Judge's case has lawyers sparring

The battle between a judge's lawyer and the commission trying to review criminal charges against him results in a frenzy of filings.

By WILLIAM R. LEVESQUE, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 4, 2002

Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Charles Cope's lawyer says the judge wanted to sit down and give sworn testimony last month to talk for the first time about a California criminal case that threatens his judgeship.

The Judicial Qualifications Commission certainly wanted to hear what Cope had to say.

The JQC charged Cope with violating judicial canons after California prosecutors accused the judge of trying to get into the hotel room of two women in Carmel, Calif., last April.

But Cope was hospitalized Jan. 17, the day before his much-anticipated deposition, suffering from health problems that JQC special counsel John S. Mills said he was told were stress related.

Mills said the hospitalization came within hours of Cope receiving a telephone call from Judge Susan Schaeffer, former chief judge of the circuit and the first person on the Pinellas bench that Cope talked to about his April arrest.

Cope's hospitalization and promise of testimony are detailed in a flurry of legal filings in the last two weeks in his JQC case that exposes an unusually bitter battle between the JQC special counsel and Cope's attorney, Robert Merkle.

In filings in Cope's JQC case, Mills said Schaeffer told Cope that she had been interviewed by Mills and that he had discovered inconsistencies "between the version of events he had related to her" and the version Cope's attorney was providing to the JQC.

Merkle said the judge is now well and out of the hospital. He declined to discuss the hospitalization, calling it a private matter. Cope also declined to comment.

Schaeffer said in an interview last week: "I would be absolutely surprised if anything I said to Judge Cope would have in any way caused him any stress or caused his hospitalization."

Schaeffer declined additional comment on the pending JQC case.

Merkle accused Mills of trying to help California prosecutors convict Cope of misdemeanor charges in an effort to force his resignation from the bench.

In legal filings, Merkle accused Mills of telling him, "I'm not concerned about fairness to Judge Cope. My job is to convict Judge Cope." Mills denies making the statement.

"I can prove up and down that the charges against Judge Cope are false," Merkle said. Mills "is trying to discredit me, trying to kill the messenger of bad tidings."

Mills declined to comment, except to say, "I think Mr. Merkle's accusations are despicable."

Merkle said there are no inconsistencies between what Cope told Schaeffer and what the JQC is being told. Merkle, however, said he is not yet free to discuss details of the case until the California trial is completed.

The JQC last week delayed any proceedings in its case against Cope until the completion of the California criminal case. So Cope's deposition is indefinitely postponed.

Merkle said Mills reached an agreement with California prosecutors to provide a copy of Cope's JQC deposition to aid the state in its criminal case. Normally, California prosecutors wouldn't be allowed to depose Cope.

In turn, Merkle said California prosecutors, who did not return calls for comment, provided the JQC with materials that aren't a matter of public record under California law.

In JQC filings, Mills denied any agreement with California and attacked Merkle's integrity.

"I candidly do not believe that Mr. Merkle is to be trusted," Mills wrote in an affidavit refuting Merkle's accusations against him.

Merkle called Mills' conduct and accusations "outrageous."

Cope, who has been on a paid leave pending his criminal trial, was attending a judicial conference in Carmel when, police say, he stole the room key of a 64-year-old woman and her 31-year-old daughter. He is accused of trying to enter their hotel room early one morning as they slept. Only the room's chain lock prevented him from entering, police say.

Cope faces five misdemeanor charges that include prowling, theft and a battery for "offensive touching" of the 31-year-old daughter. The woman accused the judge of trying to kiss her and touch her breasts during a previous walk on the beach.

Cope denies all the allegations and has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

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