Background: Conscientious Virginia judge James Michael Shull, who smoked out a woman who sought to extend a restraining order based on false charges of domestic violence, was just removed from the bench by this Virginia Supreme Court ruling. Not only was Shull railroaded, but he has been the target of widely-disseminated lazy, misleading reporting by the Associated Press, the New York Post, and others.
To learn more about the case, see my blog posts In Defense of Judge James Michael Shull (Part I), Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V and Part VI, or read my co-authored newspaper column defending Shull here.
The article Crossing the line in the courtroom (11/13/07) from Tricities.com in Kingsport Tennessee is yet another hatchet job on Judge Shull. The article appears below, with my comments in italics interspersed.
Crossing the line in the courtroom
Tricities.com
(11/13/07)
Judges are among the most powerful men and women in our society, but that power is not unlimited.
The power of the office doesn”t convey a right to mistreat, belittle or otherwise disrespect those who appear before the court. All should be equal in the eyes of the law.
Former Judge James Michael Shull broke this cardinal rule. He disrespected and demeaned some who sought his aid and, in doing so, brought disgrace and shame upon his profession and paid a steep price – removal from office by the Virginia State Supreme Court.
Shull “disrespected and demeaned” nobody. Instead, he made a tough call in a difficult situation in order to protect two young children. Shull had to effectively turn the kids over to either a father who was accused of stabbing their mother or a mother who was allegedly a mentally-disturbed, suicidal “cutter.” Putting the children’s safety over courtroom decorum, Shull made what was indisputably the correct call, finding that the mother had cut herself and had falsely accused the father.
Shull, who presided in Juvenile and Domestic Relations courts in Lee, Scott and Wise counties, is just the fourth sitting judge to receive such punishment in Virginia.
Two of the previous judicial defrocking took place a century ago. The third case involved a judge who misappropriated alcohol and firearms that were introduced as evidence in a court proceeding, then consumed the confiscated beer in his chambers.
Sitting judges are almost never removed from office. Behavior must be truly egregious – or even criminal – for such to occur.
Shull”s behavior wasn”t criminal, but it was grossly inappropriate, the state Supreme Court determined in a Nov. 2 ruling. The judge admitted flipping a coin to decide a child custody issue.
What really happened was this–a mother and father had shared physical custody of their children, and could not agree as to who would have them on Christmas Day. Shull urged them to come to an agreement themselves, but they were unable to. Normally at this point (or actually, long before it) the judge would’ve just decided to give the kids to mom for Christmas, but Shull told both parents that he considered both of them to be good, loving parents and that he did not want to have to choose between them.
When they were unable to decide, he decided to toss a coin to make the decision, sending a clear message that the court was not going to favor one parent over the other. I applaud Shull for this, yet, amazingly, this non-event is one of the major charges against him.
Also, according to Shull, the coin toss was not objected to by either of the two parties, both of whom were represented by attorneys. Shull determined who got the 1st week of Xmas vacation the first year, with vacation to be alternated thereafter.
He admitted making an ex parte phone call during an order of protection hearing, which is a violation of judicial rules.
In the case, Tammy G. claimed that her husband had stabbed her and that she went to a local emergency room for treatment. Shull’s violation consisted of–brace yourself–calling the local hospital to confirm that Tammy G. had been admitted.
Once again, Shull is in trouble for examining the facts in the case before him–he made the call as part of his duty to protect the G. children. Shull also says that he informed everyone in the courtroom that he planned to call before he made the call.
In the most glaring example of misconduct, witnesses testified that Shull twice asked a woman “with a clear history of mental instability” to drop her pants in the courtroom to show him a wound on her leg. A court bailiff testified that Shull commented on the woman”s underwear, a lacy black thong, after the hearing. Other witnesses testified the woman”s bare buttocks were exposed.
These facts are very much contested–there are three witnesses who say that the woman offered to lower her pants to show the wound. Also, it is unclear that Shull was in a position to decide with finality that the woman, Tammy G., had “mental problems.” More importantly, even if he was, what did the Court expect Shull to do? Shull had three options:
1) Decide that since the woman is mentally ill, he’s not going to subject her to a full effort to find out whether or not her husband really did stab her, but instead just give the husband the children. In other words, don’t ascertain the truth, but instead turn the kids over to a man who she claims tried to kill her.
2) Decide that since the woman is mentally ill, he won’t put her through a full effort to ascertain the truth, but instead give her possession of the kids. In other words, give the kids to a mentally ill woman.
3) Ignore her apparent “mental problems,” and make a real effort to ascertain the truth in the case in order to protect the children. Shull did that, and it cost him his job.
In his defense, Shull contended that he was trying to determine whether the woman had been stabbed by her husband, as she claimed, or had caused the injuries herself. This isn”t a compelling argument.
Certainly, the judge could have asked for photographs of the injury or a doctor”s report. Instead, he chose to humiliate a vulnerable woman who was seeking the court”s protection.
A woman who is trying to destroy a father’s life and take his kids away by making a false accusation is “a vulnerable woman who was seeking the court”s protection”?!
Also, there was no time for photographs or doctor”s reports–Shull had to adjudicate the case to protect the children then, or risk turning them over to someone who might harm them.
In testimony at his suspension hearing