RICHMOND— When people accused of crimes are in court, our legal system allows them to offer a vigorous defense that includes the presentation of evidence.
Supporters of a Virginia Beach judge whose reappointment is in jeopardy this year want to change the law so that judges accused of wrongdoing would be entitled to the same opportunity.
They say Beach Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court Judge Ramona D. Taylor was denied the chance to fully defend herself prior to being censured in 2009 by the Virginia Supreme Court. Justices found that Taylor breached ethical standards in 2007 when she intentionally thwarted a 15-year-old boy from appealing her decision to detain him.
Due to that outcome, her tenure on the bench may end later this year if General Assembly members don’t re-elect her to another six-year term. She has been a judge since May 2000.
Taylor wasn’t invited for a judicial interview with some House of Delegates lawmakers last month, a sign that her re-election prospects are bleak. And a legislative official said Taylor hasn’t been invited to Senate judicial interviews scheduled for today, either.
Those who think she should keep her job plan to hold a rally at the Beach courthouse this afternoon even as a lawyer who represented her in the disciplinary process lobbies for a law change to make it clear judges can present evidence and arguments in their defense.
Clarifying that aspect of the law is a fairness issue, argues Kevin Martingayle, a Beach attorney who represented Taylor. He said the current system effectively puts “duct tape” over judges’ mouths.
“As far as I know, no other licensed professional in Virginia is subject to a disciplinary process where there is no opportunity to present live testimony and evidence in the trial,” Martingayle wrote in an email. “Lawyers, doctors, nurses, real estate sales persons, building contractors… all have rights that currently are denied to judges.”
Legislation filed by state Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath County, would specify that judges can put on a defense against complaints by the state Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission heard by the Virginia Supreme Court.
Deeds carried a similar bill last year that didn’t advance out of committee. The Supreme Court hasn’t taken a position on this year’s legislation.
Taylor’s current troubles stem from a May 2007 hearing in which she found a teen guilty of misdemeanor assault after he harmed a younger student in a fight at a school bus stop. She ordered the boy held until a sentencing hearing a few weeks later, a decision she didn’t believe was appealable at the time.
The Circuit Court later ordered the teen released after he had spent nine days in custody.
That incident resulted in a complaint against Taylor that went to the Supreme Court, where she was censured on a 5-2 decision. Two previous Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission inquiries involving Taylor were dismissed.
As a judge, Taylor says, she takes physical assault cases seriously.
But in hindsight, she says, she is “remorseful” for her mistaken legal interpretation. Taylor insists she had no ill intent, and she hasn’t given up the fight to keep her job and clear her name.
“My reputation is all I have,” she said.
Pilot writer Kathy Adams contributed to this report.
By Julian Walker
The Virginian-Pilot
© January 20, 2012