Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Rebecca Stern said Thursday that for years, she meticulously gathered evidence that General Sessions Judges Bob Moon and David Bales violated the code of judicial ethics.
She put that information into a complaint to the Tennessee Court of the Judiciary in early December, Sterns said.
Shortly after filing the complaint, Stern said, she heard Moon and Bales were “putting pressure” on county commissioners about who should replace Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey.
She called the judicial court with that information, too, Stern said.
“I believe that the ethics rules prevent judges, including myself, from having that kind of involvement in other people’s political races,” Stern told the Times Free Press.
Moon said Thursday via e-mail he would not comment on the case because he had not seen the complaint. Bales did not return calls for comment.
An official at the Court of the Judiciary in Nashville would not comment on the complaint or confirm one was received.
Stern said Court of the Judiciary officials told her they had opened an investigation, which she said is standard procedure. She did not know the timeline for completing the investigation.
COMPLAINT DETAILS
While the complaint included information about the judges’ alleged work on behalf of the campaigns of County Commissioner Joe Graham and City Judge Sherry Paty, Stern said it goes much deeper than that.
She would not provide further details or give a copy of the complaint to the Times Free Press. But she did describe several issues that she listed in the complaint.
“My other complaint deals with other things,” she said. “It involves other people who are potential witnesses.”
Regarding Bales, Stern said she documented public criticism of her decision to release on his own recognizance a man — the son of a Criminal Court employee — accused of domestic violence.
For example, in a Chattanoogan.com article from Nov. 4, Bales is quoted as calling her decision “highly irregular.”
Stern said judges are free to criticize one another in private, but “it’s the manner in which he went about doing it.”
Her complaint includes newspaper clippings, DVDs of courtroom proceedings, a video of a report from a local news station and court transcripts, she said.
The complaint alleges that Moon made comments indicating his support of Paty at a 2005 meeting of the Hamilton County Pachyderm Club, a local Republican group.
Stern said that at the meeting, Moon called Paty “one of the finest judges in the area, who had paid all her parking tickets,” which was apparently a dig at Paty’s City Court election opponent, Gerald Webb.
In 2005, WTVC-Channel 9 reported that Webb was late paying parking tickets.
Paty did not return a message seeking comment Thursday.
MAYOR RACE
Stern also claims Moon was involved with getting the County Commission to appoint Bales to General Sessions Court in 2005 when Mike Carter left the bench.
Carter is now special assistant to Ramsey, who steps down as mayor Tuesday to join Gov.-elect Bill Haslam’s administration. Carter and County Commission Chairman Jim Coppinger are vying to replace him. Commissioners are deadlocked 4-4 on the appointment.
In December, Carter said Bales and Moon were actively campaigning against him, but since Wednesday’s 4-4 vote, Carter has not returned calls seeking comment.
Stern said she is not backing either candidate in the mayor’s race.
Stern also attached a Chattanoogan.com article from August in which Graham is quoted as thanking Moon and Bales for their guidance and mentorship.
Graham said Thursday he still has not seen a complaint and said Moon and Bales did nothing wrong.
“We haven’t done anything dishonest,” Graham said. “Bales and Moon have a First Amendment right to do anything they want to on their own time. They haven’t done anything wrong and nor have I.”
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