Judges Arrested/Convicted/Resigned for Misappropriation of Funds, Murder, Gun Through TSA Checkpoint, Harrassment

July 10, 2024:  Federal Judge Resigns as Investigation of Harrassment Proceeds

CNN — 

A US district court judge in Alaska who was appointed by former President Donald Trump abruptly announced his resignation from the federal bench last week, days before an investigation that found he engaged in an “inappropriately sexualized relationship” with one of his law clerks was released publicly. 

Judge Joshua Kindred, who was confirmed by the US Senate in 2020, notified President Joe Biden late last week that he would resign effective July 8 but did not provide a reason for his departure, according to a copy of his brief resignation letter posted online by the court.

Kindred’s July 5 letter was only two sentences long. He did not address the allegations in his letter.

On Monday, the same day Kindred’s resignation took effect, the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit revealed the findings of an investigation into allegations of misconduct against the judge.

“In its Order and Certification, the Judicial Council concluded, among other things, that Judge Kindred engaged in misconduct by creating a hostile work environment for his law clerks and by having an inappropriately sexualized relationship with one of his law clerks both during her clerkship and after she became an Assistant United States Attorney,” the Judicial Council’s press release says.

“The former law clerk did not appear on any case before Judge Kindred while she was employed as an Assistant United States Attorney,” it adds.

CNN has reached out to the US District Court for Alaska, Kindred’s clerk and the White House for comment.

‘Demonstrably egregious’

According to the complaint, Kindred treated his law clerks “in a demonstrably egregious and hostile manner.”

The report cites witness accounts and hundreds of pages of text messages detailing inappropriate and vulgar comments Kindred made to his law clerks.

Specifically, the report alleges that Kindred “discussed his past dating life, his romantic preferences, his sex life, the law clerks’ boyfriends and dating lives, his divorce, his interest in and communications with potential romantic or sexual partners, and his disparaging opinions of his colleagues.”

June 20: 2024  Judge Bring Unregistered Gun Through TSA Check Point

When a juvenile judge in Wayne County went through TSA at Detroit Metro Airport earlier this month, a loaded firearm was discovered in her purse, according to a police report.  Cylenthia LaToye Miller had a .380 handgun when she was going through the security checkpoint on June 8. TSA contacted Wayne County Airport Authority police after spotting the suspected firearm on the X-ray scanner.

According to a police report, the gun "was not artfully concealed" in Miller's purse.  The gun's serial number was difficult to read, an officer wrote in the police report. Miller told police her brother gave her the gun, and she hadn't registered it.  Miller was cited for possessing a dangerous weapon.

Passengers can only travel with firearms in checked baggage. The guns must be unloaded, packed separately from ammunition in a locked hardback case, and declared at the airline check-in counter.

When a firearm is detected at a security checkpoint, TSA officers immediately contact local law enforcement, who remove the passenger and the firearm from the checkpoint area.  TSA may impose civil penalties of up to $14,950 per violation per person. If a traveler with a gun is a member of TSA PreCheck, they will lose their TSA PreCheck privileges for at least five years.

June 20, 2024:  Southern CA Judge To Stand Trial for Murder of Wife

A Southern California judge can stand trial on a murder charge in the shooting death of his wife, another judge ruled Thursday, after finding there was sufficient evidence for the case to proceed.  The decision came after a preliminary hearing for Orange County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ferguson, who was arrested in August and charged with killing his wife in their home in the upscale neighborhood of Anaheim Hills.  Until the shooting, Ferguson was presiding over criminal cases in a courtroom about 25 miles (40 kilometers) away in the Orange County city of Fullerton.

https://apnews.com/article/california-judge-ferguson-wife-murder-shooting-ce8b2cf0f3864ca3e8e492eb3286be5a

Sept 24, 2023:  Retired Judge Defrauds Uncle of $240,000

A retired Chicago judge was stripped of her law license as she admitted to stealing more than $240,000 from her decorated World War II veteran uncle to allegedly buy cryptocurrency, according to CBS Chicago.

Patricia Martin was accused of misappropriating funds trusted to her by her uncle, Oscar Wilkerson Jr., and his power of attorney while the honorable Tuskegee Airman was in the care of a nursing home.

Martin was disbarred on consent, according to court records filed in the Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday.

“She intentionally used for her own purposes more than $240,000 she had agreed to hold for an elderly relative who was residing in a nursing home, made false statements to the physician who held her relative’s power of attorney about the balances in his bank and investment accounts, and did not produce documents in response to an ARDC subpoena,” the court’s Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission said.

Martin had served as a Circuit Judge for the Cook County Circuit Court in Illinois for 24 years before she retired in 2020.

In June, Martin was ordered to pay her uncle’s estate $1.1 million — three times the amount she stole from him — after she continually failed to appear in court and was unresponsive to court orders, according to records.  Martin, however, argued that she shouldn’t have to pay the money to her uncle’s estate since he was dead.