ACTION AGAINST DRUG JUDGE IS TOUGH ON COURT

Warshawsky Penalty Means Heavy Caseload

The Oakland County Circuit Court, reeling from allegations a drug
judge may have rigged cases in favor of the prosecution, is bracing for
what could be a massive workload left by the suspended judge and the
appeals expected to be filed in his wake.

Chief Judge Barry Howard said he and 16 fellow circuit court judges are
considering reassigning the most pressing cases -- involving defendants
who have been convicted and are in jail -- to sitting judges handling
family matters, such as divorce and custody. There are four such judges
on the circuit court bench and two on the probate bench.

Howard also ordered Wednesday that all jury deliberation rooms in the
courthouse be soundproofed, because one of the allegations involves
Judge Meyer Warshawsky eavesdropping on jury deliberations in a drug
trial, then advising the prosecutor.

At the same time, Howard said Wednesday he expected attorneys
representing hundreds of cases handled by Warshawsky, suspended from
the bench last week, to ask for reviews and in some cases new trials.

"There is the perception out there that in this courtroom, justice may
not have been done," said Howard, who is acting as drug judge
temporarily. "Which is not to say we will retry hundreds of cases. It
may be a hundred, it may be a couple, but we're going to look at each
case and decide."

The county is expected to begin the soundproofing within weeks. There
was no cost estimate available Wednesday.

As Howard was working on the fallout of Warshawsky's suspension,
Michigan State Police investigators were interviewing prosecutors and
other witnesses and were expected to continue their interviews today.

The investigation was prompted by Warshawsky's law clerk, who reported
to the chief judge last week that Warshawsky tried to help Assistant
Prosecutor Beth Hand gain convictions in six drug cases before him.
Besides the eavesdroping, the allegations included that he coached
prosecution witnesses and allowed sequestered witnesses to watch
testimony from a monitor in his chamber.

Such allegations, if true, could prompt charges of witness tampering
and obstruction of justice.

Warshawsky, through his attorney, has denied he assisted prosecutors or
acted inappropriately.

Hand, who joined the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office in 1992 after
receiving her law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy,
continues to work as a prosecutor and has declined to comment. She has
referred questions to her supervisors, who say they are cooperating
with the investigation.

Court administrators were working Wednesday with county computer
experts to compile a list of cases Warshawsky has come in contact with
since he was appointed a visiting judge in 1996. The number, which will
include trials and pleas, is expected to be several hundred.

Warshawsky, as drug judge, handled cases assigned to him by the circuit
court bench and sent hundreds of people to jail on sentences ranging
from probation to life in prison.

The county is searching for somebody to help with the 100-plus cases
that were on his docket when he was removed from the bench Aug. 8.
Howard said the bench would look for an elected judge, then put a
retired visiting judge in that judge's spot.

Professor Alan Saltzman, a criminal law expert at U-D Mercy law school,
predicted Howard will face a tremendous challenge in sorting out the
massive amount of cases and deciding which ones require new trials.

New trials, Saltzman said, would not be automatic in all convictions,
but a thorough review of each case that came before Warshawsky would be
needed.

"Everyone is entitled to an impartial judge. Look at it from a defense
attorney's point of view," Saltzman said. "Maybe you don't have any
evidence there was bias in your particular case, but you say, 'Look, he
did it in all these cases, he's biased.' The chief judge is going to
have to look at these cases and decide, in his heart, if he was
impartial. It is just an amazing situation."

Saltzman predicted Warshawsky's sentencings would come under scrutiny,
too.

"A judge can have a lot of discretion when it comes to sentencing,"
Saltzman said. "And part of this is going to wash out because some of
the people who may have been affected have already done their time."