Judge accused of helping immigrant avoid ICE didn't know about plan, hearing officer concludes
A judge accused of helping a defendant avoid immigration detention at her courthouse in Newton, Massachusetts, didn’t know about the escape plan and didn’t mislead court authorities about the incident, according to a hearing officer in the ethics case against her.
Judge Shelley M. Richmond Joseph of Massachusetts should nonetheless receive a public reprimand for inadvertently creating the appearance of impropriety and bias, partly by allowing an off-the-record sidebar in violation of a court rule during the 2018 incident, the hearing officer said in an Oct. 31 report released Nov. 6.
At the outset of the court hearing, Joseph said it was her understanding that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was present, according to the report by hearing officer Denis McInerney. After a discussion of a fugitive warrant, possible mistaken identity and an ICE detainer, the defense lawyer asked to go off the record in a sidebar.
The lawyer testified during Joseph’s ethics hearing that the plan to allow the immigrant to escape through a back door near the lockup was his idea, and that Joseph authorized the plan when he explained it during the 52-second sidebar.
But Joseph said the defense lawyer asked to go to the lockup area with his client, so that they could talk further with the aid of an interpreter, which she approved. There was no discussion of an escape plan, she testified. The assistant district attorney, who also participated in the sidebar, corroborated Joseph’s version of events.
The prosecutor nonetheless said she found the sidebar to be “weird or sketchy,” and the discussion about ICE made her uncomfortable.
After the sidebar, Joseph’s clerk told her that an officer with Immigration and Customs Enforcement wanted to visit the lockup area, and Joseph replied, “That’s fine.”
“Judge Joseph explicitly—and without the slightest hesitation—authorized ICE to go to the lockup area” where she was also allowing the lawyer and immigrant to go, the hearing officer said. In addition, the defense lawyer’s testimony was “inconsistent, unsupported and/or implausible” on a significant number of issues.
But the hearing officer said Joseph created the appearance of bias not only for allowing the off-the-record sidebar but also for statements about ICE that could be misinterpreted to suggest that she was biased against the agency.
Nonetheless, the hearing officer wrote, Joseph has repeatedly demonstrated that she is “a thoughtful, diligent and conscientious judge undeserving of the harsh public criticism she has received.”
Hat tip to Reuters, which covered the findings.
See also:
Judge gave ‘reasonable impression’ she was letting immigrant evade ICE, ethics charges say
Judge faces obstruction of justice charges; ICE says she helped immigrant evade courthouse arrest
Feds drop charges against judge accused of helping immigrant evade ICE custody
Federal judge blocks ICE from making civil immigration arrests at courthouses
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