Bernita Sims White Murder Case Posts:
06232001 - MSP Trooper Artis White - Estranged Wife Bernita Sims White Murdered - Newspaper Articles
Among the MIOIDV and Justice For Bernita! communities, Judge Wade McCree is known as a supporter of the only 'person of interest'/MSP Trooper Artis White, in the murder of Bernita Sims White. McCree proclaimed Trooper White's innocence in the Forward to Artis White's book: "Who Killed My Wife?"
So any surprise from any of us that Judge Wade McCree was removed from the bench in 2013 for misconduct? Absolutely not...
Michigan judge sentences deadbeat dads to watch Maury Povich
May 12, 2009 at 2:40 PM
Updated September 30, 2009 at 1:43 PM
Associated Press
MLive
http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/05/michigan_judge_sentences_deadb.html
May 12, 2009 at 2:40 PM
Updated September 30, 2009 at 1:43 PM
Associated Press
MLive
http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/05/michigan_judge_sentences_deadb.html
DETROIT -- The studio audience isn't alone in cheering for Maury Povich.
A Michigan judge, inspired by watching the syndicated talk show "Maury," has sentenced several dozen men so far this year to watch the show as part of their probation for overdue child support. The defendants must watch the show and discuss episodes with their probation officer.
released by NBC Universal, Maury Povich, left, speaks with Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree on the set of syndicated talk show "Maury" in New York, April 1, 2009.
Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree says he took over the "deadbeat dads docket" in January after watching "too much of this terrible daytime TV" over the holidays.
Watching episodes of "Maury," he said Monday, "was an eye-opener for me," and inspired him to use the show to help defendants realize the error of their ways.
"They see that people who laugh at that show are laughing at them," he said. "I'm trying to hold up a mirror."
"Maury" often deals with parenthood and child support, including raucous segments featuring men who deny fathering children and undergo testing to determine paternity.
Not every deadbeat dad is sentenced to watch the show, McCree said -- "some are hopeless and have to go to jail" -- while others have special circumstances such as job loss that have caused them to fall behind on payments.
"It's that group in the middle: What can I do to impact their lives," he said.
It's too early to tell if the show is making a difference, McCree said.
"At least it did give them a momentary focus, and I'll take what I can get out of these guys," he said.
Word of McCree's unique sentencing practice reached the producers of "Maury," who invited him on the show. An episode featuring McCree was taped April 1 and will air Thursday.
Povich says McCree is "thinking outside the box in terms of punishment," and more importantly, is calling attention to an important social issue.
"The question of whether young women are conducting themselves in a way that they would know who the fathers are, or the men who are going around bedding these women without using protection or any attempt to prevent pregnancy -- I believe that is an undeniable social issue in this country, and I think Judge McCree has given us more legitimacy than most people would think we have," Povich said.
"I'll endorse anything that works," he added.
No Shame in My Game
FOX News - Detroit
Apr 23, 2012
Should He Be Fired?
April 24, 2012 3:48 PM
http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/04/24/local-judge-accused-of-pulling-a-wiener-should-he-be-fired/
DETROIT (Talk Radio 1270) Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree, accused of sending a nude photo of himself to a bevy of women including court subordinates, refused to comment on the case Tuesday.
McCree told Talk Radio 1270 morning show host Charlie Langton in an off-air conversation that he’s under a “gag order.”
“There’s no gag order,” said Charlie LeDuff, a local journalist and investigator who broke the story and visited the Langton show to discuss it. The incident went public when the husband of a court employee who received the photo alerted the media.
The judge earlier told Charlie Langton he sent the photos because he wanted to show off the payoff of his efforts after running a marathon at 56 years old. He said the picture was nothing more than how people would see him when he went swimming at the YMCA.
“This guy sent it around to a lot of people, a lot of women, let’s not pretend this is just a goofy guy, this is a Circuit Court judge…A trial judge who sends you to prison for life,” LeDuff said.
Langton, an attorney, read the Michigan Judicial Code of Conduct, which says a judge should “avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety,” in all activities. No disciplinary action or hearings have been proposed, though the angry husband filed a complaint with the Wayne County Prosecutors’ Office and the Judicial Tenure Commission.
“That’s also a workplace problem, harassment, me in the private sector? I’m gone,” LeDuff said, adding, “Look at what Wiener went through and his stuff was less racy.”
April 24, 2012 3:48 PM
http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/04/24/local-judge-accused-of-pulling-a-wiener-should-he-be-fired/
DETROIT (Talk Radio 1270) Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree, accused of sending a nude photo of himself to a bevy of women including court subordinates, refused to comment on the case Tuesday.
McCree told Talk Radio 1270 morning show host Charlie Langton in an off-air conversation that he’s under a “gag order.”
“There’s no gag order,” said Charlie LeDuff, a local journalist and investigator who broke the story and visited the Langton show to discuss it. The incident went public when the husband of a court employee who received the photo alerted the media.
The judge earlier told Charlie Langton he sent the photos because he wanted to show off the payoff of his efforts after running a marathon at 56 years old. He said the picture was nothing more than how people would see him when he went swimming at the YMCA.
“This guy sent it around to a lot of people, a lot of women, let’s not pretend this is just a goofy guy, this is a Circuit Court judge…A trial judge who sends you to prison for life,” LeDuff said.
Langton, an attorney, read the Michigan Judicial Code of Conduct, which says a judge should “avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety,” in all activities. No disciplinary action or hearings have been proposed, though the angry husband filed a complaint with the Wayne County Prosecutors’ Office and the Judicial Tenure Commission.
“That’s also a workplace problem, harassment, me in the private sector? I’m gone,” LeDuff said, adding, “Look at what Wiener went through and his stuff was less racy.”
Judge Wade H. McCree in hot water over steamy cell-phone photo
Apr. 24, 2012
Detroit Free Press
http://www.freep.com/article/20120424/NEWS02/120424076
A curtain of silence has descended around partially disrobed Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade H. McCree, who admitted on television that he sent a beefcake cell-phone photo of himself.
"No shame in my game," McCree told WJBK-Fox (Channel 2) reporter Charlie LeDuff when asked about the picture, reportedly sent to a married female courtroom employee, showing the smiling, bare-torso McCree snapping a cell-phone photo in what appears to be a bathroom mirror.
But there may be a complaint with the Judicial Tenure Commission that could cost him his seat on the bench. Complaints with the ...
Detroit judge proud of shirtless pic sent to women
April 24, 2012
Associated Press News Service, The
DETROIT (AP) — A Detroit judge says the verdict is in: He's proud of his physique and has no reason to be ashamed of sending a shirtless photo of himself to women, including at least one court employee.
A TV station confronted 55-year-old Wayne County Judge Wade McCree this week after the husband of a court employee said the photo turned up on her phone. It shows the very fit judge from the waist up taking his own picture in front of a mirror.
"Hot dog. Yep, that's me," McCree said when WJBK-TV (http://bit.ly/IbAAEl ) showed him a printout of the photo. "No shame to my game."
The judge then feigned taking off his shirt for reporter Charlie LeDuff and said, "You can always get that here and now."
McCree, who is married, said he also sent the photo "out to other women," noting he's not fully nude in the picture and goes shirtless each day at the YMCA pool.
McCree's courtroom was locked Tuesday afternoon, and a woman who answered his office phone said he was unavailable. He did not immediately return an email from The Associated Press.
WJBK said court employee's husband plans to file a complaint with the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission, a watchdog agency over the judiciary. The husband was not identified in the TV report.
The commission's executive director, Paul Fischer, said Tuesday he couldn't confirm or deny whether a grievance had been filed. He said all investigations are confidential.
McCree's father was the first black judge on the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati and solicitor general under President Jimmy Carter.
No shame to his game: Detroit judge proud of shirtless pic sent to women
Court Bailiff: Detroit Judge Wade McCree Sent a Nearly Nude Photo of Himself to My Cell Phone
April 24, 2012 at 11:47 PM
Updated April 25, 2012 at 7:24 AM
MyFoxDETROIT.com
DETROIT — A Detroit judge says the verdict is in: He's proud of his physique and has no reason to be ashamed of sending a shirtless photo of himself to women, including at least one court employee.
A TV station confronted 55-year-old Wayne County Judge Wade McCree this week after the husband of a court employee said the photo turned up on her phone. It shows the very fit judge from the waist up taking his own picture in front of a mirror.
"Hot dog. Yep, that's me," McCree said when WJBK-TV showed him a printout of the photo. "No shame to my game."
The judge then feigned taking off his shirt for reporter Charlie LeDuff and said, "You can always get that here and now."
McCree, who is married, said he also sent the photo "out to other women," noting he's not fully nude in the picture and goes shirtless each day at the YMCA pool.
McCree's courtroom was locked Tuesday afternoon, and a woman who answered his office phone said he was unavailable. He did not immediately return an email from The Associated Press.
WJBK said court employee's husband plans to file a complaint with the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission, a watchdog agency over the judiciary. The husband was not identified in the TV report.
The commission's executive director, Paul Fischer, said Tuesday he couldn't confirm or deny whether a grievance had been filed. He said all investigations are confidential.
McCree's father was the first black judge on the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati and solicitor general under President Jimmy Carter.
Associated Press State Wire: Michigan (MI)
April 24, 2012
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
DETROIT (AP) — A Detroit judge admits he has used his phone to send a shirtless photo of himself to women.
Wayne County Judge Wade McCree is proud of his physique. He told TV station WJBK: "No shame to my game."
WJBK says (http://bit.ly/IbAAEl ) it confronted the judge after the husband of a court employee complained about a picture of McCree on his wife's phone. It shows the very fit judge taking a picture of himself in front of a mirror, from the waist up.
The married McCree says he's "sent that out to other women." He says there's "nothing nude about it."
The Associated Press emailed McCree seeking comment Tuesday, and his office phone was unanswered. His father was a federal appeals judge and solicitor general under President Jimmy Carter.
Judge Wade McCree sent photo of himself nearly nude to Bailiff; could get fired
Detroit Examiner (MI)
April 24, 2012
Judge Wade McCree, 3rd Circuit Judge in Detroit, took a photo of himself posing nearly nude on Monday, and sent it to his married female staff, the Bailiff, from his cell phone. Her husband got upset because he found Judge McCree’s photo on his wife’s cell phone. Charlie Langton, legal analyst of Fox 2, says McCree could get fired.
Check out the video of Judge McCree in an interview with Charlie Langton and see for yourself. The Judge was smiling and seemed very proud of his body. Charlie LeDuff broke the story.
Judge McCree stated with no shame that he looks good to be almost 60-years old. In the video accompanying this post, the Judge also says he swims a mile (at the YMCA) and would be dressed similar to his nearly nude photo. Is there any comparison in sexting and swimming attire?
When Charlie Langton asked Judge McCree what his wife thinks, basically the judge shrugged his shoulders and avoided the question.
Definition of Sexting
Posing nearly nude and sending it to someone is a criminal offense, it is called Sexting. Sexting is the act of sending sexually explicit messages or photographs, primarily between mobile phones.
Circuit Judge McCree admits he sent racy picture
The Detroit News
April 24, 2012
Detroit- Detroit Circuit Judge Wade McCree, son of a ground-breaking African-American lawyer, is getting some attention not for what he's doing in his robe, but what he's doing without it.
In response to allegations that he sent a picture of himself partially clothed to a married female employee, McCree admitted to WJBK-TV (Channel 2) that the picture is him and that he's sent it to other women.
"Oh yeah, I've sent that out to other women, sure," McCree told Fox 2 reporter Charlie LeDuff. "No shame to my game."
McCree was first appointed to the 3rd Circuit Court of Michigan by Gov. Jennifer Granholm and has since been re-elected to the seat.
He is the son of Wade H. McCree Jr., solicitor general of the United States under Jimmy Carter, who was also a U.S. Appeals Court Judge. When Gov. G. Mennen Williams appointed him to the Wayne Circuit Court in 1954, McCree Jr. became the first African-American to sit on a Michigan court of record, according to the University of Michigan, where he later served on the faculty.
Judge mum about allegations he sent employee a photo of himself partially clothed
Detroit News
April 25, 2012
Detroit- Judge Wade McCree was on the bench but mum Wednesday in response to allegations that he sent a picture of himself partially clothed to a married female employee.
On Monday, the Wayne County Circuit Court judge said in a televised interview with Fox 2 reporter Charlie LeDuff that the photograph is of him and that he's sent it to other women.
"Oh yeah, I've sent that out to other women, sure," McCree told LeDuff of WJBK-TV (Ch. 2). "No shame to my game."
But Wednesday, McCree declined to discuss the situation and instructed The Detroit News and other media not to come to his courtroom.
Elizabeth Kocab, general counsel for Wayne County Circuit Court, on Tuesday said "from the video, we know the husband allegedly filed a complaint with the Judicial Tenure Commission. They'd be the appropriate body to review the situation."
On Wednesday, Kocab said the court is "making no comment on this case."
Cooley Law School Professor Curt Benson does not know specifics about this case, but said the allegations are "extremely unusual."
"Judges are held to a higher standard than ordinary citizens. The judiciary, more than any branch, depends on the respect that the citizens give it," he said. "The judiciary does not have a police force or an army, all they have is their own credibility. Judges are obligated in such a way to uphold the dignity of the court on or off the bench."
Paul J. Fischer, executive director and general counsel for the Judicial Tenure Commission, has said he can't confirm or deny whether a complaint had been filed.
McCree was appointed to the 3rd Circuit Court of Michigan by former Gov. Jennifer Granholm and has since been re-elected to the seat.
He is the son of Wade H. McCree Jr., who was solicitor general of the United States under President Jimmy Carter and also a U.S. Appeals Court judge.
When Gov. G. Mennen Williams appointed him to the Wayne Circuit Court in 1954, McCree Jr. became the first African-American to sit on a Michigan court of record, according to the University of Michigan, where he later served on the faculty.
Grand Rapids law professor shocked at topless photo of circuit court judge Wade McCree
MLive
April 25, 2012 at 1:50 PM
Updated April 25, 2012 at 1:58 PM
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – The son of one of the most respected jurists in Michigan history finds himself at the center of an imbroglio that resulted from a shirtless photo of the Wayne County Circuit Court judge allegedly sent to a female staff member.
The unidentified husband of a court employee told a Detroit FOX-TV station he found the photo of the married Wade McCree on the staff member’s cellular phone. The husband said he plans to file a complaint with the Judicial Tenure Commission.
McCree went on television and seemed pleased to take credit for the photo, which shows a trim and fit 55-year-old.
“No shame to my game,” McCree said, pointing out that he is no less clothed than he would be when swimming at the YMCA and said the photo had been sent to other women, as well as the wife of the man making the allegation.
“All this technology does not exclude boorish behavior,” said Curt Benson, a professor at Cooley Law School and co-host of WOOD radio’s The Lawyers Show. “It just gives multiple platforms to be idiotic.”
“I’m quite shocked, frankly,” Benson said.
Benson said McCree’s behavior is complicated if the picture was sent to staff members just as it was for Kent County Circuit Court Judge Steven Servaas, who was accused in 2008 of making inappropriate comments to a female staff member, among other allegations.
Servaas had a hearing before the Michigan Supreme Court after the Judicial Tenure Commission filed a case. He was censured, but kept his job and was later overwhelmingly re-elected.
“(McCree) compounded his behavior by going on TV and laughing it off,” Benson said.
The Judicial Tenure Commission does not comment on complaints filed until they reach the level of going before a judge.
McCree has been a circuit court judge since 2004 following his appointment by Gov. Jennifer Granholm.
His father of the same name was the first black man named to the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. He was also a law professor at the University of Michigan.
Judge Wade McCree's steamy shirtless pic could lead to hot water for popular figure
April 25, 2012
WXYZ News - Detroit
DETROIT, Mich. (WXYZ) - It’s the shirtless photo seen round the Internet--Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree flaunting a buff bod in front of a mirror.
A man reportedly found the photo on his wife’s cell phone and now he may be filing a complaint with the Judicial Tenure Commission.
"It was not sent out for any ill will or any wrong purpose," says the judge's close friend Bernie Pavone.
Pavone says the photo was taken almost two years ago after the judge had run a half-marathon and he texted the photo to several courthouse employees who were impressed with his physique and athletic prowess and none of the recipients ever complained.
Pavone, who also received the photo, provided 7 Action News with a copy.
Labor attorney Deborah Gordon says she does not think there is anything criminal nor would it be considered a case of sexual harassment if there is only one photo, meaning the behavior was not pervasive, and the recipient herself never had a problem with it.
"Bad judgment, not the best thinking in the world," says Gordon. "But I don't see any legal violation here."
Chief Judge Virgil Smith has declined to comment and the Judicial Tenure Commission says it never reveals whether a complaint has been filed unless the commission makes a formal charge after an investigation.
"It's hard to believe based on one picture that anybody is going to do anything from a disciplinary point of view," says Gordon.
If the Judicial Tenure Commission files a formal charge, sanctions could be recommended. It would be up to the Michigan Supreme Court to decide the exact punishment.
Judge McCree declined to speak to 7 Action News on the record for this story
Wayne County judge in hot water over steamy cell phone photo
Detroit Free Press
April 25, 2012
A curtain of silence has descended around partially disrobed Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade H. McCree, who admitted on television that he sent a beefcake cell phone photo of himself.
"No shame in my game," McCree told WJBK-TV (Channel 2) reporter Charlie LeDuff when asked about the picture, reportedly sent to a married female courtroom employee. It shows the smiling McCree, with a bare torso, snapping a cell phone photo in what appears to be a bathroom mirror.
But there may be a complaint with the Judicial Tenure Commission that could cost him his seat on the bench. Complaints with the state's judicial watchdogs are confidential by law unless an investigation finds enough evidence to support a formal public charge of misconduct.
"I can't say if there is or isn't a complaint," Paul J. Fischer, the commission's executive director and general counsel, said Tuesday.
McCree was chatty on the Fox 2 video, but he didn't return calls Tuesday to his court or his Detroit home. His courtroom at the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice was locked Tuesday afternoon, and he did not respond to an e-mail inquiry. Chief Judge Virgil Smith did not take calls about McCree and referred questions to the court's general counsel, Elizabeth Kocab, who also was mum on the picture.
"We understand from the video that the husband of the employee made a complaint to the Judicial Tenure Commission, so we can't make any comment at this time," Kocab said.
The state Supreme Court also declined to comment because judicial disciplinary cases could come before it.
The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office said it had gotten no complaints about the photo and declined to discussion the situation further.
University of Detroit Mercy law professor Larry Dubin, an expert in legal ethics, said that the picture -- even if it didn't go below the waist -- runs way foul of the state's Code of Judicial Conduct and state court rules.
"You've got Canons 1, 2 and 3 in play here," Dubin said. "And there's a whole slew of potential court rule violations."
Canon 1 says judges should maintain "high standards of conduct" to preserve the court's dignity.
Canon 2 tells judges they "must avoid all impropriety and appearance of impropriety." That canon also says judges must expect and endure greater public scrutiny, as well as limits on their conduct, because of their position.
Judges, says Canon 3, also need to be "patient, dignified and courteous" to everyone they meet in an official capacity, including the court staff "and others subject to the judge's direction and control."
"This is not a wise thing for a judge to do," Dubin said.
In the broadcast video, McCree scoffed at any photographic flap, saying there was more exposure at a YMCA swimming pool.
The uproar comes just days after McCree -- on behalf of his family and late father, Wade McCree Jr. -- presented the State Bar of Michigan's Advancement of Justice journalism awards at an East Lansing ceremony on Sunday.
The metro Detroit federal court bar association also presents an award for advancing social justice in the name of the elder McCree, who was a state and federal judge, in addition to serving as the U.S. solicitor general and a University of Michigan law professor.
A civil lawsuit for harassment might find little traction if the reported picture is the only incident, because the law speaks in terms of persistent and unwelcome conduct, according to legal experts.
McCree was appointed to the 36th District Court in 1996 by Gov. John Engler, and to the Circuit Court by Gov. Jennifer Granholm in 2004 to fill a vacancy. He was elected in 2006 to the remainder of the term and then in 2008 for a full six-year term.
Judge Wade McCree's racy photo lays bare dilemma
Incident points out perils of technology, living in public eye
Detroit News
April 26, 2012
Detroit- The controversy surrounding a photo of a shirtless judge allegedly sent to a subordinate is an example of how technology has blurred the lines between private and public life and how people in prominent positions need to be careful about crossing that line, some experts said Wednesday.
Whether or not the Judicial Tenure Commission is investigating Judge Wade McCree for sending his half-naked self-portrait to a bailiff, as an anonymous source claimed on a local television news program, sending the photo to anyone was still a bad idea, said New York public relations consultant Mike "The Reputation Doctor" Paul, who was hired by former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick during the text message scandal.
"It doesn't matter whether what he did was illegal, or violated any ethics policies - people in high-profile positions need to understand that there are two courts: The court of law, and the court of public opinion," said Paul, owner of MGP & Associates PR in New York. "In many cases, the court of public opinion is far more important."
The source on WJBK-TV (Channel 2), whose face was obscured and whose voice was altered, claimed to be the husband of one of McCree's employees who received the photo. The man said he planned to file a complaint with the Judicial Tenure Commission, although commission officials would not say whether a complaint was filed.
The Michigan Code of Judicial Conduct states: "A judge must avoid all impropriety and appearance of impropriety. A judge must expect to be the subject of constant public scrutiny."
"Judges are held to a higher standard than ordinary citizens," Curt Benson, a Cooley Law School professor, said. "The judiciary more than any branch, depends on the respect citizens give it. The judiciary does not have a police force or an army; all they have is their own credibility. Judges are obligated in such a way to uphold the dignity of the court on or off the bench."
But Deborah Gordon, a prominent labor attorney, said based on what's been presented, the incident doesn't appear to be illegal.
"It's a shirtless photo - it doesn't constitute sexual harassment," she said.
Also weakening the claim, Gordon said, is the fact that the photo appeared to be an isolated incident, not pervasive, and the recipient didn't personally complain to the court.
McCree is the son of Wade H. McCree Jr., the first African-American to sit on a Michigan circuit court, solicitor general of the United States under President Jimmy Carter and a U.S. Appeals Court judge.
McCree declined to discuss the situation Wednesday. His employees said the judge wanted reporters to stay out of his courtroom.
Avoiding the media is a mistake, Paul said. "The best way to handle the situation is to do the opposite of what you think you should do," Paul said. "One of the things you want to do is to hide and not talk about it, but you've got to become humble. Admit you made a mistake."
Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel said prominent figures have to be concerned about whether something they say or do will become public. "It's always a challenge," Hackel said. "You've always got to be mindful if you've got an email account, if you're on Facebook, or sending out text messages. I always try to call people directly, so nothing gets misunderstood.
"I can't say I don't wonder sometimes if someone is going to try to be funny and take a compromising picture of me in the locker room at the gym that'll end up on the Internet.
"All these things are challenges to those of us in public life. The more prominence you have, the more interest there is. ... That's one thing everyone learned from the (Kilpatrick) text message scandal in Detroit."
