ST. JOHN'S, Nfld.–A Labrador lawyer who was recently named a provincial court judge says he is stepping down from the appointment because of an impaired driving conviction 20 years ago he had "completely forgotten about."

It's not the first time questions surrounding Donald Singleton's appointment to the bench have been raised. Last week, the provincial government said Singleton pleaded guilty on a completely different matter – to two charges of possession under the Customs Act in 2005 after a federal probe into the sale and distribution of duty-free goods at a military base in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

For that, he was granted an absolute discharge, meaning his guilty plea didn't create a criminal record.

However, in an email sent late yesterday to The Canadian Press, Singleton said he wrote Newfoundland Justice Minister Tom Marshall informing him that he was withdrawing from the appointment.

Singleton, 48, wrote that he had received a call Friday advising him that a reporter had contacted the provincial court asking for his criminal record. A search was conducted and the reporter was told there was no record.

But a subsequent search on another system revealed an impaired driving conviction in the late 1980s, Singleton wrote in his note to The Canadian Press.

"I had completely forgotten about it and hence, had not disclosed it in my application to be a judge," he wrote.

"I did not wilfully hold that information back. I have always been a `warts and all' kind of guy. What you see is what you get. But that was a whole other lifetime ago before I met my wife and I had genuinely forgotten about it."

Still, Singleton said the revelation made him change his mind about accepting the appointment.

"Although I did genuinely forget about the impaired conviction, it nevertheless amounts to nondisclosure," he wrote.

"And I could not seek to have my appointment maintained for fear that it would impact the perception of the administration of justice. The public's view of the criminal justice system is already low (for reasons that have nothing to do with me)."

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Marshall confirmed he received Singleton's resignation letter yesterday. He said another judge tipped him off to the impaired driving conviction.

"My only comment would be that it (the conviction) ought not to have been forgotten," he said.