judge, and that his wilful violations have impugned the honesty and integrity of his court and the entire Michigan judiciary. Therefore, the commission recommended that the Supreme Court remove respondent from office, and bar him from ever again holding judicial office.

It becomes our task, by reviewing de novo the record of this case, to conclude whether "the conduct charged to Judge [Seitz] and found by the Commission is established by the record. The issues for our consideration, then, are whether that conduct is of a nature warranting discipline and, if so, whether removal, as recommended by the Commission majority or some other form of discipline should be imposed." In re Bennett, 403 Mich. 178, 184, 267 N.W.2d 914 (1978). ⁴

I. FACTS & ARGUMENTS

James McCauley Seitz has a history of being unable to work in an amicable environment with anyone, be it people of authority, co-workers, or employees. When he first became a judge of the Monroe County Probate Court in 1977, hostilities began almost immediately between him and the chief judge and only colleague on the bench, Harry Seitz. Judge Harry Seitz resigned in 1985. ⁵ Before his vacancy was filled, the respondent discharged Harry Seitz' court reporter-secretary, Mrs. Trowbridge, which led to legal action by her against the respondent and Monroe County.

Joseph Costello, with the urging of respondent, was appointed to fill the vacancy. What began as an amicable relationship between the two judges quickly deteriorated. The situation was so hostile, the then Chief Justice of this Court appointed Court of Appeals Judge John Gillis to act as chief judge ⁶ and assigned the State Court Administrator to act as special administrator of the Monroe County Probate Court. Judge Gillis named Judge Costello as chief judge pro tem, resulting in his becoming acting chief judge when the appointment of Judge Gillis as chief judge ended at the end of 1988. ⁷

Since that time the Monroe County Probate Court has been in a state of disarray. In referring to Judge Seitz and Judge Costello, the master summarized as follows:

They have overwhelmed associates, staff, the State Court Administrator's Office and the Judicial Tenure Commission with complaints against one another, and have generated an impressive volume of complaints from others. Staff, caught up in the turmoil, have become pawns between the two, compelled to work in an environment of suspicion and hostility. Contact was reduced to written memoranda, employees made notes of events and compiled dossiers on judges and each other. Some of them brought law suits and one went to jail. Respondent secretly taped his telephone conversations.

Central to an understanding of much of what transpired in the period during which the charges against respondent arose is his relationship with his secretary/court reporter. In discussing that relationship, the master stated:

In early 1983, Cindy Paz was hired by respondent to be his secretary-recorder. Mrs. Paz, now Mrs. Cameron, failed the test for court recorder three times but was kept on the job by respondent and a bizarre relationship developed. She was described as rough, which is a fair description. Indeed, the tenor of conversation between the two, in the presence of other court staff or in private, took on the atmosphere of a bawdy house with sexual references and gifts of a crude and vulgar nature. Both respondent and Mrs. Cameron deny that a sexual relationship existed between them; if not, it would appear that respondent was trying to create one. He hinted to her that they should run off together; he discussed his matrimonial problems with her and described his wife to her in the most unflattering terms. He would drop in at her home at all hours of the day or night, often bringing liquor with him; he bought her expensive clothes. He was generous and helpful to her. And he expected absolute loyalty of her in his conflicts with Judge Seitz, Judge Costello and others, insisting that she refer to them in the crudest of terms and that she avoid contacts with them.

* * * * * *

After the divorce of Mrs. Paz, in 1989, respondent drank heavily, talked more of his unhappy marriage, made suggestions to Mrs. Paz that they might run off together, and told her not to rush into any relationship with anyone else as he might be divorced. He would sometimes pass messages to Mrs. Paz through her friend, Irene Leonard, and in January of 1990 he told Mrs. Leonard (who told Mrs. Paz) that he was going to give Mrs. Paz a trip to Florida.... Mrs. Paz did not intend to and did not go to Florida. Later Mrs. Paz, without telling respondent, became engaged to Larry Cameron, an intake worker at the Youth Center. On Feb. 7, when respondent learned of the engagement from someone else, he vomited. He then gave her a bizarre series of notes and tapes, and sent her a message through Mrs. Leonard not to come to work because he might hurt her. Mrs. Paz sought employment elsewhere in the county system ... and, with her new husband, is now suing respondent.

It was in this milieu that the following episodes occurred.

A. Telephone Listening Device

In the summer of 1988, Mrs. Cameron, suspecting that her husband was involved with another woman, asked Judge Seitz to install a tap for recording conversations on her home telephone. She alleges that Judge Seitz accompanied her to Radio Shack, insisted on purchasing the equipment himself with his credit card, and assisted her in installing the telephonic eavesdropping device. Judge Seitz emphatically denies purchasing and installing such equipment. ⁸

He does not deny that his assistance was requested, but that he declined the request after conferring with his friend, Judge James Carr, a United States Magistrate for the Northern District of Ohio. Judge Carr informed Judge Seitz that recording a third-party conversation is a felony and thereafter, according to respondent, he had no involvement in the matter. ⁹ He testified that he was later informed by Mrs. Cameron that someone else helped her install the device. ¹⁰

The master concluded that, although the testimony of the two was diametrically opposed, Mrs. Cameron's was the more credible. The commission agreed. They specifically found that Judge Seitz had violated the eavesdropping statutes, M.C.L. Sec. 750.539c; M.S.A. Sec. 28.807(3) and M.C.L. Sec. 750.539f; M.S.A. Sec. 28.807(6), by installing a telephone tape recording system at the home of Mrs. Cameron. In terms of specific grounds of misconduct, the master stated:

His violation of the criminal code violates virtually all...