Pennsylvania Judge C. Joseph Rehkamp, 61, has turned himself in to the police to be charged with domestic abuse after allegedly choking his wife, according the ABA Journal.
The Sentinel reports that the judge had been drinking when the alleged attack occurred. Valerie Rehkamp allegedly had told the judge that he was out of line at a dinner party and told him to find another place to sleep that night.
The judge took senior status in 2008. This status is now under review, here.
Rehkamp didn’t just rough up his wife. In his own divorce case he let the lawyer representing him appear before him as a judge in another divorce case. Concurrent representation taken to a new level of hubris. PA Superior Court in Diaz Flagg v. Flagg in 436 MDA 2009 descibed this behavior as creating the appearance of impropriety sufficient to undermine the public’s confidence in the judiciary’s impartiality. Rehkamp also asked that his alimony be lowered to first wife (not the one involved in this incident) because he was under economic duress… only problem was that he was simultaneously buying a Florida vacation home with a boat dock. Check out the coverage in the Carlisle Sentinel and Citizens Voice newspapers.
War is hell. Marriage can be worse.
Fortunately, this ended up “only” a misdemeanor charge against the judge, although had the son not intervened, this could have progressed to the seriousness of lawyer Farren’s incident.
Judge Rehkamp should never again judge other people regardless of the backlog of cases. His judgment is forevermore tainted and future cases over which he presides will be in question.
Rehkamp crossed the judicial threshold of No Return and No Redemption.
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Quoted from the Sentinel article:
“Valerie Rehkamp screamed and told her husband to leave their home in Plymouth Township, Luzerne County. According to the criminal complaint filed by Trooper Matthew Stacktish, Valerie Rehkamp’s son stopped the assault and Joseph Rehkamp left the home in his Ford Crown Victoria.”
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Pennsylvania Judges certainly seem the equal of corrupt judges everywhere.
This is unfortunate for all considered. It does have a feeling that there is more going on behind the scenes than has been reported.
Also to note this judge is sitting in a position and was “assigned to take over a capital murder case in Luzerne County for former Judge Michael T. Toole, who resigned from the bench and pleaded guilty last month to a fraud charge.”
This just chokes me up.