I often speak at judicial conferences but clearly I am running with a much slower judicial crowd. Three Indiana judges have been suspended after a late night shootout following heavy drinking and a trip to a White Castle. The controversy left various people shot and under arrest — and three judicial careers in taters.
The Star reported Judges Andrew Adams, Bradley Jacobs, and Sabrina Bell were all given suspensions for their role in the case. The judges reportedly were drinking heavily after attending a judicial conference in Indianapolis. They attempted to go to a a gentlemen’s club but found that it was closed. Instead they ended up at a White Castle. There they had a confrontation in the parking lot with two individuals in a SUV, Alfredo Vazquez and Brandon Kaiser. The argument led Bell to flip off the two and Vazquez proceeded to grab a gun and and shoot Adams in the stomach. Jacobs was shot twice in the chest. The two men then fled in the SUV.
Adams and Jacobs were tested and found to be intoxicated when they arrived at the hospital. Bell was not tested but deemed to have been intoxicated.
Adams was suspended for 60 days without pay while judges Jacobs and Bell were suspended for 30 days without pay. The Indiana Supreme Court declared: “Respondents’ actions were not merely embarrassing on a personal level, they discredited the entire Indiana judiciary.”
Adams was also charged criminally and pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor for battery. He was sentenced to one year in jail but the sentence was largely suspended.
As for Vazquez and Kaiser, Vazquez was sentenced Nov. 1 to 180 days of home detention and a year of probation for violating his probation and for misdemeanor aggravated battery. His charges result from a plea agreement, the Star reported.
Kaiser was charged with 14 crimes, including eight felonies. Yet, Vasquez who reportedly pulled the gun, was sentenced to 180 days of home detention and a year of probation for violating his probation and for misdemeanor aggravated battery.
”Ordinarily a judge’s comments relating to the merits of a proceeding should not be subject to any disciplinary sanction,” a majority of the panel ruled. ”This principle, however, is not without limits; it does not license statements having only a tenuous and wholly unnecessary connection with the disposition of a proceeding.”
The judge declined comment on the case. Dershowitz said he does not believe Lagueux is qualified to be a judge and vowed to seek his impeachment.
‘He’s the kind of judge who, when he gets something in his craw, is going to use every bit of power he has and his judicial immunity to even the score,’ the lawyer said.
Over the past few years, Dershowitz has locked horns with Rhode Island Federal District Judge Ronald R. Lagueux over Dershowitz’s charges of widespread cronyism among judges and lawyers in that state.
Lagueux retaliated with calls–so far unheeded–for investigations of Dershowitz’s conduct during a 1987 trial.
Not even scratching the surface, it’s so bad.
Is there some information beyond this article ?
I can not understand why any of the judges were disciplined based on Turley’s facts.
Clearly there are some facts missing.
Adams was charged with Battery – but no battery is described in the facts.
The other two appear to be guilty of nothing more than possibly public drunkeness.
Maybe.
As best as I can tell the story is:
Three judges who had too much to drunk were accosted by crooks and one was shot.
Maybe that is not what happened – but it is all that is clear from Turley’s editorial.
It’s okay.
These judges simply “interpreted” that their behavior was appropriate, ethical and legal.
The judicial branch owns the power to “interpret” don’t cha know?
Oh, and they hastily “legislated from the bench” codifying their behavior as proper.
It’s what judges do – any whimsy that strikes their fancy at any particular moment.
Obongo unconstitutionally imposes DACA by executive order – good!
Trump constitutionally denies DACA by executive order – bad!
“Manifest tenor???” We don’t need no stinking “manifest tenor!!!”
Constitution??? We don’t need no stinking Constitution!!!
Trump didn’t deny what Obama lied about. Trump did what he was supposed to do and dumped it in the lap of congress plus sent items to the Supreme Court in less than six months instead of the usual two years Trump also offered three different solutions, DACA only, DACA plus and all illegals. In each case the Socialist Party refused to do anything but blockade the efforts. So what’s he supposed to do? Break the law. Part of it was getting a legal delay from the courts which Trump did but the Socialists er odid not do.
