On Friday, September 16, 2022, AL.com reported that suspended Jefferson County Circuit Judge Tracie Todd took the stand for nearly three hours in her ethics trial and said that she did not try to hide the fact that she stayed in Chicago for two-and-a-half months after an order to return to work without pay.
In December 2021, after an eight-month paid suspension, Todd was found guilty of violating several Canons of Judicial Ethics. She was consequently ordered to work 90 days without pay beginning on December 6, 2021. On March 16, 2022, the Judicial Inquiry Commission (JIC) filed a new complaint against Judge Todd alleging she disobeyed that order and misled the court.
In her testimony on Thursday, September 15, 2022, Judge Todd answered questions about her personal and professional circumstances, the reason she was in Chicago at the time of her reinstatement in December 2021, and how those factors contributed to a contentious return to judicial service.
AL.com reported that:
“Todd said she resumed work as ordered on Dec. 6 while staying at her husband’s home in Chicago, and testified that illnesses that struck her and her household delayed her return to Alabama. Todd said she would have been ready to handle cases sooner if they had been assigned sooner.
Todd admitted under questioning from JIC lawyer Elizabeth Bern that she did not inform presiding judges Michael Streety and Elisabeth French of her presence in Chicago from early December until mid-February.
Judge Todd was asked by COJ member Michael Upchurch, a Mobile attorney if she was trying to conceal the fact that she stayed in Chicago for that time. Todd said she was not, adding that it is well known at the courthouse that her husband lives in Chicago and she does not feel the need to regularly tell colleagues when she goes there.
According to Judge Todd, illness and exposure to COVID forced her family to quarantine in Chicago in January. She said that she finally felt well enough to return to Birmingham on February 23. Todd held hearings in her courtroom on February 24 and February 25 and again on March 14, 15, and 16. Todd testified that more were scheduled but JIC filed its complaint on March 16 and she was automatically suspended.
The hardest part of the order, according to Judge Todd, was working without pay since it resulted in her losing her family’s health insurance coverage. This was particularly difficult for her because one of her two kids has special needs.
Judge Todd stated that:
“It was humiliating and demeaning for me to have to go to my family as ask them to help me pay for insurance,”
At the conclusion of Todd’s testimony, Edward J. Ungvarsky, one of Todd’s lawyers, made a motion for the COJ to dismiss the ethics charges. Judge Edwards said the court would take the request under advisement.
The AL.com report continues:
“At the conclusion of this morning’s hearing, Edwards told the lawyers they can present their closing arguments in a virtual hearing if they prefer. Edwards said the nine members of the COJ would be together in a conference room and would begin deliberations after the closing arguments. She said she would notify the lawyers about a date and said it was her intention to finish the case this month.”
Judge Todd earned a law degree from the University of Alabama School of Law.
Source: AL.com
Full story here.
