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| Ronnie Goldy Jr. |
“He has abused his office, abused the trust of the public and brought the legal system of Kentucky into disrepute,” said the petition, filed July 14 at the court.
“His conduct shows a clear lack of fitness to practice law in Kentucky, much less represent the commonwealth in serious criminal matters,” says the pleading, filed by the Kentucky Bar Association’s chief bar counsel Jane Herrick.
The inquiry commission said it found probable cause to believe Goldy poses a substantial threat of harm to the public.
It asked the court as soon as possible to order him to show cause why he should not be temporarily suspended.
An inquiry commission initiates disciplinary charges against attorneys.
The Courier Journal reported July 12 that in 230 pages of Facebook messages from 2018 to 2020, Goldy, the elected prosecutor for Bath, Menifee, Montgomery and Rowan counties, told defendant Misty Helton if she sent him the nude images, he would talk to judges about continuing her cases and setting aside warrants.
The petition incorporates the Courier Journal’s story and six of the messages excerpted by the newspaper.
It says that in addition to moving for the temporary suspension, the inquiry panel also has initiated disciplinary proceedings against Goldy. If they are sustained, Goldy could be reprimanded, suspended or disbarred.
Neither Goldy nor his lawyer, James Davis, responded to a request for comment.
Goldy has denied he did favors for Helton but declined to offer any explanation for the messages, which emerged in an unrelated criminal case against a former judge.
The inquiry panel said the messages demonstrate Goldy’s “quid pro quo expectation on multiple occasions” that he get photos or videos for his “intervention in her interest.”
The president of the Kentucky Commonwealth’s Attorneys’ Association and all three commonwealth’s attorneys on the state Prosecutors Advisory Council have said Goldy should resign if the allegations are true.
The attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to a question about who would appoint Goldy’s temporary successor.
R. Michael Cassidy, the author of “Prosecutorial Ethics,” a leading work on the topic, was quoted in the story saying that “even a fifth-grader would know this is inappropriate and doesn’t pass the smell test.”
Former prosecutors said Goldy may have committed a crime.
In one of the messages, Goldy asked Helton, “When do I get to see a video?” and she replied, “When I do I not have a warrant hahaha.”
In another, she asked him, “What do I need to do to get that warrant taken care of — besides the obvious, lmao." Goldy responded, “Let me ask the judge tomorrow.”
Louisville attorney Thomas
Clay, who represents former Judge Beth Maze in a criminal case and who
provided the messages to The Courier Journal, said the inquiry panel had
taken "swift and appropriate measures to investigate the allegations
against Mr. Goldy."
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