Why?
My opinion is the socialists never wanted them but got stuck with Obama’s phony promise. Why? Because those people are from predominately Catholic countries and are predominately Catholic and the Socialists are anti Catholic or any religion that challenges to their fiefdom for control.
Specifically they didn’t want to chance getting more anti abortion voters and since Latinos are the number two ethnic group in the country slated to be number one between 2030 and 2050. They saw their cherished baby killer status challenged
Is that possible? what other reason? Power, and control, for their non stop continued wars and ability to raise taxes plus their sick love affair with murdering babies. Face up to it. When you already have the right to abortion for two trimesters and/or medical proof of viability and then fight tooth and nail for the right to go beyond birth to after the birth proces is concluded it isn’t toe and finger nail polish on their guilty hands it’s blood.
But then they didn’t mind kiling of 59,000 of us in LBJ’s war either. Not to mention WWI, Russia, Mexican War, various Indian wars, banana republic wars, WWII, Greece, Korea, Africa Vietnam. Central America and the middle east all but a very few started with a Socialist in the White house. But could it be they like blood of others from infants to adults and the elderly judging by the way obey treated that last group.
And which part let in the country the one who killed ‘whats her name from the mid west’ their words not mine.
And which supports import of illegal drugs that have not become a weapon of mass destruction
And which one fought and won to keep the military conscription law on the books ready to go and kept it there to this very day and the for seeable future?
And who was it that dissed the former and present military and stated they wanted to turn DOHS into a force stronger than and larger than the military creating a Directorate of Internal State Security …the new Schutz Staffel.
For sure it wasn’t the Constitutional Centrists nor the Constitutional Republic faction. No…. it was and is DINOs and RINOs the left and right of the far left.
None other than fascist socialists and their RINO agents and that’s for sure..
We need an Operation Greylord in every district and circuit court in America. Try to find one lawyer willing to take on a corrupt judge. Ain’t.
Jon, you owe it to your conscience and to all who have taken your classes to initiate an overhaul in the most corrupt, the most dangerous, the most vile organization of thugs in the world, far worse than the mafia.
the lawyer who had to wear a wire in that was a bad guy in the first place, placing bribes, and he got caught which is why he cut a deal. he was no hero. terry something or other.
the other lawyer in operation gambat was a totally corrupt person robert cooley and he had fixed a murder trial and was part of the Democrat party / Chicago Outfit machine. he testified because his gambling debts caught up to him and he chickened out from taking the medicine.
American judges have a lot of faults but it’s quite a bit of hyperbole to say they’re the most vile group of thugs in the world. Really, that’s wrong. There’s a long list of nations with a far worse judiciary than the American one
True but it doesn’t serve as an excuse.
Libeling Terry Hake isn’t smart. Great guy who practically single-handedly brought down a nice slice of the garbage in Chicago.
No one supervises these punks–other than themselves. They made sure of that. They control who gets hundreds of billions of dollars yearly with the power to throw innocents in prison with complete impunity. They preside over their friends’ lawsuits. They are selected by nominating committees established by U.S. Senators; the same Senators who have children/lawyers practicing where those judges occupy benches. It is thoroughly corrupt.
Like I said, try to find a lawyer interested in reviewing the illegal deeds of their brethren donning black nightgowns. Or, ask Dershowitz about his run in with the filthy judiciary in Rhode Island.
‘deemed?’ to be drunk? Try getting that piece of garbage past a real court of law. They either were or they weren’t. They were either were at a specific time or time perioid or they were not. It’s like at or about when stating a time. It’s either ‘at’ or it’s ‘about’ one or the other. Same as ‘over and out’ it’s either one or the other.
If you look in most law books the charges might be DWI, DUI or the use of careless or reckless driving where the state of the individual cannot be determined at the point of time in question especially if there had been drinking after the incident as well as before.
Indiana must have shoddy laws or shoddy reporters or both.
they were on foot and apparently did not give her a BAC test
shoddy reporters is a redundancy, pretty much everywhere
Do I get credit for inventing a new oxymoron? Or just a redundant oxymoron. .
Michael Aarethun – I an pretty sure “shoddy reporters” has been used before. 😉
Quite right. I believe the entire list of such has been exhausted and is on it’s multitudes of repetition go round. The best comment was in a Tom Clancy book where the 7-11 clerk said ‘Why should I trust you. You are a reporter.’
An “oxymoron” is a contradiction in terms. “Shoddy reporters” is a pleonasm – use of more words than are necessary to make a point.
Thank you!
Having participated in the CJS for 53+ years, I am always dismayed at the pass “officials” such as cops and judges routinely get. I don’t need to cite examples, only to suggest one need but reflect upon the disposition the two “bad guys” would have received were the situation reversed. You will never see the terms “probation” and “home-detention” used in any media coverage of “thugs” shooting at judges.
I was just at a CLE where a judge was bragging about how the cop was going to let her go for speeding but she “insisted” on receiving a ticket. — goody two shoes!
the last time I remember a judge getting in gun trouble out here in flyover, the judge actually pulled the strap on somebody up to no good! I privately applauded his self-help, even though he got a slap on the wrist for it. Seems like i forget the name….
in an era with lax enforcement of law, is it fair to throw the book at judges? i dont think so. but that’s just me.
Right or wrong, I tend to evaluate the punishment of misbehaving professionals based on what would have been bestowed on me as a young public school teacher. In those days I was single, poor, had no other skills. I needed that job, so I behaved. I also knew how to party, but knew when to stop partying. It’s what adults do.
My career would have ended abruptly if I had acted like these judges!
I hope they remain judges. No more probation for the feral thugs turned loose on us every day. Nothing like a big dose of the medicine to correct judicial attitudes.
The decision to go to White Castle is seldom made while sober.
Seamus – I have never had a made at the spot White Castle. They do sell frozen White Castle’s here, however I am sure it is not the same. Del Taco is not the same if it is not full of drunks.
the best white castle in the USA, is in Chicago, right next to Midway airport on Cicero avenue, just past the “one hour” motels.
I remember we used to go get pasta and gravy down the street with some cops occasionally. seems like i forget the name of the place. it was a dive but the food was good. this was decades ago. but Cicero avenue hasn’t changed much since then, just more taquerias.
Hey I stopped there! I loved flying in and out of Midway.
Mabenka, maybe?
that’s a good place but it’s polish. i was with the Italians.
Mr Kurtz…….we have been to one, near Detroit….(or, maybe we were in Windsor, Ont?)
When we got our burgers we thought perhaps we had taken a wrong turn and landed in Lilliput…….Those things were tiny!
We thought, “good god, yankees can’t even make burgers correctly”….😁
there’s plenty around detroit. i stay out of canada so I wouldn’t know what lies across the river.
you’re supposed to eat more than one, anyhow. i like them ok.
If you survive the near misses. for those who haven’t it’s like landing between two rows of skyscrapers onasa slighty wider than normal rush hour city street.
and then there isn’t Taco Hell. No pleonasms needed the marquee says it all.
Seamus:
I second that emotion only to add “Taco Bell” to the category of mandatory late night inebriated stops and, of course, the hoary 7-11 that was the scene a famous line from a law school classmate who wondered aloud what the hours of operation were.
judges like to party. they were headed to the “gentleman’s club” but it was closed already., so they decided to have a few sliders. sounds like good clean fun to me. just have to ignore the local toughs.
In Indianapolis, your chances of passing an open White Caslte are better than any other burger joint. If “Harold and Kumar go to White Castle” had been made in Indianapolis, it’d have lasted 15 minutes.
Are the two guys depicted in the photos the judges or the white castle guys?
Why didn’t the judges go to a black castle?
