Drinking, DUI / DWI, Law Schools, State Judges, State Judges Are Clowns

Judge Accused Of Having Inappropriate Relationship With Cooley Law Student

By Staci Zaretsky

Judge J. Cedric Simpson and Crystal Marie Vargas

Law students who get to intern with judges are pretty lucky. If they play their cards right, they’ll be able to get a lasting relationship out of it — just think of all the tips, tricks, and recommendations that judge will be able to give you in your life as a lawyer.
Some law students who intern with judges reportedly forge “other” kinds of relationships with their would-be mentors. Those alleged relationships come with all sorts of perks, but if you get caught, the gavel may come down hard.
Take, for example, the case of Michigan Judge J. Cedric Simpson. Simpson is accused of having a “personal” relationship with Crystal Marie Vargas, a graduate of the Thomas M. Cooley Law School who once served as his intern. Simpson is now facing a complaint from the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission over his alleged actions while Vargas worked for him in chambers, including an incident where, according to the complaint, the judge attempted to interfere with the investigation and prosecution of Vargas’s September 2013 drunk driving charge.
Let’s take a peek at what allegedly went down between Simpson and Vargas…

Simpson is a 14-A District Court judge in Michigan, and we presume Vargas is a recent graduate of Cooley Law. Her LinkedIn profile seems to have been deleted, but here’s a snippet from it that we were able to find:

It seems that on the early morning of September 8, 2013, Vargas was driving drunk and crashed her car into a tow truck at about 4:30 a.m. The first person she called to tell about the accident was not a relative, not a law school classmate, not a boyfriend, not the police, but Simpson, who allegedly showed up at the scene less than 10 minutes later. Here’s what happened next, according to MLive.com’s report:

[Simpson] interfered with a field sobriety test being administered by Pittsfield Township Police Officer Robert Cole. In his initial response to the commission’s request for comments, Simpson denied speaking with Vargas while Cole administered the sobriety test to her.
Vargas was released from Washtenaw County jail at approximately 8 a.m. and allegedly went to Simpson’s home. Simpson then allegedly drove Vargas to recover her vehicle and paid the towing fees on his own credit card after her card was declined.
The second count alleged by the commission is that Simpson interfered with Vargas’ prosecution following the incident. He allegedly contacted Pittsfield Township city attorney Victor Lillich on multiple occasions in an attempt to intercede on Vargas’ behalf.

Despite Simpson’s best efforts to help this “good girl,” Vargas was charged with one count of operating a motor vehicle while impaired. She pleaded guilty, and was sentenced on January 21, 2014.
Simpson, of course, denies interfering with the police investigation or trying to get “special treatment” for his intern. Simpson also denies that he had a “personal” relationship with Vargas, but this excerpt from the Judicial Tenure Commission’s complaint seems to stand in contradiction to the judge’s assertions:

Simpson’s lawyer, Ken Mogill, had this to say about the complaint, per the Detroit Free Press: “We respectfully disagree with the JTC’s allegations, and I expect Judge Simpson will be exonerated.”
Best of luck to Judge J. Cedric Simpson as he tries to fight these ethical charges and keep his job, and best of luck to Crystal Vargas on the Texas bar exam. They’ll both need all the help they can get.
(Flip to the next page to see the juicy complaint filed against Judge Simpson.)

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