Louisville Judge Olu Stevens accuses top prosecutor of "continued pattern of harassment"

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Olu Stevens has accused Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Tom Wine of a “continued pattern of harassment” because he disagrees with the judge's rulings in dismissing juries that have too few black citizens, according to court records.

In a response sent to the Kentucky Supreme Court earlier this month, Stevens said Wine’s argument to remove the judge from a recent robbery trial was a “pretext for his dissatisfaction” with a ruling to dismiss the jury.

Stevens called the motion for his removal “disingenuous, frivolous and in violation of the principles of judicial independence," according to the response.

And an attorney with the Louisville Public Defender’s office filed an affidavit in support of Stevens, saying at least part of Wine’s most recent motion was “not a fair and accurate characterization” of the judge's actions.

The most recent battle between Stevens and Wine started Feb. 9, when Stevens said he was going to dismiss a jury for a lack of black members then sealed a video of the hearing and issued a gag order forbidding attorneys from talking about the proceedings.

Wine appealed the ruling and asked Kentucky Chief Justice John Minton to remove Stevens from Charles Evans’ robbery trial in part because of the "unjustified" gag order.

A Kentucky Court of Appeals judge halted the Evans trial until the appeals court could hear arguments about whether Stevens had acted properly in dismissing the jury because of a lack of minorities.

On Tuesday, Wine also asked Minton to remove Stevens from the March 1 trial of Ronald Johnson, who is charged with robbery. Minton, who has removed Stevens from several criminal cases in the last few months, has not yet ruled on the motion.

As part of his motions, Wine alleged that that when Stevens issued the gag order, "he aggressively directed his comments" at prosecutors and said no one should call the media and "he did not want to see a camera in the courtroom.”

Wine called the gag order "unnecessary and unjustified" and wrote that the judge's "aggressive tone of voice and demeanor toward my assistants" showed he could not be impartial in presiding over a trial.

But in his response, Stevens denied showing any bias toward prosecutors and said he had no issues with the prosecutor in the Evans case.

“I have always found him competent, able and well prepared for trial,” Stevens said of Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Alex Gaddis. “He is welcome to try cases in front of me anytime and I will continue to fairly and impartially preside over his cases.”

And in his affidavit, defense attorney Kennedy also noted that the gag order was issued to all attorneys, not just the prosecution.

Kennedy said Stevens issued the gag order, at least in part, because he didn’t want the jury panel “exposed at all to what’s going on at this point.”

And Kennedy said a prosecutor, Gaddis, shouted out in the courtroom, "never have, not one time" about contacting the media. Stevens responded, according to Kennedy, "I am not accusing you."

Jefferson County Jury Administrator Janet Irwin and Appeals Court Judge Denise Clayton, head of the Racial Fairness Commission, both testified during the Feb.9 sealed hearing.

In his recusal motion, Wine said Stevens questioned the "ethics" of prosecutors, with the judge indicating he believed the commonwealth called Clayton, who is black, to testify so she would be disqualified from reviewing his actions as an appeals court judge. Clayton is the only black judge on the appeals court.

In his affidavit, however, Kennedy said that, in actuality, Stevens had questioned the ethics of calling a judge to testify in a court proceeding. Ultimately, Stevens allowed the prosecution to call Clayton as a witness, Kennedy said.

Stevens has criticized Wine and his office repeatedly since a WDRB story in October reporting that Wine had asked the state Supreme Court to determine whether the judge was abusing his power by dismissing a jury because he felt it was lacking enough black people. The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the issue.

The state Judicial Conduct Commission is investigating Stevens, in part, for insinuating on Facebook that Wine is racist and wanted "all-white juries."

Stevens has refused to recuse himself in criminal cases.

Minton has removed Stevens from some cases but denied a request to disqualify Stevens from all criminal cases, saying it was beyond the scope of his responsibility and, if granted, would essentially amount to removing Stevens from the bench.

While the chief justice has harshly criticized Stevens, he referred the request to the Judicial Conduct Commission for possible disciplinary action.

It is unknown when the commission will rule on whether Stevens has violated the code of judicial conduct.