VB Judge censured by Va. Supreme Court

RICHMOND, Va. - The Supreme Court of Virginia has censured Virginia Beach Juvenile Domestic Relations Judge Ramona Taylor.

Thursday morning's vote was 5-2.

The opinion written by Justice Leroy Millette stated that the charges against Judge Taylor were founded.

The case that brought Judge Taylor's conduct before the Virginia Supreme Court involved a 17-year-old juvenile who admitted guilt to simple assault. He wanted to post bond to get out of jail, but Judge Taylor denied that. That, apparently, was where Judge Taylor was at legal fault.

Judge Taylor told the juvenile's Attorney Barry Koch that his client, who had just pleaded guilty, could not get bond pending the sentencing, "In fact, her decision was my client was not entitled to bond because of the nature of the pleadings....I disagreed with that," Koch told WAVY News 10 in May.

Then, in court documents obtained by WAVY.com, Taylor's accused of ordering the deputy clerk not to process Koch's appeal, so Koch sued the clerk to process the appeal.

"When the clerk would not process the appeal I had no choice but to file suit against the clerk to process the appeal...to Circuit Court," further explained Koch.

The circuit court ruled Judge Taylor was indeed legally wrong and granted bond to the juvenile who had been in jail an extra nine days.

"The Circuit Court said Judge Taylor was incorrect and that was the end of it," Judge Taylor's attorney Kevin Martingayle told WAVY News 10, also in May.

But that was not the end of it. Instead, it was just the beginning.

The parents of the 17-year-old filed a complaint against Judge Taylor and the judicial inquiry. The Review Commission concluded that Judge Taylor "violated the canons of judicial conduct" with a recommendation of censure.

That censure - an official reprimand -  stands with Thursday's Supreme Court of Virginia ruling.

Judge Taylor is up for General Assembly reappointment in 2012.

On the web:

SCOVA Opinion