Two Chattanooga lawyers who are members of a local association of defense attorneys confirmed today they are the source of a second ethics complaint with the Tennessee Court of the Judiciary about Hamilton County Sessions Court Judge David Bales. The attorneys said the complaint primarily concerns Bales' conduct in the courtroom.
Bales did not return a call seeking comment. This is the second known ethics complaint involving Bales.
Like another complaint filed by a Criminal Court Judge Rebecca Stern in December against both Bales and Sessions Court Judge Bob Moon, it also touches on Bales' political activities. Like Stern, the defense attorneys contacted the Court of the Judiciary when they heard Bales and Moon were pressuring Hamilton County commissioners in their decision to select a replacement for outgoing Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey.
Attorneys Hank Hill and Myrlene Marsa, members of the Chattanooga Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said they filed the complaint Nov. 20. The complaint centers on Bales' alleged conduct during a case involving domestic violence charges against David Wininger. After Bales set a $70,000 bond in the case, Wininger's attorney, Wendy Stanfield, took the case to Stern, who released the defendant on his own recognizance.
Bales later summoned Stanfield to into court and asked why her client had been freed. He's also quoted in a Chattanoogan.com article on Nov. 4 calling Stern's decision "highly irregular."
Hill said members of the attorneys' association took issue with Bales' decision to summon Stanfield.
"When you summon an attorney when nothing is on the docket, I see that as an act of intimidation," Hill said. "Espescially when what Stanfield did was perfectly legal."
The Court of the Judiciary does not confirm complaints. Hill said the complaint was mailed to Bales on Dec. 7.
Read more in tomorrow's Times Free Press.