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DuBose faces ethics charges
The Court of the Judiciary is a special judicial panel that hears complaints against judges. A hearing was reportedly conducted in Montgomery by the JIC, Friday, Jan. 18. Contacted at his home, Monday, DuBose declined to comment about the ethics complaint, citing rules and restrictions that he said prohibit him from doing so. "We are venturing into uncharted waters," he said. "I am continuing to follow those rules." Some of the violations DuBose is accused of date back before he was elected circuit judge. One case involved his handling of the estate of an elderly Washington County man, in which he prepared a will for a female client who was serving as his caretaker. DuBose prepared the will according to the woman's instructions, having never met the man for whom he prepared it. He became the executor of the estate after the man's death and was eventually sued by his former client who was also co-executor for a period of time. The state bar association initially reprimanded DuBose when he was preparing to take office, but the reprimand was rejected by the Alabama Supreme Court who said it was too lenient. The matter is still pending. One of the current charges alleges that DuBose attempted to have improper communication with Mobile County Circuit Judge John Lockett, who presided over the lawsuit filed by his former client. He is accused of sending Lockett a letter urging him not to make his order public. Lockett had ordered DuBose to repay the woman almost $1.2 million. Another complaint was filed by his former court reporter, Chrissy Dunn, who resigned suddenly in December and retained an attorney. Her complaint concerns a land condemnation lawsuit brought against DuBose by Alabama Power. Following a hearing in the matter, he is accused of instructing her not to provide a copy of her transcript to lawyers for Alabama Power. DuBose is accused of snatching one of the lawyer's business cards from Dunn's hand and ordering her not to provide the transcript. He has denied the allegations. In the complaint his denial is referred to as a "misrepresentation of fact." In a divorce case, DuBose is accused of granting visitation rights to the father following an improper private conversation with the man's lawyer. The JIC complaint alleges that the mother's lawyer had not been notified of the hearing. He rescinded the visitation order the following day, after he learned that the Clarke County Department of Human Resources was investigating alleged sexual misconduct by the man involving the child. In addition, DuBose is accused of instructing Dunn not to record comments by the mother's attorney requesting that it be on record that he had no knowledge of the hearing.
Other allegations in the complaint include that on a number of occasions DuBose has made derogatory remarks about judges and attorneys in Mobile that include vulgar language; he ordered probation revocations for four defendants not present at the hearings; he made threatening remarks to a group of lawyers in an attempt to get them not to cooperate with the JIC; upon his election as circuit judge, he indicated to lawyers who practice within the circuit they would have preference over attorneys from other areas of the state; and that he used strongarm tactics in an attempt to get lawyers within the circuit who supported his primary opponent to sign pledges supporting him for re-election in 2012.
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