The Newport Plain Talk

Special To The Plain Talk

NEWPORT-Cocke County General Sessions Judge John A. Bell has been formally charged with four counts of "judicial misconduct" by an investigative panel of the Tennessee Court of the Judiciary, an action which could result in the judge's censure or a recommendation for impeachment and removal from office.

The panel also found that Judge Bell was disqualified from hearing cases involving misdemeanor probation, yet continued to hear such cases despite having been informed in writing almost a year ago that his actions were improper.

Discovery of the formal charges against Judge Bell comes on the heels of Judge Bell's issuance of an order on Monday that he has temporarily stepped down from hearing criminal cases in which misdemeanor probation could be an issue pending the resolution of a complaint filed with the court of the judiciary by Newport resident Dan Metcalf.

"This is a civil administrative matter arising out of a complaint filed by Dan Metcalf with the Judiciary in February 2006, around 27 months ago, during my campaign for reelection," Bell explained in a press release.

"I have followed the law and I have done nothing unethical or improper in this matter.

"I cannot and will not discuss any specifics at this time. However, I can assure you that I will fully respond to the complaint and file a very detailed answer.

"This matter will be heard by the Court of the Judiciary. I believe the facts and the law clearly support my position. I believe I have properly followed the law."

The document listing the formal charges against Judge Bell was filed on May 6 by Disciplinary Counsel Joseph S. Daniel at the direction of the three-judge panel of the Tennessee Court of the Judiciary. The members of the panel were judges David G. Hayes, Don R. Ash, and Gregory D. Smith.

The panel found that "there is reasonable cause to believe that the Honorable John A. Bell has committed and continues to commit judicial offenses alleged herein...and directed disciplinary counsel to file formal charges," according to the document filed before the court in Nashville.

The two primary issues raised in the notice of formal charges concern alleged nepotism in Judge Bell's handling of misdemeanor probation cases in sessions court and an incident in February 2006 in which the judge allegedly threatened Metcalf with a contempt of court citation for remarks he was alleged to have made outside of the courtroom on a courthouse bench.

A third issue in the notice of formal charges alleges that Judge Bell accepted a $100 appearance fee for speaking at a local church and did not report the payment as required by law.

Judge Bell has 30 days after the May 6 date of the filing of the charges to file a formal answer. Within 60 days of the filing of Judge Bell's answer, the court is expected to set a date for a public hearing in Newport to make a decision on a recommendation in the case.

The court could acquit Judge Bell of the charges, issue a censure or other formal punishment, or make a recommendation for impeachment to the Tennessee Legislature.

Misdemeanor Probation

The first count of the notice of formal charges alleges that Judge Bell violated a 2005 amendment to Canon 3C of the Tennessee Supreme Court's Rules of Judicial Conduct.

Specifically, that canon requires that "when a judge refers litigants to community resources as a condition or requirement relating to litigation, such referrals shall be made impartially and on the basis of merit. A judge shall avoid nepotism and favoritism."

Newport resident Tommy Large, who is married to Judge Bell's wife's sister, incorporated East Tennessee Probation Inc. to provide private probationary services. Shortly after the company was incorporated, "Judge Bell selected the company to provide probationary services for the Cocke County General Sessions Court," the investigative panel found.

"Large was the executive director/chief operating officer of the corporation from its inception, was [in that position] on July 1, 2005, and has continued to be [in that position] to the present," according to the notice.

The court's notice alleges that Judge Bell became aware of the 2005 amendment sometime before the 2006 general election. He was reelected to the position in August 2006 and began a new term of office on September 1, 2006.

Soon after the election, Judge Bell is alleged to have tried to "circumvent the 2005 amended supreme court rule," Daniel alleges in the notice of formal charges.

"Judge Bell sought to create an artificial barrier for his continued utilization of East Tennessee Probation Inc. as the exclusive probation provider for Cocke County General Sessions Court," according to the notice.

Daniel alleges that Judge Bell "created or had created a Memorandum of Agreement effective September 1, 2006, which ostensibly vests the authority for the selection of a private probation company provider with the Cocke County mayor."

This Memorandum of Agreement created a position of "director of court services" for Cocke County, and Juvenile Probation Officer Jennifer Shelton was named "at the direction of Judge Bell" by Cocke County Mayor Iliff McMahan to fill that position, Daniel alleges in the court record.

The investigative panel alleges that there is no legal authority for this agreement or for the establishment of the position of "director of court services."

The written purpose of the "director of court services" was "to select, utilize, change, coordinate with, and...make all decisions concerning provider services" for general sessions and juvenile courts in Cocke County.