Detroit City Council President Charles Pugh was scrutinized last month when he posted a bare-chested photo of himself on his website. He had lost 55 pounds. Pugh spokeswoman Kirsten Ussery said he was not interested in weighing in.
Lawyer: I'm sure judge is sorry
Detroit Free Press
Apr. 26, 2012
An embarrassed Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree should survive the shirt-storm of his e-mailed bare torso picture, his lawyer and a leading employment attorney both said Wednesday.
"I hope there is nothing for me to do," said Brian Einhorn, a lawyer who handles attorney misconduct cases, speaking on behalf of McCree. "We don't know if a complaint has been filed -- and we may not ever know unless there is something filed publicly."
"I'm sure he's sorry, and he'd acknowledge it was a bad decision or an error in judgment," Einhorn said...
Detroit judge: My shirtless photo was a big error
Associated Press State Wire: Michigan (MI)
April 27, 2012
DETROIT (AP) — A Detroit judge who bragged about a shirtless photo sent to women says he's embarrassed by a "serious mistake."
In a statement, Wayne County Judge Wade McCree apologized to the public Friday. Earlier this week, he admitted to TV station WJBK that he had taken a picture of himself with a cellphone and sent it to women.
The picture shows the very fit judge from the waist up taking his own picture in front of a mirror. The judge said, "No shame to my game." The husband of a court employee who received the photo has filed a complaint with the Judicial Tenure Commission.
McCree didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. He says he needs prayers as he works "through this issue on a personal and professional level."
Probe set in perjury complaint against Wayne judge
The Detroit News
April 27, 2012
Detroit - The state Supreme Court on Thursday appointed a special master to oversee proceedings of a Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission complaint filed against Wayne County Circuit Judge Deborah Ross Adams.
Retired judge Donald G. Miller will investigate the charges outlined in the commission's April 19 complaint that accuses Ross Adams of perjury and forgery in her 2011 divorce case.
Paul J. Fischer, executive director and general counsel for the commission, said Thursday that a date and courthouse have not yet been assigned for the proceeding.
The complaint advances this week as another Wayne County Circuit judge is accused of improper conduct in an unrelated incident.
Judge Wade McCree is accused of sending a half-naked photograph of himself to a female bailiff, an anonymous source who claimed to be the husband of one of McCree's employees told WJBK-TV (Channel 2).
The commission's complaint against Ross Adams charges her with lying under oath, forging documents related to her divorce and making false statements to the tenure commission.
Ross Adams was the defendant in a divorce case filed Sept. 18, 2009, in Wayne Circuit Court by her husband, former Detroit School Board President Anthony Adams.
The state court administrator's office transferred the case to Oakland County's Circuit Court after the Wayne court recused itself.
The complaint alleges that Ross Adams improperly contacted the court of presiding Oakland Circuit Judge Mary Ellen Brennan multiple times after the couple reached a settlement in March 2011 to adjourn a formal hearing on the matter.
The commission said Ross Adams lied about her identity when calling Brennan's court and also lied under oath when the judge asked her about the calls.
Ross Adams' attorney, Brian Einhorn of Southfield, was out of town Thursday and not available for comment, according to his office.
The complaint also says Ross Adams allegedly forged her divorce attorney's signature on a May 2011 motion and brief to modify the judgment.
Fischer said Thursday that the complaint is the first formally filed against Ross Adams. Fischer said Miller will review the evidence and issue a report to the tenure commission.
Then the commission will set a hearing and make recommendations.
The Supreme Court will issue the final opinion and order. The judge could face anything from a public censure to removal.
Judge McCree apologizes for sending half-naked photo to woman
Detroit News
April 27, 2012
Detroit - A Wayne County Circuit Court judge under fire for sending a half-naked photo of himself to a female employee publicly asked for forgiveness Friday for his "extremely serious error in judgment."
"I am embarrassed and truly sorry for my actions, which have hurt and caused great pain to my family," Circuit Judge Wade McCree said in the statement. "I apologize to my family, my professional associates, my friends and the citizens of Wayne County."
The judge made headlines earlier this week after being confronted about the photograph by WJBK-TV (Ch. 2) reporter Charlie LeDuff.
In the televised interview, McCree admitted that the photograph was of him and that he'd sent it to other women.
"Oh yeah, I've sent that out to other women, sure," McCree told LeDuff. "No shame to my game."
A man claiming to be the husband of a female bailiff, whose face was obscured and whose voice was altered, told the television station that he planned to file a complaint against the judge with the state's Judicial Tenure Commission. Commission officials have said they will not comment on whether a complaint was filed.
Southfield-based attorney Brian Einhorn said he was contacted by the judge Wednesday to assist with the matter.
Einhorn said the two discussed the statement, which went out Friday. The attorney said he's planning to meet with McCree next week to learn specifics of how and what happened.
McCree is the son of the late Wade H. McCree Jr., the first African-American to sit on a Michigan circuit court, solicitor general of the United States under President Jimmy Carter and a U.S. Appeals Court judge.
McCree in the statement asks for forgiveness from "all those I have disappointed and hurt as a result of my very serious mistake."
"I also ask for your prayers as my family and I work through this issue on a personal and professional level," he wrote.
Judge Wade McCree releases statement on his racy photo
WXYZ News - Detroit
April 27, 2012
(WXYZ) - Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree has released a statement responding to the controversy over a sexy photograph of himself that was found on a woman's cell phone by her husband.
The statement reads as follows:
Clearly, I made an extremely serious error in judgment. I am embarrassed and truly sorry for my actions, which have hurt and caused great pain to my family.
I apologize to my family, my professional associates, my friends and the citizens of Wayne County.
I ask for forgiveness from all those I have disappointed and hurt as a result of my very serious mistake. I also ask for your prayers as my family and I work through this issue on a personal and professional level.
The controversy exploded earlier this week when the woman's husband came forward saying he was considering filing a complaint with the Judicial Tenure Commission.
At the time 7 Action News spoke with a friend of Judge McCree who said the photo was taken two years ago and was then texted to several courthouse employees.
A spokesperson for the Judicial Tenure Commission said that until the commission issues formal charges, they never reveal if a complaint has been filed against a judge.
Judicial Lapse
Detroit News
April 28, 2012
Experts have weighed in, and the consensus is that the shirtless photo sent by Wayne Circuit Judge Wade McCree Jr. to one of his bailiffs isn't illegal or sexual harassment. The photo doesn't reveal anything more than would routinely be seen at a beach or public pool. The question of whether it violates the state's Judicial Code of Ethics, which frowns on activities that would tend to bring the court into disrepute, is very murky. About the only thing that can be said with certainty concerning the incident is that it just wasn't very smart.
Detroit Judge: Shirtless Photo Was ‘Serious Mistake’
April 28, 2012 11:28 AM
CBS - Detroit
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - A Detroit judge who bragged about a shirtless photo sent to women says he’s embarrassed by a “serious mistake.”
In a statement, Wayne County Judge Wade McCree apologized to the public Friday. Earlier this week, he admitted that he had taken a picture of himself with a cellphone and sent it to women.
The picture shows the very fit judge from the waist up taking his own picture in front of a mirror. “Yep, that’s me. No shame in my game,” McCree, who’s married, said when confronted with the photo.
McCree earlier told Talk Radio 1270′s Charlie Langton he sent the photos because he wanted to show off the payoff of his efforts after running a marathon at 56 years old. He said the picture was nothing more than how people would see him when he went swimming at the YMCA.
The husband of a court employee who received the photo has filed a complaint with the Judicial Tenure Commission.
McCree didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. He said he needs prayers as he works “through this issue on a personal and professional level.”
April in review: Criminal activity made national news
Detroit Examiner (MI)
May 1, 2012
There was much criminal activity, or the like, making headlines in April of this year. Huge attention was drawn to the states of California, Florida and Michigan...
Judge Wade McCree of Detroit's 3rd Circuit Court posed almost nude.
A shocking report of a judge in Detroit, Michigan of the 3rd Circuit Court posed almost naked and sent his photo to one of his staff persons. Judge Wade McCree, 3rd Circuit Judge in Detroit, took a photo of himself posing nearly nude, and sent it to his Bailiff, a married woman, from his cell phone. Her husband got upset because he found Judge McCree’s photo on his wife’s cell phone. Charlie Langton, legal analyst of Fox 2, says McCree could get fired for this. The husband said he plans on filing a claim against the Judge.
Sexting Judge: ‘No Shame to My Game’
Mashable.com
May 4, 2012
Behold: Possibly the weirdest local news broadcast in some time.
A Detroit woman reportedly received a photo text message of her half naked boss, who happens to be a judge in the Motor City. A Fox 2 News reporter went and asked Detroit 3rd Circuit Judge Wade McCree about the photo. His on-camera response?
"There's no shame to my game...shoot."
The clip was uploaded to YouTube on April 23, where it's accumulated nearly 20,000 views. Friday it appeared on the Tumblr blog On the Media and began making the rounds on Twitter. View count starts to climb -- and quick.
The sunglasses-wearing, hyperactive reporter bringing us this story? Charlie LeDuff, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2001 at The New York Times before deciding to return to his hometown of Detroit and report there. (He does serious work, too, including this A+ freelance piece for Mother Jones.)
The amazing sexting judge episode, however, leaves one lingering question: Can someone please auto-tune this?
Shirtless Judge Turns Down Offer To Pose For Calendar
CBS News - Detroit
May 8, 2012 - 8:02 AM
DETROIT (WWJ) - The Wayne County judge who came under fire for sending half-nude photos of himself to an employee is getting offers to pose in front of the lens for a different cause.
Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree landed in hot water over that bare-torso photo he sent to a married court employee – whose husband saw the photo and apparently filed a complaint with the Judicial Tenure Commission.
Now the judge is getting a unique offer: to pose for his own a 12 month calendar.
“I can’t believe that Men’s Health or AARP monthly is going to want me for that, but it was a kind offer,” McCree said with a laugh. “(The offer) came through my office and we had a hoot around the lunch table, I’ll tell you that.”
McCree maintains there was nothing sexual involved with the photo, although he does admit it was a lack of judgement.
The picture shows the very fit judge from the waist up taking his own picture in front of a mirror. “Yep, that’s me. No shame in my game,” McCree, who’s married, said when confronted with the photo.
McCree earlier told Talk Radio 1270′s Charlie Langton he sent the photos because he wanted to show off the payoff of his efforts after running a marathon at 56-years-old. He said the picture was nothing more than how people would see him when he went swimming at the YMCA.
After news of the photo circulated through local media outlets and in forums online, McCree issued a public apology, saying he is embarrassed by a "serious mistake".
Law and Disorder
Rockwall County Herald Banner (Greenville, TX)
May 12, 2012
ROCKWALL — During any given week, the legal system gets more than its fair share of strange filings, odd litigants, or unusual results. For example, remember your mother’s threats to wash your mouth out with soap if you used dirty words? Just picture the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board as your mother and you’ll have a pretty good sense of the legal battle brewing between that state agency and Michigan-based Founders Brewing Company, the makers of “Dirty Bastard” beer. The alcoholic beverage board has banned the sale of the beer in Alabama (where more than one-third of the counties are dry anyway) on the grounds of “profanity on its label.” Bob Martin, an attorney for the board, says the agency’s rules are intended “to keep dirty pictures and dirty words away from children.” Oddly enough, the board has previously approved the sale of Fat Bastard wine as well as a beer named “Raging Bitch.” Founders Brewing Company is weighing whether or not to appeal the decision, but until it does, Alabama says “yes” if you want to quench your thirst with a Fat Bastard, but not with a dirty one.
From one dirty bastard to (maybe) another, a Detroit, Michigan judge is under fire for texting a barechested photo of himself to his female bailiff’s cellphone. Her husband found the photo, and has filed a complaint with Michigan’s Judicial Tenure Commission over the “highly inappropriate” photo. Judge Wade McCree is unfazed and unashamed, acknowledging that he is indeed the buff figure in the photos. “Hot dog, yep that’s me,” he says. “I’ve got no shame in my game . . . There’s nothing nude about it. I’m in no more clothes that I’ll be at the Y this afternoon when I swim my mile.” And what does Judge McCree specialize in? Sexual misconduct cases, oddly enough...
NEWS OF THE WEIRD
JUDGE PLAYS IT COOL WHEN HE WAS CAUGHT 'SEXTING'
Mercury News, The (San Jose, CA)
June 17, 2012
Most public officials caught "sexting" immediately turn remorseful, but not Michigan appeals court judge Wade McCree III. In April, when the husband of a female bailiff in McCree's court saw that the judge had sent the bailiff a shirtless photo of himself, McCree told a curious reporter for Detroit's WJBK-TV, "Hot dog, yep, that's me. I've got no shame in my game. I'm in no more clothes than I'll be at the Y this afternoon when I swim my mile." The still-irate husband said he would pursue a judicial commission complaint against McCree.
Judge McCree sends a questionable photo
FOX News - Detroit
Oct 24, 2012 - 3:25 PM CDT
Judge Wade McCree Censured
Michigan Supreme Court Lansing, Michigan
Order
October 24, 2012
145895
In re: HON. WADE H. McCREE
SC: 145895
RFI Nos. 2012-19839
2012-19863
Detroit judge reprimanded for shirtless cell photo
Associated Press State Wire: Michigan (MI)
October 24, 2012
DETROIT (AP) — A Detroit judge who sent a shirtless photo of himself to a female court employee and bragged about his buff image on television "brought shame" to the judiciary, the Michigan Supreme Court said Wednesday.
The court reprimanded Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree, who accepted the public censure without a fight months after apologizing.
McCree sent a cellphone photo of himself to a female sheriff's officer in 2011. It shows a very fit judge from the waist up and was taken a year earlier after he had finished a half marathon.
The officer kept it to motivate herself to improve her workouts, but her husband provided a copy to WJBK-TV reporter Charlie LeDuff, according to the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission, which investigated.
McCree was proud of the photo and told LeDuff in April: "No shame in my game."
The Supreme Court voted 6-0 to accept the Tenure Commission's recommendation to close the case with a censure.
McCree "conducted himself in a flippant manner and did not give the interview the seriousness he should have. As a result, he brought shame and obloquy to the judiciary," the court said.
The judge issued a statement last spring, saying he had "made an extremely serious error in judgment."
Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree censured for shirtless pics
Michigan Lawyers Weekly
October 24, 2012
Remember the controversy surrounding Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree and his rock hard abs?
Earlier this year, McCree was in hot water for taking shirtless photos of himself and texting it to a sheriff’s department floating administrative assistant. The assistant’s husband wasn’t pleased and ran to the King of Gotcha, Fox 2’s Charlie LeDuff, who did what he does.
For his effort, McCree was publicly censured by the Michigan Supreme Court, under a consent agreement with the Judicial Tenure Commission.
You may now resume your day.
Detroit Judge Reprimanded For Sending Shirtless Photo
CBS News - Detroit
October 24, 2012
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) – A Detroit judge has agreed to a reprimand for sending a shirtless photo of himself to a courthouse employee and telling a reporter, “No shame in my game.”
Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree agreed to the punishment in an order released Wednesday by the Michigan Supreme Court. The court says it’s accepting the recommendation of a watchdog agency and ordering a public censure.
The justices agreed with the Judicial Tenure Commission that McCree “brought shame … to the judiciary” with his April comments to WJBK-TV reporter Charlie LeDuff.
McCree sent a cellphone photo of himself to a female sheriff’s officer. It shows a very fit judge from the waist up. The officer kept it to motivate her to improve her workouts, but her husband provided a copy to LeDuff.
McCree argued there was nothing sexual involved with the photo. He said the picture was nothing more than how people would see him when he went swimming at the YMCA, but admitted to a lapse in judgement in sending the pic.
After news of the photo circulated through local media outlets and in forums online, McCree issued a public apology, saying he was embarrassed by a “serious mistake.”
Last spring, McCree said he turned down an offer to pose for his own a 12-month calendar.
Wayne County judge reprimanded for shirtless photo, flip remarks
Detroit Free Press
October 24, 2012
A Wayne County Circuit judge has been reprimanded for sending a shirtless photograph of himself to a Wayne County Sheriff’s Office employee and, subsequently, not taking the matter seriously while being interviewed by a TV news reporter.
The Michigan Supreme Court accepted a recommendation from the Judicial Tenure Commission and publicly censured Judge Wade H. McCree.
According to the order, McCree — who, while discussing the photograph with a news reporter, said, “There is no shame in my game” — consented to the public censure.
The order says that in June 2010, McCree photographed himself with his cell phone after completing a half marathon and showed the image to family members, police officers and “deputies who worked in or passed through is courtroom.”
He later sent the photograph to a Sheriff’s Office employee, whose husband provided the picture to Fox 2 News reporter Charlie LeDuff, the order says.
In April this year, LeDuff interviewed McCree, who, the order says, “conducted himself in a flippant manner and did not give the interview the seriousness he should have. As a result, he brought shame and obloquy to the judiciary.”
Judge Wade McCree censured after sending nearly nude photo to bailiff
FOX 2 News
Posted: October 24, 2012 - 10:11 AM CDT
Updated: May 29, 2013 - 8:33 AM
DETROIT -- Third Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree sent a naked picture of himself to a female court bailiff. Apparently she didn't mind, but her husband did, so he gave it to us and we gave it to you and now the Michigan Supreme Court has given it back to Judge McCree, publicly censuring him Wednesday for judicial misconduct.
"It's very rare for a judge to get a slap on the wrist like this unless the judge did something really bad on the bench. So for the Supreme Court to look at this, to review this, and for the judge to agree with it, it's pretty bad," said FOX 2 legal analyst Charlie Langton.
"A judge has to set the example for others to follow. I mean, judges are held to a higher standard. There's integrity in the system of being a judge and this guy didn't do it."
Judge McCree wouldn't come out of his chambers for an interview, but here are a few of the court's findings. During an interview with yours truly, McCree "conducted himself in a flippant manner and did not give the interview the seriousness he should have. As a result, he brought shame and obloquy to the judiciary. For example, when discussing the digital image of himself, he said, 'There is no shame in my game.'"
The Supreme Court also found that the interview and the digital image spread rapidly around the internet and became the subject of jokes and ridicule.
McCree's lawyer told me that, in the end, the judge was guilty of giving a bad interview, that McCree should have acted "more judgey".
The Supreme Court also wrote in its decision that McCree's female bailiff kept his naked picture as motivation to remind her to exercise and eat right. I spoke to the female bailiff's husband and he says all it did was wreck their marriage.
Wayne County Judge McCree Jr. censured after circulating shirtless photo
MLive
October 24, 2012
The Judicial Tenure Commission thinks Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree Jr. should have had more professionalism in his game.
The Commission issued a public censure of misconduct against the Third Circuit judge Tuesday related the fallout related to a topless photo McCree originally took in 2006.
The disciplinary action, however, is related to McCree's response to media questions about the photo, not distribution of the photo itself.
"On April 23, 2012, Mr. LeDuff interviewed Respondent in Respondent’s chambers," the order says. "During the interview, (McCree) conducted himself in a flippant manner and did not give the interview the seriousness he should have.
"As a result, he brought shame and obloquy to the judiciary. For example, when discussing the digital image of him he said, 'There is no shame in my game.'”
Copies of the interview and photo spread on the Internet and "became the subject of jokes and ridicule."
Later the same week, McCree issued a statement acknowledging, "“Clearly, I made an extremely serious error in judgment. I am embarrassed and totally sorry," according to the order.
McCree sent the shirtless photo of his fit physique to multiple women, including at least one married court employee.
"Judge McCree was not censured because he distributed the picture," said McCree's attorney, Brian Einhorn, in a statement Tuesday. "(McCree) was censured because of the way he handled the TV interview — because he was flippant and because he did not give it the seriousness he should have.
"A review of the court’s order will reflect that the women who received the photo had requested that it be sent to her and that she kept it for inspiration."
(MLive Detroit initially incorrectly reported that the censure was based on the distribution of the photo itself.)
The photo of the chiseled judge is taken from the waist up in the mirror and was discovered on the phone of a court employee by her husband.
"Hot dog. that's me," McCree said when WJBK-TV showed him a printout of the photo in April. "No shame to my game."
McCree, who is married, told media the photo was sent to multiple women, adding that it's not a nude photo and that he's shirtless on a daily basis the YMCA pool.
McCree is the son of the first black judge on the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati and solicitor general under President Jimmy Carter.
Censure is essentially a public scolding for improper conduct. The Supreme Court did not levy any further punishment against McCree.
Detroit Judge Reprimanded For Sending Shirtless Photo
CBS News - Detroit
October 24, 2012
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) – A Detroit judge has agreed to a reprimand for sending a shirtless photo of himself to a courthouse employee and telling a reporter, “No shame in my game.”
Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree agreed to the punishment in an order released Wednesday by the Michigan Supreme Court. The court says it’s accepting the recommendation of a watchdog agency and ordering a public censure.
The justices agreed with the Judicial Tenure Commission that McCree “brought shame … to the judiciary” with his April comments to WJBK-TV reporter Charlie LeDuff.
McCree sent a cellphone photo of himself to a female sheriff’s officer. It shows a very fit judge from the waist up. The officer kept it to motivate her to improve her workouts, but her husband provided a copy to LeDuff.
McCree argued there was nothing sexual involved with the photo. He said the picture was nothing more than how people would see him when he went swimming at the YMCA, but admitted to a lapse in judgement in sending the pic.
After news of the photo circulated through local media outlets and in forums online, McCree issued a public apology, saying he was embarrassed by a “serious mistake.”
Last spring, McCree said he turned down an offer to pose for his own a 12-month calendar.
Shirtless photo leads to censure of Judge Wade H. McCree
Detroit Free Press
October 25, 2012
A Wayne County Circuit Court judge has been reprimanded for sending a shirtless photograph of himself to a Wayne County Sheriff's Office employee and, subsequently, not taking the matter seriously while being interviewed by a TV news reporter.
The Michigan Supreme Court accepted a recommendation from the Judicial Tenure Commission and publicly censured Judge Wade H. McCree.
According to the order, McCree -- who, while discussing the photo with a reporter, said, "There's no shame in my game" -- consented to the public censure.
The order says that in June 2010, McCree took a photo of himself with his cell phone after completing a half marathon and showed the image to family members, police officers and "deputies who worked in or passed through his courtroom."
He later sent the photo to a Sheriff's Office employee, whose husband gave the picture to WJBK-TV (Channel 2) reporter Charlie LeDuff, the order says. In April of this year, LeDuff interviewed McCree, who, the order says, "conducted himself in a flippant manner and did not give the interview the seriousness he should have. As a result, he brought shame and obloquy to the judiciary."
McCree's lawyer, Brian Einhorn, called LeDuff's news story "just a setup."
McCree would have won an appeal of the reprimand, but instead he accepted it because contesting the order would have meant six to eight more months of adverse publicity, Einhorn said.
"There was nothing wrong with distributing the photo" because "it is a family atmosphere in the court," Einhorn said Wednesday. "The only thing wrong was that he was flippant during the interview" with Fox 2.
Asked whether he counseled McCree not to send any more photos, Einhorn said: "He's a smart guy. I don't need to tell him the obvious."
LeDuff: Judge Wade McCree strike two
Fox 2 News
Posted: Dec 06
DETROIT (WJBK) -- Two people from work hook up. They make a baby. It happens. But in this case they're not colleagues. She stood in his courtroom as a complaining witness in a child support case against her ex and he was the judge deciding the case. That's creepy, and it's probably illegal.
You remember Third Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree, the buff barrister we caught back in April texting nude pics of himself to a female bailiff.
His performance was so bizarre that the Michigan Supreme Court took the highly unusual step of censuring him for bringing shame to the profession and acting like a total "McCreep".
In the middle of the judge's Supreme Court investigation, his honor met up with Geniene La'Shay Mott, a woman who had dragged her ex-boyfriend into court on felony charges that he was ducking out on his child support.
"I met him as a litigant, a complaining witness in his courtroom, and he stayed around after the case was over and that's when the second half of the flirting started and we went from there and our relationship picked up," she said.
"It went from being a summer fling and just something to do to falling in love, promises of marriage, me getting pregnant, us buying a house together, name it."
Things moved fast, Mott says. McCree told her his marriage was loveless. Mott showed us hundreds of messages the two exchanged over the months, including one where McCree asked her to keep the relationship under the covers.
McCree: My Judicial Tenure Commission has me nervous, as you might expect. I have to be real careful until this matter is put to rest... you are the complaining witness on a case that is before me. Naturally if it got out that we were seeing each other before your B.D.'s (baby daddy) case closed, everybody could be in deep (expletive). Why you want to spend time with a man like me remains a mystery, but if you'll have me... then as Bill Withers said, "use me up!" SMOOCHES.
The text came from McCree's phone number. He still has that number and when I called, I got his voicemail.
There's a photo that shows McCree and Mott at a Wolverines' game and a check he wrote from his dead mother's estate to help her pay for the house and texts between the two plotting the punishment of Mott's ex.
McCree: OK, The math will be based on his failures since being placed on probation, but if U'r right, the threat of jail will loosen his purse strings!
Mott: OK, SO LET'S GO WITH WHAT YOU PROPOSED... GO 2 JAIL (150 DAYS), RELEASE UPON PAYMENT OF $1,500. OR, GET A TETHER & BRING BACK W/N 30 DAYS $2500 OR SERVE 9 MONTHS! BONUS: PAY W/N 30 DAYS, REMOVE TETHER. NOW BACK 2 US... WHAT ARE WE DOIN AFTER COURT THURSDAY???
Mott's ex got tossed in the can, but justice was equal here because Mott's ex got a jail bed and Mott got the judge's bed. Here is what she says they did after court.
"The day of, we then go to his chambers, as usual... but in chambers all of the time," she said.
Sex, I asked.
"Yes. We have sex in his chambers very often."
On his desk, I further questioned.
"On his desk, in the chair, the couch, you name it."
Fox 2 Legal Analyst Charlie Langton says this whole court's out of order.
"This judge just got a little invitation from the Supreme Court to... be a good judge just a little while ago and he couldn't do that. Now, if there are charges, and I suspect there will be charges, certainly ethical charges if not criminal charges, but the Supreme Court may get a second crack at this judge," he said.
That's what the ex says and he's no lawyer.
"He's basically listening to her to set me up, I mean a set up," Robert King said with the messages in hand. "I can't believe this, man. This is my life right here. They're playing with my life."
Mott says Judge McCree promised to marry her. She even went with him to file the divorce papers. Then she got pregnant. And then she went to the OB/GYN.
Message from Mott: HAVE YOU BEEN SLEEPING W/ANYONE ELSE DURING OUR RELATIONSHIP???... EVEN ORAL SEX? I'M ASKING NOW CAUSE THEY R GONNA RUN THE TEST 2 KNOW IF THE BABY @ RISK & I RATHER HEAR IT FROM U IF I DO.
McCree: U HAVE BEEN MY ONLY PARTNER SINCE WE'VE ENCOUNTERED EACH OTHER.
So it was supposed to be happily ever after until she says McCree got cold feet. According to the text sent from McCree's phone, his wife found out about the baby and wouldn't grant him the divorce unless Mott aborted it.
McCree: YEAH LET'S TALK!!! I WANT (AND SO DOES LAVERNE) THIS TERMINATION. U'LL GET WHATEVER U WANT 4 IT! I'VE BEEN CLEAR ON IT FROM THE GET GO!!! WHATEVER U WANT, YOU SHALL HAVE!!!
Mott: O NO... U ACT LIKE I'M HOLDING THIS OVER U... YOU ASKED ME 2 GET THE ABORTION 2 HELP YOU IN YOUR DIVORCE CASE.
I asked her what she believes people will think of her when they see this story.
"I'm sure the same thing I would think watching a news story that she knew what she was getting into messing with a married man. And that's pretty much it. She should've never got involved. She should've known he wasn't going to leave. The typical. And that's why it was a fling, something to do for the summer, and it turned into more.... And, of course, I believed him with everything, you know, his actions, showed me that he was leaving, he filed for divorce. I mean, there was nothing to say that we weren't moving forward," said Mott.
Is she going to keep the child?
"Yes. I never wanted to have the abortion in the first place."
So why did this woman come to us? Because last week Judge McCree went to the Wayne County prosecutor claiming Mott was stalking and extorting him. McCree failed to mention his baby, the house or the child support case to the investigators. Still, the investigators look into it and found his complaints baseless.
I tried to ask the judge some questions.
"Hey, judge, you have a moment?" I asked.
"No, I do not," he said.
"I want to talk to you about Geniene La'Shay," I said.
"Sorry cannot do it," he replied.
"Sir, did you have a relationship with her while you had her case in front of you?" I asked.
"All matters are with the prosecutor's office and I cannot have any conversations with you," he said.
"These are your text messages? You don't want to comment on these?" I asked.
He didn't answer.
"Judge, you said you'd give her anything if she aborted the baby, so why'd you call the prosecutor on her? What did she do wrong? Sir, you're a criminal judge, is what you did criminal?" I asked.
He didn't respond.
"You don't get three strikes when you're a judge. You probably get one. You certainly don't get two. This guy is probably going to be gone," said Langton.
"And she's pregnant? Wow. What, he's going to be put on child support? Wow," said King.
UPDATE: They Wayne County prosecutor's office tells FOX 2 Friday no criminal action will be taken against Geniene La'Shay Mott, the woman who claims she had an affair with Third Circuit Judge Wade McCree while she was a complaining witness in a child support case he was presiding over.
Additionally, the entire matter is now being referred to the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission.
Prosecutors refer censured judge to tenure commission for latest sex flap
Detroit News
December 7, 2012
Detroit - Wayne County prosecutors have referred censured Circuit Judge Wade McCree back to the judicial tenure commission after he went to prosecutors claiming a woman was stalking and attempting to extort him.
But prosecutors said Friday they would not pursue criminal action against the woman, who says she became pregnant by McCree while the two had a relationship and discussed strategies in the child support case that was pending before him.
"Our office routinely investigates allegations of conduct that could compromise the safety of a judge, the court personnel, and the public," said Maria Miller, a spokeswoman for Prosecutor Kym L. Worthy. "Based upon our investigation, it was determined that no criminal action would be taken against the woman."
That woman, Geniene La'Shay Mott, shared text messages with WJBK-TV (Channel 2) that reportedly showed she and the judge discussed strategies in the child support case involving her child's father. Mott claims she met the judge when her case was before him.
This latest flap for McCree comes after the Judicial Tenure Commission in October censured the judge after he admitted "a serious error in judgment" for emailing a semi-nude photo of himself to a number of people, including a married female Wayne County Sheriff's Department deputy who worked as a bailiff in his courtroom.
A staffer reached by phone in McCree's court said Friday he was not immediately available for comment.
The Judicial Tenure Commission does not typically reveal details of the cases it is investigating.
Mott, who did not immediately respond to a request from The News to speak about the latest allegations, confirmed on her Twitter and Facebook pages that she is the woman from the latest incident.
"My life is public enough! I'm her ok u saw the news story," Mott wrote on Twitter, warning people to stop sending Facebook requests that "I'm not going 2 accept."
Mott refers to the baby she alleges is McCree's in several tweets. On Nov. 18, she says: "Baby mccree is kicking my butt already # nausea."
After the television story aired, she posted on Facebook: "I can't answer everyones call & txt. I appreciate the kind words & respect the harsh criticism."
Mott added McCree "did not do me any favors" by putting her child's father in jail over child support.
"...evrything else regarding my relationship wit Wade Mccree is as stated in the fox news story. Please pray for the innocent children both mine, his, & ours that are effected by jugde mccrees actions & also mine for getting involved w/this situation. Only myself, wade & GOD know all the details therefore ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE ME."
In recent weeks, Mott posted several shots on Facebook of herself with McCree. One is her current profile photo.
On Nov. 28, Mott hinted on the social networking site that "the truth will finally be exposed," adding she's known in her "private & professional life 4 being beyond discreet."
"Just know in advance my hand has been forced 2 FULLY DISCLOSE EVERYTHING Regarding This one incident to avoid the lies that could be said," Mott wrote. "I know I will be judged behind this. But ask the full story first.. I'm a open book...I may be a lot of thing BUT A LIAR I AM NOT."
Wayne County Circuit Court records show Mott was previously convicted of driving while intoxicated and with a suspended license for an offense in 2010. Records say she was ordered to serve four months in Wayne County Jail after pleading guilty to the charges. An additional count of resisting and obstructing police was dismissed.
Mott's Twitter page says she's a "SPORTS JUNKIE, medical student, recently certified paramedic" who is "ALWAYS TRAVELING." It also boasts she's "THE BEST U EVER HAD!!" and "MANAGEMENT & PUBLICIST. 'I MAKE THINGS HAPPEN!!"
In April regarding the photo scandal, McCree blew off the semi-nude image that he'd sent around, famously telling WJBK: "There's no shame in my game."
But a few days after the scandal broke, he released a statement that said: "Clearly, I made an extremely serious error in judgment. I am embarrassed and totally sorry."
In his appearance before the Tenure Commission, McCree said he had snapped the self portrait with the caption "2010 Dexter-Ann Arbor race. Fit in my 50's."
According to McCree, the digital photo was shown to a number of people, including his family, police officers and deputies who worked in or passed through his courtroom, including the married female deputy.
According to the commission, McCree conducted himself in a "flippant manner" in his interview with WJBK and "as a result, he brought shame and obloquy to the judiciary."
McCree was appointed to the Third Circuit Court of Michigan by Gov. Jennifer Granholm. He is also the son of the late Wade H. McCree Jr., who was appointed the U.S. Solicitor General by President Jimmy Carter.
The senior McCree taught at the University of Michigan in the 1980s and was the first African-American to sit on a Michigan court of record when he was appointed to the Wayne County Circuit Court in 1954.
Wayne Circuit Judge Wade McCree accused of relationship with litigant
Michigan Lawyers Weekly
December 7, 2012
Wayne Circuit Judge Wade McCree, fresh off of an October censure for texting a shirtless photo to a coworker, is again being accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a woman who appeared in his court on a child support matter. [Fox2Detroit.com with video (We can’t embed the video, but you have to see it)].
(“That’s creepy and probably illegal,” says reporter Charlie Leduff in the video. Do you think so, doctor?)
LeDuff reports McCree had an affair with Geniene La’Shay Mott, who was in his court because her ex-boyfriend was being charged with failing to pay child support for their child.
Mott’s proof? A text message from McCree asking her to keep their relationship secret until McCree’s Judicial Tenure Commission process was over.
LeDuff said he called the number that sent the text and McCree’s voicemail answered.
Mott also has photos of the two at a Michigan football game and a check McCree wrote to help pay for her house payment.
The worst allegation – at least professionally – is a text message conversation in which McCree and Mott discuss how to handle her ex-boyfriend’s punishment for failing to pay child support.
But that’s not all. According to the report, McCree was also in the process of divorcing his wife. His wife reportedly wouldn’t go along with the divorce unless Mott had an abortion. (Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that Mott is pregnant, and alleges that McCree is the father). The two again discussed the situation through text messages.
Mott told LeDuff that she isn’t having an abortion.
For his part, McCree said that Mott is stalking him. Wayne County prosecutor spokesperson Maria Miller told The Detroit News that no charges will be filed against Mott. But the matter has been sent to the JTC, Miller said.
Detroit Judge McCree impregnated plaintiff in child support case he presided over
MLive
December 07, 2012 at 12:18 PM
Updated December 07, 2012 at 4:42 PM
DETROIT — Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree Jr. is certainly blurring the lines of his authority should a recent report by FOX 2's Charlie LeDuff turn out to be true.
The married judge, who recently received a censure related to the fallout of a 2006 incident in which he text messaged a shirtless photo of himself to a bailiff, is now accused of sleeping with and impregnating a female plaintiff in a child support case, LeDuff reports.
The relationship eventually went awry and McCree filed a stalking complaint against his mistress, Geniene La'Shay Mott, with the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office.
The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office issued this statement Friday:
"Our office routinely investigates allegations of conduct that could compromise the safety of a judge, the court personnel and the public. Judge McCree recently alleged that there was a female that was stalking and attempting to extort him. Based upon our investigation it was determined that no criminal action would be taken against the woman. The entire matter is being referred to the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission"
When called for comment by MLive Detroit, a representative in McCree's office said he gone for the day and expected to return next week.
As the Michigan Supreme Court reviewed the questionable conduct of McCree related to him sending bathroom-born photos if his chiseled shirtless physique, into McCree's courtroom walks Mott, whom LeDuff interviewed.
"I met him as a litigant, a complaining witness in his courtroom, and he stayed around after the case was over and that's when the second half of the flirting started and we went from there and our relationship picked up," Mott told LeDuff. "It went from being a summer fling and just something to do to falling in love, promises of marriage, me getting pregnant, us buying a house together, name it."
LeDuff reported that he reviewed hundreds of messages between the two, at least one in which McCree acknowledges the impropriety of their relationship:
McCree: My Judicial Tenure Commission has me nervous, as you might expect. I have to be real careful until this matter is put to rest... you are the complaining witness on a case that is before me. Naturally if it got out that we were seeing each other before your B.D.'s (baby daddy) case closed, everybody could be in deep (expletive). Why you want to spend time with a man like me remains a mystery, but if you'll have me... then as Bill Withers said, "use me up!" SMOOCHES.
LeDuff said he verified the text messages came McCree's cell phone.
If that is true, an even more troubling text message deals with McCree negotiating the sentence he would impose on the father of Mott's child with Mott prior to issuing it.
Mott: OK, SO LET'S GO WITH WHAT YOU PROPOSED... GO 2 JAIL (150 DAYS), RELEASE UPON PAYMENT OF $1,500. OR, GET A TETHER & BRING BACK W/N 30 DAYS $2500 OR SERVE 9 MONTHS! BONUS: PAY W/N 30 DAYS, REMOVE TETHER. NOW BACK 2 US... WHAT ARE WE DOIN AFTER COURT THURSDAY???
Mott told LeDuff that she had sex with McCree "very often" on various articles of furniture in the judge's chambers.
McCree's attorney in the shirtless photo case, Brian Einhorn, has not responded to MLive Detroit's request for comment related to the matter with Mott.
Wayne County prosecutor's office: No criminal charges against Judge McCree's alleged mistress
FOX - Detroit
Dec 07. 2012
DETROIT (WJBK) - The Wayne County prosecutor's office tells FOX 2 Friday no criminal action will be taken against Geniene La'Shay Mott, the woman who claims she had an affair with Third Circuit Judge Wade McCree while she was a complaining witness in a child support case he was presiding over.
Additionally, the entire matter is now being referred to the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission.
Judge McCree is placed on administrative leave
FOXDetroit.com
Dec 07, 2012
DETROIT (WJBK) - Fox 2 has learned that Third Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree has been placed on administrative leave following a report filed by Charlie LeDuff about an alleged affair the judge had with a plaintiff in his court.
Geniene La'Shay Mott told LeDuff that she "hooked up" with McCree while he was married. She says is pregnant with McCree's child.
She shared text messages allegedly sent to her from the judge that support her claims of the affair and the notion that the McCree asked her to get an abortion.
Things went south between McCree and Mott as she said she wanted to keep the child and McCree was hedging on keeping his promises of leaving his wife to be with her.
Wayne County Circuit Court records show that McCree filed for divorce from his wife, LaVerne McCree, on Oct. 11, but the case was dismissed Nov. 28.
Mott contacted Fox 2 after Judge McCree went to the Wayne County prosecutor claiming Mott was stalking and extorting him. McCree failed to mention his baby, the house or the child support case to the investigators. Still, the investigators looked into it and found his complaints baseless.
McCree has been in trouble with the courts before. In October he was reprimanded for sending a nearly nude photo of himself to a court bailiff. LeDuff reported on the photo incident and during an interview McCree told him "there's no shame in my game".
The Michigan Supreme Court publicly censured McCree for not taking the matter seriously.
Now McCree is placed on administrative leave by Third Circuit Presiding Judge Virgil Smith.
Fox 2's Charlie Langton says McCree could lose his job.
Watch Fox 2 News at 5p and 10p for updates to this developing story. We'll post the latest information on this web site as it comes in.
Shirtless Judge’ McCree Allegedly Impregnates Witness, Lets Her Decide Ex’s Sentence
CBS News - Detroit
December 7, 2012
DETROIT (Talk Radio 1270) - Is there shame in his game now? The 3rd Circuit Court Judge who made headlines by sending a female employee a shirtless picture of himself was ensnared again when a woman came forward with hundreds of text messages she says proves he initiated an affair with her when she came into his courtroom seeking child support.
Genine Le’Shay Mott is now pregnant, she says with the judge’s child. Text messages allegedly show him urging her to have an abortion, writing, “you’ll get whatever you want 4 it.”
Most startling of all from a criminal perspective — her text messages show the judge let her weigh in on the sentence her ex faced in court.
“He’s texting her messages from the bench, negotiating punishment for the (baby’s) father,” said journalist Charlie LeDuff, who broke the story late Thursday. He appeared on the Charlie Langton Talk Radio 1270 show Friday morning to spill the tale again.
One text shows McCree writing: “OK, The math will be based on his failures since being placed on probation, but if U’r right, the threat of jail will loosen his purse strings!”
His erstwhile girlfriend responded: “OK, So let’s go with what you proposed .. Go 2 jail (150 days), release upon payment of $1,500. Or get a tether and bring back w/n 30 days $2,500 or serve 9 months! Bonus: Pay w/n 30 days, remove tether. Now back 2 us … What are we doin after court Thursday?”
The ex did go to jail, while Mott and the judge — what they did, she said — was have sex in spots all over his judicial chambers.
“She’s well-spoken, credible, and half his age,” LeDuff said.
This news comes after the judge accepted a censure from the Michigan Supreme Court for allegedly taking naked photos of himself from the waist up and sending them to a court bailiff. When confronted by LeDuff, McCree said “ain’t no shame in my game.” He later apologized, said the photo was a "serious mistake," and went back to work with a censure in his background.
Langton, who is also WWJ’s legal analyst, said the judge could lose his job over the latest allegations.
“I believe it’s obstruction of justice,” Langton said about the judge allegedly letting the complaining witness weigh in on her boyfriend’s sentencing. “You can’t get advice from a witness in a case who has a vested interest in her ex going to jail.”
Mott said McCree got cold feet about their relationship when his wife found out about the pregnancy. He filed a complaint with the Wayne County prosecutor last week, saying she was stalking him. The prosecutor found his complaints baseless and refused to bring charges.
LeDuff tried to confront the judge at his home about the allegations. ”Sorry cannot do it,” McCree said when LeDuff showed up at his house. “All matters are with the prosecutor’s office.”
What happens next? “You don’t get three strikes when you’re a judge,” Langton said, adding McCree could face repercussions from the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission for misconduct — and face a criminal complaint for obstruction of justice.
“When I found out about the texts and the sentencing, that’s a breach,” LeDuff said. “How crazy, this is a guy not thinking clearly.”
No criminal charges for woman who allegedly had affair with Wayne County judge, got pregnant
Detroit Free Press
December 7, 2012
The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement today that it won’t charge a woman who Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade H. McCree alleged “was stalking and attempting to extort him.”
“Our office routinely investigates allegations of conduct that could compromise the safety of a judge, the court personnel and the public,” Maria Miller, a spokeswoman for the office, said in a statement. “Based upon our investigation, it was determined that no criminal action would be taken against the woman. The entire matter is being referred to the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission.”
This announcement comes a day after FOX 2 News reported that McCree allegedly carried on an affair with the plaintiff in a child support case before him. Geniene La’Shay Mott claimed to the news station that she is pregnant with McCree’s child and shared text messages allegedly sent to her from the judge.
Wayne County Circuit Court records show that in March, Mott of Detroit was denied a request for a personal protection order for Robert King Jr., who is the father of her 6-year-old daughter. The records say Mott had King arrested on a felony charge for failing to pay child support and that he had posted bond. The records indicate that she had a previous personal protection order against King, who lives in Clinton Township, but that she did not renew it.
A message seeking comment was left on Mott’s voice mail. But she did address the situation on her Facebook page in a posting earlier today:
“Judge Wade McCree DID NOT do me any favors by putting Mr. King in jail. True he should not have discussed the case w/me but Robert King owes OVER $15,000 in child support & still isnt making payments. ANY judge would have sent him 2 jail..evrything else regarding my relationship wit Wade Mccree is as stated in the fox news story. Please pray for the innocent children both mine, his, & ours that are effected by jugde mccrees actions & also mine for getting involved w/this situation. Only myself, wade & GOD know all the details therefore ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE ME.”
A message seeking comment was left for King.
Wayne County Circuit Court records also show that McCree filed for divorce from his wife, LaVerne McCree, on Oct. 11, but the case was dismissed Nov. 28.
This is the second scandal involving the judge.
In October, McCree was reprimanded for sending a shirtless photograph of himself to a Wayne County Sheriff’s Office employee. The Michigan Supreme Court accepted a recommendation from the Judicial Tenure Commission and publicly censured McCree, who also was criticized for not taking the matter seriously while being interviewed by Fox 2 News reporter Charlie LeDuff.
While being interviewed by LeDuff in April about the photograph, McCree said: “There’s no shame in my game.”
No one answered the phone in McCree’s court this afternoon.
Judge McCree and his alleged affair
Fox News - Detroit
Dec 07, 2012
Judge who was reprimanded for texting shirtless picture to a bailiff is now in more trouble
WXYZ News
December 07, 2012
DETROIT (WXYZ) - Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree who was reprimanded for sending shirtless pictures to a court bailiff is in more trouble.
Geniene LaShay Mott says on her Facebook page that she had a relationship with Judge McCree. The relationship happened while Mott was before McCree on a case in which the judge sent her ex-boyfriend to jail for back child support.
The ex-boyfriend confirmed to 7 Action News that he saw romantic text messages between Mott and Decree while his case was being heard.
Legal experts say it is a clear conflict of interest for a judge to have a relationship with someone who has a case before them. Just before word of this relationship leaked out, in a strange twist, McCree filed a stalking complaint with the Wayne County Prosecutor’s office against Mott. But on Friday, the prosecutor’s office said that no criminal action would be taken against Mott and referred the whole matter to the judicial tenure commission.
