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Friday, December 11, 2009

Ind. Courts - More on: "Disciplinary charges against suspended LaPorte Superior Court Judge Jennifer L. Koethe" [Updated]

Updating yesterday's ILB entry, Alici Gallegos of the South Bend Tribune has this story today, including:

Kathryn Dolan, a spokeswoman for the Indiana Supreme Court, said Thursday that the extent of possible judicial discipline Evans-Koethe faces varies.

"The range could be anything from dismissal to a reprimand to a permanent ban of holding a judicial license," she said.

Evans-Koethe, 35, was placed on indefinite suspension May 11 by the Supreme Court after being indicted by a grand jury on Class D felony obstruction of justice.

She is charged in LaPorte County with trying to interfere with the investigation of her shooting. She will have her case tried in Lake County after a change of venue. That case is still pending.

Evans-Koethe was a deputy LaPorte County prosecutor at the time of the shooting and took over as judge in LaPorte Superior Court 3 on Jan. 1 after her election in November.

From Andy Grimm's story in the Gary Post-Tribune:
A week before Koethe was sworn in as judge, Koethe suffered a minor head wound Dec. 22. Koethe told police that she had accidentally shot herself when she put the gun to her head because she wanted her husband to think she was contemplating suicide.

At the hospital, she talked to a police sergeant she knew from her career as a deputy prosecutor and asked if he could destroy a note she had left for her husband before the shooting. Koethe said she hadn't told other detectives about the note and asked if he could "make this go away" or "get rid of it," the Supreme Court charges state.

From Craig Davison's story in the LaPorte Argus-Herald:
LA PORTE — Suspended Judge Jennifer Evans-Koethe allegedly wanted to make her husband think she was going to commit suicide during an argument in which she grazed her head with a bullet, according to charging information on judicial misconduct filed Thursday.

A few weeks after the incident, she denied to a St. Joseph County detective that she put a gun to her head and said it accidentally discharged while picking the gun up off the bed, according to the filing. The new account went along with her husband’s initial statement.

She also allegedly asked a La Porte police officer about a note she previously withheld in the first interview with police and asked the officer words to the effect of, “Can you make this go away?” or “Get rid of it.”

Here is the 7-page "Notice of the Institution of Formal Proceedings and Statement of Charges."

[Updated 12/12/09] See also this story from the 12/12/09 Michigan City News-Dispatch.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 11, 2009 08:42 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts