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welcome to audit the audit where we sort
out the who and what and the right and
wrong of police interactions this
episode covers traffic laws judicial
misconduct and disciplinary hearings and
was originally posted by the civil
rights lawyers channel but was also
featured on lackluster's channel be sure
to check out the description below and
give them the credit that they deserve
on july 11th 2021 officer devonte
johnson of the moorefield police
department in west virginia initiated a
traffic stop on hardy county circuit
judge c carter williams for operating
his vehicle with a cell phone in his
hand judge williams pulled over and
officer johnson stopped his cruiser and
began to walk towards the driver's side
window
what's the problem how are you doing sir
what's going to stop me judge williams
why did you stop me you had your cell
phone in your hand i had my phone like
this yeah i just lost it i was just
looking for it pulled it up like this
was not on it
i just looked in the car go up and look
okay why are you screaming at me sir
shorts they were like somewhat
improvement i wasn't doing anything
wrong you ever listen to me i'm
you cannot have a handheld cell phone
i drive by a lot of times and y'all are
on yours you're never on yours right
yeah i don't understand you're on yours
why are you yelling at me sir i said
you're never why are you on them i'm not
i'm not yelling at you yes you have been
i've never raised my reputation you are
on yours i was not if you read the code
the code says that if you're conducting
official business you can be on it
i just don't know why you're yelling at
me no not on official business
here thank you sir
what what's why are you uh so uptight
why are you so shaky what's going on
i'm irritated because you pulled me over
for no reason you had your sofa in your
hand i picked up my cell phone because i
had it lost okay i pulled it up here and
i was had my hand on it here okay put it
in here you know what you saw you know
the law so what what if i have a cup in
my hand you you can't have a cell phone
instead of jean in your hand
give me a ticket
it's ridiculous what you're doing how is
it ridiculous it's ridiculous that you
had yourself in there
you all have yours i've seen it many
times you all have yours and you don't
get pulled over officer johnson informs
judge williams that he pulled him over
because he had his cell phone in his
hand while he was driving and judge
williams claimed he was just holding it
and not using it under section 17
c-14-15 of the west virginia code quote
a person may not drive or operate a
motor vehicle on a public street or
highway while texting or using a cell
phone or other electronic communications
device unless the use is accomplished by
hands-free equipment the statute defines
using a cell phone or other electronic
communication device as quote holding in
a person's hand or hands an electronic
communication device while viewing or
transmitting images or data playing
games composing sending reading viewing
accessing browsing transmitting saving
or retrieving email text messages or
other electronic data or engaging in a
call therefore while the court would
likely find that officer johnson had
reasonable suspicion to pull judge
williams over because he observed the
cell phone in his hand he could not be
convicted for simply holding the phone
unless he was actively using it during
his conversation with officer johnson
judge williams also complained multiple
times about seeing police officers on
their phones while driving and officer
johnson reminded him that the statute
allowed officers to be on their phones
for official business it should be noted
that section 17c
14-15 does include a specific exception
to the restriction on cell phone use for
law enforcement officers quote in the
performance of their official duties but
the statute would still prohibit
officers from using their phones for
personal reasons while operating a
vehicle i'm really irritated about this
whole
go ahead and give me a kick but why are
you being like this to me i've never
done nothing to you in my whole life you
just pulled me over because you had
yourself on your hands for no reason you
got yourself okay
what does that come back to hold on
hello
yes
no i haven't gone over that i'm probably
not gonna write it
oh my god officer johnson returns to his
cruiser and discovers that judge
williams's driver's license expired
several months earlier a few minutes
later officer johnson receives a call
from moorfield police lieutenant melody
burrows who was off duty at the time
because judge williams had called her
about the traffic stop while officer
johnson was running the license
according to lieutenant burroughs judge
williams told her that quote your boy
pulled me over for being on my cell
phone and i wasn't on my cell phone
lieutenant burroughs informed judge
williams that she would call officer
johnson and instruct him not to write
him a ticket after finishing his phone
call with lieutenant burroughs officer
johnson exits his cruiser and returned
to judge williams's vehicle without
writing any citations
you can make me take it or not i don't
care i'll take it up to town we'll go to
a trial buddy that's fine with me and i
tell you what the next time i see any of
you on the phone i'm stopping right
there and call the state police anya
this is how i had my phone i reached
down and got it under my seat i pulled
it up here and i was driving like this i
was not talking on it you can look you
can look when you pull me over see
whether i was on my phone why are you
being like this i'm being it because
i've seen this crap enough
and i'm tired of you here's your last
message
give it to me
let me have my license now also you need
to go get your license off the date
because they're expired okay
next time
after officer johnson returned his
license and registration judge williams
quickly drove away shortly after the
traffic stop judge williams called
moorfield police chief steven rigelman
who was also off duty informing him that
he quote just had words with one of your
boys according to chief riegelmann judge
williams continued to become more
agitated as the phone call continued and
when chief richmond told him not to call
while he was at home judge williams hung
up later that evening judge williams
also called morfield's former police
chief and then lieutenant burroughs
again before showing up at the home of
moorfield mayor carol zuber around 10 pm
to complain to her about the traffic
stop while none of judge williams's
actions were illegal they may have
violated the west virginia code of
judicial conduct which is a set of rules
and ethical standards that judges must
follow while in office for instance rule
1.2 states that quote a judge shall act
at all times in a manner that promotes
public confidence in the independence
integrity and impartiality of the
judiciary and shall avoid impropriety
and the appearance of impropriety and
rule 1.3 requires that quote a judge
shall not abuse the prestige of judicial
office to advance the personal or
economic interests of the judge or
others or allow others to do so the
official comment to rule 1.3 explains
the quote it is improper for a judge to
use or attempt to use his or her
position to gain personal advantage or
deferential treatment of any kind for
example it would be improper for a judge
to allude to his or her judicial status
