CONWAY -- With a judicial robe at hand and a bit of humor, a judge on Tuesday gave the oath of office to Michael Murphy, the man appointed to succeed ousted Judge Michael Maggio.
Document set
Circuit Judge Michael Maggio
- Faulkner County Circuit Court filing
- Motion to dismiss complaint
- Brief for motion to dismiss complaint
- Judge David Laser appointment to Maggio case
- Gilbert Baker leave of absence request
- Michael Maggio plea agreement
- Michael Maggio criminal information
- Martha Bull Estate v. Michael Maggio
- Supreme Court ruling removing Michael Maggio from bench
- Circuit Judge Michael Maggio comments on JDDC sanction
- Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission report on Judge Michael Maggio
- Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission report on Circuit Judge Michael Maggio
- Ethics Commission issues final action letter to Michael Maggio
- Ethics Commission's offer of settlement to Michael Maggio
- Public letter of caution to Michael Maggio
- Ethics Commission letter to Thomas Buchanan
- UCA internal audit on Gilbert Baker
- Response to nursing home lawsuit
- Lawsuit against Salem Place Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, et al.
- Letter from Ancil Lee III to Chris Stewart
- Letter to the Arkansas Judicial Discipline & Disability Commission in Michael Maggio case
- Michael Morton contribution letters
- Gilbert Baker job description and salary
- Ethics commission letter to complainant in Maggio case
- Arkansas Supreme Court reassigns Judge Maggio's cases
- Ethics complaint in Maggio PAC case
- Michael Maggio formally withdraws candidacy
With two of his three children at his side, Murphy, 53, was sworn in to preside through Dec. 31 as the Division 2 judge in the 20th Judicial Circuit, covering Faulkner, Van Buren and Searcy counties. Murphy, whose third child was out of state, will become the elected judge in Division 1 in January.
Murphy had been Conway's city attorney since 1991. He was immediately replaced by Chuck Clawson, Murphy's deputy attorney and the son of the judge who administered the oath to both men -- Charles "Ed" Clawson Jr.
Maggio had presided in Division 2 until the Arkansas Supreme Court stripped him of all cases in late March and then removed him from office last week.
Tuesday's ceremony offered an opportunity for some laughter despite the problems that necessitated Murphy's appointment by Gov. Mike Beebe earlier this week.
Immediately after swearing in Murphy, Charles Clawson reached for a black robe he had draped over a courtroom barrier and handed it to Murphy.
"It's not like we're rushing him," Clawson said in a reference to the case backlog caused by Maggio's months-long absence from court.
"But due to difficulties beyond our control," Clawson said, he was giving Murphy the key to his new office and lending him one of his own extra robes.
"[There's] nothing to hold you back," Clawson said. "Tomorrow morning, you're on your own."
Clawson then swore in his son, Chuck Clawson, 35.
"I have no robe for him," the teary-eyed father said of the new city attorney. "All I have are my best wishes. I'm proud of him."
The ceremony followed a special meeting of the Conway City Council to approve Murphy's resignation as city attorney and to appoint Chuck Clawson to succeed him. The younger Clawson is unopposed in his bid for the city attorney's job and was already scheduled to take office in January.
Murphy told the audience that Charles Clawson had given him his first job as a lawyer when he went to work for Clawson's former law firm years ago.
Maggio is under federal investigation over contributions made to his former state appeals court campaign by political action committees heavily financed by nursing-home owner Michael Morton of Fort Smith.
Morton's checks to the committees were dated July 8, 2013, the day Maggio heard a plea to reduce a Faulkner County jury's judgment against one of Morton's nursing homes. Three days later, Maggio reduced the $5.2 million judgment to $1 million in the case, a negligence lawsuit resulting from the 2008 death of nursing home patient Martha Bull, 76.
In late March, the Arkansas Supreme Court relieved Maggio of all cases after he admitted to making a wide range of contentious online comments about women, divorce and a sealed adoption case involving actress Charlize Theron.
State Desk on 09/17/2014