Angela Stokes

Cleveland Municipal Judge Angela Stokes is under fire for how she runs her courtroom. The Ohio Supreme Court's Office of Disciplinary Counsel has recommended she undergo more scrutiny, including a psychiatric examination. (PD)

(PD)

Controversial Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Angela Stokes may be "suffering from a mental illness that substantially impairs her ability to perform her duties as a judicial officer," a complaint filed by the Supreme Court of Ohio's Office of Disciplinary Counsel concludes.

The complaint recommends to the Supreme Court of Ohio's Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline that Stokes be ordered to undergo a psychiatric examination.

The 49-page complaint states that Stokes abuses court resources, abuses lawyers and court staff and defendants who appear before her.

The Plain Dealer has previously documented the same complaints about Stokes and written columns about her, including one that noted the Disciplinary Counsel was tracking her.



The complaint does not force Stokes to step down. It represents the first step in the Ohio Supreme Court's process of evaluating the judge for discipline. The report was first made public by 19 Action News Reporter Paul Orlousky.

The Cleveland Municipal Court notes in a statement that the Ohio Supreme Court is a long way from making a final decision on Stokes.

"The full Board of Commissioners will hear the certified complaint and present its findings and recommendations," the statement reads. "The Board's findings and recommendations will be submitted to the justices of the Supreme Court, who may accept, modify or reject them. The Supreme Court's judgment on these matters will be final and until the Supreme Court acts on the complaint, this office will have no further comment."

The complaint was prepared by Lakewood attorney Michael Murman, a special prosecutor to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel.

The complaint says that since Stokes took the bench in 1995, she has consumed a disproportionate amount of the court's human and material resources "due to her inability to administer her docket in a timely manner, her lack of organization, and her unreasonable expectation that all court employees be at her beck and call."

Among the complaint's findings: Stokes employed 21 different personal bailiffs at 27 different times since 1995, a point made by the Plain Dealer in a 2009 story.

The report also accuses Stokes of prohibiting prosecutors, public defenders and private attorneys from asking questions about courtroom procedure. The complaint then details the stories of a half-dozen attorneys.

Stokes also treated defendants unfairly, the report says, noting that the judge reprimands, expels and places defendants in holding cells for minor infractions such as whispering.

About the call for a mental health evaluation, the complaint says Stokes' behavior "negatively impacted every component of the criminal justice system that has come into contact with."

Though Stokes, who is the daughter of former Cleveland Congressman Louis Stokes, has received poor ratings from bar associations and newspaper editorial boards, she has easily won re-elections.

This story was updated Oct. 22 to clarify that the document containing charges against Stokes is officially referred to by the Office of Disciplinary Counsel as a complaint, not a report.