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Thursday, January 12, 2006

Ind. Courts - No-holds-barred fight for Lake County Superior Court's elected Hammond judgeship

"Storm watch out for judge's race" was the headline to this 12/4/05 Mark Kiesling column in the Munster (NW Indiana) Times. It begins:

If you want a primer in how Lake County politics is played, keep an eye on the race for the Superior Court's elected Hammond judgeship.

In the first place, the only judge the division has ever known is Jesse Villalpando, who tried several times to be appointed a judge in other divisions but was unsuccessful.

So, as a state legislator, he helped author a bill to create a new Lake County judgeship, then (surprise!) became the only applicant for the job. If you can't come in the front door, try the back door.

Now, six years later, Villalpando is finding himself challenged by former East Chicago City Judge Ed Fontanez and Merrillville attorney Stan Jablonski, a veteran private defense lawyer and a public defender who now practices before Superior Court Judge Julie Cantrell.

Julie is the daughter of political powerhouse Bobby Cantrell, and Villalpando is crying foul because he believes Bob Cantrell is using both Fontanez and Jablonski to unseat him for personal reasons.

Those personal reasons would all have Benjamin Franklin printed on them. Villalpando has refused since the summer to send alcohol and drug defendants to Addiction and Family Care, a licensed counseling service for which Bob Cantrell has worked as a well-paid "consultant."

The story continues today, with this Gary Post-Tribune story by John Byrne headlined "Villalpando accuses Cantrell of fraud scheme." Some quotes:
Federal, state and county officials have opened investigations into allegations by Lake Superior Court Judge Jesse Villalpando that Judge Julie Cantrell has engaged in widespread, systematic malfeasance during the past several years on the bench.

Villalpando, facing a re-election fight from two candidates connected to Cantrell and her father, political powerbroker Robert Cantrell, also contends in roughly 1,000 pages of correspondence and supporting documentation that the Cantrell family attempted to enlist him to participate in fraudulent money-making schemes through his court.

The documents, obtained by the Post-Tribune, comprise the bulk of an ongoing series of complaints Villalpando has filed with the state Commission on Judicial Qualifications requesting investigations into Judge Cantrell’s behavior on the bench.

Lake County Prosecutor Bernard Carter and U.S. Attorney Joseph Van Bokkelen also apparently have been reviewing the documents during the past several months.

The papers detail various money-making schemes Villalpando contends Judge Cantrell has participated in at least since 2001. * * *

The reports Villalpando sent to state Judicial Commission attorney Meg Babcock and others further detail various ways in which Villalpando says Judge Cantrell allegedly gave preferential treatment to friends and family members who appeared in her courtroom.

Babcock declined to comment about whether the organization, which has the authority to discipline judges, is investigating any claims involving Cantrell. But people with knowledge of the county court system say the Judicial Commission notified Judge Cantrell in early autumn that it was looking into Villalpando’s claims.

Villalpando contends he resisted attempts to include his court in these and other questionable activities, so Robert Cantrell targeted him for removal from the bench in the 2006 election.

See also this Nov. 6, 2005 ILB entry, titled "Lake County judicial election; election vs. retention at the local level."

Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 12, 2006 08:30 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts