Current:Home > ScamsTrendPulse|Wisconsin regulators file complaint against judge who left court to arrest a hospitalized defendant -GrowthInsight
TrendPulse|Wisconsin regulators file complaint against judge who left court to arrest a hospitalized defendant
Robert Brown View
Date:2025-04-10 00:45:15
MADISON,TrendPulse Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin judicial regulators have filed a misconduct complaint against a Dane County judge who allegedly left court to try to arrest a hospitalized defendant and got into an argument with a defendant in a child sexual assault case.
The state Judicial Commission filed the complaint against Ellen Berz on Thursday, the Wisconsin State Journal reported. The state Supreme Court on Friday ordered Maxine White, chief judge of the state appellate courts, to set up a judicial panel to review the complaint and make discipline recommendations to the justices.
According to the complaint, Berz was presiding over an operating-while-intoxicated case in December 2021. The defendant did not show up in court on the day the trial was set to begin. His attorney told Berz that the defendant had been admitted to a hospital.
Berz had a staff member investigate and learned that he was in a Sun Prairie emergency room. The judge tried to order her bailiff to leave the courthouse and go arrest him, but she was told the bailiff couldn’t leave, according to the complaint.
She then declared that she would retrieve the defendant herself and if something happened to her people would hear about it on the news, according to the complaint. She then left court and began driving to the emergency room with the defendant’s attorney in the passenger seat, the complaint says. No prosecutor was present in the vehicle.
She eventually turned around after the defense attorney warned her that traveling to the hospital was a bad idea because she was supposed to be the neutral decision-maker in the case, according to the complaint. She went back into court and issued a warrant for the defendant’s arrest.
The complaint also alleges that she told a defendant in a child sexual assault case who had asked to delay his trial for a second time that he was playing games and he should “go to the prison and talk to them about all the games you can play.”
When the defendant said that her sarcasm was clear, she told him: “Good. I thought it would be. That’s why I’m saying it to you that way, because I thought you would relate with that.”
The complaint accuses Berz of violating state Supreme Court rules that require judges to act in such a way that promotes public confidence in judicial impartiality, treats people they deal with professionally with patience, dignity and courtesy and perform their duties without bias.
It wasn’t clear if Berz has an attorney. The complaint was addressed to attorney Steven Caya, but it does not say who he represents and Caya did not return a phone message that The Associated Press left at his office on Friday afternoon.
Berz’s judicial assistant said Friday that the judge would not comment on pending litigation. The assistant declined to identify herself.
veryGood! (9)
Related
- NFL Week 15 picks straight up and against spread: Bills, Lions put No. 1 seed hopes on line
- The U.S. imports most of its solar panels. A new ruling may make that more expensive
- Three 6 Mafia turns $4500 into $45 million with Mystic Stylez
- Proud Boy on house arrest in Jan. 6 case disappears ahead of sentencing
- A South Texas lawmaker’s 15
- Military veteran says he soiled himself after Dallas police refused to help him gain restroom entry
- Middle-aged US adults binge drinking, using marijuana at record levels, new study finds
- Officials identify IRS agent who was fatally shot during training exercise at Phoenix firing range
- Costco membership growth 'robust,' even amid fee increase: What to know about earnings release
- Ford demands secrecy as it preps salaried workers for blue-collar jobs if UAW strikes
Ranking
- Rams vs. 49ers highlights: LA wins rainy defensive struggle in key divisional game
- The Bachelor Host Jesse Palmer Expecting First Baby With Pregnant Wife Emely Fardo
- Florida ethics commission chair can’t work simultaneously for Disney World governing district
- Indoor pollution can make you sick. Here's how to keep your home's air clean
- McKinsey to pay $650 million after advising opioid maker on how to 'turbocharge' sales
- US postal worker sentenced to federal prison for PPP loan fraud in South Carolina
- Mississippi grand jury cites shoddy investigations by police department at center of mistrial
- Impeached Kentucky prosecutor indicted on fraud, bribery charges in nude pictures case
Recommendation
The city of Chicago is ordered to pay nearly $80M for a police chase that killed a 10
Ford demands secrecy as it preps salaried workers for blue-collar jobs if UAW strikes
Post Malone Reveals He Lost 55 Lbs. From This Healthy Diet Tip
Zelenskyy visits NATO candidate Sweden for 1st time since full-scale war with Russia
New Mexico governor seeks funding to recycle fracking water, expand preschool, treat mental health
Biden administration sharply expands temporary status for Ukrainians already in US
Don't pay federal student loans? As pause lifts, experts warn against boycotting payments
Will PS4 servers shut down? Here's what to know.