Beach judge fights for reputation

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - A Virginia Beach Judge is under the State Supreme Court microscope.

A circuit court judge ruled Virginia Beach Juvenile Domestic Relations Judge Ramona Taylor is wrong, a court commission ruled she's wrong, and now she's fighting for her judicial reputation.

The case in question 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 appears to be where Judge Taylor could be at legal fault.

Judge Ramona Taylor is known as a meticulous judge which makes her predicament that much more surprising. Judge Taylor's attorney Kevin Martingayle told WAVY.com, "She believed this was at a stage of the proceedings between guilt and sentencing and that this was not an appealable point."

Judge Taylor told 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 said.

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 the 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," says Martingayle. That was not the end of it, 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.

A stunned Martingayle said, "Judges only get punished if they behave badly or defy a high court's order, or knowingly defy the law. Judge Taylor did none of this."

Martingayle points to the stipulation agreed on by the judicial commission:

"Judge Taylor...did not state to the deputy clerk...the appeal should not be accepted."

Even Koch was surprised at how this all turned out. He said, "These are very rare decisions. Of course I was surprised...Judge Taylor is a fine judge who has made many good decisions."

Martingayle says Taylor faces reprimand only, not removal from the bench.

Here's the trouble for Judge Taylor -- she is up for General Assembly reappointment in 2012. Regardless of what happens before the State Supreme Court in September, it's possible this comes back to haunt Judge Taylor when the General Assembly considers her reappointment.