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Sunday, November 20, 2005

Ind. Courts - Dealing with conflicts of interest when the county prosecutor becomes the judge

Angela Mapes has a feature story today in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette headlined "Brown ready to bench conflicts: DeKalb prosecutor judge of new court." Some quotes:

When Monte Brown becomes the first judge of DeKalb County Superior Court on Jan. 1, the 17-year county prosecutor expects he’ll run into more than a few cases where he has a conflict of interest.

But Brown’s not worried; he plans to simply excuse himself from those cases, and move on.

In addition to his years as prosecutor, Brown has the added challenge of having spent 27 years in private practice. His situation is not unique in Indiana, and it’s one Noble County Circuit Court Judge G. David Laur knows well.

When Laur took the bench in 1999, he had served six terms as a prosecutor in Noble County. “When I go for judge’s meetings, it’s like going back in time and going to prosecutors’ meetings,” Laur said. “It’s a normal transition.” * * *

Marcia Oddi, an Indianapolis lawyer who tracks legal news on the Indiana Law Blog, said via e-mail that it’s common for young lawyers to get their start in the local prosecutor’s office, move on to private or a full- or part-time prosecutor position, but with an interest in a judgeship at some point.

In fact, Oddi said, of the six judges who were appointed statewide Monday, five were current prosecutors and one had been a prosecutor.

David Remondini, counsel to Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall Shepard, said judges who are former prosecutors usually draw guidance from the Code of Judicial Conduct.

Disclosure issues are covered in the code, which applies to any lawyer or judge, Remondini said.

In general, judges would have to disqualify themselves from any cases in which they represented clients while practicing law. * * *

It’s become so common for prosecutors to become judges that state officials even offer special training sessions on how to handle potential conflicts of interest. Brown will have opportunities to attend those sessions, Remondini said.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 20, 2005 11:12 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts