THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 11, 1996 TAG: 9609110459
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 61 lines
The state's judicial commission started hearings Tuesday into charges of misconduct by a Norfolk judge, then abruptly ended the closed-door session after calling only two witnesses.
No explanation was given. It is not known why or how the hearing ended, or how it will affect Circuit Court Judge Luther C. Edmonds, the subject of the hearing.
There is a wide range of possibilities. At one extreme, Edmonds may have agreed to resign. At the other, the commission may have agreed to dismiss the case against him. In between, Edmonds may have agreed to a private reprimand.
Edmonds could not be reached for comment after the hearing, and declined to comment during a break in the hearing.
Also, the commission's chief counsel, Reno S. Harp III, declined to comment, citing the confidentiality of commission hearings.
Edmonds, 53, has been a judge since 1988. He stepped down temporarily in July, taking a two-month leave of absence to concentrate on defending himself against the charges.
It is not known if or when he will return.
The complaint against Edmonds is confidential, as is the identity of whoever filed it. But sources in Norfolk's legal community say the complaint centers on Edmonds' involvement with bail bondswoman Sherry Battle.
Battle is a former model who runs the New York Modeling Agency in West Ghent. She became a bail bondswoman in 1992, but the Norfolk court suspended her license in 1994 for insufficient collateral.
Battle is now suing 10 current or former judges and three other officials in Norfolk Circuit Court over the suspension. Battle, who is black, accuses the judges and court officials of racial discrimination. Her lawsuit is pending in Norfolk's federal court.
Sources say the complaint against Edmonds accused him of helping Battle in her lawsuit against the other judges. It also raised questions about Edmonds' handling of cases involving Battle.
About a dozen witnesses - including four judges, a university president and the court's chief clerk - were waiting for their turn to testify when the Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission stopped the hearing and sent them home.
The commission met at the Holiday Inn Executive Center on Greenwich Road and heard testimony from only two people Tuesday morning. Thomas E. Baldwin, chief clerk of Norfolk General District Court, testified for an hour. Portsmouth Circuit Judge Johnny Morrison testified for 45 minutes.
Both declined to comment after their testimony.
Waiting to testify were Norfolk Circuit Judges Lydia Taylor, John Clarkson, Jerome James and Everett Martin. Also waiting were Harrison Wilson, president of Norfolk State University, and Albert Teich, chief clerk of Norfolk Circuit Court.
The hearing was conducted in secrecy, as required by state law.
Afterward, the court's chief clerk, Teich, and the court's chief judge, Taylor, said they could not comment on the outcome.
Edmonds joined the Circuit Court last year. Before that, he was a judge in the lower General District Court since 1988, hearing mainly civil cases. He is former executive director of the Tidewater Legal Aid Society. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
By state law, the hearings for Circuit Court Judge Luther C. Edmonds
were held in secrecy. by CNB