Letter Of The Law
A judicial discipline matter to be heard in January 2024 by the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals is reported by Mineral News and Tribune
A special West Virginia Judicial Hearing Board has recommended that a Mineral County Family Court judge be reprimanded for violations of the state Judicial Code of Ethics.
The West Virginia Record, a law journal that reports on the state’s legal system, reported Tuesday that the board recommended that Judge Deanna Rock of the 23rd Family Court Circuit, which includes Mineral, Hampshire and Morgan counties, be reprimanded for allegedly assisting Judge Harold Stotler in crafting a letter he sent to a Special Judicial Investigation Commission in regard to another judge’s previous ethics case.
Rock denied having anything to do with the letter, but it was later revealed that an edited copy of the letter was found on her laptop.
The W.Va. Record said the board also recommended that Rock pay the costs incurred by the disciplinary proceedings.
According to the Record, the board said Rock violated two rules — one that states that it is “improper for a judge to use or attempt to use his or her position to gain personal advantage or deferential treatment,” and one which says a judge shall “cooperate and be candid and honest with judicial and lawyer disciplinary agencies.”
In a legal filing from Judge Rock to the hearing board, she asked to be exonerated and for all of the charges against her to be dismissed.
The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals will have the final say in the case.
Meanwhile, in the ethics charges against Stotler, the judge has requested that his hearing, scheduled for July 24, be moved closer to his home in Morgan County.
Stotler, who has been on extended medical leave, said it would be difficult for him to travel to Charleston to appear for his hearing.
The Judicial Hearing Board denied that request, however, according to the W.Va. Record.
Briefs
1:40 p.m. In the Matter of: Honorable Deanna R. Rock, Family Court Judge of the Twenty-Third Family Circuit, Case No. 22-862
Statement of ChargesAnswerJHB ReportPetitioner’s BriefRespondent’s BriefReply Brief
(Mike Frisch)