A Texas judge has been indicted for keying his neighbor's Range Rover. The Houston Chronicle reports the possible penalties for criminal mischief in Texas:

Woody Ray Densen, 69, could face 180 days to two years in a state jail and a fine of up to $10,000 if convicted. He could also be disciplined by the state Commission on Judicial Conduct.

That's all you get for keying another man's truck in Texas? I thought that was a capital offense down there.

Judge Densen's alleged vandalism was caught on tape. It was worth him doing it, just to catch him doing it:

Adam Kliebert, a 40-year-old home builder, set up a surveillance camera in his Rice Village-area driveway that recorded a man he identified as Densen walking behind his 2006 Range Rover and appearing to pause and tamper with it on May 23. Kliebert has said he was frustrated that someone kept damaging his SUV, leaving him with repair bills for $3,000.

After the jump, let's check out the video.

District Judge Thor Anderson, a trial court judge in Minnesota, could be a Judge of the Day simply on the strength of his powerful name. His dashing picture to the right -- taken a long time ago, perhaps in a galaxy far, far away -- would be enough to clinch the deal.

But Judge Anderson (a.k.a. Mr. Thor) also has a creative flair when he writes opinions. Last week, the judge ruled in favor of an alleged drunk driver, by granting a pretrial discovery motion. But his unhappiness with the outcome, dictated by a Minnesota Supreme Court ruling that he believes makes no sense, will shake law libraries in Minnesota like a terrifying thunderclap.

At issue was Minnesota's source code litigation. The Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled that drunk driving defendants are entitled to the source code from their (failed) breathalyzer tests. This would be fine, if the state actually had the source code -- which it doesn't.

Judge Anderson explains the problem like this:

Notwithstanding the state's difficulties in obtaining the source code from the Breathalyzer's manufacturers, the Minnesota Supreme Court believes that defendants are entitled to the information.

The thunder God becomes angered, after the jump.

Two civil court judges in the Lone Star State got physical in their benchslapping yesterday, reports the Dallas Morning News Crime Blog:

It was a reported shoving match between Judge Carlos Cortez of the 44th Civil District Court and Judge Eric V. Moyé of the 14th Civil District Court. The fight occurred in Cortez's chambers in front of a witness -- a Dallas County sheriff's deputy, according to Roger Mandel, who is Cortez's attorney.

"Judge Cortez was physically assaulted by Judge Moye in Judge Cortez's chambers," Mandel said. "Judge Moye's conduct is being investigated by the Sheriff's Department."

Moyé went after Cortez in Cortez's own chambers! That's so wrong. One tipster explains why Moyé might have had an advantage in the tangle:

I'd take Moyé in the fight... [he] is a long-time student of Aikido (see this - he's also a top Amazon reviewer) and I think he still teaches at his dojo. In any event, the interesting question is what this would do (true or not) to Moyé's alleged aspirations to the federal bench (he was nominated by Clinton back in the day and is rumored to have a continuing interest).

Well, we now know Moye is mighty capable of the judicial smackdown, an important part of being a federal judge. But it looks like he's going to be the subject of a criminal investigation, which can't be good for his aspirations.

More on this, why the judges were mixing it up, and Judge Cortez's MySpace page, after the jump.

Looks like Delaware Supreme Court Chief Justice Myron Steele has pulled a Kozinski. The (Delaware) News Journal reports that Steele sent out a racy video from his court e-mail account to "38 men," who Steele said were former clerks, lawyers, another Delaware judge and a Delaware businessman.

Of the 38 men, the journalist found only one who would go on the record with her and defend the justice. "It is a years-old television commercial for a defunct European Web site," Wilmington lawyer Mike Kelly said. From the News Journal:

The e-mailed video obtained by The News Journal, called "Wine-Opener," depicts a professional-looking young woman in a bar competing with a glamorous blonde for the attention of a man by simulating oral sex with a wine bottle. Steele, who received the e-mail from a man, forwarded it with the message: "Write your own caption for this one."

ATL "obtained" the video too. By going to YouTube and searching "Wine Opener." Check it out, after the jump.

The story of New Jersey Superior Court Judge Lawrence DeBello has the makings for a great romantic tale -- the forbidden love between a judge and his law clerk.

From the New Jersey Law Journal:

A Mercer County, N.J., judge has admitted breaching judicial ethics and policies by sending romantic e-mails to his former law clerk via his judiciary e-mail account and by using his judicial office to help land her a public defender job.

The alluring law lovely, who has not been named, clerked for DeBello in Hudson County Family Court from 2006 through 2007. When she left, she and DeBello kept in touch, exchanging e-mails that discussed "personal matters" and used "offensive language", according to the Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct complaint [PDF].

