Saturday, April 27, 2013

District judge Kelly Ballentine violated 'integrity and impartiality' of office in ticket-fixing case, board says


District judge Kelly Ballentine violated 'integrity and impartiality' of office in ticket-fixing case, board says

Intelligencer Journal
Lancaster New Era
Updated Apr 18, 2013 18:00
Lancaster





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Originally Published Apr 18, 2013 12:58
By BRETT HAMBRIGHT
Staff
bhambright@lnpnews.com
A state board of judges has ruled that suspended District Judge Kelly Ballentine violated five standards of office when she dismissed her own parking tickets.

The state Court of Judicial Discipline, in a recent order, ruled that Ballentine violated the "integrity and impartiality" of her position.

That also was the conclusion of the state Judicial Conduct Board.

The Court of Judicial Discipline said it will announce a penalty at a later date.

Ballentine could receive a reprimand, a suspension of her term as district judge or permanent disbarment.

Ballentine pleaded guilty to three misdemeanors on Feb. 1 and was fined $1,500 for dismissing three of her own tickets in 2010 and 2011.

The state attorney general's office filed 12 charges last year; nine of those were eventually dismissed.

The Court of Judicial Discipline outlines the violations in a 12-page opinion.

"Here (Ballentine) dismissed criminal charges filed against her. We cannot think of a purer example of conduct which prejudices the proper administration of justice," Judge Charles A. Clement, Jr. wrote in the opinion. "Nor is there any doubt that this conduct, involving, as it does, the very heart of the judicial function, is so extreme as to be such that brings the judicial office itself into disrepute."

Ballentine has 10 days to object to the findings if she chooses to do so. The court will then hear arguments concerning her objections. If there is no objection, a sanctions hearing will be scheduled.

For the past year, Ballentine has received pay and medical benefits while retired Senior District Judge Richard Simms presides over cases at her Locust Street office. That office handles dockets for Wards 3 and 7 of the city. Ballentine had presided over those areas since January 2006.

Ballentine pleaded guilty in exchange for reductions of the three most serious charges and dismissal of the others. While pleading guilty, Ballentine denied dismissing the tickets with the intent to defraud the county.

Anthony Forray, assistant attorney general, explained in court why the plea deal was made. Forray said Ballentine received numerous other traffic tickets in recent years, which she paid, including two that were paid a day before she dismissed a ticket.

At sentencing, Chester County Judge Charles B. Smith called the ticket-fixing incidents "a shameful chapter in an otherwise reputable background."

Smith spared Ballentine from prison or probation, he said, "because it's out of the realm of possibility that you will do anything like this again."


Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/839490_District-judge-Kelly-Ballentine-violated--integrity-and-impartiality--of-office-in-ticket-fixing-case--board-says.html#ixzz2RcLP1BTL



http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/839490_District-judge-Kelly-Ballentine-violated--integrity-and-impartiality--of-office-in-ticket-fixing-case--board-says.html

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