Spencer denies request for new judge

By Shawn McGrath, Herald Bulletin Staff Writer

May 13, 2009 01:14 am

— ANDERSON — A Madison County judge has denied a defense attorney’s request for a new judge despite the lawyer having filed a complaint against the judge with Indiana Commission of Judicial Qualifications.
Anderson attorney Jeff Lockwood filed the complaint in August 2008, alleging misconduct against Circuit Court Judge Fredrick Spencer.
Lockwood alleged Spencer committed wrongdoing by inappropriately talking with attorneys out of the presence of opposing counsel, deciding issues too quickly and on the basis of “improper communications,” and trying to take away a defendant’s right to appeal.
The complaint stemmed from the case of Kathy Jo Ward, who was convicted of voluntary manslaughter in June 2007 for shooting to death her husband. The charge is punishable by 20 to 50 years in prison. Lockwood and Bryan Williams of Anderson were Ward’s defense attorneys. Spencer sentenced Ward, who did not have a criminal history, to 30 years in prison, but later told Williams that he would modify the sentence to 20 years if Ward waived her right to appeal.
“He told Mr. Williams that because the (victim) was a black man killed by a white woman, he intended to impose the advisory sentence of 30 years so that the (victim’s) family members from Chicago would not be upset with the leniency of his sentence,” Lockwood writes in the complaint.
Lockwood filed a motion in April asking Spencer to recuse himself in the case of Ronald Terhune, 68, an Anderson resident charged in Circuit Court with multiple counts of child molestation. Lockwood argued in the motion that Spencer could not be impartial because of the complaint Lockwood filed against him. On Thursday, Lockwood filed the same motion on the same grounds in the case of Melissa Hazelwood, 40, a Grant County woman charged with embezzling money from an Elwood factory.
On Friday, Spencer denied both requests, saying in court documents that he “cannot think of any reason that the court is in any way not impartial.”
Spencer did not hold a hearing before deciding not to recuse himself in the cases. He said Lockwood did not request one.
Lockwood said Tuesday that he will file a motion in the coming days asking the judge to reconsider and to hold a hearing.
Spencer said he isn’t biased against Terhune or Hazelwood and doesn’t know either defendant. He declined to directly say if he is biased against Lockwood, however.
“Maybe we should talk about that at the hearing,” Spencer said. “I just don’t have anything to say.”
The defense attorney said the judge is biased against him because of the complaint under investigation by the judicial qualifications commission.
“I think it’s a little hard to believe he wouldn’t hold a little bias,” Lockwood said.
“The stakes are now for him very high,” the attorney continued. “At the very least he’s going to have to defend himself. I’m confident once he holds a hearing, he’ll change his mind.”

Contact Shawn McGrath: 640-4883, shawn.mcgrath @heraldbulletin.com