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HenchPAC NewsOn Tuesday, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Leon Johnson will again be simply Little Rock attorney Leon Johnson.
The seven-month appointee to the county's 5th Division Circuit Court hung up his robe Friday and with it put away the chance that he would preside over the case that thrust his name into news stories across the country: President Clinton's disbarment trial.
As he's done since he took the case in July, Johnson refused to discuss the case Friday. Following the rules got him to where he is, he said Friday, and he's not about to stop now.
"Until the 31st I'm still the judge, and I believe the [canons of judicial ethics] prohibit me from talking about a case before this court," he said.
Johnson, 39, was appointed by Gov. Mike Huckabee on June 1 to fill the judicial seat vacated by Judge Morris Thompson.
The Supreme Court found that Thompson should be removed from office for violating judicial canons by practicing law while he was a judge, failing to disclose legal fees he received as outside income, writing 59 hot checks, failing to pay income taxes and using fictitious automobile tags.
Though only a judge for seven months, Johnson said Friday he believes the lessons he learned behind the bench will be invaluable when he returns to practicing law, mostly criminal defense. Johnson said he plans to return to Wilson & Associates, which he joined in February 1999. He already has a trial scheduled for the second week of January.
"It was exciting. I learned a whole lot, and I anticipate being a better lawyer when I get back," he said.
Willard Proctor Jr., who beat out Thompson in the ousted judge's bid for re-election in the May 23 primary, will take over the 5th Division judgeship today. Proctor faced no opponent in the November general election.
First Division Circuit Judge Marion Humphrey said both men have what it takes to wear a judge's robe. He even loaned Johnson one of his during the past seven months.
"[Johnson] was a hard worker and dedicated," Humphrey said. "I think he enjoyed the respect of everyone I spoke with."
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Hugh Finkelstein, who worked in the 5th Division while Johnson was on the bench, said Johnson handled the paperwork and in-court interactions that come with being a judge well.
"There was no catching on. ... He knew what he was doing," Finkelstein said.
The disbarment case filed against Clinton by the state's lawyer-discipline panel came to Johnson's court in July after four other Pulaski County circuit judges recused. In August, Marie-Bernarde Miller of Little Rock, attorney for the Supreme Court's Committee on Professional Conduct, sent Johnson a strongly worded letter stressing how important she felt it was for him to try the case before leaving office. Miller also said in the letter that the committee believes Proctor has a conflict that may keep him from trying the case.
"We believed that Your Honor's decision to accept this case indicated that Your Honor intended to complete the case by, or before, the end of Your Honor's term," Miller wrote. "It appears that we were mistaken. Your Honor's decision to treat this case as any other case on the docket causes us serious concern."
Miller wouldn't comment Friday on whether she was disappointed Johnson left office without hearing the Clinton case.
"I really don't want to comment on any actions that were taken or weren't taken by the court in this matter," she said.
As he spent a few last hours in the office he occupied on the Pulaski County Courthouse's fourth floor, Johnson said that while being appointed to finish Thompson's term was an honor, being a good Christian, husband and father to his two young sons have always been his top priorities.
Johnson said that although his time as a judge was short, he hopes he's had an effect on those who came before him. If he's earned respect, he said, he hopes it's for treating others fairly and as equals.
"I don't walk around the courthouse saying, 'I'm the guy who grabbed the Clinton case and now I'm famous,' " Johnson said.
He also acknowledges with a laugh that while his name made it into headlines in the past months, no one may care after today what he has to say about the Clinton case.
As for whether he'll ever run for a judgeship, Johnson said he doesn't know. He'll go where God leads him, he said.
"Life is simple," Johnson said. "I think we make it complicated."
HENCH adds: Another Slick scumbag.
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