At his plea hearing in open court on December 9, 2015, and in his plea documents, Maggio admitted that in 2013 he served as an elected circuit judge for the State of Arkansas, Twentieth Judicial District, Second Division, presiding over a civil matter filed in Faulkner County Circuit Court. The plaintiff in that matter, the estate of a decedent, filed a complaint alleging, among other things, that a Conway business, its owner, and others had neglected and mistreated the decedent leading to the decedent’s death while he was in their care. In early May 2013, the lawsuit proceeded to trial, with the business as the only defendant. On May 16, 2013, a jury returned a verdict in the plaintiff’s favor, awarding damages against the business in the amount of $5.2 million. Approximately one month later, on June 17, 2013, the business filed a motion for new trial or remittiture, seeking, among other things, to reduce the amount of damages awarded by the jury to the plaintiff. According to court documents, Maggio formally announced his candidacy for the Arkansas Court of Appeals on June 27, 2013, while the defendant’s post-trial motions were pending. On June 29, 2013, Maggio’s campaign fundraiser told him that the first $50,000 from the business was “on the way.” Maggio knew at the time that his money included Page 2 of 2 donations from the business owner. On or about July 8, 2013, Maggio’s campaign fundraiser received approximately $24,000 in donations from the business owner. Two days later—and after the campaign fundraiser and Maggio had communicated extensively regarding the litigation and the campaign—Maggio reduced the plantiff’s verdict to $1 million. It still amazes me that this stuff still goes on. This is such a strong argument for judges not to be popularly elected. The Founding Fathers had a good idea when they set up the federal judiciary.
Posted on: Fri, 09 Jan 2015 19:39:52 +0000