06 November 2009

state supremes remove 24th jdc judge joan s. benge from office

feds 2007 operation "wrinkled robe" fall out

click here to download the forty-three page .pdf

we bet these kinds of deals go on everyday in courthouses, law offices and back rooms all over louisiana.

the problem here was that the feds had a wiretap and recorded everything.
In part, Judge Benge (“JB”) and Judge Bodenheimer (“RB”) stated the following during that conversation:
interestingly, it took news reports from the times-picayune to get the judiciary commission's attention into opening a file.
The Judiciary Commission opened a file in this matter after The Times-Picayune published a story on April 25, 2003, bearing the headline, “Judge defends award as impartial – recipient to plead guilty in court probe” and a report on April 26, 2003, entitled, “Jeff court scandal deepens – Demma confesses to conspiring to influence judge.” Judge Benge was given the required notice that a Commission file had been opened based upon the newspaper articles.
judge benge and judge bodenheimer both worked together at the jefferson parish district attorney's office. he was her supervisor.

if you like reading about crime and drama its forty-three pages of worthwhile reading.

UPDATE: slabbed has more

EXTERNAL LINK