Judicial misconduct complaint against Ninth Circuit judge moved to Fourth Circuit
Par Kermani
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — Chief Justice John Roberts has transferred a judicial misconduct complaint involving Ninth Circuit Judge Ryan Nelson to the Judicial Council of the Fourth Circuit, which moves the matter outside Nelson’s home circuit for further review.
The complaint comes from a altercation that occurred in June that led to the misdemeanor criminal charges against Judge Nelson.
During the April incident, Judge Ryan Nelson and another man were involved in a dispute over a parking space that allegedly escalated into a physical confrontation. Prosecutors allege Nelson grabbed the man’s sunglasses, threw them across the parking lot and stepped on them, damaging the glasses. Nelson has acknowledged damaging the sunglasses but has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor battery and misdemeanor malicious injury to property charges.
According to a news release issued Tuesday, Roberts approved a request from Murguia to transfer the matter under Rule 26 of the Rules for Judicial-Conduct and Judicial-Disability Proceedings. The transfer includes the complaint and all related proceedings.
The rule allows a judicial misconduct matter to be assigned to another circuit when doing so would promote impartiality and public confidence in the process. The complaint will now be handled by the Judicial Council of the Fourth Circuit rather than the Ninth Circuit.
The complaint is a formal review that focuses on whether the judge’s conduct violated standards expected of members of the federal judiciary.
Under the definitions of Misconduct and Disability, the misconduct review will determine whether the alleged conduct meets the judiciary’s definition of misconduct under Rule 4 of the Rules for Judicial-Conduct and Judicial-Disability Proceedings.
Possible outcomes can range from dismissal of the complaint to corrective action or disciplinary measures by the judicial council overseeing the case.
At this time, the Ninth Circuit has not announced a timetable for the Fourth Circuit’s review.