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Supreme Court of Louisiana
FOR IMMEDIATE NEWS RELEASE NEWS RELEASE # 3 FROM: CLERK OF SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA

The Opinions handed down on the 21st day of January, 2009, are as follows:

BY JOHNSON, J.: 2008-O -2397 IN RE: JUDGE DONALD R. JOHNSON 19TH JUDICIAL DISTRICT COURT PARISH OF EAST BATON ROUGE STATE OF LOUISIANA Calogero, C.J., retired, participated in this decision which was argued prior to his retirement. For the reasons stated herein, it is ordered that Judge Donald R. Johnson of the 19th Judicial District Court for the Parish of East Baton Rouge, State of Louisiana, be publicly censured. It is further ordered that Judge Johnson be ordered to reimburse and pay to the Commission the amount of $5,801.89 in hard costs incurred in the investigation and prosecution of his case pursuant to Supreme Court Rule XXIII, Section 22. VICTORY, J., dissents and assigns reasons

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SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA No. 08-O-2397 IN RE: JUDGE DONALD R. JOHNSON ON RECOMMENDATION FOR DISCIPLINE FROM THE JUDICIARY COMMISSION OF LOUISIANA JOHNSON, Justice1 This matter comes before the Court on the recommendation of the Judiciary Commission of Louisiana ("Commission") that Judge Donald R. Johnson ("Judge Johnson") of the 19th Judicial District Court for the Parish of East Baton Rouge, State of Louisiana, be publicly censured and ordered to reimburse the Commission for costs incurred in the investigation and prosecution of this case. After a review of the

record, we find that Judge Johnson's conduct violated Canons 1, 2A, 3A(1) and 5B(2) of the Code of Judicial Conduct, as well as Louisiana Code of Criminal Procedure arts. 895 and 895.1. Pursuant to Louisiana Constitution art. V, Section 25 (C). We additionally find that public censure is warranted. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY Judge Johnson first assumed judicial office in 1993, when he was elected judge of Baton Rouge City Court. In 1999, he was elected to the 19th Judicial District Court where he is currently a sitting judge. By en banc order of November 15, 1992, the 19th Judicial District Court created

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Calogero, C.J., retired, participated in this decision which was argued prior to his retirement.

a Drug Court, to which all drug offenses were assigned. This court was supervised by a succession of District Judges, including Judges Foster Sanders, Robert Downing, Frank Saia, and William Morvant, before Judge Johnson was assigned the Drug Court in 2003. The Drug Court was originally created to facilitate the progression of drug cases through the judicial system, and developed into a court that focused on rehabilitation as well as judicial economy. This Drug Court was not formally set up as a "treatment court," but there was evidence that Judge Johnson, and some of his predecessors did attempt to emphasize drug counseling or treatment as a condition of probation. This division of court has now been terminated by subsequent rule of the 19th Judicial District judges, and a drug treatment court program as envisioned under La. R.S. 13:5301, et seq., has been established. That court is now presided over by Judge Anthony Marabella. In January 2005, Doug Moreau, the District Attorney for East Baton Rouge, Parish, reported to the Office of Special Counsel ("OSC") that Judge Johnson had established a pattern of ordering defendants in Drug Court to pay fines to third parties unrelated to their cases, as opposed to ordering that defendants' fines be paid into the Criminal Court Judicial Expense Fund (the District Attorney's Office was a recipient of money from the fund). Judge Johnson was notified of this complaint via preliminary letter sent by the Commission, dated January 25, 2005, to which he submitted a timely response. In February 2005, Leu Anne Lester Greco, General Counsel for the East Baton

