 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Disciplinary Counsel v. O'Neill9/7/2004
ll brought up problems with her bailiff and that the statements regarding a grievance from Moore were "absolute fiction"(Transcript Vol. XVI -- 41) Judge Watson's testimony and his contemporaneous dictation about the meeting contradict the other assertions. (Relator's Exhibit SSS) Judge O'Neill testified at the hearing that she stood by the denials in her answer regarding the January 2001 meeting. She did recall that Judge Watson said something about punching a pillow or calling him. (Transcript Vol. XVII -- 259- 264)
283. Judge Watson had continuing issues with Judge O'Neill and court employees, which occurred after their January 2001 meeting. He received constant phone calls and "venomous memos" about Elsa Cunbow, the secretary Judge O'Neill hired jointly with Judge Johnson. Cunbow was a neighbor and a friend of Judge O'Neill. The thrust of Judge O'Neill's complaints was that Elsa was somehow "gaming" the court system with requests for leave connected with her diagnosis and treatment for breast cancer. On March 23, 2001 Judge Watson wrote a memo to Judge O'Neill responding to three memos and a voicemail from Judge O'Neill in the previous ten days about difficulties with Cunbow advising Judge O'Neill that she had to come to a cooperative decision with Judge Johnson and to advise Judge Watson if they were unable to reach a resolution about Elsa. (Relator's Exhibit TTT, Respondent's Exhibit V)
284. At the June 6, 2001 meeting of the court personnel committee issues about Judge O'Neill and her staff were discussed. A motion was made to move Elsa off the 9th floor and for Judge Watson to write to the Chief Justice regarding the Court's advice for dealing with the problems they encountered with Judge O'Neill. A letter was sent on July 13, 2001. (Relator's Exhibit RRR) Justice Moyer responded to Judge Watson that without a doctor's diagnosis of mental illness there was no basis to act. (Transcript Vol. XVI -- 59)
285. Judge Watson testified to his concerns about Judge O'Neill's honesty "She can look you in the eye and tell you something and believe it absolutely in her own mind and it's not the same truth that I think you and I deal with on a regular basis...she's very good at re-creating history. I think I've never met another person like her. She's the most effective prevaricator I have ever seen." (Transcript Vol. XVI -- 60-61)
286. Regarding the effect that the collection of complaints regarding Judge O'Neill by the judges had on collegiality at the Court Judge Watson testified: "We had come to the conclusion that in our prior dealings with Judge O'Neill, she never admitted she was wrong and it was always somebody else's fault, therefore, our ability to have a collegial relationship was probably not going to exist. And --and we determined that regardless of our desire for a collegial relationship, these events had happened and there was a duty to report them and people were not reporting them because they were concerned about retribution. And we determined that we would lead and ask them then to follow." (Transcript Vol. XVI - 107-108) "People agonized over this and people sought counsel over this. And, you know, I --
I don't think that people willy-nilly came forward and gladly did any of this. We're well aware of the consequences. And the folks that -- the 80-some folks who, I believe, have come forward, have done so out of a concern for the institution and for the quality of justice in Franklin County." (Transcript Vol. XVI -- 109)
287. VIOLATIONS CHARGED ON COUNT V:
a) Canon 1 -- A judge shall uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary;
b) Canon 2 -- A judge shall respect and comply with the law an
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 Ohio Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|