This country is all about race. And not horse races.
“As for Vazquez and Kaiser, Vazquez was sentenced Nov. 1 to 180 days of home detention and a year of probation for violating his probation and for misdemeanor aggravated battery. His charges result from a plea agreement, the Star reported.”
**********************
Likely the plea was made to spare the “judges” from having to testify. The headline should read “Prosecutor Endangers Public to Keep High-Powered Friends From Embarrassment.” Jokes on the prosecutor I guess. since the pals were suspended. I’m sure the public is laughing all the way to the hospitals and funeral homes.
I’m sure you’re right about the testifying thing. but adams and jacobs are from clark county, near louisville, incident was in marion county. bell from crawford county nearby clark county. so i doubt the judges were considered pals by the marion county prosecutor.
i want to draw attention to one little fact: the lady started it
https://www.in.gov/judiciary/opinions/pdf/11121901per.pdf
“….10 hours before the program convened, Respondents walked the
streets of downtown Indianapolis in a heavily intoxicated state. When
Judge Bell extended her middle finger to a passing vehicle, neither Judge
Adams nor Judge Jacobs discouraged the provocation or removed
themselves from the situation. Instead, all three Respondents joined in a
profane verbal altercation that quickly turned into physical violence and
ended in gunfire…”
Young men, perhaps there is a lesson. Sometimes women start trouble. And men finish it.
Homer wrote a story about that called “The Illiad.”
Take your own conclusions.
my observations are strictly based on the public information available
Excellent point!
Mr Kurtz – when you read all of the Greek legends, it was Chaos who started the Trojan War because he/she was not invited to the wedding to Zeus and Hera. Actually, the legends begin in chaos and end in law. Fascinating.
Depressing.
………
Crawford County Circuit Court Judge
Vote 2016
Sabrina R. Bell (R)
Age: 34
“Why are you seeking the office?: I’m running for Judge because I want to improve our court system and the way it serves our citizens by running a Fair, Honest, and Efficient courtroom. I have always been proud to be born and raised in Crawford County. I became an attorney because I wanted to help people. I opened my law office in English because I wanted to help the people of Crawford County, the people I grew up alongside and with whom I am now raising my children. I want our children and families to be safe and feel accepted. I want to further the community and family values of Crawford County, and continue the strong support system that I experienced growing up and still experience today.”
http://www.clarionnews.net/Articles-News-i-2016-03-30-229769.114125-Crawford-County-Circuit-Court-Judge.html
I became an attorney because I wanted to help people. I opened my law office in English because I wanted to help the people of Crawford County, the people I grew up alongside and with whom I am now raising my children. I want our children and families to be safe and feel accepted. I want to further the community and family values of Crawford County, and continue the strong support system that I experienced growing up and still experience today.”
I don’t suppose she could say, “I studied law and earned a license to practice because I had the chops for a professional job and thought that I could make a satisfactory living that way. I opened my office in Crawford County because I’m familiar with this place, I thought the market wasn’t saturated here, and I wasn’t suitable for a mid-law practice in Louisville. I’d like a position on the bench in order to have a more regular income and more regular working hours. “
The pension, TIA! The pension! It’s why any lawyer would consider the thankless job.
https://www.in.gov/judiciary/opinions/pdf/11121901per.pdf
the pensions are secure. after humlliation and suspension without pay they return to the bench
a lot of judges like to get drunk and so forth. they’re human
i think it should have ben a mitigating factor that Judge Adams initially had the fistfight won, before the perp got crazy and started shooting. it’s good for society when judges are physically strong. i’m looking for the silver lining here folks. lol
But there wouldn’t have been a fistfight in the first place if serene, motherly, Judge Bell didn’t flip them off in a hail of profanity, which started the whole melee. According to news reports, she was so drunk she didn’t even remember being there, but White Castle had security footage showing her doing this, so she couldn’t deny it. And…why would the mother of young children and alleged pillar of the community want to go to a sleazy strip club in the first place? They only went to White Castle after they found out the strip club was closed. These people are not good for society or the communities where they judge. They are not much better than the people who appear before them, and how could any criminal defendant take them seriously if they try to wax philosophically about the evils of drink and impulse control?
why am i not surprised you’re wagging the finger at the lady for trying to have a little crazy fun. I grant that she started it but such things are not unknown. it was all kind of dumb but they’ve received their spanking.