DeBello unwisely used his judicial e-mail account for their correspondence, rather than opening a get_underneath_my_robes@gmail.com account. Even after being warned by his judicial superiors, DeBello could not keep his passion tamed:

DeBello admitted that at a December 2007 meeting with Hudson County Assignment Judge Maurice Gallipoli and Hudson County Trial Court Administrator Joseph Davis, he conceded the e-mails were inappropriate.... But after that meeting, the e-mails continued and even heated up. DeBello admitted that in December 2007 and mid-January 2008, he "participated in the escalation of the intimate tone and nature of those e-mail exchanges, which concerned their respective romantic feelings for one another."

In January 2008, DeBello was transferred to Mercer County, but kept up the e-mails, trying to help the former clerk get a new job. He admitted he "used the power and prestige of his office" to advance her "private interests" by making an unsolicited telephone call to Deputy Public Defender Edward Marable -- head of the Office of Law Guardian for the northwest region, who had appeared before him in court -- telling him the former clerk was interested in a law guardian job.

Love obviously made this justice blind to the error of his ways. We just hope he got more than legal research out of his judicial Juliet.

DeBello has filed an answer [PDF] to the complaint which basically amounts to "Busted." As Will S. said, the course of true love never did run smooth.

Judge Admits Ethics Breach Over Torrid E-Mails With Former Clerk [New Jersey Law Journal]
Judge Hit With Ethics Charges Over Steamy E-Mails With Former Clerk [New Jersey Law Journal]

In Blawg Review #204, I quipped that lawyers don't do well in a street fight. Thanks to Judge Ian Richards, I stand corrected. Check out this TMZ video:

The video is a little grainy, so let me give you the play-by-play, after the jump.

The days following Valentine's Day are always a good time time to check back in with ex-flames, long lost friends and alleged abusers. On that note, what has our old friend U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent been up to?

This Tuesday, Senior U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson of Florida, who is presiding over Kent's federal sex crimes and obstruction of justice case, denied Kent's request that the obstruction of justice charge be dropped or moved into a separate trial.

From the Houston Chronicle:

Kent's lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, originally argued on paper that Kent should have two trials because he must take the stand in a trial of the sexual cases to say he believed his relationships were consensual but that he would not testify on his own behalf in the obstruction case. DeGuerin said on Tuesday that Kent will only likely not testify about the obstruction.

Just how did Kent obstruct justice, you ask?

In the obstruction charge, Kent is accused of lying about sexual contact with an employee to prominent federal judges who investigated a misconduct complaint against him.

But fans of Kent, worry not, for Kent's explanation for the lie is beyond reproach.

Kent's amazing excuse and notes on etiquette, after the jump.

If you're sick and tired of paternity tests on every episode of Maury Povich, join the club -- the baby mamas club, that is. In a decision by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, the court ruled that the trial court's use of the term "baby mama," along with other comments about the African-American defendant's habits, could lead to the reasonable perception that the defendant's sentence was impermissibly influenced by race.

A quick review of the exchange between the trial court and the defendant reveals that the trial court judge (the Honorable Joseph Wall) is a jerk. But damned if he isn't a hilarious one:

THE COURT: Where are you working now?
THE DEFENDANT: I'm unemployed right now.
THE COURT: You're unemployed still?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes.
THE COURT: Have you gotten a job since January?
THE DEFENDANT: No, sir.
THE COURT: You're kidding.
THE DEFENDANT: No.
THE COURT: What do you do all day?
THE DEFENDANT: I just stay at home with my daughter and that's it.
THE COURT: Where is her mother?
THE DEFENDANT: At work.
THE COURT: So the mother works and you sit at home, right?
THE DEFENDANT: Yeah.
THE COURT: And watch the child?
THE DEFENDANT: I got all types of things goin'. My personal family.
THE COURT: Where does the baby's mama work?
THE DEFENDANT: Metro Market.
THE COURT: Did she finish school?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes.
THE COURT: Is she going to college, too?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes.
THE COURT: Where do you guys find these women, really, seriously. I'd say about every fourth man who comes in here unemployed, no education, is with a woman who is working full-time, going to school. Where do you find these women? Is there a club?
THE DEFENDANT: No.

Wait, it gets better... after the jump.

Groundhog Day just passed, which means that we still have an interminable amount of time left before the Sun returns with its cancerous rays of happiness. In times like these, I often ponder the much better quality of life available in tropical climes (assuming you are flush with hard currency). Sunny days, swaying palms, and friends who are laid back, not laid off.