7 Action News was unable to reach Mott for comment and McCree did not return our phone message and was not in court on Friday.
Detroit judge put on leave amid claims of affair
Associated Press State Wire: Michigan (MI)
December 8, 2012
DETROIT (AP) — A Detroit judge recently reprimanded for sending a shirtless photo of himself to an employee has been placed on leave amid allegations he had a relationship with a woman whose child-support case was pending in his court.
Wayne County's chief judge, Virgil Smith, told The Detroit News that Judge Wade McCree was placed on leave Friday. Geniene La'Shay Mott previously told WJBK-TV that McCree discussed strategies with her in a child-support case. She was seeking money from a former boyfriend.
Mott told the TV station that she had sex with the judge in his office and is pregnant with his child. McCree declined to comment.
The Michigan Supreme Court reprimanded McCree for misconduct in October. He has apologized for sending a shirtless photo of himself to a female court employee.
Wayne County judge placed on leave over sex flap
Panel to hear charges he impregnated woman who had case in court
Detroit News
December 8, 2012
Detroit - A Wayne County judge was placed on administrative leave following allegations he impregnated a woman who had an ongoing case in his court, the court's chief judge, Virgil Smith, confirmed Friday.
Circuit Judge Wade McCree, who was censured this year for texting shirtless photos of himself, also could be investigated by the Judicial Tenure Commission.
Prosecutors referred the allegations against him to the commission after McCree filed a complaint with county prosecutors alleging the woman was stalking and attempting to extort him.
Neither will face charges, prosecutors said. But Wayne State University law professor Peter Henning said McCree could be in trouble with the ethics panel.
"If the relationship began while the case was in front of him, that would raise some very serous questions if he could even remain on the bench," Henning said. "Judges are held to a very high standard. What might be questionable conduct in the private world is simply forbidden for a judge. Even the appearance of impropriety can be enough to trigger discipline."
McCree was unavailable for comment Friday. A staffer in his court said he was unavailable, and his attorney in the earlier case before the Judicial Tenure Commission said he no longer represents the judge.
McCree is the son of a legendary attorney who served as solicitor general for President Jimmy Carter. In October, the younger McCree was censured after admitting "a serious error in judgment" for emailing a shirtless photo of himself to a number of people, including a married female Wayne County Sheriff's Department deputy who worked as a bailiff in his courtroom.
The judge's reputation took another hit Thursday when a woman, Geniene La'Shay Mott, shared text messages with WJBK-TV (Channel 2) that reportedly showed she and McCree had discussed strategies in the child support case involving her child's father. Mott claims she met the judge when her case was before him.
"It doesn't help to have one strike against you," Henning said. "The shirt photo was juvenile. This has the possibility of being much more serious."
Mott didn't return messages from The Detroit News and took to Twitter and Facebook to request privacy.
"My life is public enough! I'm her ok u saw the news story," Mott wrote on Twitter, warning people to stop sending Facebook requests that "I'm not going 2 accept."
Maria Miller, a spokeswoman for Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy, said there was no evidence to warrant charges against the woman.
"Our office routinely investigates allegations of conduct that could compromise the safety of a judge, the court personnel, and the public," Miller said in a statement. "Based upon our investigation, it was determined that no criminal action would be taken against the woman."
The case with McCree involved child support issues over the 6-year-old daughter of Mott and Robert King Jr. Complaints about missing child support emerged months after the girl was born, court records indicate.
In March, Wayne Circuit Judge Arthur Lombard denied granting Mott a personal protection order against King. In the complaint Mott said King threatened to kill her in 2006. The judge ruled the threat "too stale."
"I recently had Mr. King arrest (sic) and charged with a felony due to unpaid child support," Mott wrote in the March 20 request. "He posted bond last night and I feel my safety is at risk. I have a previous PPO but never renewed it due to him not knowing where I was. His mother has given him my new address."
King is currently on probation for a January 2011 breaking and entering charge. The Fox-2 report stated that McCree jailed King for failure to pay child support, but Mott wrote on Twitter that the judge "did not do me any favors" by jailing the man.
"He owes OVER 15k in child support & STILL isn't payin. ANY judge would have jailed him," she wrote, adding that "only myself, wade & GOD know all the details therefore ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE ME."
In recent weeks, Mott posted several photos of herself with McCree. On Twitter, she made repeated references to her unborn child as a "McCree."
"Baby mccree is kicking my butt already # nausea," she wrote on Nov. 18.
Court records show Mott was previously convicted of driving while intoxicated and with a suspended license for an offense in 2010.
Records say she was ordered to serve four months in Wayne County Jail after pleading guilty to the charges. An additional count of resisting and obstructing police was dismissed.
'Ain't no shame in my game' judge in trouble again
Detroit Free Press
December 8, 2012
The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office won't charge a woman who Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree alleged "was stalking and attempting to extort him."
But the office planned to refer the incident to the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission, spokeswoman Maria Miller said Friday in a news release.
"Based upon our investigation, it was determined that no criminal action would be taken against the woman," Miller said.
The announcement came a day after Fox 2 News reported that McCree allegedly had an affair with the plaintiff in a child support case. The woman, Geniene La'Shay Mott, claimed to the news station that she is pregnant with McCree's child and shared text messages allegedly sent to her from the judge.
No one answered the phone in McCree's court Friday.
Wayne County Circuit Court records show that in March, Mott, who lives in Detroit, was denied a request for a personal protection order for Robert King Jr., who is the father of her 6-year-old daughter.
The records say Mott had King arrested on a felony charge for failing to pay child support and that he had posted bond.
The records indicate that she had a previous personal protection order against King, who lives in Clinton Township, but that she did not renew it.
A message seeking comment was left on Mott's voice mail. But she addressed the situation on her Facebook page in a posting Friday.
"Judge Wade McCree DID NOT do me any favors by putting Mr. King in jail. True he should not have discussed the case w/me but Robert King owes OVER $15,000 in child support & still isnt making payments. ANY judge would have sent him 2 jail..evrything else regarding my relationship wit Wade Mccree is as stated in the fox news story. Please pray for the innocent children both mine, his, & ours that are effected by jugde mccrees actions & also mine for getting involved w/this situation. Only myself, wade & GOD know all the details therefore ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE ME."
A message seeking comment was left for King.
Circuit Court records also show that McCree filed for divorce from his wife, LaVerne McCree, on Oct. 11, but the case was dismissed Nov. 28.
This is the second scandal involving the judge.
In October, McCree was reprimanded for sending a shirtless photograph of himself to a Wayne County Sheriff's Office employee. The Michigan Supreme Court accepted a recommendation from the Judicial Tenure Commission and publicly censured McCree, who was also criticized for not taking the matter seriously while being interviewed by Fox 2 News reporter Charlie LeDuff.
While being interviewed by LeDuff in April about the photograph, McCree said: "There's no shame in my game."
Wayne County Circuit Judge put on leave amid claims of affair
Detoit Free Press
December 8, 2012
DETROIT — A Detroit judge recently reprimanded for sending a shirtless photo of himself to an employee has been placed on leave amid allegations he had a relationship with a woman whose child-support case was pending in his court.
Wayne County's chief judge, Virgil Smith, told The Detroit News that Judge Wade McCree was placed on leave Friday. Geniene La'Shay Mott previously told WJBK-TV that McCree discussed strategies with her in a child-support case. She was seeking money from a former boyfriend.
Mott told the TV station that she had sex with the judge in his office and is pregnant with his child. McCree declined to comment.
The Michigan Supreme Court reprimanded McCree for misconduct in October. He has apologized for sending a shirtless photo of himself to a female court employee.
Suspended Judge McCree receives $12,000 a month pay
FOX News - Detroit
Jan 23, 2013
Michigan Supreme Court suspends Judge Wade McCree without pay
Detroit News
February 8, 2013
Detroit - A Wayne County judge, facing allegations he impregnated a woman who had an ongoing case in his court, has been suspended without pay.
The Michigan Supreme Court announced Friday that Wayne Circuit Judge Wade H. McCree's pay suspension was effective immediately and it "will be held in escrow pending the final resolution of these disciplinary proceedings."
The high court also granted a motion to seal McCree's case file.
McCree had been placed on administrative leave in December. Last year, he was also censured for texting shirtless photos of himself, an issue that could be investigated by the Judicial Tenure Commission.
Prosecutors referred the recent allegations against him to the commission after McCree filed a complaint with county prosecutors alleging the woman was stalking and attempting to extort him.
Neither will face charges, prosecutors have said.
Repeated attempts to reach McCree have been unsuccessful by The Detroit News.
McCree is the son of a legendary attorney who served as solicitor general for President Jimmy Carter.
In October, the younger McCree was censured after admitting "a serious error in judgment" for emailing that shirtless photo of himself to a number of people, including a married female Wayne County Sheriff's Department deputy who worked as a bailiff in his courtroom.
The judge's reputation then took another hit when Geniene La'Shay Mott shared text messages with WJBK-TV (Channel 2) that reportedly showed she and McCree had discussed strategies in the child support case involving her child's father. Mott claims she met the judge when her case was before him.
Mott hasn't returned messages from The News and took to Twitter and Facebook to request privacy.
Maria Miller, a spokeswoman for Wayne County prosecutor Kym Worthy, said there was no evidence to warrant charges against the woman.
The case with McCree involved child support issues over the 6-year-old daughter of Mott and Robert King Jr. Complaints about missing child support emerged months after the girl was born, court records indicate.
In March, Wayne Circuit Judge Arthur Lombard denied granting Mott a personal protection order against King. In the complaint, Mott said King threatened to kill her in 2006. The judge ruled the threat "too stale."
King has been on probation for a January 2011 breaking and entering charge. The WJBK report stated that McCree jailed King for failure to pay child support, but Mott wrote on Twitter that the judge "did not do me any favors" by jailing the man.
Court records show Mott was previously convicted of driving while intoxicated and with a suspended license for an offense in 2010.
Records say she was ordered to serve four months in Wayne County Jail after pleading guilty to the charges. An additional count of resisting and obstructing police was dismissed.
Judge Wade McCree suspended by Michigan Supreme Court
FOX News - Detroit
Feb 08, 2013
DETROIT (WJBK) - The Michigan Supreme Court has suspended Wayne Co. Circuit Judge Wade McCree without pay effective immediately.
The court order issued Friday comes after FOX 2's Charlie LeDuff reported the censured judge was still being paid $12,000 month, despite being under investigation after LeDuff exposed McCree's relationship with a woman whose child-support case was pending in his court.
The order says McCree's pay will be held in escrow until disciplinary proceedings are resolved.
The court says the file is sealed and will remain confidential until further order.
The high court reprimanded McCree for misconduct in October after he sent a nude photo of himself to a female court employee. That story was also exposed by LeDuff. McCree has since apologized.
So far, McCree has offered no comment on his suspension.
Read the entire court order below:
On order of the Court, the motions for immediate consideration are GRANTED. The petition for interim suspension is considered, and it is GRANTED. The respondent Wayne Circuit Judge Wade H. McCree is suspended without pay, effective immediately, until further order of this Court. The respondent's salary will be held in escrow pending the final resolution of these disciplinary proceedings. The motion to seal the Supreme Court file is also considered, and it is GRANTED, in order to preserve the confidentiality required by MCR 9.219(A)(2) and MCR 9.221(A). With the exception of this order, the Supreme Court file is suppressed and shall remain confidential until further order of this Court.
Judge McCree suspended without pay in scandal
Detroit Free Press
February 8, 2013
A Wayne County Circuit Court judge, previously censured for sending a shirtless photo to a county sheriff’s office employee, has been suspended without pay.
Judge Wade McCree’s suspension over what are believed to be allegations that he had an affair with a plaintiff in a child custody case was announced today in an order from the Michigan Supreme Court.
“The respondent Wayne Circuit Judge Wade H. McCree is suspended without pay, effective immediately, until further order of this Court. The respondent’s salary will be held in escrow pending the final resolution of these disciplinary proceedings,” according to the order.
A message seeking comment was left for McCree.
McCree, who was censured in October because of the photo, became embroiled in scandal a second time when Fox 2 News reported on the alleged affair. The case also involved a claim from McCree that a woman "was stalking and attempting to extort him." The case was referred to the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission after the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office opted not to charge the woman.
According to earlier reports, the woman, Geniene La'Shay Mott of Detroit, claimed to the news station that she was pregnant with McCree's child and shared text messages allegedly sent to her from the judge.
The case that connected Mott and McCree involved Robert King Jr. of Clinton Township, who is the father of Mott’s 6-year-old daughter.
In December, Mott posted messages on her Facebook page about the situation:
"Judge Wade McCree DID NOT do me any favors by putting Mr. King in jail. True he should not have discussed the case w/me but Robert King owes OVER $15,000 in child support & still isnt making payments. ANY judge would have sent him 2 jail..evrything else regarding my relationship wit Wade Mccree is as stated in the fox news story. Please pray for the innocent children both mine, his, & ours that are effected by jugde mccrees actions & also mine for getting involved w/this situation. Only myself, wade & GOD know all the details therefore ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE ME."
‘Shirtless Judge’ Wade McCree Suspended
CBS News - Detroit
February 8, 2013
DETROIT (WWJ) - Metro Detroit’s infamous sexting judge has been suspended by the Michigan Supreme Court.
Wayne Circuit Judge Wade Harper McCree is suspended without pay, effective immediately, until further order.
“He was the judge who had 'no shame in his game' when he sent half-naked pictures to court employees. “He only received a censure then,” said WWJ Legal Analyst Charlie Langton. “But now he’s been disciplined for having a relationship with a woman whose boyfriend had a case in front of Judge McCree.”
Genine Le’Shay Mott, who reportedly came to McCree’s courtroom seeking child support, became pregnant — she said with the judge’s child. Text messages allegedly show him urging her to have an abortion, writing, “you’ll get whatever you want 4 it.”
Fox 2 News reporter Charlie LeDuff, who broke that story in December, told Langton records show McCree texted her from the bench, asking her to weigh in sentencing for the baby’s father.
In one text, McCree writes: “OK, The math will be based on his failures since being placed on probation, but if U’r right, the threat of jail will loosen his purse strings!”
McCree’s salary will be held in escrow pending the final resolution of disciplinary proceedings.
McCree is the son of the late Wade Hampton McCree, Jr., notable as the first African-American appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and the second African-American Solicitor General in the history of the United States.
Supreme Court suspends Detroit Judge Wade McCree amid allegations he impregnated plaintiff
MLive
February 08, 2013
DETROIT — After being censured last year for unprofessional behavior in response to a publicized shirtless photo he sent his bailiff; and after a report that he impregnated and colluded on his decision with a plaintiff.
In a case before him, Third Circuit Court Judge Wade H. McCree was suspended without pay by the Michigan Supreme Court Friday.
His pay will be entered into an escrow account until the disciplinary proceedings are completed.
The ruling states that further proceedings and information related to the court hearings will be sealed and unavailable to the public.
Michigan Circuit Court judges earn $139,919 per year, not including benefits.
It's unclear what will happen with McCree's staff while he is suspended. A clerk who answered the phone in his chambers said the court staff was proceeding as usual, but would not say what was happening with the cases he was scheduled to preside over.
The Wayne County Circuit Court administrator's office said a new policy implemented this year forbids staff from talking to media, according to administrative assistant Rebecca Mendoza. She said any answers as the operation of McCree's courtroom would have to come from the general counsel, who was unavailable Friday.
"I can't understand how in the world they concluded that he should be suspended without pay," said McCree's Southfield-based attorney, Brian Einhorn. He referenced another case in which a judge accused of stealing was suspended with pay by the same court. "I don't know how they could have considered this such extraordinary conduct; it's not such that it should justify a lengthy suspension — probably some suspension — but not a lengthy suspension with pay and this process will take a good year.
"It's just shocking."
The married judge's relationship with a plaintiff in a child support case led to a complaint being filed against McCree in December.
The tryst eventually went awry and McCree filed a stalking complaint against his mistress, Geniene La'Shay Mott, with the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office.
The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office issued this statement in response:
"Our office routinely investigates allegations of conduct that could compromise the safety of a judge, the court personnel and the public. Judge McCree recently alleged that there was a female that was stalking and attempting to extort him. Based upon our investigation it was determined that no criminal action would be taken against the woman. The entire matter is being referred to the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission"
Fox 2's Charlie LeDuff originally broke the story about McCree and Mott's relationship.
"I met him as a litigant, a complaining witness in his courtroom, and he stayed around after the case was over and that's when the second half of the flirting started and we went from there and our relationship picked up," Mott told LeDuff. "It went from being a summer fling and just something to do to falling in love, promises of marriage, me getting pregnant, us buying a house together, name it."
LeDuff reported that he reviewed hundreds of messages between the two, at least one in which
McCree acknowledges the impropriety of their relationship:
McCree: My Judicial Tenure Commission has me nervous, as you might expect. I have to be real careful until this matter is put to rest... you are the complaining witness on a case that is before me. Naturally if it got out that we were seeing each other before your B.D.'s (baby daddy) case closed, everybody could be in deep (expletive). Why you want to spend time with a man like me remains a mystery, but if you'll have me... then as Bill Withers said, "use me up!" SMOOCHES.
LeDuff said he verified the text messages came McCree's cell phone.
If that is true, an even more troubling text message deals with McCree negotiating the sentence he would impose on the father of Mott's child with Mott prior to issuing it.
Mott: OK, SO LET'S GO WITH WHAT YOU PROPOSED... GO 2 JAIL (150 DAYS), RELEASE UPON PAYMENT OF $1,500. OR, GET A TETHER & BRING BACK W/N 30 DAYS $2500 OR SERVE 9 MONTHS! BONUS: PAY W/N 30 DAYS, REMOVE TETHER. NOW BACK 2 US... WHAT ARE WE DOIN AFTER COURT THURSDAY???
Mott told LeDuff that she had sex with McCree "very often" on various articles of furniture in the judge's chambers.
Michigan Supreme Court suspends Wayne County judge Wade McCree
WXYZ News - Detroit
February 08, 2013
DETROIT (WXYZ) - He’s the controversial judge who took his shirt off and sent the near- naked photo into cyber space. Now, Judge Wade McCree has been suspended without pay, after allegations of serious misconduct in a case in his court.
The Michigan Supreme Court has suspended MrCree who's been accused of having a relationship with a woman whose child-support case was pending in his court.
After the court order issued Friday, Circuit Judge Wade McCree’s $140,000 is to be held in escrow until disciplinary proceedings are resolved. The court has sealed the file and will remain confidential until further order.
The allegations against him, insiders say, warranted the severe, immediate action by the Supreme Court, and set in motion a fast track investigation.
“Their quick action is an indication that there was some serious wrong doing here,” said Wayne State law professor Peter Henning. He has followed the trouble of Judge McCree from the bare-chested photo he sent of himself to a sheriff’s department employee, to the censure that followed. He quickly apologized for what he called very poor judgment in a public statement.
But what set the unpaid suspension in motion was the woman who claims McCree had a sexual affair with her while she was appearing before him as judge in her child support dispute. If the allegation is proven, his conduct is a major breach of ethics.
“ He’s put himself in a situation where its very difficult to defend what he did,” Henning said.
What happens next? The JTC will request an investigation based on known facts. Judge McCree will have an opportunity to answer that request-- and based on the judges answer, the JTC is expected to file a formal complaint that could lead to his removal from the bench.
We tried to get a comment from McCree this afternoon. He did not answer the door to his Indian Village home or phone call.
Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree suspended without pay
Detroit Free Press
February 9, 2013
A Wayne County Circuit Court judge, previously censured for sending a shirtless photo to a county sheriff's office employee, has been suspended without pay.
Judge Wade McCree's suspension over reported allegations that he had an affair with a plaintiff in a child custody case was announced Friday in an order from the Michigan Supreme Court. "The respondent Wayne Circuit Judge Wade H. McCree is suspended without pay, effective immediately, until further order of this Court. The respondent's salary will be held in escrow pending the final resolution of these disciplinary proceedings," according to the order.
The court also granted a motion sealing the case, which will prevent the release of any details associated with it.
Messages seeking comment were left for McCree at his office and home.
Curt Benson, a professor at Thomas M. Cooley Law School's Grand Rapids campus, painted the court's order as a dramatic departure from how cases involving most other judges have been handled.
"I can tell you that this is, I believe, only the fourth time in history that the Supreme Court has suspended a judge without pay pending a JTC (Judicial Tenure Commission) investigation. Normally, judges are suspended with pay," Benson said in a news release. "In the other three cases, two judges had already been convicted of felonies and their removals were mere formalities. In the third case, the judge had admitted dereliction of duty before the investigation had even begun. So the evidence against McCree must be quite compelling."
McCree, who was censured in October because of the photo, became embroiled in scandal a second time when Fox 2 News reported on the alleged affair. The case also involved a claim from McCree that a woman "was stalking and attempting to extort him." The case was referred to the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission after the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office opted not to charge the woman.
According to earlier reports, the woman, Geniene La'Shay Mott of Detroit, claimed to the news station that she was pregnant with McCree's child and shared text messages she said were sent to her from the judge.
Judge McCree has lawsuit filed against him in federal court
Fox 2 News
February 2013
DETROIT (WJBK) - Third Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree was censured last year for nude texting, then last week he was suspended without pay by the Michigan Supreme Court pending an official investigation into judicial misconduct.
McCree allegedly slept with a woman with a child support case before him and conspired to shake money out of the father's pockets.
Now that father, Robert King, has filed a suit in federal court against McCree asking for validation that he was done wrong for an unspecified amount of money and a restoration of the dignity of the court.
"This is a case about a constitutional violation by Wade McCree and Miss Mott, who conspired to deprive my client, Robert King, of his 14th Amendment and 5th Amendment due process rights," said attorney Joel B. Sklar.
But you can't sue a judge. They have immunity.
"In this case there is no immunity because all the acts that took place are known as non-judicial acts. A non-judicial act is something that is not protected by immunity, and I am confident... that Judge McCree cannot avail himself of any immunity nor can Miss Mott whatsoever," Sklar told me.
So they're suing on the grounds of pillow talk?
"I guess we are," said Sklar.
"Basically it's to bring awareness. It can't happen. How can it happen? Judges are supposed to be the most honest people plain and simple. That's what we were all taught. When we go in front of a court of law, we swear on a Bible. That's something that they swear to when they took the seat. And how can you do this? You can't do it to anybody. It's not just me. Now you've got to backtrack and pay attention to what's going on," King remarked.
Judge sued over relationship in child support case
Associated Press State Wire: Michigan (MI)
February 11, 2013
DETROIT (AP) — A Detroit-area man says his civil rights were violated in a child support case because a Wayne County judge was having a sexual relationship with the mother of his child.
Robert King of Macomb County's Clinton Township filed a lawsuit in federal court Monday against Judge Wade McCree and Geniene La'Shay Mott.
King says the judge last summer ordered him to wear an electronic tether until he paid child support. The Michigan Supreme Court last week suspended McCree without pay, two months after a Detroit TV station reported on the judge's relationship with Mott.
Mott says she regularly had sex with McCree and became pregnant with his child. McCree hasn't commented.
In October, the state Supreme Court reprimanded McCree for sending a shirtless photo of himself to a court employee.
‘Shirtless Judge’ Sued Over Relationship In Child Support Case
CBS News - Detroit
February 11, 2013
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - A Metro Detroit man says his civil rights were violated in a child support case because a Wayne County judge was having a sexual relationship with the mother of his child.
Robert King of Macomb County’s Clinton Township filed in federal court Monday against Judge Wade McCree and Geniene La’Shay Mott.
King said the judge last summer ordered him to wear an electronic tether until he paid child support. The Michigan Supreme Court last week suspended McCree without pay, two months after Fox 2 News reported on the judge’s relationship with Mott.
Mott said she regularly had sex with McCree and became pregnant with his child. Reporter Charlie LeDuff, who broke that story in December, told Langton records show McCree texted her from the bench, asking her to weigh in sentencing for the baby’s father.
In one text, McCree writes: “OK, The math will be based on his failures since being placed on probation, but if U’r right, the threat of jail will loosen his purse strings!”
McCree made headlines last year when he was formally reprimanded for sending a shirtless photo of himself to a court employee.
Judge Wade McCree sued in federal court for having sex with woman in a case he presided over
WXYZ News - Detroit
February 11, 2013
DETROIT (WXYZ) - Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree, who was suspended last week without pay, was sued in federal court today.
Robert King sued McCree and Geniene LaShay Mott, the mother of his child, accusing them of having a sexual relationship while both LaShay Mott and King had a child support case before McCree.
McCree is the controversial judge who was reprimanded for sending shirtless pictures to a court bailiff last year.
The Michigan Supreme Court suspended McCree without pay last week over the child support case.
King's lawsuit accuses McCree and LaShay Mott of starting their relationship last year after the child support case began and that the pair had sex in McCree's chambers.
King lawsuit also says McCree and LaShay Mott talked about how McCree could pressure King to come up with child support payments quickly, which included putting King in jail or on a tether.
Legal experts say it is a clear conflict of interest for a judge to have a relationship with someone who has a case before them.
Just before word of this relationship leaked out, in a strange twist, McCree filed a stalking complaint with the Wayne County Prosecutor’s office against Mott.
King and LaShay Mott have a six-year old child together. King was obligated to make child support payments, but was behind and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
On May 21, 2012, LaShay Mott and King were first before McCree, who presided over a hearing on the child support case.
King’s lawsuit also says that McCree openly flirted with LaShay Mott after the hearing and started a sexual with her.
On August 16, 2012, McCree put King on an electronic tether, the lawsuit alleges.
King’s case also says that McCree got LaShay Mott pregnant, and that McCree, who is married, pressured her to terminate the pregnancy. When LaShay Mott refused, McCree allegedly contacted the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office to have her charged with stalking and other crimes, the lawsuit alleges.
The prosecutor’s office declined to pursue the case. McCree could not be reached.
Judicial Tenure Commission Complaint Against Judge Wade H. McCree
March 12, 2013
STATE OF MICHIGAN
BEFORE THE MICHIGAN JUDICIAL TENURE COMMISSION
COMPLAINT AGAINST:
Hon. Wade H. McCree
Formal Complaint No. 93
Wayne County Circuit Court
Frank Murphy Hall of Justice
1421 St. Antoine, Room 202
Detroit, Michigan 48226
__________________________/
Judge Wade McCree accused of misconduct over affair
Fox 2 News - Detroit
Mar 12, 2013
DETROIT (WJBK) - "Hot dog. There's no shame in my game," Judge Wade McCree once told Fox 2's Charlie LeDuff.
However, what is outlined in a formal complaint should at least make him blush. Every count paints a picture of a judge who may have chosen sex over justice.
As LeDuff first reported, the Third Circuit Court judge was caught up in an affair with Geniene Mott, a woman who was going after Robert King for child support. The complaint essentially alleges McCree allowed his relationship to influence his decisions. It even outlines text messages the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission calls improper.
One text message said, "Oh yeah I text from the bench. After last nite, it's all I can do not to [expletive] under the bench."
In another message, McCree said, "Funny. I just had Monica Conyers nephew B4 me (ignorant [expletive] as usual)."
He wrote in yet another message, "U'r talking about the 'docket from hell', filled w/tatted up, overweight, [expletive] English speaking, gap tooth skank hoes... and then you walk in."
I asked attorney Joel Sklar whether he has ever heard of a judge calling some of his defendants "gap tooth skank hoes"?
"I have never heard a judge or even a lawyer, and we're not the cleanest people in the world, even suggest such a thing," he said.
Sklar is King's attorney, and he is suing both McCree and Mott because he says all the evidence points to one thing.
"They had already made up their minds what they were going to do, and they used a hearing as a sham to put into effect a plan to squeeze money out of Mr. King for their mutual benefit," he said. "It's just not what is supposed to happen in a courtroom."
McCree's attorney sees this a little differently.
"Judge McCree is a good judge," said Brian Einhorn. "He's done a good job in the 16 years he's been on the bench. It's embarrassing that he allowed himself to be put in this position, and I think he should be sanctioned because of that. Judge McCree agrees that he should be sanctioned because of it, but I don't think that this deserves him being removed from the bench, and I don't think he will be."
However, even retired judge Willie Lipscomb said this doesn't smell right.
"We don't know how this is going to come out. These are very serious allegations. They look bad," he said.
The question is are the allegations bad enough to get McCree kicked off the bench for good.
"If there's another level of worse, and I think there may be, we're all going to find out together," said Sklar.
McCree is currently suspended without pay. We may not know whether or not he will keep his job until fall.
Wayne County judge accused of misconduct over affair
Detroit News
March 12, 2013
Detroit - Charging that he engaged in a sexual relationship and impregnated a woman whose case was before him, the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission filed a formal complaint alleging 21 counts of judicial misconduct against Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree today.
According to the complaint, McCree, who is married, pursued Geniene LaShay Mott who had a child support case before him in March 2012.
McCree, 56, got Mott's personal phone number from her case file in May. The two became involved in an affair later that month.
The complaint also alleges that McCree and Mott discussed her child support case and whether the defendant in the case, Robert King, should be forced to pay Mott $2,500 in cash or be forced to wear a tether.
Other charges include:
-- McCree engaged in inappropriate and sexually-explicit text messages to Mott between May and November.
-- "C'mon , U'r talking about the 'docket frm hell," filled w/tatted up, overweight, half-ass English speaking, gap tooth skank hoes ... and then you walk in," read a text message allegedly sent from McCree to Mott dated June 30, 2012.
-- McCree ruled favorably for a relative of Mott's while they were engaged in their affair.
-- McCree lied to investigators about when he ended his relationship with Mott and when he removed himself as the judge in her case.
The commission concluded that McCree showed "irresponsible or improper conduct which erodes public confidence in the judiciary."
Southfield attorney Brian Einhorn, who is representing McCree, said the case is nothing more than "salacious arguments to embarrass the judge."
Einhorn said while McCree's alleged affair with Mott "was wrong" he should be judged by his wife, his children and God but not the tenure commission.
"The rest of the complaint is wrong," said Einhorn.
Mott has told investigators that McCree is the father of her unborn child.
McCree filed a complaint on Nov. 20 against Mott with the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office alleging that she was stalking him and demanding money.
Last month, McCree was suspended without pay from his $140,000 position by the Michigan Supreme Court.
He was reprimanded by the commission in October for sending a shirtless photo of himself to a court employee.
The tenure commission asked the Michigan Supreme Court to appoint a master -usually a retired judge- to conduct a hearing in the matter. McCree could face censure, suspension or be removed from the bench.
McCree comes from one of Detroit's most notable families. His father Wade McCree Jr., also a judge, was the first African-American appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and only the second African-American solicitor general in the history of the United States.
Judicial Tenure Commission files formal complaint against Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree
Michigan Lawyers Weekly
March 12, 2013
The Judicial Tenure Commission has filed a formal complaint against suspended Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree, Jr., on five counts, including two counts of improper conduct, false reporting of a felony, improper bench conduct and demeanor and misrepresentations to the JTC.
The main allegations center around an improper relationship with Geniene LaShay Mott, who had a child support case against Robert King before him.
McCree was suspended Feb. 8 without pay.
He allegedly repeatedly discussed Mott’s case with her, discussed filing charges against King with her and initiated a sexual affair with Mott. She alleges she’s pregnant with his child.
The JTC also charged that McCree provided false information to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s office, including a false felony accusation.
Another count of misconduct includes child support payments by Damone Tillman — Mott’s cousin — and ordered bond reduced “not on the record.”
He also is accused of improper bench conduct and demeanor for a number of text messages containing inappropriate and sexually explicit messages.
And finally, McCree is accused of false representations to the JTC.
That’s probably enough.
Complaint Alleges Judge Had Sex In Chambers, Texted From The Bench
CBS News - Detroit
March 12, 2013
DETROIT (WWJ) - There’s more trouble brewing for a local judge famous for his shirtless photo that went viral.
The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission has issued a formal complaint against Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade H. McCree for allegations that he had an affair with a woman whose ex-husband was involved in a child custody case pending in his courtroom.
A formal hearing will be set during which McCree will be able to contest the commission’s findings.
McCree was suspended without pay in February. If he is found responsible, he could be permanently kicked off the bench.
Genine Le’Shay Mott, who reportedly came to McCree’s courtroom seeking child support, became pregnant — she said with the judge’s child.
According to the complaint, the pair had sex at various locations, including McCree’s judicial chambers.
Text messages documented in the report are sometimes explicit. In once message, sent to Mott on June of last year, McCree states, “Oh yeah, I text from the bench. After last nite, its all I can do not 2 **** off ‘under’ the bench:-).”
Messages from McCree to Mott often included derogatory references to defendants, litigants or witnessed appearing before him. In one message, McCree writes, “C’mon, U’r talking about the ‘docket from hell’, filled w/tatted up, overweight, half-ass English speaking, gap tooth skank hoes … and then you walk in.”
According to the complaint, McCree texted the woman from the bench, asking her to weigh in sentencing for the baby’s father.
In one text, McCree writes: “OK, The math will be based on his failures since being placed on probation, but if U’r right, the threat of jail will loosen his purse strings!”
McCree was reprimanded back in October, 2012, for sending a semi-nude photo to court employees. He initially said he had “no shame” about his actions, but later apologized.
McCree is the son of the late Wade Hampton McCree, Jr., notable as the first African-American appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and the second African-American Solicitor General in the history of the U.S.
Complaint filed against Detroit Judge McCree charged with impregnating plaintiff
MLive
March 12, 2013
DETROIT — An amorous and flirtatious Detroit judge is again in trouble for indiscretions.
The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission on Tuesday filed a formal complaint against Wayne County Third District Court Judge Wade McCree Jr., who is accused of impregnating and colluding with a woman involved in a child support case he presided over.
The state Supreme Court suspended McCree without pay in February. The judge was censured last year for unprofessional behavior in response to a publicized shirtless photo he sent his bailiff.
"I can't understand how in the world they concluded that he should be suspended without pay," McCree's Southfield-based attorney, Brian Einhorn, said after the suspension and referenced another case in which a judge accused of stealing continued to receive pay. "I don't know how they could have considered this such extraordinary conduct; it's not such that it should justify a lengthy suspension — probably some suspension — but not a lengthy suspension with pay and this process will take a good year.
"It's just shocking."
The latest McCree drama began simply enough with a child support case that came before him.
Prosecutors issued a felony warrant for Robert King for failure to pay child support to LaShay Mott McCree's alleged mistress — on March 12, 2012. The case came to McCree.
King entered into a plea agreement and agreed to pay $280.50 per month plus $50 in past due child support but didn't keep up with the agreed payments.
McCree reviewed the case file and obtained Mott's personal phone number, the complaint says.
Mott contacted the judge the following day and they made a lunch date.
A casual lunch escalated to casual sex, sometimes in McCree's judicial chambers, according to the complaint. Mott gained unusual access to the court, sometimes escorted through the employee entrance and left alone in McCree's chambers while he took the bench; another time McCree helped Mott smuggle a cell phone, which is against court policy, into court.
They began exchanging numerous phone calls, text messages and emails, "repeatedly" discussing "the merits" of Mott's case against the father of her child, the complaint says.
According to the complaint, King was scheduled to come before McCree in August due to his failure to maintain his payment arrangement. Prior to the hearing Mott made a recommendation to McCree that King pay $2,500 or go to jail:
McCree responded by text message:
"I figured if (he) hasn’t come current by his courtdate, he gets jail 2 pay. If he says he can bring me the $$, I’ll put him on a tether till he brings the receipt 2 FOC or do ‘double time’"
McCree, according to the complaint, sent numerous inappropriate text messages to Mott while in court on the bench, sometimes related to litigants before him. In one instance, McCree text messaged a derogatory comment about a relative of Monica Conyers, the City Council member convicted of accepting bribes.
McCree removed himself from Mott's case in September. He'd asked Mott to keep their tryst private due to a separate investigation into the judge's conduct for sending a shirtless photo of himself to a bailiff.
In October, the complaint says that McCree, without a request from the defense, reduced the bond amount in a case against Mott's cousin, who was facing legal trouble for failure to pay child support payments of his own.
In November, Mott found out she was pregnant. The relationship went to shambles. On Nov. 20, McCree filed a stalking complaint against Mott, an investigation ensued and Mott took the story and text messages to Fox 2's Charlie LeDuff in December.
According to the complaint, McCree lied to the prosecutor's office, stating that Mott attempted to blackmail him, requesting McCree pay her $10,000 to have an abortion, and that McCree transferred Mott's case to another judge as soon as a relationship began.
McCree has 14 days to file a response to the complaint. McCree has not appeared on the bench since the Fox 2 report and his caseload has been transferred.
Complaint against Wayne County Circuit Court judge details alleged affair
Detroit Free Press
March 12, 2013
The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission filed a formal complaint today against Wayne Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree accusing him of having a sexual affair with a woman who appeared before him during a child support case and later said she became pregnant with his child.
McCree is accused of sending inappropriate and sexually explicit comments to Geniene La'Shay Mott, was a complaining witness in a child support case involving Robert King, the father of her child. The 20-page complaint also accused McCree of discussing the case before him with Mott and having sex with her in judicial chambers.
The Free Press could not immediately reach McCree for comment today.
The complaint said his alleged conduct “erodes public confidence in the judiciary.”
It also said McCree spoke with Mott via text message — including when he was on the bench — and in person, by email and phone from May to November of 2012.
The complaint said numerous text messages McCree sent from the bench contained inappropriate or derogatory references to people appearing before him as well as inappropriate and derogatory references to other judges and/or court employees.
“C’mon, U’r talking about the ‘docket from hell’, filled w/tatted up, overweight, half-ass English speaking, gap tooth skank hoes … and then you walk in,” McCree allegedly wrote in a text sent to Mott from the bench.
McCree, who was previously censured for sending a shirtless photo to a county sheriff's office employee in an unrelated incident, was accused of two counts of improper conduct, false report of a felony, improper bench conduct and demeanor and misrepresentations to the commission.
He is accused of sending an email to Mott last June saying “My Judicial Tenure Commission matter has me nervous, as you might expect. I have to be real careful until this matter is put to rest. I can only ask humbly for your indulgence. Sorry. Second, you are the complaining witness on a case that is before me. Naturally if it got out that we were seeing each other before your (baby’s daddy’s) case closed, everybody could be in deep (expletive).”
McCree gave Mott his business card in May, after she appeared before him in a case where King was accused of not paying child support, and requested she contact him, the document said.
He didn’t disqualify himself or have the case transferred to another judge until Sept. 2012 and sent a text when the case was transferred, the complaint said.
“DONE DEAL!!! :-). I told a story so well, I had me believing it!!,” he allegedly wrote in a text to Mott after it was transferred, according to the document.
McCree made a stalking/extortion complaint against Mott with the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office in November and is accused of lying to investigators from the prosecutor’s office during the investigation. He said he transferred the case involving King “immediately upon starting his relationship” with Mott and said Mott demanded $10,000 for terminating the pregnancy and not revealing his affair with McCree’s wife, according to the complaint.
McCree was suspended without pay from his job last month.
The commission has asked the Michigan Supreme Court to appoint a master – usually a retired judge who takes a role similar to that of a trial judge – to preside over a formal hearing.
This is the second formal complaint filed in as many weeks against a Wayne County Circuit Court Judge.
Last week, the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission filed a complaint against Wayne Circuit Court Judge Bruce Morrow accusing him of misconduct in office.
Complaint could strip shirtless judge's job
WXYZ News - Detroit
March 12, 2013
WAYNE COUNTY (WXYZ) - The judge known for sending a steamy shirtless picture of himself is now at the center of a formal complaint that could get him kicked off the bench.
The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission filed a 5-count formal complaint against Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree.
The twenty page complaint slams McCree, from accusing him of misusing his powers as a judge to lying about an alleged affair with Geniene LaShay Mott while she fought to receive child support from Robert King in McCree’s courtroom.
According to the complaint, the relationship also included sex sessions in McCree’s chambers and plans to give King harsher punishments for not paying. In one text message dated August 12, 2012, McCree said “I figured if hasn’t come current by his court date, he gets jail 2 pay. If he says he can bring me the $$, I’ll put him on a tether till he brings the receipt 2 FOC or do ‘double time’.”
When the child support case was moved to another judge, McCree texted Mott saying he spoke to the judge about King. The text message, dated September 18, 2012, said, “DONE DEAL!!!:-). I told a story so well, I had me believing it!! Brother King is on his way 2 ‘hangin’ Judge Callahan. He (expletive) up Once (sic) & he’s through!!”
The JTC says it didn’t stop there. McCree is accused of also being lenient on Mott’s cousin, and when word got out of his shirtless picture to a court bailiff, he allegedly pleaded with Mott to stay quiet. In an email dated June 20, 2012, McCree says, “My Judicial Tenure Commission matter has me nervous, as you might expect. I have to be real careful until this matter is put to rest. I can only ask humbly for your indulgence. Sorry. Second, you are the complaining witness on a case that is before me. Naturally if it got out that we were seeing each other before your B.D.’s case closed, everybody could be in deep (expletive). (emphasis in original)”
The commission also alleges McCree tried to cover up the situation, saying he lied when he filed a stalking claim against Mott by saying she demanded $10,000 to hide the affair and not tell his wife about her pregnancy.
McCree has already been suspended and is being sued in federal court by the father in the child support case.
He now has 14 days to file an answer to this complaint. After that, the case gets heard by a Michigan Supreme Court appointed master. Depending on how that hearing goes, the judge could be removed from office.
Wayne judge faces 21 ethics complaints
The Detroit News
March 13, 2013
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
Detroit - Charging that he engaged in a sexual relationship and impregnated a woman whose case was before him, the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission filed a formal complaint alleging 21 counts of judicial misconduct against Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree.
According to the complaint filed Tuesday, McCree, who is married, pursued Geniene LaShay Mott who had a child support case before him in March 2012.
McCree, 56, got Mott's personal phone number from her case file in May. The two became involved in an affair later that month.
The complaint also alleges that McCree and Mott discussed her child support case and whether the defendant in the case, Robert King, should be forced to pay Mott $2,500 in cash or wear a tether.
Other charges include:
McCree engaged in inappropriate and sexually explicit text messages to Mott between May and November.
"C'mon , U'r talking about the 'docket frm hell,' filled w/tatted up, overweight, half-ass English speaking, gap toot skank hoes ... and then you walk in," read a text message allegedly sent from McCree to Mott dated June 30, 2012.
McCree ruled favorably for a relative of Mott's who had a case before him while they were engaged in their affair.
McCree lied to investigators about when he ended his relationship with Mott and when he removed himself as the judge in her case.
The commission concluded that McCree showed "irresponsible or improper conduct which erodes public confidence in the judiciary."
Southfield attorney Brian Einhorn, who is representing McCree, said the case is nothing more than "salacious arguments to embarrass the judge."
Einhorn said while McCree's alleged affair with Mott "was wrong," he should be judged by his wife, his children and God, but not the tenure commission.
"The rest of the complaint is wrong," said Einhorn.
Mott has told investigators that McCree is the father of her unborn child.
McCree filed a complaint on Nov. 20 against Mott with the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office alleging that she was stalking him and demanding money.
Last month, McCree was suspended without pay from his $140,000 position by the Michigan Supreme Court.
He was reprimanded by the commission in October for sending a shirtless photo of himself to a court employee. The tenure commission asked the Michigan Supreme Court to appoint a master â€" usually a retired judge â€" to conduct a hearing. McCree could face censure, suspension or removal from the bench.
McCree comes from one of Detroit's most notable families. His father, Wade McCree Jr., also a judge, was the first African American appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and was only the second African-American solicitor general in the history of the United States.
Wayne County judge accused of sexting from bench, formal complaint filed
Detroit Free Press
March 13, 2013
Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree has been accused of sexting from the bench with a woman with whom he was having an affair, according to a formal complaint filed by the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission and made public Tuesday.
The 20-page complaint accuses McCree of having an affair and sending inappropriate and sexually explicit comments to Geniene La'Shay Mott, who was a complaining witness in a child support case, involving Robert King, the father of her child, that was before McCree.
He also is accused of sending text messages that contained inappropriate or derogatory comments about people who appeared before him in court.
"C'mon, U'r talking about the 'docket from hell,' filled w/tatted up, overweight, half-ass English speaking, gap tooth skank hoes ... and then you walk in," McCree allegedly wrote in a text sent to Mott from the bench. The Free Press could not reach McCree, who was suspended without pay from his job about a month ago, for comment Tuesday.
His attorney, Brian Einhorn, told the Free Press that McCree should have recused himself from a hearing in King's case last August because it occurred during the time that he had a relationship with Mott.
"That was not proper, and we've acknowledged that," he said.
But Einhorn said he doesn't think other allegations made in the complaint -- including false report of a felony, improper bench conduct and demeanor and misrepresentations to the commission -- will be supported.
"The allegation that he misled the commission is, in a word, wrong," Einhorn said. "They've taken things out of context."
McCree, who was previously censured for sending a shirtless photo to a Wayne County Sheriff's Office employee in an unrelated incident last year, could face public censure, suspension or removal from office if he is sanctioned, officials said.
The commission asked the Michigan Supreme Court to appoint a master -- usually a retired judge who takes a role similar to that of a trial judge -- to preside over a formal hearing.
The complaint, filed this week, said McCree spoke with Mott via text message -- including when he was on the bench -- and in person and by e-mail and phone from May to November 2012.
It also accused McCree of discussing King's case with Mott and having sex with her in his judicial chambers.
The Free Press could not reach Mott for comment Tuesday.
Ken Mogill, an adjunct professor at Wayne State University Law School who teaches professional ethics, said the complaint includes allegations that could result in removal from the bench down the road.
"If they are established, they would be likely to result in the most extreme possible sanction given the multiple ways in which they strike at the heart of a judge's role," he said.
Einhorn said that he doesn't believe McCree should be removed from the bench, but he acknowledged that it was wrong of McCree to have an affair.
