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December 20, 2007

State seeks removal of Ellenburg town justice

State seeks removal of Ellenburg official

By RACHAEL OSBORNE

ELLENBURG -- A state disciplinary panel wants to remove a local town justice over professional misconduct.

The State Commission on Judicial Conduct says Ellenburg Justice Dennis LaBombard should be removed for "willful misdeeds" and a blatant disregard for the high ethical standards of the job.

LaBombard is appealing the recommendation.

The panel says LaBombard gave his step-grandchildren lenient sentences, tried to get another judge to go easy on one of his step-grandsons, changed bail after a defendant's mother asked for it outside of court and asserted his judicial office after he was involved in a minor car accident.

LaBombard was served with a formal written complaint dated Sept. 22, 2006, containing seven charges. On Nov. 1, 2007, the commission found four of the charges to be substantiated.

Some charges dismissed

Charges found not substantiated and dismissed included that LaBombard improperly delegated his judicial duties, condoned a display in the court office that mocked two state troopers and failed to supervise his court clerk who reportedly obtained and filed a false statement as a complaint against his election opponent.

The commission concluded the totality of LaBombard's "willful misdeeds, both on and off the bench, shows a blatant disregard for the high ethical standards required of judges and renders him unfit to remain in office."

The panel is recommending the Court of Appeals remove LaBombard, in part, for granting a lenient sentence in a trespassing case involving his two step-grandchildren, then allowing them to skip community service, which the prosecutor had required as part of the plea deal.

"Right now, I feel the commission's determination of removal is extremely excessive and very unjust," LaBombard said Thursday.

He wouldn't comment on any specific charges but said he is working with his attorney to appeal the case through the State Court of Appeals.

LaBombard has been a town justice in Clinton County for 12 years.

E-mail Rachael Osborne at:

rosborne@pressrepublican.com

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