Judge kicked off cases over online comments

Matthew Glowicki | Louisville Courier Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Video | Judge Olu Stevens tells prosecutor he's "deeply offended" The following is a video compilation of excerpts from a hearing at which Jefferson Circuit Judge Olu Stevens sentenced Gregory Wallace, 27, to five years' probation for burglary and robbery with a handgun.

The local prosecutor's office has asked the chief justice of Kentucky to remove Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Olu Stevens from all criminal cases following comments Stevens made on his Facebook page that call into question his impartiality in those cases, the commonwealth argues.

Those comments, made on Stevens' personal Facebook page in recent weeks, stem from Stevens' dismissal of a November 2014 jury panel at the request of an African-American defendant's public defender because 40 of the 41 potential jurors were white.

Commonwealth's Attorney Tom Wine sent the request Wednesday afternoon to Kentucky Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr., asking he recuse Stevens from all criminal cases, an office spokesman confirmed, presumably leaving the judge only able to preside over civil matters.

Wine asked the Kentucky Supreme Court in January to clarify numerous legal questions stemming from the November 2014 decision, including if Stevens had the authority to dismiss the jury based on its racial composition.

On Tuesday, Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Dorislee Gilbert requested Stevens recuse himself from two cases, citing "inflammatory" social media comments.

That afternoon, Minton issued two orders removing Olu from the two cases, writing that the Wine "demonstrated disqualifying circumstances." Wine's Wednesday motion asks the justice to extend that order to all of Stephen's criminal cases. An office spokesman said he was unable to provide a copy of that motion late Wednesday.

In Facebook comments, Stevens wrote that Wine called him a racist and "set the media on (him) to deceive the people while he does his deeds."

"Going to the Kentucky Supreme Court to protect the right to impanel all-white juries is not where we need to be in 2015," Stevens posted online, as cited in an affidavit filed by Wine on Tuesday. "Do not sit silently. Stand up. Speak up."

Wine said in his affidavit such comments could bias potential jurors against the commonwealth attorney's office. He wrote the social media comments led him "to reasonably conclude that Judge Stevens cannot be fair and impartial on cases in which I or my assistants are involved."

Case after case Wednesday morning in Stevens' courtroom, Gilbert made that motion, asking Stevens to recuse himself, citing her motion from Tuesday and Minton's orders. Stevens denied each of Gilbert's motions Wednesday morning.

"Despite any disagreement with the Jefferson commonwealth's attorney himself," Stevens said in court Wednesday, he "is able to preside over cases and decide things fairly and impartially and consider all arguments that would be made by his assistants and his deputies without any bias against them whatsoever."

The defense in the November 2014 case, Commonwealth vs. James Doss, asked Stevens multiple times to dismiss the jury panel on grounds it did not reflect the diversity of the community.

Jefferson County is 73 percent white and 22 percent black, according to 2014 U.S. Census bureau data.

Prosecutors argued the jury panel had been selected randomly and properly and there was no reason to dismiss it. The defendant in the case was ultimately found not guilty.

On Sept. 25, the Kentucky Supreme Court granted Wine's request to look at the case, as first reported by WDRB News.

Last month, Stevens again dismissed an entire jury panel when he granted a motion that claimed the panel was not representative of the community, Wine said.

On his website, Wine said he does not advocate all white juries and is only seeking legal clarification and advocating for state law to be followed.

Taking to Facebook to address the request for Supreme Court certification, Stevens maintained the jury panel was dismissed because it was "not properly constituted" as it "represented a substantial departure from the racial make-up of the average jury panel."

Last week, Stevens addressed possible lasting effects of the current controversy.

"History will unfavorably judge a prosecutor who loses a jury trial in which a black man is acquitted and then appeals the matter claiming his entitlement to an all white jury panel," he wrote on Facebook. "No matter the outcome, he will live in infamy."

Councilwoman Jessica Green, a former commonwealth’s attorney, defended Stevens in a Facebook post Tuesday. Green, now a defense attorney, said she was “livid” over the situation.

“It's OK for judges to set high bonds, or to consistently deny relief to defendants with their ‘judicial discretion,’ but when you dare stand up and question racial bias and want to give defendants the opportunity to be judged by a jury of their peers, you should be removed,” Green wrote.

Sadiqa Reynolds, president and CEO of the Louisville Urban League, said it's time to re-examine jury selection.

“We do not live in a post-racial America and issues of race and racism exist and hit many of us in the face each and every day,” Reynolds said in a statement. “Thus, I would argue that not only does a judge have a right to dismiss a jury for lack of diversity; in fact, they ought to have a duty.”

Reynolds, a former Jefferson District Court judge, said she doesn’t believe Wine’s office is endorsing the right to have all-white juries. But she said the prosecutor’s office should insist on a jury panel that reflects the makeup of the community.

“I’m simply saying if the Kentucky Supreme Court rules that Judge Stevens did violate the law, then the law should be changed and if, in fact, there is no clear case law on the matter, it is past the time for creating it,” Reynolds said.

Reporter Matthew Glowicki can be reached at 502-582-4989 or mglowicki@courier-journal.com. Reporter Phillip Bailey also contributed to this story.