"That's a moral issue, though," he said. "It's not a legal issue."
He said that McCree hasn't considered resigning. He's been a Wayne County Circuit judge since 2004 and was a 36th District Court judge for eight years before that, Einhorn said.
McCree gave Mott his business card in May -- after she appeared before him in a case where King was accused of not paying child support -- and requested that she contact him, the document said.
He didn't disqualify himself or have the case transferred to another judge until September 2012 and sent a text when the case was transferred, the complaint said.
"DONE DEAL!!! :-). I told a story so well, I had me believing it!!" he allegedly wrote in a text to Mott after the case was transferred, according to the document.
This is the second formal complaint filed in as many weeks against a Wayne County Circuit Court judge.
Last week, the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission filed a complaint against Wayne County Circuit Judge Bruce Morrow, accusing him of misconduct in office.
Judge McCree answers Judicial Tenure Commission complaint
March 26, 2013
Wayne Judge McCree admits sex with woman whose case was in his court
Detroit News
March 28, 2013
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
Detroit -Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree has admitted he had sex in his chambers with a woman whose case was before him, according to documents released Thursday by the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission.
McCree's admissions are part of the judge's official answer to a formal complaint by the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission earlier this month accusing the judge of 21 counts of judicial misconduct.
In his 35-page response, McCree admitted that he "became involved in a sexual relationship with Ms. (Geniene La'Shay) Mott that began in June 2012." McCree, who is married, further admitted "that on a few occasions, the (sexual) relationship took place" in his chambers.
Mott has told investigators that McCree is the father of her unborn child.
Mott and McCree met after he was assigned to a case in which she was seeking child support in March 2012.
In its complaint, the commission said McCree discussed the child support case with Mott privately and instructed her to keep him informed when the father of her 6-year-old daughter, Robert King, was not in compliance with his child support arrangements. The judge denied the allegations.
In his answer to the complaint, McCree denied that he allowed his relationship with Mott "to influence his judicial conduct or judgment."
He admitted to sending text messages peppered with offensive language describing female litigants appearing in his court as "tatted up, overweight, half-ass English speaking, gap tooth skank hoes ... and then you walk in."
McCree explained in his answer that he sent the text message "in an effort to flatter Ms. Mott and was not intended to demean any person who had appeared in his courtroom."
McCree has been suspended without pay from his $140,000-a-year post as he awaits a judicial hearing on the complaint.
The proceedings will be presided over by a master, usually a retired judge, who will determine whether McCree is guilty of the allegations and if so, what his punishment will be. The judge could be censured, suspended with or without pay, or be removed from office.
McCree was reprimanded by the Judicial Tenure Commission last October in connection with a complaint that he sent a shirtless photo of himself to a female court employee.
LeDuff: Judge McCree answers Judicial Tenure Commission complaint
Fox 2 News
Mar 28, 2013
DETROIT (WJBK) - Circuit court Judge Wade McCree officially answered a complaint brought by the Judicial Tenure Commission Thursday - a complaint that might lead to him being bounced on the street.
Judge McCree admits that he began a sexual relationship with a young woman who had a case before him on child support.
He admits to shagging her in his chambers - and sending her text messages about potential penalties - for the baby's father.
Judge McCree said the affair had no bearing on his decision, and further - he acted like a true professional.
The judge also said, repeatedly, that he could verify the authenticity of emails and text messages - sent from his account!
So what about the text messages sent from his phone - at the same time he was sitting on the bench?
Classy stuff, like... pleasuring himself.
Those, he said - if anything - were only meant to "flatter" the young woman. And it was okay, because he sent those during a time-out.
As for the messages sent in November, 2012, well, those were of a practical nature.
They discussed the abortion of his baby.
Fox 2 News Legal Analyst Charlie Langton reviewed Judge McCree's answers. Not very good, Langton says.
"Not believable," Langton said Thursday. "Here's the problem. He talks about the case outside of court. That violates a lot of the rules. And then inside the court he goes on texting weird stuff - and he DOES weird stuff in the court. This guy doesn't know which way is in and which way is out."
"That's an appearance of impropriety. That the Judicial Ten sure Commission will take into consideration, and this guy will probably be out," Langton said.
So what happens from here?
There's a hearing scheduled Friday to discuss details of Judge McCree's upcoming trial.
If found guilty, he'll be stripped of his robe and potentially, his right to practice law.
We'll keep you informed.
Wayne County Judge Wade McCree admits to having sex in chambers with woman who had case before him
WXYZ News - Detroit
March 28, 2013
DETROIT (WXYZ) - Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree admits that he had sex in his chambers with a woman connected to a case he presided over last year, according to his written response to a Judicial Tenure Commission (JTC) complaint against him.
McCree, who was suspended last month without pay, filed his response to the JTC complaint Tuesday.
McCree is accused of having an affair with Geniene LaShay Mott, who had a child support case before McCree. Mott is the mother of a six-year-old daughter and the ex-wife of Robert King.
King sued McCree last month in federal court over his handling of their child support case. McCree has also been suspended from the bench.
In McCree's written response to the JTC, he states, "...that he became involved in a sexual relationship with Ms. Mott that began in mid-June 2012." And that he made "... the unfortunate decision to engage in a sexual relationship with Ms. Mott and also admits that on a few occasions, the relationship took place in his chambers."
But McCree goes on to say that, "This relationship did not impact any of Judge McCree's decisions...' regarding Mr. King and the child support case.
McCree is also accused of talking with Mott on how the judge could pressure King to come up with child support payments quickly, which included putting King in jail or on a tether. King was obligated to make child support payments, but was behind and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
Legal experts say it is a clear conflict of interest for a judge to have a relationship with someone who has a case before them.
Just before word of this relationship leaked out, in a strange twist, McCree filed a stalking complaint with the Wayne County Prosecutor’s office against Mott.
McCree is also the controversial judge who was reprimanded for sending shirtless pictures to a court bailiff last year.
A trial date on the JTC complaint against McCree is expected to be set for May.
Judge says he had sex in chambers
The Detroit News
March 29, 2013
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
Detroit - Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree has admitted he had sex in his chambers with a woman whose case was before him, according to documents released Thursday by the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission.
McCree's admission is part of the judge's official answer to a formal complaint by the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission earlier this month accusing the judge of 21 counts of judicial misconduct.
In his 35-page response, McCree admitted he "became involved in a sexual relationship with Ms. (Geniene La'Shay) Mott that began in June 2012." McCree, who is married, further admitted "that on a few occasions, the (sexual) relationship took place" in his chambers.
Mott has told investigators that McCree is the father of her unborn child.
Mott and McCree met after he was assigned to a case in which she was seeking child support in March 2012.
In its complaint, the commission said McCree discussed the child support case with Mott privately and instructed her to keep him informed when Robert King, the father of her 6-year-old daughter, was not in compliance with his child support arrangements. The judge denied the allegation.
In his answer to the complaint, McCree denied that he allowed his relationship with Mott "to influence his judicial conduct or judgment."
He admitted to sending text messages peppered with offensive language describing female litigants appearing in his court as "tatted up, overweight, half-ass English speaking, gap-tooth skank hoes ... and then you walk in."
McCree explained in his answer that he sent the text message "in an effort to flatter Ms. Mott and was not intended to demean any person who had appeared in his courtroom."
McCree has been suspended without pay from his $140,000-a-year post as he awaits a hearing on the complaint.
A "master," usually a retired judge, will preside over the hearing and will make ruling on the allegations and determine McCree's punishment, if deemed necessary. The judge could be censured, suspended with or without pay, or be removed from office.
McCree was reprimanded by the Judicial Tenure Commission last October in connection with a complaint that he sent a shirtless photo of himself to a female court employee.
No date has been set for the hearing.
The Verdict News Talk: Judge McCree sex scandal
FOX Detroit
March 29, 2013
Charlie Langton talks EFM lawsuit, Kilpatrick bond, Judge McCree sex scandal and gay marriage.
Detroit's Judge Wade McCree Jr. responds to charges he slept with litigant in chambers
MLive
March 29, 2013
DETROIT — Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree Jr. called his decision to carry on a sexual relationship with a woman he met while presiding over her child support case before "unfortunate."
The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission earlier this month filed a formal complaint against McCree, who is accused of impregnating and colluding with LaShay Mott to determine the punishment delivered to the father of her child for not making timely child support payments.
McCree was suspended without pay by the state Supreme Court in February.
According to Gongwer, the new service covering the Capital in Lansing, McCree filed a 38-page response to the complaint against him Thursday.
McCree admitted he should have rescinded himself from the case once he and Mott engaged in a sexual relationship that included sex trysts in his chambers.
"But while he challenged some of the facts and allegations, Mr. McCree did, significantly, agree that he had behaved inappropriately and that his handling of the King case should lead to sanctions," according to Gongwer. "Mr. McCree 'thinks he should be sanctioned for his failure to transfer the King case to another judge' before a scheduled hearing last summer.
"However, Mr. McCree also argued that in the end he did not treat Mr. King any differently than he had in similar cases, and that his handling the case while he was having an affair did not interfere with his effective administration of his duties."
McCree's entered into the precarious relationship soon after prosecutors issued a felony warrant for Robert King, the father of Mott's child, on March 12, 2012 for failure to pay child support.
King entered into a plea agreement and agreed to pay $280.50 per month plus $50 in past due child support but didn't keep up with the agreed payments.
McCree reviewed the case file and obtained Mott's personal phone number, the complaint says. Mott contacted the judge the following day and they made a lunch date.
A casual lunch escalated to casual sex, sometimes in McCree's judicial chambers, according to the complaint. Mott gained unusual access to the court, sometimes escorted through the employee entrance and left alone in McCree's chambers while he took the bench; another time McCree helped Mott smuggle a cell phone, which is against court policy, into court.
They began exchanging numerous phone calls, text messages and emails, "repeatedly" discussing "the merits" of Mott's case against the father of her child, the complaint says.
According to the complaint, King was scheduled to come before McCree in August due to his failure to maintain his payment arrangement. Prior to the hearing Mott made a recommendation to McCree that King pay $2,500 or go to jail:
McCree responded by text message:
"I figured if (he) hasn’t come current by his courtdate, he gets jail 2 pay. If he says he can bring me the $$, I’ll put him on a tether till he brings the receipt 2 FOC or do ‘double time’"
McCree, according to the complaint, sent numerous inappropriate text messages to Mott while in court on the bench, sometimes related to litigants before him. In one instance, McCree text messaged a derogatory comment about a relative of Monica Conyers, the City Council member convicted of accepting bribes.
McCree removed himself from Mott's case in September. He'd asked Mott to keep their tryst private due to a separate investigation into the judge's conduct for sending a shirtless photo of himself to a bailiff
In October, the complaint says that McCree, without a request from the defense, reduced the bond amount in a case against Mott's cousin, who was facing legal trouble for failure to pay child support payments of his own.
In November, Mott found out she was pregnant. The relationship went to shambles. On Nov. 20, McCree filed a stalking complaint against Mott, an investigation ensued and Mott took the story and text messages to Fox 2's Charlie LeDuff in December.
According to the complaint, McCree lied to the prosecutor's office, stating that Mott attempted to blackmail him, requesting McCree pay her $10,000 to have an abortion, and that McCree transferred Mott's case to another judge as soon as a relationship began.
It isn't the only time the judge has found himself in trouble for indiscretion.
The judge was censured last year for unprofessional behavior in response to a publicized shirtless photo he sent his bailiff.
‘Shirtless Judge’ Responds To Complaint, Admits Sex In Chambers
CBS News - Detroit
March 29, 2013
http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/03/29/shirtless-judge-responds-to-complaint-admits-sex-in-chambers/
DETROIT (WWJ) - A Detroit judge might not think there’s any ”shame in his game,” but the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission says there’s definitely shame in his courtroom.
The commission issued a formal complaint against Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade H. McCree earlier this month on allegations that he had an affair with Genine Le’Shay Mott – whose ex-husband Robert King was involved in a child custody case pending in his courtroom.
In a 38-page response made public Thursday, McCree admitted to discussing Mott’s ex’s case outside of the courtroom, as well as carrying on a sexual relationship with her.
McCree, who was suspended without pay in February, said that he became involved in a sexual relationship with Mott, but only after King had pleaded guilty and been placed on a delayed sentence.
“He made the unfortunate decision to engage in a sexual relationship with Ms. Mott and also admits that on a few occasions, the relationship took place in his chambers,” McCree’s response read.
McCree insists, however, that his relationship with Mott never interfered with administration of justice. He said Mott “made a number of ‘suggestions’ in her text messages, some of which involved requiring Mr. King to pay more than he was obligated to pay.” McCree said he informed Mott that he could not order King to pay more or any quicker than the order required.
McCree said he sent Mott several text messages, but none of the messages suggesed that she “called the shots” regarding King’s case. “To the contrary, the text messages demonstrate that Judge McCree told Ms. Mott that he could not do what she wanted him to do,” his response read.
McCree said any decision he made in King’s case was “the same decision that he has made in any of the hundreds (if not thousands) of felony non-support cases over which he has presided.”
McCree also admitted to sending Mott text messages from the bench, but insists they “were not sent when his court was in session or while he was on the record.” Some of those messages were sexual in nature, including one in which McCree allegedly said “Oh yeah, I text from the bench. After last nite, its all I can do not 2 **** off ‘under’ the bench:-).”
McCree said “he obviously regrets” sending the sexual messages, but “further states that the overwhelming majority of his text messages with Ms. Mott were not of a similar nature.”
Messages from McCree to Mott often included derogatory references to defendants, litigants or witnessed appearing before him. In one message, McCree wrote, “C’mon, U’r talking about the ‘docket from hell’, filled w/tatted up, overweight, half-ass English speaking, gap tooth skank hoes … and then you walk in.”
In response to the ”docket from hell” text, McCree said he sent the message “in an effort to flatter Ms. Mott.” He said the text “was not intended to demean any person who had appeared in his courtroom.”
Although Mott claims she informed McCree she was pregnant with his child on Nov. 1, McCree said Mott only told him she was pregnant after he tried to break off their relationship. McCree said he estimates their conversation on the subject took place on Oct. 31.
McCree said he stayed in contact with Mott through Nov. 2012, but any communication that occurred with Mott after Oct. 31 2012 was “made for purposes of resolving issues relating to Ms. Mott’s claimed pregnancy and Ms. Mott’s intentions regarding the same.”
McCree denied he ever asked Mott to keep their relaitionship quiet in light of the investigations.
“Although Judge McCree may have mentioned the King case and the pending JTC investigation when he asked Ms. Mott for discretion regarding their relationship, he obviously made these requests because he was concerned about his wife and family discovering the relationship.”
In the end, McCree said he regrets not transfering King’s case earlier than he did, saying “his failure to recuse himself from participating in the King case after he began his relationship with Ms. Mott constituted misconduct in the office.”
McCree said he “accpets responsibilty for his behavior and thinks that he should be sanctioned for his failure to transfer the King case.” However, McCree dennies that his conduct “had a detrimental impact of the administration of the court.” He said his relationship with Mott “did not constitute obstruction of justice as the relationship did not impact any of his decisions” in King’s case.
One more thing McCree discussed in his response was the now-infamous shirtless photo he sent to a courtroom deputy, something he described as a ”significant event” in his life. In his response, McCree denied the characterization that the photograph was “nude,” saying the image “was no more ‘nude’ than the photos of Olympic swimmers Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte.”
McCree said he only sent the photograph “at the deputy’s request or after he and the deputy discussed the image.” McCree claims “the deputy attested to the fact that she then retained the image as inspiration to motivate her to improve her workouts and eating habits.”
Judge Wade McCree: 'Docket from hell' text was meant to flatter mistress
Detroit Free Press
March 29, 2013
Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree did not intend to demean anyone who has appeared in his courtroom, but instead meant to flatter a woman with whom he had an affair, according to his response to a formal complaint from the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission that was made public Thursday.
The commission has accused McCree of sexting from the bench with Geniene La'Shay Mott, a complaining witness in a child support case involving Robert King, the father of her child, that was before McCree.
"C'mon, U'r talking about the 'docket from hell,' filled w/tatted up, overweight, half-ass English speaking, gap tooth skank hoes ... and then you walk in," McCree allegedly wrote in a text to Mott from the bench.
McCree's response acknowledged such a message "may have" been sent, but not while the judge was on the bench.
"The text message was sent in an effort to flatter Ms. Mott and was not intended to demean any person who had appeared in his courtroom," the response from McCree said.
McCree's attorney, Brian Einhorn, has said McCree should have recused himself from a hearing in King's case last August because it occurred during the time that he had a relationship with Mott. The sexual relationship began in June, according to the response released Thursday.
"Judge McCree admits that his failure to recuse himself from participating in the King case after he began his relationship with Ms. Mott constituted misconduct in the office," the response said.
The tenure commission's formal complaint filed earlier this month also accused McCree of discussing King's case with Mott and having sex with her in his judicial chambers.
"Judge McCree admits that he made the unfortunate decision to engage in a sexual relationship with Ms. Mott and also admits that on a few occasions, the relationship took place in his chambers," the response said.
Einhorn has acknowledged that it was wrong of McCree to have an affair, adding "that's a moral issue ... not a legal issue."
The response said the relationship didn't impact McCree's decisions in the case, later transferred to another judge.
The commission accused McCree of false report of a felony, improper bench conduct and demeanor and misrepresentations to the commission. Einhorn told the Free Press this month that he doesn't think those allegations will be supported.
McCree has been suspended without pay from his job and could face public censure, suspension or removal from office if he is sanctioned, officials said.
He was previously censured for sending a shirtless photo to a Wayne County Sheriff's Office employee last year.
The commission asked the Michigan Supreme Court to appoint a master -- usually a retired judge who takes a role similar to that of a trial judge -- to preside over a formal hearing.
Text messages admissible in McCree case, judge rules
Fox 2 News
Apr 25, 2013
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (WJBK) - I was at the Washtenaw County Courthouse in Ann Arbor on Thursday to hear some pretrial motions in connection with the dismissal case against disgraced Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree.
The hearing was kind of weird. The first thing you got to know is Judge McCree didn't even bother to show up. That surprised even the judge.
"I guess it should also be noted on the record that Mr. McCree is not here and evidentially he's not going to come," said Judge Charles A. Nelson. "He didn't have to be here. I just thought he'd have some interest."
Now the second weird thing was Judge McCree seems to be taking a page out of Kwame Kilpatrick's book. His lawyer admitted that he was sleeping with a young woman that had a case before him, but those text messages can't be confirmed and, at best, they are irrelevant.
"They haven't authenticated these messages at all. These have nothing to do with anything other than some titillation over some, I hate to say it, 56-year-old guy who's carrying on a relationship with a very attractive apparently, I've never seen her, 30-year-old woman," said attorney Brian Einhorn.
"We are not dealing with an extramarital affair by just anyone. We are dealing with an extramarital affair by a judge, who had met his mistress during a court proceeding on a case that was pending before him, a case that he had exchanged text messages discussing, communicating, talking about the sentencing of the defendant in the case in which Ms. Mott was a complaining witness," said Margaret N. Rynier, attorney for the Judicial Tenure Commission.
The judge ruled the text messages are admissible. Although he sealed them, we will be able to hear them come May 20 when the trial kicks off for real.
Suspended Judge Wade McCree faces Tenure Commission hearing
FOX Detroit
May 20, 2013
A judge who a state agency says had an affair with a woman who had a child-support case pending in his court faces a hearing.
Woman testifies Wayne Co. judge asked her to terminate pregnancy
Detroit News
May 20, 2013
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
Ann Arbor -The woman Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree admitted having an affair with while she was a litigant before him said he asked her to terminate her pregnancy when she told him she was pregnant
David Coates/Detroit News
"He was initially shocked," Geniene La'Shay Mott testified Monday "At times he appeared thrilled. Other times he pushed for a termination."
Mott took the stand Monday during an evidentiary hearing by the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission which has charged McCree with judicial misconduct. Mott said she is pregnant but did not name McCree Monday as the father. Under cross-examination by McCree's attorney Brian Einhorn, she repeatedly refused to answer whether the child is McCree's.
"I'm not answering any questions relating to my pregnancy," said a defiant Mott.
Einhorn made reference to Mott's "little (baby) bump" in asking about the circumstances in which Mott informed McCree she was pregnant. Mott said she told the judge about it in November.
She also detailed a cozy relationship that included sexual romps in the married judge's chambers and home. She said McCree brought his adolescent son to her home.
Their relationship was never secret, she said, because they went to public events as a couple.
When the affair soured just before last Thanksgiving, McCree contacted the Wayne County Prosecutor's office complaining that Mott was stalking him and trying to extort $10,000 to keep the pregnancy secret.
Timothy Matouk, an investigator for the prosecutor, said McCree told him "Wade got played."
He said the judge told him he could not have fathered Mott's child because he always used condoms when they had sex.
"He told me he was the "King of Latex" Matouk testified.
In February, the tenure commission filed a formal complaint against McCree, 56, charging him with professional misconduct for having a sexual relationship with Mott while she had a child support case before him.The judge is also accused of sending inappropriate and sexually explicit text messages and sending disparaging messages about women who appeared in his courtroom.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy was the hearing's first witness. She testified McCree contacted her saying he'd been "a bad boy" and had engaged in an extramarital affair. She said he wanted her office to investigate Mott for stalking him and trying to extort money. Worthy said her investigators could not substantiate McCree's allegations about Mott.
Mott was grilled for several hours about text messages between McCree and herself. She said the two of them exchanged about 10,000 text messages.
One of those introduced by Einhorn included McCree demanding to know the name of the facility where Mott planned to get an abortion so that he could write a check for the procedure.
Mott also testified that she and McCree traded text messages about the child support case involving Robert King, her six-year-old daughter's father. The two discussed whether King be tethered or thrown in jail if he didn't pay up on his child support.
Mott also testified that her cousin had a case before McCree and that he was released from jail by the judge without a formal hearing.
McCree is scheduled to testify Tuesday when the hearing resumes.
Charles Nelson, a retired Jackson County Circuit judge, is presiding over the hearing and will act as the fact finder. If he concludes McCree was guilty of judicial misconduct, the judge could face censure, suspension or removal from the bench by the Michigan Supreme Court.
McCree's troubles began last year with a widely publicized complaint made by the husband of a courthouse staffer who said his wife received an email from the judge with a photo showing him shirtless. When asked about the photo by a TV reporter, the judge delivered his now-infamous retort "No shame in my game."
McCree was publicly scolded by the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission for the incident.
McCree, the married father of two, has admitted to the affair with Mott. But, he said, it did not influence his decision in her case.
He said he asked another judge to take her case once they became involved. He admitted to sending the text messages, which he said were meant to flatter Mott. He said he did not send the text messages while court was in session.
McCree is the son of Wade H. McCree Jr., a revered figure in the legal community who died in 1987 at age 67. A Harvard-educated lawyer, the elder McCree was solicitor general, appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1977.
A graduate of the University of Michigan, the younger McCree graduated from Stanford Law School in California in 1984.
In 2004, then-Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm appointed McCree to the 36th District Court to replace retiring Judge Pamela Rae Harwood. Four years later, he was appointed to Wayne County Circuit Court, a bench his father integrated when he was appointed judge in 1954.
