D.C. Judge Cited for Ordering Detention of Talkative PD

Legal Ethics

D.C. Judge Cited for Ordering Detention of Talkative PD

Posted Mar 21, 2008, 05:30 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss

A Washington, D.C., judge who ordered the detention of a public defender who wouldn’t stop talking has accepted a determination that he violated the judicial ethics code.

Judge John Bayly Jr. said he acted because the PD, Liyah Brown, argued with him over whether her client was homeless—and kept on arguing even when he told her to stop. On Bayly’s order, Brown was shackled and held in a cell for about 45 minutes.

The D.C. Commission on Judicial Disabilities and Tenure found that Bayly violated an ethics rule requiring judges to be patient, dignified and courteous, Legal Times reports. Bayly accepted the finding and sent Brown a letter of apology.