Despite that stated intent, "no probation provider other than East Tennessee Probation Inc. has been asked to provide probation services...pursuant to this agreement," the investigative panel found.

As the provider of probation services to general sessions court, East Tennessee Probation collects fees which the court orders be paid by defendants who are on probation.

"Failure to pay these fees, or to report as directed to take drug tests, for which the individual is separately charged, is a reason for Judge Bell to revoke the suspended sentence and require the individual to serve a jail sentence or to extend the probation term," according to the investigative panel's findings.

Extensions of probation for failure to comply with even the smallest of the terms of probation means more costs to the probationers and more fees paid to East Tennessee Probation.

"These fees provide income to the company, which in turn pays Large a salary," the panel found.

This "never-ending cycle of probation" has been cited by many defendants as their reason for waiving consideration of relatively minor offenses to the Cocke County Grand Jury, clogging the circuit court docket with speeding, light law, open container, registration law, financial responsibility law, and other misdemeanor violations instead of the more serious felony charges traditionally reserved for circuit court.

"Judge Bell allows Large to sit on the bench adjacent to him in court sessions [and] it is known by the general public in Cocke County that Large has a familial relationship to Judge Bell and that Large receives compensation as a result of those who are required to undergo supervision by East Tennessee Probation Inc.," the investigative panel found.

The panel alleges that, taken together, these "actions and/or inactions of Judge Bell" are in violation of at least five canons of the supreme court's Rules of Judicial Conduct and sections of state law.

The panel alleges that Judge Bell's conduct "does not promote public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary," that the judge "has allowed family relationships to influence his judicial conduct," that his probation referrals "are based on partiality and do not avoid favoritism, that the conduct "was and is willful," and that his actions were "calculated to bring the judiciary into public disrepute and adversely affects the administration of justice."

The second count of the notice of formal charges alleges that Judge Bell was automatically disqualified from hearing "any and all cases in which Tommy Large and/or East Tennessee Probation Inc. are involved" because of his family relationships.

Defendants should not have been required to file a formal motion of recusal in such cases, the panel alleges.

Further, the panel alleges that Judge Bell continued hearing such cases "even after being specifically informed of the applicable provisions" of the Code of Judicial Conduct by Disciplinary Counsel Daniel by letter on June 18, 2007.

Metcalf Complaint

On February 6, 2007, Newport resident Dan Metcalf, who worked as a bail bondsman at the time, was sitting on a bench downstairs at the Cocke County Courthouse.

Scottie Ellison, a local man who was facing charges of passing bad checks, reportedly asked Metcalf for advice, telling the bondsman he had been drug tested numerous times while on probation on the bad check charges.

"He asked me what I thought about it, and I told him I thought it was pretty strict to have someone repeatedly drug tested on a bad check charge," Metcalf said. "That was the extent of the conversation."

Apparently, Ellison spoke to someone from East Tennessee Probation and told that person that "he had overheard Dan Metcalf talking to others in a separate area of the courthouse about the propriety of private probation services in Cocke County," according to the three-judge investigative panel's findings.

The representative of East Tennessee Probation brought the matter to Judge Bell's attention and the judge called Ellison to the bench in open court.

"In this bench session, which is not recorded, it is the contention of Judge Bell that Ellison stated that Metcalf had earlier told him that 'probation was crooked [and] you was crooked,'" according to the panel's findings.

Metcalf was not in the courtroom for this bench conference and denies making statements of that nature to Ellison.

"Accepting these statements as true, Judge Bell had Metcalf immediately brought into open court and sworn," the panel found. "Judge Bell thereupon admonished Metcalf in open court that he considered Metcalf's remarks to be 'contemptuous and slanderous.'"

The judge did not tell Metcalf what comments he was talking about, nor did he give Metcalf an opportunity to respond, but he "threatened Metcalf in open court with contempt if he heard that similar statements were being made by him in the future," according to the panel's findings.

"The threat of contempt by Judge Bell in open court under these circumstances was improper and in violation of [specific canons of] the Code of Judicial Conduct" and state law, the investigative panel alleges in count three.

The Final Count

In count four of the notice of formal charges, the investigative panel alleges that in March of 2004, Judge Bell was a guest speaker at Grace Missionary Baptist Church and was paid $100 for the appearance.

"Judge Bell made no report of this extra-judicial compensation on his required Public Disclosure Report of Extra-Judicial Compensation for the year 2004," the investigative panel found.

Failing to disclose the payment was a violation of another canon of the Code of Judicial Conduct, the panel alleges.

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