Woman testifies she had sex numerous times with Judge McCree
Fox 2 News
May 20, 2013
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (WJBK) - He once said there was no shame in his game, but now Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree is fighting to save his job and his career. Monday, the woman who was once his mistress testified about their numerous sexual encounters.
The star witness for the Judicial Tenure Commission, that's the fact finding group for the Michigan Supreme Court, talked sex and more sex.
"Between May and November of 2012, did you engage in sexual conduct with Judge McCree?" Geniene Mott was asked.
"Yes, I did," she answered.
"Numerous times?" she was asked.
"Yes," Mott said.
"At least twice at the Westin hotel?" she was asked.
"Yes," she replied.
"How about Judge McCree's marital home?" she was asked.
"Yes," she said.
"How about your house?" she was asked.
"Yes," she said.
Mott testified that she's pregnant today, but is it the judge's child?
"Ms. Mott, you were never pregnant with Judge McCree's child, were you?" McCree's attorney Brian Einhorn asked her.
"Yes, indeed I was," she answered.
"You're not pregnant with his child now, are you?" she was asked.
"I'm not answering any questions related to my pregnancy," Mott said.
"You're not pregnant with his child, are you," she was asked again.
"Objection, asked and answered. She said yes she was," an opposing lawyer said.
"You're pregnant right now with his child?" Einhorn asked Mott.
"I'm not answering any questions related to my pregnancy," she said.
"Judge, may I have answers to the questions?" Einhorn asked.
"No," the judge responded.
"My pregnancy is protected by both HIPPA and doctor-patient confidentiality," Mott said.
Mott also testified that McCree gave her $5,000 for a down payment on a house.
At issue is whether McCree committed judicial malpractice. On Tuesday, we will hear from McCree, who had no comment as he left court.
Witness tells of affair with Mich. judge
USA TODAY
May 20, 2013
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree once said there was no shame in his game, but as a trial got under way Monday on accusations that he had an affair with a witness, the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission sees it differently.
"Respondent may not think that there's any shame in his game," said Margaret Rynier, associate examiner with the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission, at the start of his trial at Washtenaw County Circuit Court on Monday. "He shamed the bench. He shamed the legal profession. He violated the code of the judicial conduct and violated the law."
McCree, who has been suspended without pay from his job, was accused of having an affair with Geniene La'Shay Mott, who was a complaining witness in a child support case before him.
She testified in an Ann Arbor courtroom Monday about their relationship, which started in 2012 after she appeared in his courtroom for a case against the father of her child, Robert King, and is expected to take the stand again after lunch.
Mott said she discussed King's case with McCree, had sex with him "several times" in judge's chambers, moved into the house of McCree's mother, who is deceased, went with him to University of Michigan football games and to church and said he gave her $5,000 for a down payment for her Detroit home.
McCree, who is married, sat quietly in court wearing a suit and taking notes during testimony.
His attorney, Brian Einhorn, said his client should have recused himself from King's hearing last August, but said the relationship didn't impact McCree's decisions in the case.
The case is about if he acted appropriately as a judge, not a husband, Einhorn said.
"He wasn't cheating justice," he said. "He embarrassed himself, but he didn't embarrass the judicial system."
The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission accused McCree of two counts of improper conduct, false report of a felony, improper bench conduct and demeanor and misrepresentations to the commission. The judge could face censure, suspension or removal from the bench.
Einhorn said he doesn't think most of those allegations will be supported.
Testimony became heated when it turned to Mott's pregnancy. She testified that she is currently pregnant, and told McCree in November that she was pregnant but didn't say who the father of her child is when initially asked in court Monday.
"I'm not answering any questions related to my pregnancy," she said.
Retired Jackson County Circuit Judge Charles Nelson is overseeing the trial, which operates like a regular bench trial, and asked her to answer the question.
"I don't know," she said. "It means that there are some medical issues that occurred and both me and my doctors don't know."
The hearing is expected to go into next week.
McCree was censured for sending a shirtless photo to a Wayne County Sheriff's Office employee last year and told a reporter there was 'no shame in my game" while discussing the photo with a reporter.
Judge Wade McCree faces hearing over sexual relationship with witness
Detroit Free Press
May 20, 2013
A Wayne County Circuit judge accused of having an affair with a complaining witness in a child support case before him, then discussing the case with her, is expected to testify during a hearing over the allegations that begins this morning in Ann Arbor.
Judge Wade McCree, who has been suspended without pay, is accused of sexting from the bench with Geniene La’Shay Mott and having sex with her in his judicial chambers last year, according to a 20-page complaint filed by the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission in March.
The commission has accused McCree of two counts of improper conduct, false report of a felony, improper bench conduct and demeanor and misrepresentations to the commission. The judge could face censure, suspension or removal from the bench.
Judge Charles Nelson, a retired Jackson County Circuit judge, will oversee the formal hearing, which will operate like a regular bench trial. The hearing at Washtenaw County Circuit Courthouse is expected to last several days.
The father of Mott’s child, Robert King, appeared before McCree after the relationship between the judge and Mott started.
Brian Einhorn, McCree’s attorney, said his client should have recused himself from King’s hearing in August, but added the relationship didn’t impact McCree’s decisions in the case. He said he intends to call witnesses who will testify McCree handled King’s case the same way he has handled hundreds of other cases.
“In other words, King wasn’t treated differently because of Judge McCree’s unfortunate relationship with Ms. Mott,” Einhorn told the Free Press.
McCree also is accused of sending text messages that contained inappropriate or derogatory comments about people who appeared before him in court.
“C’mon, U’r talking about the ‘docket from hell,’ filled w/tatted up, overweight, half-ass English speaking, gap tooth skank hoes ... and then you walk in,” McCree allegedly wrote in a text sent to Mott from the bench.
McCree’s response acknowledged such a message might have been sent, but not while the judge was on the bench. McCree did not intend to demean anyone who has appeared in his courtroom, instead, he meant to flatter Mott, the response said.
Einhorn has said that he doesn’t think most of the allegations against McCree will be supported.
“I don’t think that he should be removed permanently,” Einhorn said. “I think he will face a sanction of a suspension, and I hope it’s no more than that.”
McCree was censured for sending a shirtless photo to a Wayne County Sheriff’s Office employee last year.
Judge accused of having sex with witness appears in Ann Arbor courtroom
The Ann Arbor News
May 20, 2013
Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree
A media spotlight shone on a Washtenaw County courtroom Monday as the case of Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree went before the Judicial Tenure Commission.
McCree, who is accused of having an affair with a woman who had a child-support case pending in his court, faces possible suspension, censure or removal from office.
The hearing began Monday morning in the Washtenaw County Courthouse in downtown Ann Arbor, the Detroit Free Press reported.
If you want to listen in to every detail of the hearing, you can watch it live courtesy of the Detroit Free Press, and WDIV, which are streaming it from the courtroom.
The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission has charged McCree with two counts of improper conduct, false report of a felony, improper bench conduct and demeanor and misrepresentations to the commission, according to the Free Press.
The hearing is expected to last several days, according to media reports.
McCree also ran into trouble last year with the state Supreme Court for sending a shirtless photo of himself to a female court employee.
Judge McCree hearing underway
WXYZ-TV Detroit
Published on May 20, 2013
Sexy Texts Revealed In ‘Shirtless Judge’ Case; Judge Allegedly Has ‘Hypomania’
CBS News - Detroit
May 20, 2013
ANN ARBOR (WWJ/AP) – Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy was the first witness Monday morning in the case against a judge who a state agency says had an affair with a woman who had a child-support case pending in his court.
WWJ’s legal analyst Charlie Langton said Judge Wade McCree’s attorney told the courtroom he suffers from hypomania, a type of bipolar disorder, which according to WebMD is characterized by “excessive energy, little need for sleep and unusual exhilaration.”
The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission hearing for McCree is expected to last several days. A retired judge is presiding.
The judge’s troubles deepened when Geniene La’Shay Mott disclosed an affair with McCree in December, saying the two had sex in his chambers and other places after they met when she took an ex-boyfriend to court. The judge allegedly told her she could pick her ex’s punishment, urged her to have an abortion when she became pregnant last fall, and tried to pay her off.
A very pregnant Mott was the star of the courtroom show Monday, reading aloud text messages between herself and the judge where they exchanged messages about their burgeoning romance — and the inner workings of the court. In one text, the judge referenced former councilwoman Monica Conyers appearing in his courtroom with the same “ignorant sh** as usual.”
The judge allegedly sent her a lighthearted message about a blind court defendant accused of stealing a car, writing, “WTF?” at the end. In another incident, he texted her that a child support defendant in his courtroom at that moment was a “worthless MF.”
He also texted Mott about her “fineness” while saying he was on the bench, adding he “loved kissing her” and couldn’t wait to perform sexual acts with her.
Mott testified Monday that she wanted McCree to divorce his wife and gave him the option of breaking off their relationship “four or five times.”
“In the end, he had to choose between me and his wife,” she said. “I said if he didn’t get the divorce, he loses me.”
After the revelation, he was placed on leave and then suspended without pay in February.
The commission says McCree lied during the agency’s ethics investigation and falsely reported to prosecutors that Mott was stalking him.
McCree’s attorney, Brian Einhorn, has said the judge shouldn’t lose his job. Mott refused over and over to reveal the father of the baby with which she’s now pregnant, with Einhorn pushing her to answer and her saying over and over it wasn’t relevant to the case.
The state Supreme Court reprimanded McCree last year, before Mott emerged, after he sent a shirtless photo of himself to a female court employee. He famously said, “Ain’t no shame in my game,” when a TV news crew confronted him with the photo.
Hypomania
Wikipedia
Hypomania (literally "under mania" or "less than mania") is a mental and behavioural disorder, characterized essentially by an apparently non-contextual elevation of mood (euphoria) that contributes to persistently disinhibited behavior.
The individual afflicted may suffer with irritability, not necessarily less severe than full mania;[citation needed] in fact, the presence of marked irritability is a documented feature of hypomanic and mixed episodes in Bipolar type II.[citation needed] According to DSM-5 criteria, hypomania is distinct from mania in that there is no significant functional impairment; mania, by DSM-5 definition, does include significant functional impairment and may have psychotic features.
Characteristic behaviors of persons experiencing hypomania are a notable decrease in the need for sleep, an overall increase in energy, unusual behaviors and actions, and a markedly distinctive increase in talkativeness and confidence, commonly exhibited with a flight of creative ideas. Other symptoms related to this may include feelings of grandiosity, distractibility, and hypersexuality. While hypomanic behavior often generates productivity and excitement, it can become troublesome if the subject engages in risky or otherwise inadvisable behaviors, and/or the symptoms manifest themselves in trouble with everyday life events. When manic episodes are separated into stages of a progression according to symptomatic severity and associated features, hypomania constitutes the first stage of the syndrome, wherein the cardinal features (euphoria or heightened irritability, pressure of speech and activity, increased energy, decreased need for sleep, and flight of ideas) are most plainly evident.
Signs and symptoms
Individuals in a hypomanic state have a decreased need for sleep, are extremely gregarious and competitive, and have a great deal of energy. They are, otherwise, often fully functioning (unlike individuals suffering from a full manic episode).
Distinctive markers
Specifically, hypomania is distinguished from mania by the absence of psychotic symptoms, and by its lesser degree of impact on functioning.
Hypomania is a feature of bipolar II disorder and cyclothymia, but can also occur in schizoaffective disorder. Hypomania is also a feature of bipolar I disorder; it arises in sequential procession as the mood disorder fluctuates between normal mood (euthymia) and mania. Some individuals with bipolar I disorder have hypomanic as well as manic episodes. Hypomania can also occur when moods progress downwards from a manic mood state to a normal mood. Hypomania is sometimes credited with increasing creativity and productive energy. Numerous people with bipolar disorder have credited hypomania with giving them an edge in their theater of work.
People who experience hyperthymia, or "chronic hypomania", encounter the same symptoms as hypomania but on a longer-term basis.
Associated disorders
See also: Kindling model
Cyclothymia, a condition of continuous mood fluctuations, is characterized by oscillating experiences of hypomania and depression that fail to meet the diagnostic criteria for either manic or major depressive episodes. These periods are often interspersed with periods of relatively normal (euthymic) functioning.
When a patient presents with a history of at least one episode of both hypomania and major depression, each of which meet the diagnostic criteria, bipolar II disorder is diagnosed. In some cases, depressive episodes routinely occur during the fall or winter and hypomanic ones in the spring or summer. In such cases, one speaks of a "seasonal pattern".
If left untreated, and in those so predisposed, hypomania may transition into mania, which may be psychotic, in which case bipolar I disorder is the correct diagnosis.
Causes
Often in those who have experienced their first episode of hypomania – generally without psychotic features – there may be a long or recent history of depression or a mix of hypomania combined with depression (known as mixed-state) prior to the emergence of manic symptoms. This commonly surfaces in the mid to late teens. Because the teenage years are typically an emotionally charged time of life, it is not unusual for mood swings to be passed off as normal hormonal teen behavior and for a diagnosis of bipolar disorder to be missed until there is evidence of an obvious manic or hypomanic phase.
In cases of drug-induced hypomanic episodes in unipolar depressives, the hypomania can almost invariably be eliminated by lowering medication dosage, withdrawing the drug entirely, or changing to a different medication if discontinuation of treatment is not possible.
Hypomania can be associated with narcissistic personality disorder.
Psychopathology
Mania and hypomania are usually studied together as components of bipolar disorders, and the pathophysiology is usually assumed to be the same. Given that norepinephrine and dopaminergic drugs are capable of triggering hypomania, theories relating to monoamine hyperactivity have been proposed. A theory unifying depression and mania in bipolar individuals proposes that decreased serotonergic regulation of other monoamines can result in either depressive or manic symptoms. Lesions on the right side frontal and temporal lobes have further been associated with mania.
Diagnosis
The DSM-IV-TR defines a hypomanic episode as including, over the course of at least four days, elevated mood plus three of the following symptoms OR irritable mood plus four of the following symptoms, when the behaviors are clearly different from how the person typically acts when not depressed:
- pressured speech
- inflated self-esteem or grandiosity
- decreased need for sleep
- flight of ideas or the subjective experience that thoughts are racing
- easily distracted
- increase in goal-directed activity (e.g., social activity, at work, or hypersexuality), or psychomotor agitation
- involvement in pleasurable activities that may have a high potential for negative psycho-social or physical consequences (e.g., the person engages in unrestrained buying sprees, sexual indiscretions, reckless driving, physical and verbal conflicts, foolish business investments, quitting a job to pursue some grandiose goal, etc.).
Wayne County Judge Wade McCree to face questions about sex tryst with litigant
MLive
May 20, 2013
DETROIT — Suspended Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree may face some uncomfortable questions about an illicit affair he had with a litigant in a child support case before him.
He's fighting ethics charges that could end his career.
McCree's mistress, Geniene La’Shay Mott, who claimed to be pregnant with McCree's child, took the stand in a Michigan Judicial Tenure hearing that kicked off Monday in the Washtenaw County Circuit Court in Ann Arbor. The hearing is expected to last several days with McCree anticipated to take the stand Tuesday.
McCree is accused of lying to the Judicial Commission during their investigation, violating ethics rules and fraudulently accusing Mott of stalking when the relationship unraveled.
Mott told attorneys in court Monday that she had sex with McCree on numerous occasions, including at his home, in hotels and even in court chambers.
When questioned about her pregnancy, she refused to answer, citing HIPPA protection.
McCree entered into the precarious relationship soon after prosecutors issued a felony warrant for Robert King, the father of Mott's child, on March 12, 2012 for failure to pay child support.
McCree reviewed the case file and obtained Mott's personal phone number, the complaint says.
Mott contacted the judge the following day and they made a lunch date.
A casual lunch escalated to casual sex, sometimes in McCree's judicial chambers, according to the complaint. Mott gained unusual access to the court, sometimes escorted through the employee entrance and left alone in McCree's chambers while he took the bench; another time McCree helped Mott smuggle a cell phone, which is against court policy, into court.
They began exchanging numerous phone calls, text messages and emails, "repeatedly" discussing "the merits" of Mott's case against the father of her child, the complaint says.
According to the complaint, King was scheduled to come before McCree in August due to his failure to maintain his payment arrangement. Prior to the hearing Mott made a recommendation to McCree that King pay $2,500 or go to jail:
McCree responded by text message:
I figured if (he) hasn’t come current by his courtdate, he gets jail 2 pay. If he says he can bring me the $$, I’ll put him on a tether till he brings the receipt 2 FOC or do ‘double time’
McCree, according to the complaint, sent numerous inappropriate text messages to Mott while in court on the bench, sometimes related to litigants before him. In one instance, McCree text messaged a derogatory comment about a relative of Monica Conyers, the City Council member convicted of accepting bribes.
McCree removed himself from Mott's case in September. He'd asked Mott to keep their tryst private due to a separate investigation into the judge's conduct for sending a shirtless photo of himself to a bailiff.
Witness: McCree said mistress sought $10,000 for pregnancy; he questioned if child was his
Detroit Free Press
May 20, 2013
“Wade got played.”
It’s the phrase Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree used when telling a detective about Geniene La’Shay Mott, with whom he had an affair, according to testimony in an Ann Arbor courtroom Monday.
McCree, who has been suspended from his job without pay, is accused of misconduct in office, according to a 20-page complaint filed by the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission. A hearing, similar to a bench trial, began Monday in Washtenaw County Circuit Court.
McCree started a relationship with Mott, a complaining witness in a child support case before him, after she appeared in his courtroom in May 2012, according to testimony.
McCree later contacted Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy and told her he had been a “bad boy,” was involved in a relationship outside his marriage that had ended and that the woman claimed to be pregnant and stalking him, Worthy testified.
Worthy agreed to have her office investigate and asked McCree, whom she has known since college, a question.
“I asked him how he could be so stupid,” Worthy recalled. “Because of the previous thing that had happened.”
McCree was censured last year after sending a shirtless photo of himself to a Wayne County Sheriff’s Office employee and told a reporter there was “no shame in my game.”
Detective Timothy Matouk, with the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, talked to McCree in November and said he used the phrase “Wade got played” when discussing his situation.
McCree told Matouk that Mott wanted him to give her $10,000 in cash to make their problem go away, he said.
“The ‘problem’ being that she was pregnant with his child,” Matouk recalled.
McCree doubted he was the father and made a comment about being the “king of latex.” No charges were filed in connection with the allegations.
McCree is expected to take the stand today.
Margaret Rynier, associate examiner with the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission, said McCree shamed the bench and the legal profession and violated the code of the judicial conduct.
Brian Einhorn, McCree’s attorney, said his client should have recused himself from a hearing in the child support case last August, but that McCree’s relationship with Mott didn’t impact decisions in the case. The case is about whether he acted appropriately as a judge, not a husband, Einhorn said.
“He wasn’t cheating justice,” he said. “He embarrassed himself, but he didn’t embarrass the judicial system.”
Mott said she discussed the case with McCree, had sex with him “several times” in judge’s chambers, moved into his late mother’s house and went with him to University of Michigan football games and to church. She also said he gave her $5,000 for a down payment for a Detroit home.
Mott testified that she is currently pregnant and told McCree in November that she was pregnant.
But when asked Monday about the father, she didn't say. “I’m not answering any questions related to my pregnancy,” she said.
Retired Jackson County Circuit Judge Charles Nelson, overseeing the trial, asked her to answer the question.
“I don’t know,” she said. “There are some medical issues that occurred, and both me and my doctors don’t know.”
Testimony resumes this morning.
Judicial Tenure Commission hearing testimony in abuse of power case against Judge Wade McCree
WXYZ News - Detroit
May 20, 2013
(WXYZ) - Today marked the beginning of a formal disciplinary hearing against Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree.
The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission has accused McCree of carrying on a sexual relationship with complaining witness Geniene La'Shay Mott, who had a pending child support case before him, as well as filing a false felony report and demeaning defendants who appeared in his courtroom.
"(McCree) may not think there’s shame in his game, but the facts and the witnesses in this trial will show that he shamed the bench, he shamed the legal profession, he violated the code of the judicial conduct, and violated the law," said Margaret Rynier, an attorney for the state's Judicial Tenure Commission.
McCree admits to the affair with Mott, but says it didn’t impact how he ruled. Today, Mott recalled when she first met the judge.
"I was having a conversation with his court deputy. I think we were discussing lunch," Mott said.
"Mr. McCree joined into the conversation, and eventually he stepped around to our side of the conversation and gave me his business card."
From there, says Mott, began a months-long affair that included going to lunch and football games, texting back and forth while McCree was on the bench, and more.
"Between May and November 2012, did you engage in sexual conduct with Judge McCree," asked Rynier.
"Yes," Mott said, adding that their encounters included hotels, Mcree's family home and even his chambers.
The two texted constantly, Mott said, often about her pending child support case. In one exchange, she and McCree discussed incarcerating the father of Mott’s child if he didn’t make a $2,500 payment.
Their relationship continued and, last September, McCree transferred the case to another judge. By then, Mott says, their affair had spanned months.
In November, Mott says she told McCree that she was carrying his baby. She's still pregnant today, but was evasive on the witness stand when asked by McCree’s lawyer if that baby was the judge’s.
Minutes later, Mott said that she wasn’t sure if it was.
McCree is also accused of improper bench conduct, texting demeaning comments to Mott about other defendants in his courtroom.
"C’mon, U’r talking about the ‘docket from hell,’ filled w/tatted up, overweight, half-ass English speaking, gap tooth skank hoes," McCree texted.
The judge is accused of filing a false report of a felony when he accused Mott of stalking him. Today, prosecutor Kym Worthy took the stand, and recalled receiving a phone call from McCree.
"He said he had been a bad boy," Worthy recalled.
"I said 'What did that mean?' He said that he had started a relationship outside of his marriage, that it was very brief and that it hadn’t meant anything. And that now the woman was claiming to be pregnant and was stalking him."
But Worthy said that McCree didn’t mention that Mott was a complaining witness in his courtroom. She said her office investigated the stalking allegation, but ultimately brought no charges.
Judge McCree hearing enters 2nd day
WXYZ-TV Detroit
Published on May 21, 2013
Judge McCree - Wife testifies about alleged misconduct
FOX 2 News - Detroit
May 21, 2013
Strange testimony of Judge Wade McCree
FOX 2 News - Detroit
May 21, 2013
Witness: Judge wanted pregnancy ended
Detroit News
May 21, 2013
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
Ann Arbor - The woman Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree admitted to having an affair with while she had a case before him said he asked her to have an abortion when she told him she was pregnant.
"He was initially shocked," Geniene La'Shay Mott testified Monday. "At times he appeared thrilled. Other times he pushed for a termination."
Mott took the stand Monday during a Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission hearing on charges of judicial misconduct brought against McCree.
Mott said she is pregnant but would not identify the father. Under cross-examination by McCree's attorney Brian Einhorn, she repeatedly refused to answer whether the child is McCree's.
"I'm not answering any questions relating to my pregnancy," said a defiant Mott.