But unlike the lifestyle displayed in beer commercials, sometimes tropical rat race (lizard longjump?) can be just as punishing as what we have up north:

An assistant attorney general got out of jail Tuesday after V.I. Superior Court Judge Leon Kendall had him arrested for appearing 10 minutes late to a court hearing.

The Virgin Islands Attorney General did not appreciate having one of his employees thrown in jail for tardiness:

In a news release Tuesday, Attorney General Vincent Frazer said he was pleased that Kendall had accepted Bethel's apology to the court and allowed him to be released from jail without paying a high bail.

"As an officer of the court, I respect the authority of the judiciary and expect my attorneys general to do the same," Frazer said. "I regret if any comments I made regrading the matter may have offended or appeared disparaging to the court."

In a published report Tuesday, Frazer was quoted as saying he considered Kendall's action "a very far-reaching abuse of judicial discretion."

Instead of blaming the judge, maybe A.G. Frazer should have looked to his own house. Being ten minutes late seems to be the least of his surrogate's problems.

Details after the jump.

Judge James M. Peck has received two plum assignments. He's been handling the Lehman bankruptcy and is overseeing the liquidation of Bernie Madoff's investment firm.

Some people have been hoping that Peck would lay the smack down on these companies; maybe the federal judge just became horribly confused about his responsibilities:

Bankruptcy Judge James Peck, 63, was charged with attempted second-degree assault and harassment following a Saturday-afternoon tiff with his wife, Judith, 64.

Peck isn't exactly claiming innocence. Instead, he went straight to "self defense":

Peck allegedly told police that the blowup began over his wife's late arrival at the house from the Hamptons, where she'd been earlier in the week.

Peck said his wife slapped him first, as he was taking a ladder out of his closet.

"She slapped me," the judge told police, according to the sources. "I put the ladder down. I slapped her. Then we started slapping each other back and forth."

"Slapping each other back and forth." Are we talking about domestic violence, or a Family Guy episode?

More tidbits from Judge (small) Peck after the jump.

A piece of general advice for judges, lawyers, presidential candidates, and almost everyone else: avoid using the terms "you people" and "that one." They tend to raise hackles. And get you removed from the bench.

From Courthouse News Service:

The North Carolina Supreme Court removed Judge Mark H. Badgett from the bench after he ordered a Hispanic man accused of domestic violence to pay child support when none was requested, saying "you people always find a way," and, "I don't know how you treat women in Mexico, but here you don't treat them that way."

After defendant Floyd Mandez Carreon objected, Badgett ordered a deputy clerk to take Carreon's wallet from his pocket, hand over $140 in cash to Kathy Mendez Carreon, and let her take down Floyd's Social Security number.

Ordering a deputy clerk to rob a defendant isn't kosher? Another "whoops" moment after the jump.

The MacArthur Foundation is known for its genius grants-- a.k.a. "Out of the blue--$500,000-- no strings attached"-- that are given to 20 to 40 individuals each year in recognition of incredible creativity and originality.

Last year, the Foundation started giving out a new award: the international justice award for individuals and organizations that have "been transformative forces in the fields of human rights and international justice." Diplomat, economist and former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan was the inaugural recipient. Great guy and all, but not an attorney.

We're happy to report that an actual lawyer has received the award this year. Congratulations to Justice Richard Goldstone, of South Africa. He gets $100,000 and can recommend non-profit recipients for an additional $500,000.

The MacArthur Foundation's announcement says Goldstone has received the award for his work as chief prosecutor of the tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, "the first of their kind since Nazi war criminals were tried at Nuremberg following World War II." He focused on prosecuting top political and military perpetrators and filed genocide and crimes against humanity charges against Bosnian Serb leaders Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic in 1995.

"Since the early 1990s, we have witnessed the emergence of a system of international justice that is growing stronger with each new case tried in a regional court or UN tribunal and with each investigation opened by the International Criminal Court. It has given me tremendous pride and satisfaction to have played a role in ensuring that the perpetrators of mass atrocities have more reason today than ever to fear being brought to justice," said Goldstone.

Goldstone is no stranger to the U.S. He has taught international law at Harvard, NYU, and Fordham.

See, international law is not completely worthless. It may be worth less than a year in Biglaw, but still...

Justice Richard Goldstone to Receive MacArthur Award for International Justice [MacArthur Foundation Press Release]

Just a reminder from the Judicial Code of Conduct: "a judge should refrain from political activity." And clerks too. Duh, right?

Well, Utah's chief federal judge seems to have "forgotten" about canon 7 in her excitement about Obama. From the Salt Lake Tribune:

Judge Tena Campbell, a President Clinton appointee, donated $100 to the Democratic candidate on Aug. 28, 2007, according to campaign disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission.

The disclosure lists Campbell's profession as "lawyer" and her employer the "govtt." The address listed on the contribution is Campbell's court chambers.

Sneaky. But not sneaky enough.

It wasn't her only donation. Campbell contributed multiple times for a total of $300, but only her last donation was made public. Campaigns are not required to release the names of contributors until they donate more than $200.

Whoops.

Obama's campaign returned the 300 bucks. Nominated to the federal bench by Clinton in 1995, Campbell is Utah's first female district judge.

Being a Democrat in Utah must be a lonely endeavor. At least she has husband, fellow lawyer and "Missing Witness" author, Gordon Campbell, to keep her company.

Utah judge breaks rule with Obama donation [The Salt Lake Tribune]

Florida judges are starting to get a rep for misbehavin' here at ATL, from smoking pot in the park to insensitivity on the bench. Now we have two Miami-Dade Circuit judges succumbing to fax machine rage.

From the Miami Herald:

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Maria Espinosa Dennis says she was battered at the courthouse -- by fellow Circuit Judge David Miller. She says Miller was bent out of shape because the fax machine at her office, which his staff sometimes used, was broken.

Dennis, 52, and Miller, 54, both work at 73 W. Flagler St. They had adjacent offices on the fourth floor. Miller initially spoke to Dennis' bailiff and judicial assistant about the fax machine, then asked to see her.

When she repeated that the machine was out of order, Miller became ''confrontational and told [Dennis] that he felt that he wasn't getting the full story,'' the Oct. 7 police report says. Miller then ``charged toward [Dennis], grabbed her by her shoulders and pushed her toward her office in an attempt to close the door behind them.''

The courthouse police came after someone hit a panic alarm. Judge Miller is not the first Florida judge to bully a female colleague. See former Judge of the Day Jay Spechler.

But that's a pretty extreme reaction to a broken fax machine. We're wondering what the "full story" might have been. Did Miller suspect that Dennis "office-spaced" it?

Yet another reason to e-mail rather than fax.

Miami-Dade judge: I was battered by a colleague [Miami Herald]

Chief Judge Edward Nottingham is a familiar figure for long-time ATL readers. The Colorado federal judge has starred in past posts such as "Chief Judge Nottingham: Putting the 'Ho' in Your Honor?" and "Chief Judge Nottingham Likes Strippers; Handicapped People, Not So Much."

A quick recap of "Naughty" Nottingham's misadventures: being too drunk to remember how he spent $3,000 at strip clubs over two days, calling 911 on a paralyzed lawyer in a wheelchair after she confronted him for parking in a handicapped space, and having his name show up on a list of clients of a Denver prostitution business.

Well, he's back in the news, folks, and though we've retired him from Judge of the Day, we've decided to give him a nod at the request of many tipsters. The Department of Justice has launched an investigation of "Naughty" for asking a prostitute to lie on his behalf. He wanted her to say they met at a restaurant in Denver and went out a few times and that they were only "good friends."

From Colorado's 9news.com:

The woman claims she had sex with Judge Nottingham for $250 to $300 an hour once a week from February 2003 through November 2004 at the former escort agency Bada Bing of Denver....

[T]he former prostitute says Judge Nottingham asked her to help fabricate a story to tell investigators.

"We just decided to agree that we met at a bar. I don't remember which one. We decided to say that we just, over the years, had become friends and on occasion would go out on dates," the woman told 9Wants to Know. "The truth is that I met him when I was an escort for an escort service and he did visit me regularly and he did pay to be with me."

"It just seems ridiculous that someone in his position would ask someone to lie," the former prostitute said. "He's there to uphold the law and he's breaking it."

Such a sweet sentiment. Obviously, this former prostitute is not a regular reader of our Judge of the Day feature.

Several newspapers have reported that Nottingham is expected to resign any minute now. But as of Monday at noon, the Colorado District Court's Clerk Office had not heard anything from him.

Government investigating allegations against Nottingham [9news.com]

Earlier: Previous ATL Coverage of Edward Nottingham

A Florida juvenile court judge is embroiled in a scandal we don't quite understand. Judge Douglas J. Chumbley resigned yesterday, according to the Miami Herald.

Here's the puzzling reason why:

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Douglas J. Chumbley resigned Thursday after he was accused of exposing his genitalia in a Starbucks bathroom stall at the University of Miami.

Isn't exposing your genitalia the natural thing to do in a bathroom stall?

There must be some piece missing in this puzzle as Chumbley, 51, is stepping down and will not fight the misdemeanor charge for indecent exposure.

Accused of indecent exposure, Miami-Dade judge resigns [Miami Herald]

This county judge in Ohio is being honored with ATL Judge of the Day for her creative sentencing. Judge Susan Fornof-Lippencott sentenced a local man to... gasp, the horror, the horror... Beethoven!

From the Associated Press:

Andrew Vactor was facing a $150 fine for playing rap music too loudly on his car stereo in July. But a judge offered to reduce that to $35 if Vactor spent 20 hours listening to classical music by the likes of Bach, Beethoven and Chopin.

Vactor, 24, lasted only about 15 minutes, a probation officer said.

Vactor may not have been a fan of the classical tunes, but Nas appreciates Für Elise along with you, Judge Fornof-Lippencott.

Despite the classical sentence, she's not too terribly high-brow. According to her bio, Judge Bach-inator is a farmer and participates in "West-Liberty Salem High School Mock Trials." And Men's News Daily reports that she has sentenced other offenders to episodes of Oprah and Dr. Phil. Now that's harsh!

Judge sentences rap fan to Bach, Beethoven [Associated Press]
Rap music fan sentenced to Beethoven, pays fine instead [Men's News Daily]

When it comes to the television bench, the great state of Florida seems to be the feeder court. See the list of Floridian judges turned TV judges at the end of this post.

But Florida doesn't have a monopoly on television jurists. From the Fulton County Daily Report:

Writing that "God has called me to a higher place," Fulton County State Court Judge Penny Brown Reynolds on Monday notified Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue that she would resign, effective Oct. 22, to embark on her new career as a television judge on "Family Court with Judge Penny."

Because the television bench is certainly a "higher place" than the real thing. Higher-paying, at least -- and God wants us all to be rich.

In her letter to Perdue, Reynolds said she leaves with a legacy that "includes a current case docket, never having been reversed by an appellate court on any criminal matter and only reversed in a few civil matters."

That's an impressive record for a judge who was appointed to the bench back in 2000. Georgia's loss is the boob tube's gain. We wish Judge Reynolds the best in her new role.

Judge to Resign Next Month for TV Gig [Fulton County Daily Report via Law.com]

New York judge Ronald Tills is the guy you want in charge of your bachelor party. You might think he's out of touch at 73 years old, but he still knows where to find the ladies. Unfortunately, they're the kind you have to pay for.

Tills pleaded guilty last week to violating the Mann Act by bringing a prostitute across a state line. Among his other prostitute-related offenses, as reported by the Buffalo News:

He was responsible for recruiting out-of-state prostitutes to work a Jesters meeting in Dunkirk "in or about September 2001," while serving as director of the Buffalo chapter of the Jesters.

He recruited an illegal alien prostitute from a North Tonawanda massage parlor to service men at a Jesters event in Kentucky in October 2005.

He arranged for transporting prostitutes from Buffalo Niagara International Airport to a national Jesters meeting in Niagara Falls, Ont., in the spring of 2006.

A retired acting New York Supreme Court justice and Court of Claims judge, Tills must have been known as the "Grand Poobah of Prostitute Procurement" to the Royal Order of Jesters.

According to the Jesters website, it's a Masonic organization descended from the Shriners, but it's not into charity like most Masonic groups. It has "a fun 'degree', with absolutely no serious intent." Just the serious intent to get busy with prostitutes.

Former judge Tills faces likely prison term after admitting he recruited prostitutes [Buffalo News]
Former Judge Pleads Guilty to Transporting Prostitute Across State Lines [New York Law Journal]
Surely You Jest: Former New York Judge Admits to Violating Mann Act [WSJ Law Blog]

The end of this tale is tragic and grim, but we'll focus on the salacious over the sad. From the Telegraph:

James Muir-Little, 45, a deputy district judge, resigned his post before the outcome of disciplinary proceedings against him. He had cheated on his own wife with Joanne Hall, 31, a cardiac nurse, after meeting her through and internet website for swingers.

They exchanged naked pictures and sexual fantasies by email before twice meeting for sex at hotels. In one email Mrs Hall promised to be a "dirty little slut" for the judge.

Not to be confused with clean big sluts. Or Nazis German prison workers. They're popular on the other side of the pond.

The tragic part is that when Joanne Hall's husband, Gavin Hall, learned of her infidelity, he killed their three-year-old daughter in revenge.

But let's not dwell on that. More details about the swinger judge, after the jump.