I might also point out, that actually if there were not gun toting losers picking fights with tourists in Indianapolis, it would have all ended when Judge Adams had the guy whipped in a regular clean fistfight. they need to step up the street patrols in a lot of places in Indianapolis. it might have given these idiots pause from coming back with a weapon. there’s big unpatrolled concrete wastelands in the Indy sprawl that rarely see a cruiser, I suspect.
if anything this will humanize the judges and bring them closer to the community and the people they judge. I would not be surprised if they are easily reelected. crawford county has about ten thousand population so she’s probably one of the few lawyers there whatsoever.
acc to ballotopedia she beat her rival by about 160 votes and won the primary by about 13.
I would lay odds she will win by a higher margin if she runs again.
You define “a little crazy fun” as getting shitfaced to the extent of a total memory blackout, screaming profanities and flipping off strangers? Well, we have different ideas about what is fun, or even crazy, but this woman is also a mother and a judge in her mid-thirties, not a teenager or even a college student. Different standards apply once you supposedly grow up, become a mother, go to law school, pass the bar and get elected as a judge. No one knows whether she would be re-elected, but this has nothing to do with whether her conduct is appropriate or whether she deserves the respect a judge should command. When someone gets drunk to the point of experiencing blackouts, they’re in trouble, whether they know it or not. The blackouts are the part of this story that I find most concerning. She needs help. She’s in no position to judge the conduct of others. Ask yourself: how much of criminal conduct overall stems from lack of impulse control and substance abuse? She has problems with both.
Natacha, I would not leave any dependent person in your care no matter how stone-cold sober you were.
i didnt say it was appropriate, i didn’t say she didn’t have an alcohol abuse problem. maybe she does or maybe not. im not her doctor. she can get her own help, i’m not her nanny. a lot of lawyers have alcohol abuse problems, that’s for sure.
I’m a big critic of american women’s bad behavior, but I’m also for cutting them some slack when one of them pulls a joker out of the deck. I won’t pile on this lady, I said what i said, boys should take the lesson of the Trojan war out of it. I am going to lecture the boys freely, but you women wanted to be the boss here so you can sort out your own issues.
i am also just saying a lot of people get a little crazy, but a fistfight doesn’t need to degenerate into a shooting. the judges deserve some blame and censure, but the judges didn’t make the lout go back to his car and fetch a gun and pull the trigger.
They are not much better than the people who appear before them, and how could any criminal defendant take them seriously if they try to wax philosophically about the evils of drink and impulse control?
Says the lying, insulting, ad hominem troll who fancies preaching to her audience how to run a country
You would make a good nurse or attorney or whatever it is you say you studied for a living.
Natacha’s complaining about someone else’s emotional outburst. Chuckles.
Judge Bell should have just stripped in the parking lot for all four of the men. No guns, just straight sleaze, please.
An aspect of Natacha’s rage is that Judge Bell has something you can pleasantly contemplate, with or without clothes. Melania sends Natacha into paroxysms. Even the 52 year old (and indifferently groomed) Kellyanne Conway has her frothing at the mouth.
Dear Kevin: she may have done that or other sexual or criminal things. She has a blackout for this evening–doesn’t recall being at White Castle at all, but when she saw the security video, she had to admit that was she and that she did those things. That is the point–you can get in some real trouble when you habitually get drunk to the point of having blackouts. This is not a one-off event.
N – it could be a one-off or it could be a problem. Without knowing her and observing her drinking over several weeks it would be unfair to make a broad brush statement. It is clear she was over the limit. Maybe that will be a wake-up call.
