newsminer.com

The Alaska Judicial Council says voters should check the “no” box when it comes to retaining District Court Judge Dennis Cummings, who is the subject of an ethics investigation and who received mediocre ratings from members of the Alaska Bar Association.

The Bethel judge is one of three judges in the Fourth Judicial District who will appear on the Nov. 4 ballot. The other two judges are from Fairbanks.

Cummings is being criticized for a lack of impartiality, lack of candor and inadequate legal knowledge.

The judicial council also contends Cummings can’t control his courtroom and had inappropriate contact with a witness, according to a news release.

Cummings, a former assistant district attorney, was appointed to the bench in 2005 by Gov. Frank Murkowski.

The judge is under investigation by another panel, the Alaska Commission on Judicial Contact, after the Alaska Department of Law and the Alaska Public Defender Agency filed ethics complaints.

Cummings is accused of improperly passing a note with advice to an Alaska State Trooper who was serving as a witness in one of his trials.

Cummings referred all questions to Jonathon Katcher, the attorney who will be representing him in mid-November when the conduct commission will decide if the matter deserves sanctions.

“He recognizes that he made a mistake in the manner in which he handled that particular transaction,” Katcher said, “but he does not believe that would merit any significant discipline. He is looking forward to the voters retaining him to continue to serve the people of Bethel.”

As far as the other criticisms, Katcher said the judicial council is wrong.

“Our position is that the judge does his best to be a fair, neutral and impartial decision-maker regarding every matter that comes before him,” Katcher said. “The judge maintains that he has been candid and forthright in all of his dealings with the court, the Bar and the public.”

The council based its decision on a variety of factors, including surveys of various court system constituencies. Details of the surveys are available on the judicial council’s Web site at www.ajc.state.ak.us/retent08/retgen08.htm.

“We had a number of concerns expressed to us, and we felt that we needed to investigate those concerns,” council executive director Larry Cohn said.

Getting a “do not retain” recommendation is very rare. Cohn said it’s only the second time since 1988 that the council has given the recommendation.

The council talked to Cummings and was troubled by “substantial inconsistencies” with his candor during his interviews, Cohn said.

Cummings received unusually low ratings on his surveys compared with other judges throughout the years, Cohn added.

Members of the Alaska Bar Association gave Cummings a rating of 2.9 on a five-point scale in the areas of legal ability and temperament. A score of three is acceptable, while two is deficient.

Cummings, along with the rest of the judges, was evaluated in the areas of integrity, diligence and impartiality. His overall score from attorneys was 3.0.

Jurors, court system employees and peace officers also were surveyed, providing Cummings’ overall scores of 4.3, 3.5 and 3.9 respectively.

Voters in the Interior will be asked whether they want to retain four other judges, two in Fairbanks and two who serve statewide. The judicial council recommended these four judges for retention:

• Judge Robert B. Downes is facing retention for the first time. He was in private practice before Murkowski appointed him to the Fairbanks Superior Court in 2005. Downes received an overall rating of 3.7 from attorneys surveyed by the judicial council. Jurors gave Downes’ performance a 4.6, while peace officers and court system employees gave him an overall score of 4.3.

• Judge Raymond Funk has weathered retention twice since then-Gov. Tony Knowles appointed him to the Fairbanks District Court in 1998. The former assistant attorney general received overall scores of 4.3 from attorneys, 4.8 from jurors, 4.5 from peace officers and 4.0 from court system employees.

• Justice Robert L. Eastaugh has served on the Alaska Supreme Court since former Gov. Walter Hickel appointed him to the state’s highest court in 1994. This is his third retention vote. Attorneys and court system employees both gave the former private attorney an overall score of 4.5.

• Robert G. Coats is the Chief Judge of the Alaska Court of Appeals and has sat on the panel since 1980 when then-Gov. Jay Hammond appointed the former assistant attorney general. The electorate has voted to retain him three times. Attorneys gave Coats’ performance an overall score of 4.2, while court system employees gave him a 4.6.

All state judges must survive a retention vote every two to 10 years to keep their jobs. A dozen judges statewide are up for retention this year.