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In re Turco1/28/1999
En Banc
We must determine in this case whether the extra-judicial conduct of Tacoma Municipal Court Judge Ralph G. Turco violated the Canons of Judicial Conduct, and the appropriate sanction, if any, for such violation. We hold Judge Turco violated Canons 1 and 2(A) by intentionally striking or pushing his wife in a public setting, causing her to fall to the ground. Although the Commission on Judicial Conduct recommended Judge Turco's censure and removal from the bench for his misconduct, we disagree. We order that Judge Turco be censured and suspended from the bench without compensation for a period commencing October 21, 1998 through the end of his term of office. We further order him to complete a domestic violence program as described in RCW 26.50.150 before he may serve in any future judicial capacity.
ISSUES
1. Was Judge Turco prejudiced by delay so that the charges should be dismissed?
2. Did Judge Turco violate Canons 1 and 2(A) by his extra-judicial conduct of pushing or shoving his wife in a public setting?
3. What sanction, if any, is warranted for violation of Canons 1 and 2(A) in this case? FACTS
Judge Ralph Turco was admitted to the practice of law in Washington in 1961. He was a deputy prosecutor until 1964, whereupon he went into private practice. He had a general law practice until 1991, when he was elected a Tacoma Municipal Court Judge.
On December 8, 1995, Judge Turco and his wife, Frances Adrian (Pat) Turco, attended a madrigal feast at a Tacoma church. According to Mrs. Turco, she drove herself and Judge Turco to the church. The Judge exited the car and entered the church vestibule without waiting for her. She was delayed by having to remove from the trunk of the car a wreath and some baskets she was bringing to the event.
When she finally entered the vestibule of the church and placed the wreath and baskets on the floor, she approached Judge Turco, who was waiting for her there, and noticed he appeared to be very angry. Mrs. Turco testified Judge Turco said to her, "I've got these God damn tickets, why the hell did you keep me waiting." Report of Proceedings at 23. She says she responded, "Had you helped me with the items from the trunk, it would have taken less time." Id. Mrs. Turco then testified: "He said to me, 'Nobody talks to me like that and gets away with it,' and he was right -- I could hear him and he struck me and I fell to the floor." Id. She described being struck and falling to her knees with her purse flying open and its contents spilling out onto the floor. Report of Proceedings at 24.
Under questioning by the presiding Judge at the disciplinary hearing, Judge William Howard of the Jefferson County Superior Court, Mrs. Turco testified as follows:
Q. And you have testified that the Judge was angry. Was there anything other than the words that were spoken that led you to believe that he was angry?
A. Yes, he was very red faced and he said he had the God damn tickets and why did I keep him waiting, and I knew that he was upset when he started using that language.
Q. You testified that the Judge was behind you and that you were struck. Is there any way of describing the degree of force with which you were struck?
A. Only that it was forceful enough for me to fall to the floor, if that's an answer.
Q. You were examined concerning the shoes that you were wearing at that time. A person might fall because they were caught off balance, they might fall because they were struck real hard, and I'm asking a question to try to find out just how you felt, the extent of that impact.
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