City judge has gambling addiction
City judge has gambling addiction
Neal already is subject of ethics probe
By JOE LAMBE
The Kansas City Star
A municipal judge already under investigation by a judicial ethics commission for her mental fitness and accepting loans from lawyers also has a gambling addiction, her attorney confirmed.
The Kansas City Star also has learned that FBI agents spoke to Kansas City Judge Deborah Neal's staff last week. U.S. Attorney Todd Graves and FBI officials declined to comment on whether agents are examining if Neal granted favors to lawyers who loaned her money.
Neal has said no lawyer tried to exert improper influence on her and that all her decisions were based on evidence and the law. Legal experts, however, said lawyers who made loans to Neal could face disciplinary action from the Missouri Bar Association. If those lawyers received preferential treatment from Neal, it could be a federal crime.
Neal, 54, has been on paid leave since Aug. 16 and remains hospitalized for treatment of depression.
John Kurtz, Neal's attorney, confirmed Neal's gambling problems in a written statement this week. Questions about her gambling arose in April after authorities raided a Kansas City, Kan., casino and Neal was among the patrons found there at 6:30 a.m.
Kurtz said that Neal has reported the gambling, the loans, and her mental condition to the Missouri Commission on Retirement, Removal and Discipline of Judges and is cooperating with the state's investigation. The commission can reprimand a judge or ask the Missouri Supreme Court to take disciplinary action, including removal from the bench.
“The commission was specifically informed through an admirable self-report on Aug. 16, 2004, that the problems requiring hospitalization involved medically significant and diagnosable difficulties, including depression and a gambling habit/addiction,'' Kurtz said in a written statement to The Star.
Kurtz declined to comment on how long the gambling problem and depression have existed, how many lawyers made loans to Neal and how many, if any, of those lawyers practiced in her courtroom.
While it's unclear how long Neal has had a gambling problem, she filed for bankruptcy four years ago with debts that included $48,000 in federal income taxes. For the last two years, according to court records, about $1,730 has been deducted from her paycheck every two weeks as part of debt payments tied to the bankruptcy.
Kansas City's municipal judges are among the highest-paid in the state. Neal's annual salary is $123,744.
This week, Jackson County Presiding Judge Jay Daugherty appointed retired Municipal Judge Charles DeFeo to replace Neal through at least Oct. 8.
Daugherty said he was unaware of a federal investigation, but it would not be unusual in a case that involves a judge accepting loans from lawyers. Ethics rules forbid judges from taking loans from lawyers who practice before them because of the appearance of influencing the administration of justice.
“Judges should be held to the highest possible standard,” Daugherty said. “When we potentially fail to do so, it's something that concerns the whole judicial system.”
As for the lawyers involved in the loans, Jackson County Circuit Judge John R. O'Malley, a former chairman of the judicial commission, said any who practiced law before Neal should be disciplined.
“At the least they should be suspended,” O'Malley said. “At the most they should be disbarred.”
For a judge to take money from lawyers who practice in his or her court is serious, rare and “very troubling,” O'Malley said, noting no such case arose during his six years on the commission.
Under Missouri's code of judicial ethics, a judge cannot take a loan from anyone “whose interests have come or are likely to come before the judge.” If the value of any loan exceeds $100, a judge is to report the loan as part of a yearly financial disclosure. Omitting details from such disclosures can be a misdemeanor punishable by a fine or up to six months in jail.
The Star's review of Neal's disclosures from 2000 through this year found no reported loans.
Disciplining judges for accepting loans from lawyers is rare, but more than 20 years ago a Kansas judge resigned in the midst of a similar investigation.
Buford Shankel, a Johnson County District Court judge, was accused of failing to report nearly $79,000 in loans on his financial disclosures, including $25,000 from three lawyers. Shankel resigned in March 1982, two days before he was to appear before the Kansas Commission on Judicial Qualifications.
The commission later ruled that Shankel had violated judicial canons of conduct. It recommended no discipline, however, because Shankel already had stepped down.
But the Neal case could pose a dilemma for Missouri's six-member judicial commission, which operates in secret, said Barbara Glesner Fines, a law professor at UMKC. Commission members cannot even acknowledge that a case is before them, and almost none of the 225 complaints filed with the commission each year are ever made public.
“It's a real tension,” Glesner Fines said of Neal's admitted conduct. “You don't want to say it's OK, but you don't want to ignore disabilities like mental illness and addiction.''
The commission includes two judges elected by their peers, two lawyers elected by the board of governors of the Missouri Bar and two laymen appointed by the governor. The commission can reprimand a judge, quietly pressure the judge to voluntarily leave the bench or recommend disciplinary action by the Missouri Supreme Court.
After a formal commission hearing, disciplined judges can appeal to the state Supreme Court. But few do, O'Malley said, because the entire investigation then becomes a public record.
The Star's Lynn Horsley contributed to this report.
To reach Joe Lambe, Jackson County courts reporter,
call (816) 234-4314 or send e-mail to jlambe@kcstar.com.
To get help
First glance
More people are seeking help for gambling problems. In 1998, 871 called the Bets Off hot line; 356 excluded themselves from casinos and 54 entered free treatment. In 2003, 3,339 called the hot line; 1,367 excluded themselves and 344 entered treatment. The Bets Off hot line number is 1-888-238-7633.To reach Gamblers Anonymous, call (816)346-9230.
To get help
First glance
• A Municipal Court judge who is under state investigation for taking loans from lawyers has a gambling problem, her attorney says.
• FBI agents spoke to Judge Deborah Neal's staff last week.