After a six-day hearing, the Commission on Judicial Conduct (CJC) found that Judge Shelley M. Richmond Joseph created the appearance of impropriety and failed to comply with the law, in violation of Rules 1.1 and 1.2 of the Code of Judicial Conduct, S.J.C. Rule 3:09, Canon 1, Rules 1.1 (rule 1.1), 1.2 (rule 1.2) (2016).
Following these findings, the CJC recommended a public reprimand of Judge Joseph.
The CJC’s decision and Judge Joseph’s reprimand were affirmed by the Supreme Judicial Court in a slip opinion published yesterday.
According to the slip opinion, Judge Joseph was assigned to Newton District Court on April 2, 2018.
She was just five months into her tenure as a judge at that time.
An ICE agent was in the courthouse seeking to take custody of Jose Medina-Perez.
Medina-Perez was an alleged fugitive from justice and also had a pending drug charge.
At some point during the criminal session, Judge Joseph had a sidebar discussion with the prosecutor and Medina-Perez’s defense attorney.
As they discussed the issue of Medina-Perez’s warrant status and the presence of an ICE agent in their midst, the decision was made to turn off the courtroom’s audio recording device.
It’s not entirely clear what took place during this off-the-record conversation.
But here’s what allegedly followed.
Before concluding the proceeding, the [Judge Joseph] told the clerk that, although the ICE officer could not enter the court room, he was permitted to enter the lockup area…Notwithstanding this instruction, the clerk informed the ICE officer that he could not enter the lockup area and, instead, should remain in the lobby to await Medina-Perez, who would be released through the front door of the courthouse. The ICE officer remained in the lobby while the court officer escorted Medina-Perez, [his attorney], and the interpreter into the lockup area. Approximately six minutes after the proceeding concluded, the court officer opened the sallyport door and unshackled Medina-Perez, who left the courthouse through the sallyport exit.
The SJC concluded that Judge Joseph’s conduct of deserving of the public reprimand:
[Judge Joseph] is publicly reprimanded for her statements and conduct during a sidebar discussion on April 2, 2018, regarding the presence of an ICE officer and counsel’s concern that the officer would take Medina-Perez into custody. [Judge Joseph’s] statements during that conversation, including her proposal to detain Medina-Perez overnight in State custody, and her conduct in instructing the clerk to turn off the court room audio recording system, created an appearance of impropriety in violation of her duties under rule 1.2. [Judge Joseph] is also publicly reprimanded for failing to abide by rule 211 when she instructed the clerk to turn off the court room audio recording system during Medina-Perez’s arraignment, in violation of her duty under rule 1.1 to comply with the law.
The full text of the slip opinion is attached below.