The Ninth Circuit’s chief judge has opened a misconduct review into Judge Ryan Nelson, after he was charged with misdemeanor battery and malicious injury to property.
Chief Judge Mary H. Murguia of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said in an order Monday that under the rules for handling judicial conduct matters, “the chief judge may conduct an appropriate inquiry into the accuracy of the information even if no related complaint has been filed.”
Legal experts said Nelson could face a judicial investigation over his conduct, including whether his behavior that resulted in charges was an isolated incident.
Murguia said a complaint was identified against Nelson based on media reports about his conduct, and her own “limited inquiry of currently available information.” The Idaho State Journal first reported on June 5 that Nelson was being charged in connection with an April 2 altercation with another person in a parking lot in Idaho Falls, where the judge sits. Nelson has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and his attorney hasn’t returned requests for comment.
“All of the above information was only very recently received,” Murguia said.
The order is publicly disclosed in line with a judicial conduct rule about maintaining “public confidence in the judiciary’s ability to redress misconduct or disability,” but other misconduct proceedings will be confidential, Murguia said.
“The clear implication is that Judge Nelson did not report the criminal charges to Chief Judge Murguia” when they were first filed, said Arthur Hellman, an emeritus law professor at the University of Pittsburgh who studies federal courts.
Laurie Levenson, a professor of legal ethics at Loyola Marymount University, said in an interview ahead of the misconduct complaint order that she believed the circuit did need to examine Nelson’s conduct.
“It may have been that the judge had a bad day, or it may be that he’s acted like this in the past,” Levenson said. “But either way, it reflects both on him and on the integrity of the court.”
Next Steps
Murguia could conclude the complaint by finding that Nelson has taken appropriate action to address his underlying conduct. But legal experts said the underlying conduct may merit an investigation.
Hellman and Levenson said if the complaint proceeds to the stage where further investigation would take place, it could be transferred to another circuit given that Nelson sits on the appeals court and would be scrutinized by his colleagues.
It’d be reasonable to examine whether Nelson’s aggressive behavior, as depicted in a video published by the Idaho State Journal, was a one-off or if he acts similarly toward others in chambers, Hellman said. Nelson can be seen in the video acting as the aggressor, taking another man’s glasses and stomping on them after the man made a snide remark about Nelson’s parking skills.
It’s also possible that Nelson won’t face any judicial misconduct findings as a result of the charges. Hellman pointed to another case out of the Second Circuit, in which a magistrate judge was charged with striking someone at a beach bonfire who accused the judge’s nephew of witnessing an assault of their children.
That charge was later dismissed. But then-Chief Judge Dennis Jacobs said, even assuming that the judge did strike that person, it didn’t reach the bar for judicial misconduct under the law.
“In sum, this was a one-time private dispute between private citizens, one of whom happens to be a judge,” Jacobs said in the 2006 order, noting that the alleged conduct took place during a “confrontation that was highly charged.”
Hellman said Nelson’s case is different, as it seems like the appellate judge was the aggressor in response to a “gratuitous” comment by another person.
If Nelson makes restitution for the damaged property and apologizes, and there was no other finding of misconduct by the judge, “it would be quite permissible to conclude the proceeding on the basis that voluntary corrective action has been taken,” said Hellman. But he said it would also be appropriate to create a special committee to further examine Nelson’s conduct.
“Judges are not supposed to respond to provocation by running after their provocateur and stomping on his glasses,” Hellman said.