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Welsh v. Mounger3/17/2005
NATURE OF THE CASE: CIVIL - TORTS - OTHER THAN PERSONAL INJURY AND PROPERTY DAMAGE
DISPOSITION: PUBLIC REPRIMAND AND MONETARY SANCTION - 03/17/2005.
EN BANC.
.This case arises from statements made by Dana E. Kelly in his motion for reconsideration of this Court's denial of his motions for the recusal of two justices made after the Court's opinion in Welsh v. Mounger, 883 So. 2d 46 (Miss. 2004), was handed down. The primary focus of Kelly's motions for reconsideration was upon Justice Dickinson. Kelly was ordered to appear before this Court, sitting en banc, on January 13, 2005, at which time he was offered an opportunity to further address the Court. Kelly declined to make any statement to the Court. His counsel, Rob McDuff, did address the Court. Due to Kelly's untimely filed motion for recusal, his refusal to accept responsibility for making inappropriate statements to this Court concerning Mounger being the "highest bidder" in Justice Dickinson's election campaign, and further due to his repeated false statements to this Court concerning Mounger being the "single largest individual major donor to Justice Dickinson's election campaign," even after being clearly informed by this Court that the statements were false, we find that sanctions in the amount of a $1,000 and a public reprimand are appropriate.
FACTS
.This matter began in the Chancery Court of Hinds County where Edwin Welsh, represented by Kelly, sued various defendants, including William Mounger II. After hearing testimony of over twenty witnesses over eleven days of trial, the Chancellor entered a judgment in favor of the defendants, and against Welsh. Then, Welsh appealed to this Court, whereupon we handed down a decision in July, 2004, affirming the Chancellor. Only after this Court handed down its decision which was unfavorable to Welsh, did Kelly file a motion for the recusal of Chief Justice Smith and Justice Dickinson. In the motion, Kelly alleged that "defendant Mounger was the single largest individual major donor to Justice Dickinson's election campaign."
. By separate orders, both Justices denied the motions for recusal. In Justice Dickinson's order denying recusal, he pointed out that, when the case was decided on the merits, he was unaware of Mounger's contribution. He also pointed out that Kelly improperly waited over five months, until after this Court handed down its decision, before filing the motion to recuse. The order denying recusal also informed Kelly in no uncertain terms that the Certified Public Accountant for Justice Dickinson's campaign investigated Kelly's allegation that "defendant Mounger was the single largest individual major donor to Justice Dickinson's election campaign," and found it to be false.
. Welsh filed a motion for reconsideration which contained the following:
As the Clarion Ledger has noted, ' ur judicial elections have become highest-bidder exercises. It has to stop or the public will lose all faith in the system.' As the Chief Justice recently noted, ' rue or not, most people believe that too much money corrupts . . .'
In this sense, one of the two Defendants in this case was the highest bidder in the election campaign of Justice Dickinson.
Our order denying the motion for reconsideration included the following language: attorney Dana E. Kelly is hereby ordered to show cause, within five days from the date of the Order, why he should not be sanctioned for including the language in the motion, and is further ordered to present to this Court all evidence known to him which supports his allegation that 'one of the two Defendants in this case was the highest bidder in the
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