In re Lallo
Rhode Island Supreme Court
768 A.2d 921 (2001)
- Written by Abby Roughton, JD
Facts
John Lallo (defendant) was a Rhode Island state judge on the Administrative Adjudication Court (AAC). In October 2000, Lallo was notified by the Rhode Island Commission on Judicial Tenure and Discipline (the commission) (plaintiff) that substantial evidence existed to support charging Lallo with violations of Rhode Island’s Code of Judicial Conduct. Lallo was an admitted gambling addict, and the commission had evidence that on 66 days between 1993 and 1997, Lallo had been absent during work hours because he was gambling at a public casino in Connecticut. On the days he left work to gamble, Lallo arrived to work early and completed his judicial calendar and any other work assigned to him by the AAC’s chief judge before leaving. In addition to the gambling, the commission had evidence that while Lallo was a sitting judge, he had knowingly made a false statement related to a personal bankruptcy petition and pleaded guilty to violating a federal statute prohibiting the making of false declarations before a court or grand jury. Lallo’s guilty plea resulted in a felony conviction that mandated Lallo’s removal from judicial office. Lallo admitted to the matters in the commission’s violation notice. The commission’s final report concluded that a substantial sanction should be imposed in addition to Lallo’s mandatory removal required by the felony conviction. The commission unanimously recommended requiring Lallo to reimburse Rhode Island taxpayers $28,000, which represented Lallo’s entire salary for the days that he had left the AAC during work hours to gamble in Connecticut. Lallo appealed the commission’s recommendation, arguing that the $28,000 sanction was a penal sanction that the commission did not have the jurisdiction to recommend and that the Rhode Island Supreme Court did not have the jurisdiction to impose. Lallo also argued that the commission had deprived him of his right to a jury trial before imposing the penal sanction.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Per curiam)
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