Jefferson County Circuit Judge Tracie Todd, convicted of judicial ethical violations by the Alabama Court of the Judiciary last year, was back before that court again Tuesday on a second round of allegations.
Todd is accused of not following the COJ’s order to return to work on Dec. 6 to begin a period of 90 days without pay, a sanction imposed for the ethical violations last year.
According to statements stipulated in court today, Todd was in Chicago from Dec. 6 until mid-February. Todd’s husband lives in Chicago.
The COJ heard testimony about emails in which Todd maintains she did return to work as ordered. Todd’s defense team, through questioning witnesses today, sought to establish that she was working and preparing to resume hearing cases even though she was not at the courthouse for more than two months.
Today the COJ, made up of nine judges, heard the case against Todd presented by the Judicial Inquiry Commission, the investigative body that brings charges against judges. The JIC called four Jefferson County circuit judges as witnesses, including the presiding judge of the Jefferson County court, Elisabeth French. The JIC then rested its case.
Todd’s defense team called two district court judges as their first witnesses. Edward J. Ungvarsky, an attorney for Todd, said the defense will call more witnesses when the case resumes. No date is set for that.
When today’s hearing ended about 4:30 p.m., the COJ said it would resume the case at a date to be announced later depending on the schedules of the nine judges.
Todd was in the courtroom today but did not testify. Todd was elected circuit judge in 2012 and reelected without opposition in 2018.
The JIC filed the new complaint against Todd in March. Judges are automatically suspended with pay when the JIC files a complaint.
The complaint included four charges -- that Todd refused to follow an order from a supervisory court (the COJ); that she made false and misleading statements to fellow judges and to the COJ; that she failed to make provisions for her cases during times she said she was ill; and that she disrespected and refused to cooperate with other judges in performance of their administrative duties.
After the JIC rested its case today, Ungvarsky asked the COJ to dismiss the charges. The COJ dismissed the fourth charge and let the other three stand.
Todd and Ungvarsky declined to comment after today’s hearing.
Most of today’s hearing concerned testimony about the concerns from prosecutors and judges about what the JIC alleges was Todd’s failure to fully engage in her job and her absence from the courthouse starting with her reinstatement on Dec. 6.
Most of the testimony from the four judges called as witnesses by the JIC was about email exchanges between Todd and other judges and prosecutors about the concerns that she was not scheduling or holding hearings after receiving case assignments. The presiding judge, French, assigned Todd hundreds of cases on Jan. 3 and added 60 more on Jan. 13, a total of 492 cases involving about 227 defendants.
The JIC says Todd did not hold a docket or hear any cases virtually or in person until Feb. 24. Todd asked other judges to handle cases with urgent issues that needed to be resolved. The JIC complaint says Todd gave shifting explanations for her absence.
The complaint said there were 97 court appearances scheduled in January for cases assigned to Todd, appearances that were scheduled by the previously assigned judges. The JIC said Todd failed to reschedule any of the hearings or notify the parties. The JIC said lawyers and litigants showed up to find an empty courtroom.
Testimony showed it was widely known at the courthouse that Todd’s husband lives in Chicago. But French, the presiding judge, testified that she did not know Todd was in Chicago for the extended period of time.
“This is the first I’ve heard of that,” French said.
Circuit Judge Michael Streety, the presiding criminal judge in Jefferson County, testified that Todd did not tell him she was in Chicago.
On cross-examination by Ungvarsky, Streety acknowledged that judges did not have to necessarily be in the courthouse to be working.
Circuit Judges Teresa Pulliam and Kechia Davis also testified as witnesses called by the JIC. District Court Judges Katrina Ross and William Bell testified as defense witnesses. Bell said he has known Todd since they were students at Ramsay High School almost 30 years ago. Bell said Todd was honest.
“I don’t believe Judge Todd would intentionally violate a court order,” Bell said.
Ross described Todd as hardworking, diligent, and faithful to the law.
On Feb. 4, the JIC notified Todd it was investigating her failure to fully return to work as ordered on Dec. 6. The JIC complaint said her work activity increased after that.
On Feb. 5, Todd asked French and Streety, her fellow judges in the criminal division, for statements about her cooperation and compliance with the order to return to work on Dec. 6. Neither provided a statement. French said she did not think she could do so within the bounds of judicial ethics. Streety said it was not his place to submit such a statement.
The JIC’s first complaint against Todd came in April 2021. The COJ held a four-day trial in November and December. On Dec. 3, the nine judges signed an order saying Todd violated six canons of judicial ethics as part of a pattern of actions and rulings from 2014 to 2018.
Some of those violations concerned Todd’s actions related to her position on Alabama’s death penalty law. In March 2016, Todd ruled the Alabama death penalty law was unconstitutional, a decision that was overturned. The COJ found that Todd abandoned the role of a neutral arbiter to become an advocate for defendants and for her own rulings and opinions.
After the COJ ruling in December, Todd asked the court to set aside its ruling that she work 90 days without pay, challenging that under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. But the COJ denied that request, keeping the sanction in place.
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