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Key Developments

• Judicial hearing officer recommends only public reprimand for Judge Shelley Joseph after finding she was unaware of plan to help migrant escape ICE detention at her courthouse
• 117-page report released Thursday by Massachusetts Judicial Conduct Commission rejects the commission's request for suspension and removal proceedings
• Disciplinary panel credited Joseph's testimony over defense attorney's account, concluding the judge "did not know about — much less authorize — the escape plan"

BOSTON, Nov 9 (USA HERALD) — A Massachusetts judge who faced criminal charges during the first Trump administration for allegedly helping a migrant avoid immigration arrest should receive only a public reprimand, a judicial disciplinary hearing officer concluded Thursday, because she was unaware of the plan to help the migrant escape.

The recommendation was contained in a 117-page report released by the Massachusetts Judicial Conduct Commission, which had launched the misconduct case against Judge Shelley Joseph last year over the same allegations at the heart of a since-dropped federal criminal case.

The public reprimand recommendation fell far short of the commission's request that Joseph also be suspended and referred to the state legislature and governor for removal.

"While I fully share the view that public trust in the judiciary is an important consideration, I disagree that Judge Joseph is unable to command the public's respect and authority in the future," hearing officer Denis McInerney wrote in the report.

Evidence, Records, and What We Can Prove

The case stems from an April 2018 incident at her Newton, Massachusetts, courthouse where Joseph allegedly allowed a Dominican man in a criminal case before her to avoid detention by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent by letting him leave the building through a rear door.

The Massachusetts Judicial Conduct Commission filed disciplinary charges against Joseph in December, after federal prosecutors dropped their indictment against her in 2022. The criminal case was dismissed when Trump left office in exchange for the judge referring herself to judicial disciplinary authorities.

Lawyers for the commission alleged that the plan was discussed during a 52-second sidebar proceeding that Joseph impermissibly allowed to go unrecorded at the request of the defendant's lawyer.

During a hearing in June, the lawyer, David Jellinek, testified that during the off-record sidebar, the judge agreed to his request to send his client downstairs to a court lockup area and allow him to accompany him, which would allow the man to leave through a backdoor, avoiding ICE.

However, McInerney's report concluded that Joseph "did not know about — much less authorize — the escape plan, and did not mislead court authorities following the incident."

McInerney said he did not find Jellinek's testimony to be credible or reliable. He noted that a prosecutor present at the sidebar neither heard the lawyer describe his plan nor Joseph authorize it, and McInerney credited Joseph's "clear statements" about the incident during her testimony.

Nonetheless, McInerney recommended that Joseph be publicly reprimanded for having "inadvertently" created the appearance of impropriety and bias through her communications with the defense counsel and prosecutor and for unknowingly violating a court rule by allowing the off-the-record sidebar to occur.