Judge Mike Maggio Appears Before Ethics Commission
LITTLE ROCK, AR - The Arkansas judge who made national headlines this spring faced the Arkansas Ethics Commission on Friday in a confidential hearing regarding campaign contributions.
Maggio's name hit headlines after blogger Matt Campbell linked the judge to questionable comments on an online sports forum, including disclosing confidential details of an adoption by celebrity Charlize Theron.
That triggered an investigation by the Arkansas Judicial Discipline Commission. Maggio withdrew from the appeals court race and apologized for a lapse in judgment.
Campbell later highlighted thousands of dollars in campaign contributions made to Maggio's campaign from political action committees that were linked to a nursing home owner who had been a defendant in Maggio's court.
That led to additional investigations by the Judicial Discipline and Arkansas Ethics Commissions.
Our crew was the only television team there, but Maggio didn't have any comment for the camera.
"Judge Maggio you don't have anything you want to say, nothing to the public?" we asked Judge Mike Maggio for the second time as he quickly exited from a back room in the Arkansas Ethics Commission building.
Following a confidential session with commissioners, Maggio had no comment for the camera or the public.
"No, he has an attorney who is going to address the public here today and that's what we're doing," Maggio's attorney Lauren Hamilton said. "These are confidential proceedings and we are participating, and he has due process rights. Judge Maggio doesn't have to address the public at all at this point.."
In March, the daughters of Martha Bull filed paperwork with the Arkansas Judicial Commission. Those papers outlined the timing of thousands of dollars in contributions to Judge Maggio's appeals court campaign. The paperwork triggered a Judicial Discipline investigation, but the Ethics Commission also confirmed it was investigating the donations.
"He [Maggio] has acted ethically and is ready to serve the 20th Judicial District and the people in those counties," Hamilton said.
"The ultimate outcome we'd like to see the family of Martha Bull to ultimately get another day in court," said Thomas Buchanan, attorney for Bull's family. "My only reaction [to today's proceedings] is we hope that the process works the way it should work and that the law is enforced the way that it should be. Because if it's not enforced, what's the purpose of it?
Martha Bull died at a Greenbrier nursing home six years ago. A jury had awarded $5 million to her family in its negligence suit, but Maggio later reduced that amount to $1 million. His decision came just days after the nursing home's owner had financed the campaign contributions in question.
When we asked outright if Maggio had accepted campaign contributions as payment for reducing the award amount, his attorney responded, "That is not even the purpose of the commission's meeting today. All of those proceedings are ongoing."
Buchanan agreed that the Ethics Commission wouldn't be addressing that question.
"But I think that's the ultimate question that the public has," he said.
The director of the Ethics Commission couldn't comment on why Maggio was at the meeting or what took place. According to Commission rules, if a case is dismissed the commissioners must take a public vote to do so. The only public vote to dismiss did not involve Maggio.
Maggio was appointed to the bench in 2001 by then-governor Mike Huckabee. Maggio has been elected twice since.
As mentioned, there are two other Judicial Discipline investigations ongoing. That commission's director expects an update to those cases in August.
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