crookedcountycrooks // April 30, 2009 at 5:37 p

ON another corrupt note: here is some news about yet another Crooked Circuit Court Judge that is in the same club as Judge Facemire!

calpattypress Says:
April 30, 2009 at 5:22 pm e

Another Good EXAMPLE of another BAD circuit court judge

LEWISBURG — An attorney’s effort to have Greenbrier County Circuit Judge James J. Rowe disqualified from hearing a civil case has brought to light an ethics complaint against the judge that would otherwise have remained shrouded in secrecy.

Barry Bruce, a Lewisburg attorney who unsuccessfully challenged Rowe in last fall’s general election, filed a complaint against the judge with the Judicial Investigation Commission on Jan. 7. In that complaint, Bruce alleges Rowe made “a false statement of material fact” when taking the state bar exam in 1978.

Bruce claims Rowe misrepresented his academic credentials. Rowe obtained his law degree from the International School of Law, which was never accredited by the American Bar Association, according to the complaint.

In an April 2 letter to the JIC, Rowe acknowledged “at the time of my graduation my law school had not yet been accredited.” He continued, “Members of my class of what was then known as the International School of Law were granted permission to sit for the Virginia State Bar exam.”

Rowe passed the Virginia Bar exam in July 1977; he was admitted to the state bar in the Old Dominion that fall. The next year, he was advised by a member of the West Virginia State Bar that he could take the West Virginia Bar exam if he could demonstrate he had successfully passed the bar exam in another state, Rowe wrote the JIC. He passed the West Virginia exam in February 1978.

Generally, JIC proceedings are confidential until the commission makes a determination that probable cause exists to pursue disciplinary action against the judge against whom the complaint was filed. At that point, the nine-member commission refers the matter on to the state Supreme Court for action. Then, and only then, is even the existence of the complaint publicly confirmed, according to Jennifer Bundy, the high court’s public information officer.

This particular complaint saw the light of day because of a motion made by attorney Carl Roncaglione Jr. seeking Rowe’s disqualification to preside over a case involving a land dispute between David Ryder and First National Bank. Roncaglione represents Ryder.

In an April 14 letter to Chief Justice Brent Benjamin, Rowe notes the arguments presented by Roncaglione in favor of recusal echo the allegations Bruce made to the JIC in January. Certain supporting documents, including copies of Bruce’s complaint and Rowe’s response, were placed in the civil case file at the Greenbrier County Courthouse.

Rowe maintains there is no basis for his disqualification from the Ryder civil case, just as there is no basis for Bruce’s complaint to the JIC.

As of Wednesday, the chief justice had not responded to Rowe’s letter regarding the recusal, nor did the Supreme Court clerk’s office have any record of a JIC recommendation regarding Bruce’s complaint.

As to the latter issue, Bundy said, “That just means that no probable cause has been found. So either the Judicial Investigation Commission is still investigating or they’re finished and no probable cause for further action was found.”

WV had a policy which did not permit a person to take the bar exam who had not graduated from a non-ABA approved law school. WE FOUND THE POLICY!

you can stick the policy where the sun dont shine coz nobody is gonna do nothin norman

I am filing a complaint with the judiciary next week. I have found proof that he cheated to get his law license.