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Judge has until June 4 to respond to critics of her case backlog
NWI Times
May 23, 2003
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/time-running-out-for-kouros/article_221d50c1-a9d7-596b-82bf-0bc8e6d3bc15.html
INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana Supreme Court has agreed to order a Lake Criminal Court judge to defend her conduct in her courtroom or face removal from the bench.
On May 14, the Division of State Court Administration's office filed a harshly worded 13-page petition with the state's high court, asking it to order Judge Joan Kouros to explain why she should not be suspended.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court agreed, ordering Kouros to appear before them in person or submit in writing an answer responding to the serious allegations made by the Division of State Court Administration following on-site visits last year and last month.
Although Kouros did not respond to requests for an interview Thursday, her Indianapolis attorney, Kevin McGoff, said he likely will file the response as close to the June 4 deadline as possible.
"At this point, we have not really begun to strategize," McGoff said Thursday. "We just received the (order), and frankly it's been on my back burner today, I've had some other fires I've had to put out."
Kouros repeatedly has downplayed or denied the merit of the allegations against her, but in hiring McGoff -- considered one of Indiana's top "go-to guys" for lawyers in trouble -- it may be that the seriousness of the situation has finally sunk in.
"Basically, it's just a matter of time," said one Lake County judicial insider. "There is a mountain of evidence of her incompetence. Judges have been removed for a lot less."
What has been alleged by the state is that Kouros has lost control of the operation of her courtroom, and that cases are not being disposed of properly or in a timely manner.
This, the state said, has resulted in criminal defendants who are supposed to be released remaining in custody, defendants who are to remain in custody being released and inmates who are to be transferred to the custody of the state remaining in Lake County Jail for weeks and even months.
These are not isolated incidents, the state report said, but standard operating procedure in Kouros' court, not through deliberate acts but through negligence, incompetence and an unwillingness to adopt improved procedures to streamline the system.
As examples, the state has cited Kouros using "Post-It" notes stuck to file folders to remind her to enter decisions in cases, but that the notes often would fall off and the comments never be reduced to official orders.
According to the state, this has resulted in situations such as the following:
The arrest of a person on Oct. 6, 2002, on a warrant out of Kouros' court that had been recalled on Aug. 20. Because she did not reduce the recall order to writing, no order ever was transmitted to the clerk, and the defendant ended up being unnecessarily arrested and imprisoned.
The accidental release of a defendant following a felony conviction on Oct. 28, 2002. Although the defendant was convicted and was facing up to eight years at sentencing, Kouros did not remand the defendant to jail, and he posted bond and was released.
A defendant was discharged from probation on July 15, 2002, but because Kouros never signed the order, the person never was formally discharged and remained on probation.
Kouros signed a sentence modification reducing a sentence on Jan. 31, but never transmitted the order. The defendant, who should have been released immediately, remained in custody until Feb. 5, when then-Senior Judge Clarence Murray became aware of the situation and ordered the man's immediate release.
Although there has been talk in the courthouse of Kouros leaving the bench on a medical disability -- she has shown marked difficulty in walking at times -- McGoff said he has "never heard anything about that" or about Kouros resigning for any reason.
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