Judge Walker responds to suspension motion

The saga from the 13th District of Chancery Court continues to unfold, as Chancellor Judge Joe Dale Walker responded to motions from the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance this week.

Walker responded to the commission’s recommendation that he be temporarily suspended from the bench pending investigation into the matter of a conservatorship and the ultimate building of a house for Victoria Denise Newsome of Magee.

Walker’s motion asserts that because the court officer, Keely McNulty, invoked her Fifth Amendment rights and refused to testify at the Show Cause Hearing in the case, she “labeled herself a legal miscreant and, therefore her word was doubtful.”

“Miscreant” is a term for a person who performs criminally or breaks the law. McNulty had been appointed by Judge Walker as Guardian Ad Liteum and Conservator for Victoria Newsome.

Despite the fact that McNulty is at legal odds with Judge Walker, she is still employed with the chancery court and circuit court as a staff attorney and being paid indirectly by Simpson County taxpayers. She draws $48,250 annually from the Office of Administrative Courts, according to documents dated January 7, 2013. She was given a raise to $53,750 on August 15 according to court documents.
 
The recommendation to suspend Judge Walker comes based on two issues: the unofficial conversations between the judge and McNulty and the lack of court orders approving actions of the court, specifically spending funds belonging to Victoria Newsome without court orders.

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Judge Walker responds to suspension motion