Judge accused of coercing father in divorce case
The Ohio Supreme Court’s disciplinary counsel has filed a complaint against a Franklin County judge, alleging that she required a litigant in a divorce case to sign a parenting agreement without consulting with his attorney.
Domestic Relations/ Juvenile Court Judge Kim A. Browne violated three provisions of the code of judicial conduct by her actions, according to the complaint filed last week.
Among those provisions is one that states: “A judge may encourage parties to a proceeding and their lawyers to settle matters in dispute but shall not act in a manner that coerces any party into settlement.”
Browne, a judge for 19 years, declined comment when contacted by The Dispatch. She referred all questions to her attorney, Michael Close, who did not respond to a voice message as of 2:30 p.m. Monday.
Browne has until Jan. 4 to respond to the complaint, which was filed by Disciplinary Counsel Joseph Caligiuri before the state Board of Professional Conduct.
The board will hear the case and recommend to the Ohio Supreme Court whether Brown should face disciplinary sanctions, which can range from a public reprimand to the loss or suspension of her law license.
In addition to coercion, she is accused of violating parts of the code that requires a judge to avoid the appearance of impropriety and that he or she “accord to every person who has a legal interest in a proceeding, or that person’s lawyer, the right to be heard.”
The incident occurred on Feb. 3, 2021, when Browne conducted a hearing on a man’s request for a domestic-violence civil protection order against his wife during the course of their divorce proceedings.
After denying the man’s request, Browne announced that “she intended to order week-on/week-off parenting time” for the separated couple, the complaint states.
Parenting time was part of the divorce case, which was not the subject of the hearing.
Despite the absence of the husband’s attorney, Browne told the wife’s attorney to draft an entry in the divorce case regarding parenting time, under terms that the judge dictated to him.
Browne “told the parties that they could not leave the courthouse until they either signed the entry she had dictated or entered into a parenting agreement of their own,” the complaint alleges.
The estranged couple and the wife’s attorney went out into the hallway, where the husband “signed the entry because he felt he had no other option.”
The complaint notes that when Browne ruled on the parenting time, “she had not reviewed any allegations or pleadings in the divorce case.”
At the time of Browne’s ruling, the child was in the father’s custody. Franklin County Children Services had filed a complaint alleging that the child was “an abused, neglected or dependent child” while in the mother’s care.
The mother was permitted only supervised visitation with the child.
Six month’s after Browne’s ruling, the child’s court-appointed guardian filed a motion seeking to terminate the mother’s access to the child due to “her failure to cooperate with (the guardian) and her positive drug screen for fentanyl,” the complaint states.
In response to the guardian’s motion, Browne suspended the mother’s visitation rights due to her failure to report for a drug screen and a second positive test for fentanyl.
Browne was appointed to a vacancy on the bench in 2002 by then-ohio Gov. Bob Taft, a Republican. She won election that November to complete the term and has won reelection three times.
Browne is expected to be on the ballot in November 2022, seeking a fourth sixyear term on the bench.
In June, Browne announced her intention to switch her party affiliation from Republican to Democrat in a filing with the county board of elections.
jfutty@dispatch.com