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10th Circuit Drops Judicial Conduct Probe of Former Federal Judge
The National Law Journal
October 31, 2008
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has dropped its judicial conduct investigation of U.S. District Judge Edward W. Nottingham of the District of Colorado, who was accused of soliciting prostitutes and spending thousands of dollars at a topless nightclub.
Nottingham, who was appointed to the bench by President George H.W. Bush in 1989, resigned on Wednesday. The next day, Chief Judge Robert H. Henry dropped the 10th Circuit's investigation of Nottingham, stating that the complaints filed against the judge were "moot," given his resignation. Beginning in 2007, four complaints had been filed against Nottingham, the judge overseeing the trial that lead to last year's conviction of former Qwest Chief Executive Joe Nacchio.
The first complaint, according to Thursday's order, was initiated by former Judge Deanell Reece Tacha, then the chief judge, following media reports that Nottingham had spent $3,000 at a topless nightclub and later claimed he could not remember because he had a lot to drink that night. The complaint also said he may have violated court policy by looking at sexually explicit images on his court computer. A special committee's investigation found that Nottingham may have made false statements in response to the computer use allegations.
The second complaint was filed last year by a woman who claimed that Nottingham threatened her, and identified himself as a federal judge, after he parked illegally in a handicapped space.
On Oct. 1, Henry initiated a third misconduct complaint against Nottingham, alleging that he violated Colorado law by soliciting prostitutes and had misused his court cellphone in making calls to the prostitutes. Nottingham also made false statements to investigators, the order states.
A fourth complaint was filed on Oct. 10 by a former prostitute claiming that Nottingham was one of her clients and that he asked her to lie to federal investigators about the nature of their relationship.
By dropping the charges, a move viewed as procedural given Nottingham's resignation, the judge avoids public or private reprimands, voluntary retirement or, in the worst case, possible impeachment. But he's not out of the woods yet, said Arthur Hellman, professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and an expert on federal judicial ethics.
He said Nottingham could face attorney disciplinary proceedings in Colorado that could result in the suspension of his bar license. He also could be prosecuted criminally for perjury, given the order's statements that he made false statements to federal investigators, Hellman said.
"I would expect the U.S. attorney to at least investigate the possibility that a knowingly false statement was made in a judicial proceeding," he said.
John Gleason, chief of the Colorado Supreme Court's Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel, said initial investigations are confidential.
"If a lawyer is admitted in Colorado, he or she is no different from any other lawyer. It doesn't make any difference where they work," he said. "If there is a complaint, or if there is reason to believe there is a violation, then we will investigate. Our investigations are confidential until there is a determination of reasonable cause and a filing of a complaint. At that point, it becomes public."
In August, U.S. District Judge Samuel B. Kent of the Southern District of Texas was indicted on charges of aggravated sexual abuse and sexual touching of his former case manager. Also, judicial impeachment proceedings are pending against U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Porteous of the Eastern District of Louisiana, who was suspended for two years by the 5th Circuit for soliciting and receiving cash from lawyers who had cases pending before him.
