New Hampshire "Sleeping Judge" Admits Helping Hubby Stiff State Bar

In Dover, New Hampshire, SeacoastOnline reports:

• Superior Court Judge Patricia Coffey admitted violating judicial conduct code by hiding her husband's assets in a trust to avoid paying $75,000 in fees related to his disbarment from practicing law. Coffey's admission was released Wednesday by the state Judicial Conduct Committee, which also scheduled a Dec. 10 hearing to decide what discipline will be imposed upon her. The JCC reports its options include a private reprimand or public censure.

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• The JCC reports Judge Coffey and her husband, John, ultimately paid the $75,000 in disbarment fees, but only after an investigation was launched. The investigation resulted in the discovery of their real estate trusts which were established within days of the disbarment proceedings, according to the JCC. Coffey's admission follows scandals alleging she slept on the bench during multiple court proceedings and her husband's disbarment for bilking an elderly woman out of a half-million dollars in Rye real estate.

• The sleeping allegations came to light soon after a Sept. 26, 2006 jury poll was published by the N.H. public defenders office, quoting seven of 13 jurors who found Candia's Donald Spinner guilty of sexual assault. Two jurors said they saw Coffey sleeping on the bench during the trial. Juror Donna Kolber-Simonds, told a public defender's office interviewer "she noticed that the judge kept falling asleep during the trial," while fellow juror, Mary Fortuna, told the same interviewer the jury "got a kick out of Coffey nodding off."

For more, see Judge cooked the books (Hid husband's assets to save $75K).

For other current and past media reports on Judge Coffey, see:

• Judge admits to shielding her husband (Concord Monitor),
• Superior Court Judge Investigated For Alleged Fraud (New Hampshire Public Radio),
• Allegation of Sleeping Judge Raises Questions (New Hampshire Public Radio).

For earlier post, see New Hampshire "Sleeping Judge" Accused Of Helping Hubby Hide Assets From Creditors. naughty judges