GILBERT SCHEDULED TO RETURN MONDAY

Judge Will Begin With Civil Cases, Then Criminal Cases Except Drunken
Driving And Marijuana

TRAVERSE CITY - When District Judge Thomas Gilbert returns to work Monday
morning - after a nearly six-week absence prompted by revelations that he
smoked marijuana - he'll be returning to a much different court.

In his first week back, he will hear only civil cases such as small claims
and landlord-tenant disputes. Those cases represent about 15 percent of the
court's docket and are generally less time-consuming than criminal cases.

Gilbert is scheduled to take a two-week vacation after his first week back.
If he takes that vacation, he also will hear certain criminal cases, except
drunken driving and marijuana cases, when he returns in January.

Gilbert, who is one of three judges in the 86th District Court, has spent 28
days in rehabilitation for substance abuse. He went on voluntary leave on
Nov. 6 after he was spotted taking two puffs from a marijuana cigarette at a
Rolling Stones concert in October, a lapse in judgment he blamed on alcohol
abuse.

Since then, the board of governors for the bar association that represents
the district, which includes Grand Traverse, Leelanau and Antrim counties,
has called for his resignation. Although some attorneys have come forward to
support him, the Antrim County Board of Commissioners last week joined the
call for Gilbert to resign.

More likely than not, Gilbert will have to preside over cases involving
attorneys who have publicly questioned his integrity and called for his
resignation.

Thomas Byerley, ethics counsel for the State Bar of Michigan, said the
lawyers who have criticized Gilbert should have no problem practicing before
him.

"The ethical key is whether or not the judge feels a bias for or against any
party," Byerley said.

Byerley said merely calling for a judge's resignation shouldn't rise to an
issue that would create a problem in the courtroom.

"Everyone has the right to express their opinion on an issue like that," he
said.

If an attorney or a litigant thinks they can't get a fair hearing before
Gilbert, Chief District Judge Michael Haley said the court is willing to
listen to motions asking for Gilbert's removal from a case.

Byerley said those motions would be ruled on first by Gilbert, then Haley,
and finally, if the parties remained unsatisfied, by a circuit judge.

Attorney Paul Jarboe, chairman of the district court judicial liaison
committee and a bar association board of governors member who called for
Gilbert's resignation, agreed.

Jarboe said he believes attorneys who have publicly condemned Gilbert should
be able to expect fairness in Gilbert's court.

"I would hope that not only the lawyer, but Judge Gilbert himself will be
prepared to separate his official duties from the public positions that
members of the bar have taken about whether he should remain in office,"
Jarboe said.

"There's a separation between the position that he holds and his individual
actions," he continued. "I would suspect all lawyers would still have
respect for the position that he holds."

Haley said the restrictions placed on Gilbert's docket will be indefinite.
He said the court has worked with the State Court Administrative Office to
prepare for Gilbert' return.

Marcia McBrien, spokesperson for the State Court Administrative Office, said
Gilbert's restrictions will be indefinite until her office receives more
information about Gilbert's participation in substance abuse rehabilitation
and recommendations about future treatment and counseling.

McBrien said she couldn't say what could prompt approval for Gilbert to
preside over drunken driving and marijuana cases.

"As you can imagine in a case like this, it's very fact-specific and each
situation like this has to be judged on its own merits," she said. "Whatever
information he gives to the State Court Administrator will be assessed."

Haley does not anticipate the restrictions placed on Gilbert will create a
backlog of cases because Haley already handles most of the court's drunken
driving cases. Most of those cases are handled in Haley's "drug court," a
diversion program for substance abuse offenders.

Retired Judge James McCormick, who returned to the court to help prevent a
log jam of cases that could have resulted from Gilbert's extended leave,
finished a stint as a visiting judge at the court the first week of
December.

Haley said he doesn't anticipate that McCormick will be needed in the
future, even though Gilbert is scheduled to take a two-week vacation shortly
after his return.

Haley said Gilbert's docket for that period was cleared much earlier in the
year so Gilbert's absence won't disrupt the court's docket.

But Haley said he is not certain Gilbert will take a vacation.

"He may decide when he gets back to not take the vacation," Haley said.