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Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office, reported to the OSC that Judge Johnson was diverting fines from the Judicial Expense Fund's statutorily designated recipients (including the Sheriff and District Attorney), to other entities designated by Judge Johnson. Enclosed with Ms. Greco's letter was a copy of a newspaper article published in The Advocate, a Baton Rouge newspaper, on February 10, 2005, that outlined Judge Johnson's "fine policy" and suggested that "such payments for fines in criminal court might not be allowed by Louisiana law." Judge Johnson was notified of this complaint by the Commission via preliminary letter, dated March 3, 2005. Judge Johnson submitted a final response, addressing both complaints, on May 10, 2005, wherein he advised OSC that his predecessors on the 19th Judicial District Court had "assessed fines, or awarded financial assessments as conditions of probation to nonprofit organizations and/or public agencies." He opined that the complaints were "susceptible to racial, personal and subjective overtures," in that he is the only former Drug Court Judge whom the District Attorney has charged with wrongful conduct and violations of the Canons of the Code of Judicial Conduct. The Commission authorized an investigation and notified Judge Johnson of the same by letter dated May 24, 2005. On January 27, 2006, Formal Charge No. 0266 was filed, alleging in pertinent part, that: A. You, Judge Donald R. Johnson, failed to follow and comply with established Louisiana statutory law and misused the prestige and authority of your judicial office to advance the private interests of various charities and organizations, by ordering defendants before your court to pay fines in the [cases listed therein] and in the following amounts to not-for3

profit or other organizations as itemized...; and B. Your foregoing conduct was not authorized as a matter of law, including by La. R.S. 15:571.11 (A)(1), La. C.Cr.P. arts. 895.1 and 895.4 and La. R.S. 13:1000.4.

Judge Johnson, through his counsel, answered and filed a response to Formal Charge 0266 on March 8, 2006. Judge Johnson alleged that the complaints against him were filed in retaliation because he did not order money to be paid to the judicial fund or to the sheriff, for costs, as is permitted by La. C.Cr.P. arts. 895.1(B)(2) and (3). On February 15, 2006, Judge Timothy Kelley, Chief Judge of the 19th Judicial District Court for the Parish of East Baton Rouge, reported to the Commission's Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Hugh M. Collins, that between October 17, 2005, and February 15, 2006, Sarah Holliday was a full-time employee of the 19th Judicial District Court, designated as Judge Johnson's judicial assistant. During that same time period, Ms. Holliday was also employed on a full-time basis by the Field Operations Department of the United States Small Business Administration, Disaster Assistance Office. Further, Judge Kelley advised that Judge Johnson knew of Ms. Holliday's employment outside of the court and authorized it. In response to Judge Kelley's inquiry, Judge Johnson admitted that he "approved a flexible documented work schedule for Ms. Holliday." Judge Kelley suggested that Ms. Holliday's dual employment violated La. R.S.

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42:63,2 which makes it illegal for any employee of the State or a political subdivision of the State to simultaneously maintain employment with an agency of the federal government. Additionally, Judge Kelley opined that because Judge Johnson had been signing monthly verifications stating that Ms. Holliday had worked sufficient time at her state job to qualify for payment of her salary, that this could be violative of La. R.S. 14:134 (Malfeasance in Office) and/or La. R.S. 14:138 (Public Payroll Fraud). Finally, Judge Kelley advised that the court's personnel committee had unanimously determined that Ms. Holliday should be terminated, and informed Judge Johnson of that fact in writing. Thereafter, Judge Johnson informed Judge Kelley that Ms. Holliday was submitting her resignation letter. Judge Johnson was notified of this complaint by the Commission via preliminary letter, dated February 22, 2006. On July 24, 2007, Formal Charge 0284 was filed, alleging in pertinent part, that: A. You, Judge Donald R. Johnson, condoned and permitted an employee on your personal staff, Sarah Holliday, who was your Judicial Assistant, to engage in conduct that violated Louisiana's Dual Office holding laws, La. R.S. 42:61-66...; and B. You, Judge Donald R. Johnson, for the months of October 2005 through January 2006, signed verifications stating that Ms. Holliday "worked sufficient number of hours during [the month] to perform her assigned job duties and responsibilities" when in fact she did not work a sufficient number of hours to be paid for full-time employment... Judge Patrick Schott (Ret.) was appointed Hearing Officer to conduct

La. R.S. 42:63 (A)(1) provides, in relevant part, that "no person holding employment in any of the branches of state government...shall at the same time hold...employment...in the government of the United States...."

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proceedings pursuant to Supreme Court Rule XXIII,

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