Special prosecutor to look at Superior Court

Clark County

Discussion

February 28, 2006

By LARRY THOMAS The News and Tribune Tue Feb 28, 2006, 02:16 PM EST

A special prosecutor will be appointed to determine if criminal charges are warranted against a former employee of Clark Superior Court No. 1.

This morning, Clark County Prosecutor Steve Stewart filed a motion in Clark Circuit Court, asking that Judge Daniel F. Donahue appoint a special prosecutor to review evidence against former Clark Superior Court No. 1 Chief of Staff Jerry Lemmons, 81.

According to Stewart’s motion, former court employee Debbie Carey told the State Board of Accounts and the Indiana State Police that Lemmons inappropriately received, handled and deposited fees collected; committed theft, engaged in ghost employment and used public funds for personal purposes.

Lemmons served as chief of staff for seven years, but resigned Feb. 8, citing health reasons. Last week, Clark Superior Court No. 1 Judge Jerome F. Jacobi, asked Stewart to appoint a special prosecutor to review evidence against Lemmons.

In early November, Jacobi defended Lemmons’ actions as “honest mistakes”, but was unavailable for comment on Monday. A staff member who answered the phone in Jacobi’s court said the judge had traveled to Warrick County to observe the closing arguments in the triple murder trial of former Indiana State Trooper David Camm.

While Jacobi does not appear to be targeted in the investigation, he could face sanctions from the Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications. The state’s Judicial Code of Ethics requires judges to maintain administrative control over their staff members.

In his motion, Stewart said that a State Board of Accounts audit and subsequent Indiana State Police investigation “confirmed and/or substantiated” allegations against Lemmons, which were brought to light by Carey last fall.

Lemmons’ attorney, Jack Vissing, said Monday that the charges are nothing more than a “witch hunt” aimed at embarrassing Jacobi during an election year.

“I’m angry that this is a political attempt to knock Jerry Jacobi out by beating up an old man who is sick,” Vissing said. “This whole business is a witch hunt that doesn’t pass the sniff test. Every day (Lemmons) is alive, it’s a bonus, and they’re setting him up like some kind of political football.”

Vissing added, “I think people in Clark County have seen dirty politics before. This is nothing more than a new approach to dirty politics in a primary.”

Vissing said Lemmons is currently in a Louisville hospital seeking treatment for what is believed to be cancer. Vissing said Lemmons also suffers from diabetes, which requires dialysis three times weekly, and that Lemmons’ lungs are failing, necessitating the use of oxygen.

Jacobi, who was elected to the bench in 1994 and again in 2000, faces Jeffersonville City Court Judge Vicki Carmichael in the May 2 Democrat primary.

Carmichael said she cannot make Lemmons’ problems a campaign issue.

“Judges are not supposed to comment on any investigation,” she said. “I will run on my record and not on what anyone else has done or not done.”

Vissing also took aim at Carmichael’s husband, attorney Lonnie Cooper. Cooper served as pro bono legal counsel for the not-for-profit Clark County Leadership and Justice for Youth Inc., which was established by Jacobi and Lemmons to raise money for Teen Court. Vissing contends that Cooper should have more closely advised Lemmons on how to handle the organization’s funds.

“(Lemmons) needed assistance and didn’t get it,” Vissing said. “There’s nothing here that could not have been prevented. At best, they could show (Lemmons) cross-deposited (funds) and that he didn’t document some of the expenses.”

“I referred them to a CPA,” Cooper said. “I don’t give financial advice.”

Cooper said the notion of a conspiracy to get at Jacobi through Lemmons is “incredulous”.

“That’s about as credible as Jack Vissing accusing me of being the second gunman on the grassy knoll,” Cooper said, referencing a common conspiracy theory associated with the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Special prosecutors, such as the one Stewart has requested, are often appointed to avoid the appearance of impropriety.

Jacobi hired Stewart as a deputy prosecutor in 1983, when Jacobi was the county’s prosecutor. Stewart was appointed to succeed Jacobi in 1989, when Jacobi accepted a job in the administration of then-Gov. Evan Bayh.

So you know

In 1999, Clark Superior Court No. 1 Judge Jerome F. Jacobi agreed to a three-day, unpaid suspension, following an investigation by the Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications.

The commission found that Jacobi violates three canons of the code of ethics, relating to:

- Upholding the integrity and independence of the judiciary.

- Avoiding impropriety and the appearance of impropriety.

- Remaining faithful to the law.

The suspension stemmed from Jacobi’s actions in a case involving a dispute between the Clark County Commissioners, the city of Charlestown and town of Utica over the removal of a member of the River Ridge Development Authority.