to gain favorable treatment and
encounters with traffic officials other
standards of judicial conduct that judge
williams may have violated include rule
2.8b which states that quote a judge
shall be patient dignified and courteous
to litigants jurors witnesses lawyers
court staff court officials and others
with whom the judge deals in an official
capacity and rule 3.1 which prohibits
judges from participating in
extrajudicial activities that will
interfere with the proper performance of
the judge's judicial duties will lead to
frequent disqualification of the judge
would appear to a reasonable person to
undermine the judge's independence
integrity or impartiality or would
appear to a reasonable person to be
coercive given the high standard of
conduct that is required of judges judge
williams's aggressive behavior towards
officer johnson the use of demeaning
terms to refer to officer johnson in the
phone calls he made and the apparent use
of his judicial title to attempt to
receive favorable treatment as well as
any traffic offenses he committed could
likely be considered violations of the
code of judicial conduct on july 15 2021
the west virginia judicial investigation
commission which was established by the
supreme court of appeals of west
virginia to govern the ethical conduct
of judges filed an extraordinary
complaint against judge williams
according to rule 2.7 of the west
virginia rules of judicial disciplinary
procedure the typical process for
handling a complaint of potential
judicial misconduct allows the
commission to determine whether probable
cause exists to formally charge a judge
with a violation of the code of judicial
conduct however under rule 2.14 if a
judge has been convicted of a serious
offense has been indicted or otherwise
charged with a serious offense has
engaged or is currently engaging in a
serious violation of the code of
judicial conduct or has become unable or
unwilling to perform official duties the
commission can file an extraordinary
complaint against the judge in which
case the west virginia supreme court
must determine whether probable cause
exists if probable cause is found the
supreme court can remand the case to
allow the commission to file a public
formal statement of charges against the
judge the judicial hearing board will
then hold a public hearing and if a
violation of the code of judicial
conduct is proven by clear and
convincing evidence rule 4.12 states
that the judge may be subject to several
forms of discipline the complaint filed
against judge williams alleged many
violations of the code of judicial
conduct including the specific rules we
discussed earlier in this episode the
allegations stemmed from his conduct
during the traffic stop and his
subsequent behavior as well as several
other traffic stop incidents the
complaint also included allegations that
judge williams engaged in a pattern of
public office for private gain and
violating state traffic laws as the
investigation revealed several other
instances where judge williams
potentially used his title to avoid
tickets for running a stop sign driving
with an expired registration and on two
occasions driving without a seat belt an
additional complaint was also filed
against judge williams for violations of
the code of judicial conduct based on a
july 21 2020 incident where judge
williams allegedly walked out of walmart
without paying for the items in his cart
around the time that the complaint was
filed against judge williams chief
riegelmann prepared a ticket charging
him with improper use of a cell phone
and driving without a valid license
judge williams negotiated a plea deal
that allowed him to plead no contest to
the driving without a valid license
charge in exchange for dismissal of the
cell phone charge on september 30th 2021
the supreme court determined that there
was probable cause to believe that judge
williams had violated the code of
judicial conduct and remanded the matter
to the judicial investigation commission
which filed an 11-count formal statement
of charges on october 25th judge
williams was scheduled to go before the
judicial hearing board on february 23
2022 but the commission filed an
additional formal statement of charges
against judge williams on february 14th
and his hearing was postponed the new
charges stemmed from yet another
incident where judge williams walked out
of walmart without paying for his
merchandise on august 18th 2021 although
walmart's sources reported that judge
williams appeared to be distracted both
times he allegedly left without paying
for his items the judge failed to report
these incidents which could also be an
ethical violation as of the date of this
episode the charges against judge
williams are still pending and his
hearing is scheduled for the summer of
2022. overall officer johnson gets an a
for maintaining a calm and professional
demeanor throughout the interaction
continuing to treat judge williams with
respect in the face of verbal abuse and
attempting to write judge williams a
ticket despite his attempts to use his
judicial clout to avoid the consequences
of his actions while officer johnson
ultimately did not issue a citation to
judge williams this was a direct order
from lieutenant burroughs and officer
johnson appeared to have the intention
to cite judge williams before receiving
lieutenant burroughs phone call it is
difficult to fault officer johnson for
following the orders of his superior
rather than risking his career to cite a
judge for a minor traffic infraction and
this encounter demonstrates the
systematic limitations that are placed
on officer discretion and how a single
officer cannot change the culture of
their department i commend officer
johnson for remaining calm and cordial
despite judge williams's behavior and
for making a legitimate attempt to
impartially fulfill his duty as an
officer judge williams gets an f for
berating officer johnson for simply
doing his job attempting to use his
judicial position to gain favorable
treatment and engaging in a pattern of
consistent disregard for traffic laws as
a preamble to the west virginia code of
judicial conduct states quote an
independent fair and impartial judiciary
is indispensable to our system of
justice judges must respect and honor
the judicial office as a public trust
and strive to maintain and enhance
confidence in the legal system judges
should maintain the dignity of judicial
office at all times and avoid both
impropriety and the appearance of
impropriety in their professional and
personal lives they should aspire at all
times to conduct that ensures the
greatest possible public confidence in
their independence impartiality
integrity and competence when judges
behave the way judge williams did in
this interaction it erodes the public's
confidence in the judicial system which
many citizens already have very little
respect for this encounter as well as
the additional incidents that were
discovered during the investigation
seriously call into question whether
judge williams has the necessary
temperament to serve as a fair and
impartial judge and it will be
interesting to see how the judicial
hearing board rules in this case let us
know if there is an interaction or legal
topic you would like us to discuss in
the comments below thank you for
watching and don't forget to check out
my second channel for even more police
interaction content
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you