NOTICE: This opinion is subject to motions for rehearing under Rule 22 as well as formal revision before publication in the New Hampshire Reports. Readers are requested to notify the Clerk/Reporter, Supreme Court of New Hampshire, Supreme Court Building, Concord, New Hampshire 03301, of any errors in order that corrections may be made before the opinion goes to press. Opinions are available on the Internet by 9:00 a.m. on the morning of their release. http://www.state.nh.us./courts/supreme.htm.
THE SUPREME COURT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
__________________________
Original
JD-2000-001
PETITION OF W. STEPHEN THAYER, III
August 15, 2000
Kenna, Johnston & Sharkey, P.A., of Manchester (Kevin E. Sharkey on the brief and orally), for W. Stephen Thayer, III.
Nelson, Kinder, Mosseau & Saturley, P.C., of Manchester (William C. Saturley and Christine M. Renda on the brief, and Mr. Saturley orally), for the committee on judicial conduct.
PER CURIAM. The petitioner, W. Stephen Thayer, III, seeks a writ of prohibition that would bar the New Hampshire Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Conduct (JCC) from continuing to consider allegations of judicial misconduct said to have been committed by him during his tenure as an associate justice of the New Hampshire supreme court. We decline to issue the writ.
The JCC opened an investigation into Mr. Thayer's conduct as a member of the supreme court in response to a June 1999 letter from Mr. Thayer. On March 31, 2000, while the JCC investigation was still underway, then Justice Thayer submitted his resignation. This petition followed.
The standards governing the issuance of a writ of prohibition are well established.
Prohibition is proper "to prevent a tribunal possessing judicial or quasi-judicial powers from exercising jurisdiction over matters not within its cognizance or exceeding its jurisdiction in matters of which it has cognizance." 63C Am. Jur. 2d Prohibition