Special counsel named for cases involving Arkansas judge who participated in anti-death penalty rally

July 7, 2017 at 5:10 p.m. | Updated July 8, 2017 at 4:00 a.m.

by The Associated Press

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen, shown protesting at the Governor’s Mansion in April, said on his blog that he was portraying a crucified Jesus and that his hat covered “a black leather bound King James Version of the Bible, the book that my parents taught me to read and love as a child.”
Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen, shown protesting at the Governor’s Mansion in April, said on his blog that he was portraying a crucified Jesus and that his hat covered “a black leather bound King James Version of the Bible, the book that my parents taught me to read and love as a child.”

LITTLE ROCK — Attorneys from Mississippi and Arkansas have been named by a judicial ethics panel as special counsel to handle cases related to a judge who participated in an anti-death penalty demonstration after he blocked the state from using an execution drug.

The Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission said Friday that Rachel Michel and J. Brent Standridge had been named to handle the complaints related to Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen. Michel is the senior staff attorney for the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance. Standridge practices law in Benton.

The panel is investigating Griffen as well as his complaint against the state Supreme Court over its decision to bar him from death penalty cases. The commission's top two officials recused themselves from the cases in May.

Read Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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