LITTLE ROCK — A panel of Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission members recommended Tuesday that a circuit judge be removed from the bench after several complaints about his conduct.
The complaint, referred to the commission by the Arkansas Supreme Court, accused Judge L.T. Simes of Helena-West Helena of abusing his discretion in awarding sanctions against former West Helena Mayor Johnny Weaver and Weaver’s attorney in 2005.
“Judge Simes appears to have a proclivity for making decisions that result in negatively affecting the integrity of the judiciary,” the recommendation states.
It also states that four previous complaints against Simes show a pattern.
A three-commissioner panel heard arguments about the complaint in July. The commissioners - William Allen of Little Rock, Circuit Judge Chris Williams of Malvern and Reginald Hamman of North Little Rock - agreed unanimously.
The full nine-member Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission is to meet Friday to discuss the recommendation.
The commission can either dismiss the complaint, reprimand the judge or recommend to the state Supreme Court that Simes be removed from the bench.
The removal process can take months, requiring the commission and judge to file briefs with the Supreme Court, which has no time limit on reaching a decision.
Simes has been a circuit judge since 1997 in the 1st Judicial District, which covers Cross, Lee, Monroe, Phillips, St. Francis and Woodruff counties.
In November, Simes was suspended for the remainder of his term by the state Supreme Court in a separate case for handling the legal affairs of an estate while serving as a judge, which is a violation of the rules governing judges.
That ruling did not bar Simes from seeking judicial office again.
Simes was unopposed for re-election in May and will resume his post in January when his suspension ends.
If the court chooses to remove Simes from the bench it will be permanent, Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission Executive Director David Stewart said.
In January, the Supreme Court issued in an opinion when it ousted Circuit Judge Willard Proctor Jr. of Little Rock that once a judge is removed from the bench he is barred from being a judge again.
Proctor was removed from office in January by the Supreme Court for ethical violations over his sponsorship of the Cycle Breakers probation program. He lost a challenge in federal court to return to the bench, then lost a suit in state court over the law that bars him from ever holding a judicial position.
Simes said he had no comment about the panel’s recommendation and directed questions to his attorney, George Hairston of New York City, who did not respond to telephone and e-mail messages.
Simes said during the July hearing that he felt backed into a corner when Weaver asked him to recuse himself.
“To be honest, the motion disturbed me,” Simes said in July. But, he added, “I knew I had to maintain a proper decorum of the courtroom, even though I was being pushed into the corner. I was determined to maintain control of the courtroom and to maintain my self-control. For the most part I think that I did that, despite efforts to provoke me.”
The case before the commission concerned Simes’ decision to levy sanctions against Weaver and attorney Todd Murray in 2005 in a lawsuit filed by members of the West Helena City Council.
The council members were seeking to reinstate the city’s police chief and block Weaver from interfering with the day-to-day operations of the Police Department.
Weaver asked Simes to recuse from the case.
The discipline panel’s findings said the recusal was sought because Simes approached Weaver before the trial, expressed that he was upset the police chief had been fired and did not disclose a financial interest he and his family had with one of the parties in the suit.
But Simes refused to recuse. He accused Weaver of “judge shopping” and sanctioned Weaver and Murray, ordering them to pay attorneys fees to the opposing counsel.
In 2006, the state Supreme Court overturned the sanctions and said Simes had “abused his discretion” in levying them. It forwarded a copy of its ruling to the discipline commission, which treated the ruling as a formal complaint. In 2008, Simes was reprimanded by the commission for failing to enter an order promptly in a case involving the disputed 2006 state Senate District 16 election in 2006 between former state Rep. Arnell Willis of Helena-West Helena and state Sen. Jack Crumbly, D-Widener.
In 2006 the Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission admonished Simes for personally soliciting campaign contributions from two attorneys who argued cases in his court.
Other accusations leveled against Simes during the Weaver case but not considered in Tuesday’s recommendation include that he held the mayor in a locked room during a hearing and instructed a newspaper reporter not to write anything about the hearing.
Arkansas, Pages 11 on 09/29/2010