GILBERT'S STATUS AS INDEFINITE AS HIS LEAVE

Judge Who Admitted Smoking Pot Could Face Any Of Several Penalties - When
Panel Gets To It

TRAVERSE CITY - After confessing earlier this week to having smoked
marijuana at a Rolling Stones concert in Detroit, District Judge Thomas
Gilbert voluntarily took leave of his duties indefinitely. But what happens
to Gilbert now - and what his future holds - seem to offer equally
indefinite answers.

Paul Fischer, executive director of the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission,
the agency charged with overseeing judges' ethics, said it could be months
or even years before the commission decides, what, if any, measures should
be taken against Gilbert for his admitted misconduct.

Fischer said someone in Gilbert's position could face a range of penalties,
from being publicly or privately censured to being suspended with or without
pay. He could face other restrictions or penalties at the local level as
well, such as being precluded from presiding over criminal cases, Fischer
said.

But any punishment handed out by the commission only would occur should a
complaint against Gilbert be deemed "formal," Fischer said, noting that his
agency cannot even comment on the existence of a complaint against an
individual until it reaches that status.

"The commission operates under strict rules of confidentiality," Fischer
explained.

Fischer said once the commission receives a complaint, an investigation is
launched to verify the account, interview witnesses and pull court records,
if necessary. If the commission determines the complaint is worth pursuing,
it is stamped a formal complaint and made public.

"It can take between three months and a year to get to the formal complaint
stage," Fischer said.

The accused is allowed his or her own legal representation, he said, and the
state Supreme Court ultimately imposes any sanction.

Fischer said only about 70 complaints have ever made it to the formal stage
since the inception of the Judicial Tenure Commission, which according to
its Web site was created in 1968. Of those 70 formal complaints, Fischer
said only a handful are related to substance abuse - and that is alcohol.

In terms of how long the formal complaint process could take, Fischer
pointed to the case of District Court Judge Susan Chrzanowski, a downstate
judge accused of having an illicit affair with a married man who was later
convicted in the second degree murder of his wife.

Fischer said the incident occurred in August 1999 but complaints to the
Judicial Tenure Commission against Chrzanowski for violating judicial code
of conduct and making false statements to police did not become formal until
April 2000. It took until December 2001 for the commission to issue
Chrzanowski a six months suspension without pay.

The process can go more quickly, Fischer said, "but for some that is not
considered possible."

As for Gilbert, who has two years left in his four-year term as district
court judge, Traverse City attorney Ken Petterson said it's hard to
speculate what impact a formal complaint might have on his political future.

Petterson, who challenged Gilbert for his seat on the bench in the 2000
election, said no political candidate would ever favor being in the judge's
current situation. And it's impossible, he said, to speculate how voters
might react at the polls.

"This is tough, very tough. ... It casts a cloud on the courts, the lawyers.
It's disappointing and unfortunate," Petterson said. "I've read Judge
Gilbert's statement and I think it was appropriate, and I wish him the best
in whatever course of action he terms necessary."

In a written statement earlier this week, Gilbert said: "I deeply regret
this error in judgment, for I have let down my fellow judges, the court
staff, my family, and the community."

While Gilbert is off the bench indefinitely, Petterson said he is confident
that Chief District Judge Michael Haley, District Judge Thomas J. Phillips
and the staff at the 86th District Court are prepared to handle the heavier
docket load.

Said Petterson: "The judges and staff they have over there are very
efficient. They're very capable of this scheduling."