The point you’ve made is jejune. You shouldn’t have to explain that to Natacha, but you do because she’s a head case.
DDS – don’t you dare talk dirty to me. 😉
Mr Kurtz – there is NO silver lining when they decided to go to White Castle. 😉
“The controversy left various people shot and under arrest — and three judicial careers in taters.”
**************
We’re that the case, I would have thought they were from Idaho.
https://youtu.be/neUaSTSKFZc
“Were” not “we’re.” LOL
mespo……..lol…..I think Ron is a Dallas boy.
When our daughter moved from New York City back to Texas, we were driving around town, and stopped at a convenience store. She ran inside, and when she came back out to the car was laughing hard about something….and then said ” I was in there for about 3 minutes and heard two different people use the word ‘tater’ in a sentence! I’m home!!”
@ 2:05
TIA………That’s hilarious, and true……But while our daughter gets a kick out of us ‘”blessin’ her heart”, she remains an espresso-driniking, French-speaking, Flamenco-dancing rancher…LOL
I’ll see you that, and raise you one.
You know you’re in a country town when your friend had to open her busted package in front of the post office, to ensure her goat emasculator wasn’t broken, and everyone who walked by us knew exactly what it was. A debate ensured over the best way to castrate a goat.
I love the nuances of bless your heart.
Karen S – she went an bought one of them new-fangled store-bought goat snippers?
Paul C……..🤠
Great story, Karen.
“Be still my blessed heart.”
(So much potential)
So funny!
Professor Turkey;
It’s modern times sir. Kevlar is all the rage this Spring.
Wait..what? So..Kaiser didn’t shoot anyone however is charged with 14 crimes, including eight felonies;,seemly because Vasquez talked first about a deal??! How in the world does this make sense? How is this our justice system? I understand I don’t have the ALL facts, just this article, but MANNNNN.
Kaiser was charged with 14 crimes, including eight felonies. Yet, Vasquez who reportedly pulled the gun, was sentenced to 180 days of home detention and a year of probation for violating his probation and for misdemeanor aggravated battery.
Courts meddle a great deal and are hopelessly inefficient. They don’t protect us very much.
Reliving their college days? After thousands of years of existence, we are supposed to get a White Castle in central Scottsdale. I guess it does mean we can use any place besides Del Taco to go to when we are drunk. Although, it is going to be placed some distance from students.
She supposedly has children. Presumably, there’s a husband in the woodpile somewhere.
DSS – the children are out there trying to figure out how to change their name. 😉
Paul 🤣
Paul C………I have two words for you: Taco Cabana
That’s where it’s at, as the natives say. 🤠
Cindy Bragg – Del Taco is 7 tacos for $5. You need something to soak up that booze.
The Del Tacos in metro Denver also had shrimp tacos and burritos when I lived there. ¡Muy delicioso!
Misdemeanor aggravated assault for shooting two people because someone flipped him the bird after an exchange of words. That is ridiculous! Why not assault with a deadly weapon?!
Not enough information on Kaiser. Badly handled for all. Good grief. Who adjudicated all this?!
Justice, overall, is ‘in taters’ for this mess!
Hmmm . . . where I’m from, you don’t call it a “shootout” if only one guy has a gun. Judges are humans with personal lives and – other than the fact that they were intoxicated (so much so, that White Castle seemed tasty), I don’t see what they did wrong. A “confrontation?” A “flip-off?” Hey, it’s a White Castle parking lot!
And for what would have been assault with a deadly weapon or even attempted murder in the civilized world, Marion County let the shooter get by with home detention (so he could send a friend or relative out to collect another gun for him, and he’s beck in the “shooting unarmed people” business).
I don’t think this guy just cut a deal. I bet he’s a snitch for IPD or Marion County SO.
‘The controversy left various people shot and under arrest — and three judicial careers in taters.’
Well, better than leaving the three judicial careers in wax beans, or even worse, brussels sprouts…
Far Out West,
or grits. True grits.