In the Matter of the Honorable Jennifer L. Koethe, Judge of the LaPorte Superior Court 3

Summary

The Indiana Supreme Court considered a judicial disciplinary action against Jennifer L. Koethe, Judge of the LaPorte Superior Court 3. The court accepted a conditional agreement finding that Koethe violated Canons 1(A) and 2(A) of the 2008 Indiana Code of Judicial Conduct by asking a police officer to dispose of a handwritten note during an investigation. The court imposed a 60-day suspension without pay, followed by a one-year disqualification from cases involving specified witnesses.

Holdings

1. Judge Koethe's request that a law enforcement officer dispose of potential evidence during an ongoing police investigation violated Canons 1(A) and 2(A) of the 2008 Code of Judicial Conduct.
2. Under the specific circumstances, the Court approved a sixty-day suspension without pay, followed by a one-year period of disqualification from cases involving specified law-enforcement witnesses or any witness who testified for the State at Koethe's criminal trial, together with the agreed therapeutic and reporting requirements.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the parties' conditional agreement for discipline should be approved in light of Judge Koethe's admitted violations of Canons 1(A) and 2(A) of the 2008 Code of Judicial Conduct.
2. What disciplinary sanction and related conditions were appropriate under the circumstances.

Disposition

other