Einhorn referred to Mott's "little (baby) bump" when asking about the circumstances in which she informed McCree she was pregnant. Mott said she told the judge about it in November.
She also detailed a cozy relationship that included sexual romps in the married judge's chambers and home. She said McCree brought his adolescent son to her home.
Their relationship, she said, was never really secret since she and the judge went to public events.
When the affair soured just before Thanksgiving, McCree contacted the Wayne County Prosecutor's office complaining that Mott was stalking him and trying to extort $10,000 to keep the pregnancy secret.
Timothy Matouk, an investigator for the prosecutor, said McCree told him "Wade got played" in describing the affair and her subsequent demands.
He said the judge told him he could not have fathered Mott's child because he always used condoms when they had sex.
"He told me he was the 'King of Latex,' " Matouk testified.
In February, the tenure commission filed a formal complaint against McCree, 56, charging him with professional misconduct for having a sexual relationship with Mott while she had a child support case before him.
The judge also is accused of sending inappropriate and sexually explicit text messages while on the bench. He also allegedly sent disparaging text messages about women who appeared in his courtroom, the tenure commission charged.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy was the first witness Monday during the proceedings in a Washtenaw County courtroom. Under questioning by tenure commission lawyer Margaret Rynier, Worthy testified McCree called her saying he'd been "a bad boy" and had engaged in an extramarital affair but that Mott was stalking him. He wanted the prosecutor to investigate for possible criminal charges, but Worthy said her investigators could not substantiate McCree's charges.
Mott denied stalking the judge and demanding money for her silence under cross-examination from Einhorn.
She was grilled for several hours Monday and said the couple had exchanged about 10,000 text messages.
One of those messages introduced by Einhorn included one sent by McCree demanding to know the name of the facility where Mott planned to get an abortion so that he could write a check for the procedure.
Mott also testified that she and McCree traded text messages about the child support case involving Robert King, the father of her 6-year-old daughter. The two discussed whether King would be tethered or thrown in jail if he didn't pay up on his child support.
Mott also testified that a cousin of hers had a case before McCree and that the relative was released from jail by the judge without a formal hearing.
McCree is scheduled to testify today when the hearing resumes.
Charles Nelson, a retired Jackson County Circuit judge, is presiding over the hearing and will act as the fact finder. If he concludes McCree was guilty of judicial misconduct, the judge could face censure, suspension or removal from the bench by the Michigan Supreme Court.
McCree's troubles began last year with a widely publicized complaint made by the husband of a courthouse staffer who said his wife received an email from the judge with a photo showing him shirtless. When asked about the photo by a TV reporter, the judge delivered his now-infamous retort "No shame in my game."
McCree was publicly scolded by the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission for the incident.
McCree, the married father of two, has admitted to the affair with Mott. But, he said, it did not influence his decision in her case.
He said he asked another judge to take her case once they became involved.
He admitted to sending the text messages, which he said were meant to flatter Mott. He said he did not send the text messages while court was in session.
McCree is the son of Wade H. McCree Jr., a revered figure in the legal community who died in 1987 at age 67. A Harvard-educated lawyer, the elder McCree was solicitor general, appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1977.
A graduate of the University of Michigan, the younger McCree graduated from Stanford Law School in California in 1984.
In 2004, then-Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm appointed McCree to the 36th District Court to replace retiring Judge Pamela Rae Harwood. Four years later, he was appointed to Wayne County Circuit Court, a bench his father integrated when he was appointed judge in 1954.
Judge McCree: 'I lusted after this woman'
Detroit News
May 21, 2013
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
Ann Arbor - Embattled Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree took the witness stand in his own defense Tuesday and animatedly described details of an extramarital affair and its consequences that could derail his judicial career.
The 56-year-old married judge, who freely admitted to having an affair with a litigant who had a child support case before him, testified she came on to him after an appearance in his courtroom.
He said Geniene La'Shay Mott's overtures "surprised me and thrilled me" as he testified for 45 minutes before the hearing recessed for lunch.
"I lusted after this woman," he said. "I'm in my middle 50s and she's a double dozen years my junior."
The judge said Mott required more maintenance as the affair progressed.
"Miss Mott is passionate," he said. "She would be at the apex of euphoria and the abyss of homicidal anger."
He said when he met Mott he was going through a difficult time coping with the deaths of his mother, Dores McCree, and his sister, Kathleen McCree Lewis, a prominent lawyer.
He said he finally broke off the affair when he could no longer meet Mott's demands.
"She wanted to become Mrs. McCree," he said. She said 'Wade, I've made up my mind that you are the man for me."
Earlier Tuesday, the judge's wife, LaVerne McCree, testified that her husband told her about the affair and also informed her that LaMott said she was pregnant.
She said she and her husband hatched a plan to get Mott to terminate a pregnancy she really wasn't convinced existed.
LaVerne McCree, who has been married to the judge for 25 years, said her husband filed for divorce to appease Mott, who was threatening to go public with their affair. LaVerne McCree said her husband told her that Mott was refusing to terminate the pregnancy unless he filed for divorce.
There were also concerns, she said, that if Mott did not have abortion, the judge could be liable for child support and the child could have a claim on the inheritance his mother left him.
Wade McCree withdrew his divorce petition a few weeks later.
On Monday, Mott testified for three hours, describing her affair with the judge over a six-month period.
She said she was pregnant but refused to say if McCree was the father.
Also Monday, an investigator in the case said McCree complained "Wade got played" when the judge came to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office seeking to have stalking charges pressed against Mott.
At the heart of the complaint by the tenure commission's case against McCree is his handling of a child support case in which Mott was the litigant.
In February, the tenure commission filed a formal complaint against McCree, charging him with professional misconduct for having a sexual relationship with Mott while she had the child support case before him.
There are also text messages exchanged between McCree and Mott in which the judge discussed the case with her and discussions between the pair of putting the father of Mott's young daughter in jail if he didn't pay back child support.
McCree has said the affair did not influence his decision in her case. McCree has said he asked another judge to take her case once they became involved.
But he has admitted to sending the text messages, which he said were meant to flatter Mott. He said he did not send the text messages while court was in session.
Charles Nelson, a retired Jackson County Circuit judge, is presiding over the hearing and will act as the fact finder. If he concludes McCree was guilty of judicial misconduct, the judge could face censure, suspension or removal from the bench by the Michigan Supreme Court.
McCree's troubles began last year with a widely publicized complaint made by the husband of a courthouse staffer who said his wife received an email from the judge with a photo showing him shirtless. When asked about the photo by a TV reporter, the judge delivered his now-infamous retort "No shame in my game."
McCree was publicly scolded by the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission for the incident.
Ex-girlfriend details affair at Wayne County Judge McCree's disciplinary hearing
Detroit News
May 21, 2013
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
Ann Arbor - The woman Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree admitted to having an affair with while she had a case before him said he asked her to have an abortion when she told him she was pregnant.
"He was initially shocked," Geniene La'Shay Mott testified Monday. "At times he appeared thrilled. Other times he pushed for a termination."
Mott took the stand Monday during a Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission hearing on charges of judicial misconduct brought against McCree.
Mott said she is pregnant but would not identify the father. Under cross-examination by McCree's attorney Brian Einhorn, she repeatedly refused to answer whether the child is McCree's.
"I'm not answering any questions relating to my pregnancy," said a defiant Mott.
Einhorn referred to Mott's "little (baby) bump" when asking about the circumstances in which she informed McCree she was pregnant. Mott said she told the judge about it in November.
She also detailed a cozy relationship that included sexual romps in the married judge's chambers and home. She said McCree brought his adolescent son to her home.
Their relationship, she said, was never really secret since she and the judge went to public events.
When the affair soured just before Thanksgiving, McCree contacted the Wayne County Prosecutor's office complaining that Mott was stalking him and trying to extort $10,000 to keep the pregnancy secret.
Timothy Matouk, an investigator for the prosecutor, said McCree told him "Wade got played" in describing the affair and her subsequent demands.
He said the judge told him he could not have fathered Mott's child because he always used condoms when they had sex.
"He told me he was the 'King of Latex,' " Matouk testified.
In February, the tenure commission filed a formal complaint against McCree, 56, charging him with professional misconduct for having a sexual relationship with Mott while she had a child support case before him.
The judge also is accused of sending inappropriate and sexually explicit text messages while on the bench. He also allegedly sent disparaging text messages about women who appeared in his courtroom, the tenure commission charged.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy was the first witness Monday during the proceedings in a Washtenaw County courtroom. Under questioning by tenure commission lawyer Margaret Rynier, Worthy testified McCree called her saying he'd been "a bad boy" and had engaged in an extramarital affair but that Mott was stalking him. He wanted the prosecutor to investigate for possible criminal charges, but Worthy said her investigators could not substantiate McCree's charges.
Mott denied stalking the judge and demanding money for her silence under cross-examination from Einhorn.
She was grilled for several hours Monday and said the couple had exchanged about 10,000 text messages.
One of those messages introduced by Einhorn included one sent by McCree demanding to know the name of the facility where Mott planned to get an abortion so that he could write a check for the procedure.
Mott also testified that she and McCree traded text messages about the child support case involving Robert King, the father of her 6-year-old daughter. The two discussed whether King would be tethered or thrown in jail if he didn't pay up on his child support.
Mott also testified that a cousin of hers had a case before McCree and that the relative was released from jail by the judge without a formal hearing.
McCree is scheduled to testify today when the hearing resumes.
Charles Nelson, a retired Jackson County Circuit judge, is presiding over the hearing and will act as the fact finder. If he concludes McCree was guilty of judicial misconduct, the judge could face censure, suspension or removal from the bench by the Michigan Supreme Court.
McCree's troubles began last year with a widely publicized complaint made by the husband of a courthouse staffer who said his wife received an email from the judge with a photo showing him shirtless. When asked about the photo by a TV reporter, the judge delivered his now-infamous retort "No shame in my game."
McCree was publicly scolded by the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission for the incident.
McCree, the married father of two, has admitted to the affair with Mott. But, he said, it did not influence his decision in her case.
He said he asked another judge to take her case once they became involved.
He admitted to sending the text messages, which he said were meant to flatter Mott. He said he did not send the text messages while court was in session.
McCree is the son of Wade H. McCree Jr., a revered figure in the legal community who died in 1987 at age 67. A Harvard-educated lawyer, the elder McCree was solicitor general, appointed by President Jimmy Carter in 1977.
A graduate of the University of Michigan, the younger McCree graduated from Stanford Law School in California in 1984.
In 2004, then-Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm appointed McCree to the 36th District Court to replace retiring Judge Pamela Rae Harwood. Four years later, he was appointed to Wayne County Circuit Court, a bench his father integrated when he was appointed judge in 1954.
‘Shirtless Judge’ And His Wife Spend Time In Courtroom Hot Seat
CBS News - Detroit
May 21, 2013
http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/05/21/shirtless-judges-wife-spends-day-in-courtroom-hot-seat/
DETROIT (CBS Detroit) The scandal unfolding against Wayne County Judge Wade McCree engulfed his wife Tuesday when LaVerne McCree was called to the stand to discuss her husband’s affair with a woman who appeared in his courtroom — and his actions after his wife found out about it.
The judge himself took the stand just before lunch, where he started off by explaining his role in the child support case between his girlfriend Geniene La’Shay Mott and the father of her child that evolved into her relationship with the judge. “I lusted after this woman,” McCree testified, adding he and Mott had light conversation when she appeared in court and made a casual lunch appointment.
“She certainly was coming onto me with an ease that surprised me, thrilled me, women this young don’t talk to me like this … I was flattered, I was attracted to her,” McCree said. He described their relationship as volatile, saying she had episodes of “homicidal anger” and the two were in regular conflict over him not spending enough time with her. Mott eventually outed their relationship to the media.
The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission hearing for McCree, which is expected to last several days, began Monday with searing testimony from the judge’s former girlfriend who said they had sex in his chambers numerous times. Mott also produced text messages showing the judge mocking defendants in his courtroom.
Mott disclosed an affair with McCree in December, saying the two kicked off their relationship when she took an ex-boyfriend to court and she and the judge in the case starting exchanging flirty texts.
The judge allegedly told her she could pick her ex’s punishment, urged her to have an abortion when she became pregnant last fall, and tried to pay her off.
A very pregnant Mott was the star of the courtroom show Monday, reading aloud text messages between herself and the judge where they exchanged messages about their burgeoning romance — and the inner workings of the court.
LaVerne McCree was in the hot seat Tuesday, testifying the divorce proceedings between herself and Wade McCree were an elaborate ruse to convince Mott to have an abortion after she allegedly became pregnant with the judge’s child. LaVerne McCree produced texts showing Mott refused to act on the abortion until she was convinced the judge was leaving his wife.
LaVerne McCree went along with it, she testified.
LaVerne McCree testified Mott came to her house shortly after her husband revealed the affair and started pounding on the family’s door. She said she sent her teenage children to the basement.
McCree testified when he revealed his affair, told her his relationship with Mott was already over. LaVerne McCree was asked to read aloud in court a series of texts between Mott and her husband from late last year that seemed to reveal their relationship was ongoing.
WWJ’s legal analyst Charlie Langton said Judge Wade McCree’s attorney told the courtroom he suffers from hypomania, a type of bipolar disorder, which according to WebMD is characterized by “excessive energy, little need for sleep and unusual exhilaration.”
In one text, the judge referenced former councilwoman Monica Conyers appearing in his courtroom with the same “ignorant sh** as usual.”
The judge allegedly sent her a lighthearted message about a blind court defendant accused of stealing a car, writing, “WTF?” at the end. In another incident, he texted her that a child support defendant in his courtroom at that moment was a “worthless MF.”
He also texted Mott about her “fineness” while saying he was on the bench, adding he “loved kissing her” and couldn’t wait to perform sexual acts with her.
Mott testified Monday that she wanted McCree to divorce his wife and gave him the option of breaking off their relationship “four or five times.” LaVerne Mott read a document in court from her husband describing their 25-year union as a “marriage of convenience.”
“In the end, he had to choose between me and his wife,” Mott said. “I said if he didn’t get the divorce, he loses me.”
After the revelation, he was placed on leave and then suspended without pay in February.
The commission says McCree lied during the agency’s ethics investigation and falsely reported to prosecutors that Mott was stalking him.
McCree’s attorney, Brian Einhorn, has said the judge shouldn’t lose his job. Mott refused over and over to reveal the father of the baby with which she’s now pregnant, with Einhorn pushing her to answer and her saying over and over it wasn’t relevant to the case.
The state Supreme Court reprimanded McCree last year, before Mott emerged, after he sent a shirtless photo of himself to a female court employee. He famously said, “Ain’t no shame in my game,” when a TV news crew confronted him with the photo.
Live: Detroit Judge Wade McCree faces misconduct trial stemming from affair with litigant
MLive
May 21, 2013
ANN ARBOR, MI — Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree is facing the Michigan Judicial Tenure Board accused of misconduct in office.
State officials allege McCree slept with Geniene La'Shay Mott, a litigant who appeared before him in a child support case, and discussed her case with her before rendering his decision.
The hearing, which could potentially end McCree's judicial career, began Monday. Mott took the stand and was questioned about her relationship with McCree. She admitted to having sex with the judge on multiple occasions, including multiple times in the judge's chambers.
She had claimed that she is pregnant with his child, but when she was asked about the pregnancy in court declined to answer citing HIPAA protections.
Suspended judge's wife testifies about alleged misconduct
FOX News - Detroit
May 21, 2013
Suspended judge and wife testify in his misconduct hearing
FOX News - Detroit
May 21, 2013
Day 2 of Judicial Tenure Commission hearing vs Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree
May 21, 2013
WXYZ News
(WXYZ) - On the second day of his disciplinary hearings brought by the Judicial Tenure Commission, Judge Wade McCree said he "lusted after" a complaining witness who appeared before him in a child support hearing.
"I'll admit, I was attracted to her," he said, referring to Geniene La'Shay Mott.
"I’m a middle aged man, she’s an attractive younger woman...I was excited."
McCree acknowledged that his affair with a witness was inappropriate and that he should have recused himself as soon as possible. Instead, it took him months to pass the case off to another judge.
Earlier in the day, McCree's wife Laverne took the stand in his defense. Laverne McCree, who's been married to the judge for 25 years, described the night Geniene La'Shay Mott came to her family's home, demanding to see her husband.
"She was pounding on the door," said Mrs. McCree.
"My son was...asking: 'Was someone breaking in?' I told him I didn’t think that was happening," she said.
Mott is at the center of this week’s disciplinary hearings, where McCree is accused of gross misconduct.
For two hours, Mrs. McCree testified calmly and evenly and helped paint Mott as an extortionist who threatened to tell the press about their affair if McCree broke it off. Mrs. McCree said that Mott demanded the couple pay for her abortion, but there were strings attached.
"Miss Mott was, in my opinion, extorting," McCree's wife, said.
"(She agreed to) get an abortion if Wade provided a proof of service that he was getting divorced. He provided a proof of service that we would go through these hurdles...then she changed her mind."
Mrs. McCree said the couple never seriously considered getting divorced, but under cross-examination by JTC lawyers, she admitted it was something they thought about.
State lawyers tried to show that McCree’s wife’s testimony was inconsistent, and had her read an e-mail that her husband had sent to her mistress last year.
"I’m in a marriage of convenience," Judge McCree wrote Mott.
"My wife and I haven’t had intimacy, we share a mortgage, two kids and investments. There have been times when we considered dissolving our marriage. But for whatever reason, we did not."
Judge McCree described Mott as volatile, and said she threatened him when he refused to spend more time with her.
"Her threat was, 'I’ll tell your wife,' " he said.
McCree’s affair with Mott took place while she was complaining that the father of her child was behind in child support payments. McCree has maintained that, even though he oversaw that case, his affair didn’t impact his judgment. Today, his defense team called the lawyer for the father of Mott’s child, Fredrick J. Smith, who said the case was handled fairly.
"It did not appear to be unusual," Smith said.
Judge McCree Hearing - Photo Gallery
MLive
May 21, 2013
Best of Detroit Judge Wade 'king of latex' McCree's sordid testimony in judicial misconduct trial
MLive
May 22, 2013
DETROIT — The Wayne County Circuit Judge McCree misconduct trial is chock-full of lust, betrayal, plotting and one-liners.
On Monday, Detective Timothy Matouk with the Wayne County Prosecutors Office recalled conversations with McCree during which the judge explained "Wade got played" by his mistress of nearly 20 weeks, Geniene La'Shay Mott.
Mott, whom McCree claims wanted to become "Mrs. McCree," came to the judge's home on Nov. 1 forcing the real-life soap opera to a climax. She then claimed she was pregnant with McCree's child. When he pushed for proof, Mott told him it was actually twins she was expecting.
Mott declined to answer questions about the pregnancy when she took the stand citing HIPAA protections.
McCree claims Mott forced him to file divorce papers against his wife or she would go to his wife and Fox 2 News with her story and demanded $10,000 to get an abortion and cut off ties.
McCree believes the pregnancy claim was among several attempts by Mott to manipulate him; according to Matouk, the judge proclaimed himself the "king of latex."
The relationship began when Mott appeared as a complaining witness against the father of her child in McCree's courtroom in May of 2012.
They swapped business cards, nearly a week later had dinner and it quickly became physical. "Heavy petting," McCree testified Tuesday, evolved in a full-out "volatile" and intensely sexual relationship.
McCree claims Mott wanted to be more than a side fling and demanded increasing amounts of his time away from his children, now 18 and 13, and wife LaVerne. They began "bickering" by mid-summer of 2012, he said.
McCree is accused of judicial misconduct, including sending inappropriate and sometimes sexual text messages from the bench, having sex with Mott in his chambers, failing to preclude himself from Mott's child support case, using his judicial power to reduce a bond for one of Mott's relatives and lying to investigators.
McCree has often made for a good sound bite. He was censured for his response to media after a 2010 shirtless picture of the trim judge, which he is said to have sent to a female bailiff, made its way to the news in 2012.
"Hot dog. Yep, that's me," McCree said when WJBK-TV showed him a printout of the photo. "No shame to my game."
McCree took the stand in his own defense during his misconduct trial in a Washtenaw County Circuit Courtroom Tuesday and his "colorful" language was in abundance.
He will return to the stand when the hearing reconvenes next Tuesday.
Some notable McCree testimony from Tuesday:
McCree and Mott met when the father of Mott's child entered into a consent agreement to pay off his child support debt to Mott. They chatted when the courtroom cleared and Mott left a business card.
McCree: "I confess, she was an attractive, striking woman and she caught my eye... We chatted for sure. As you can probably tell, I'm a bit animated, I'm a rather effervescent personality...
They later made plans to go to lunch
McCree: "I don't want to say the water came to the horse, but I must say she certainly was coming on to me with an ease that surprised me; it thrilled me. Women this young don't talk to me like this. I was flattered and to use the vernacular, maybe my nose got opened up a little bit."
They had sex for the first time in June and the relationship continued until Halloween.
McCree describing the relationship: "Volatile. Miss Mott is passionate. She would be at the apex of euphoria, she'd be at the abyss of near homicidal anger."
McCree described her as a needy woman, physically and materially. Brian Einhorn McCree's attorney, asked why he didn't end it.
McCree: "I was vulnerable, but my nose was open I knew what I was doing when I was getting into this relationship. I lusted after this woman... I'm in my middle-50s, she's a couple dozen years my junior and, yes, I was attracted to her. And, as my wife calls me, "the great accommodator," I was trying to work with her, trying to help her."
McCree was questioned about his intent behind a text message sent to Mott from the bench that said: "C’mon, U’r talking about the ‘docket from hell,’ filled w/tatted up, overweight, half-ass English speaking, gap tooth skank hoes ... and then you walk in.”
McCree, explaining it was an attempt at flattery: "We saw her when she was in here yesterday, but you take away the baby bump and here's a 6-foot-tall woman in Stiletto heels and, you know, all the bells and whistles, and I'm setting her apart from all the rank and file that come in the courtroom."
McCree told the court about how his mistress began overstepping the boundaries of his family. She called his home land line.
McCree: "The honor amongst thieves is that at least we respect each other's home environment. When she tells me not to call because of the other men she sees, she's supposed to know not to call me at my home."
McCree explaining the relationship's evolution: "It was very entertaining, very satisfying at the beginning, and it faded and then like a ball off the edge of the table it went very poorly in the fall. It went from a summer romance to an absolute fall out."
On Nov. 1, McCree said Mott showed up at his home pounding on the door claiming she was going to call the media.
McCree: "I did not think it would get to that extreme. To me this was already bad television the way it was going down."
McCree said Mott told him she was pregnant and getting blood work. He asked what they were going to do about it.
McCree: "Early in the next week... she says, 'Oh, guess what, now I'm having twins...' She claimed that one was... caught in the fallopian tube and the other in the uterus. And so she had to have an immediate procedure as to the one, and then she would decide what to do with the other... You know in my late 50s I'm not looking to be a new dad."
While on the stand, McCree looked up a number of messages from Mott that are still on his phone
(After a delay finding a message) McCree: "Just a minute. I'm not techno savvy at all."
Judge details his adulterous affair
The Detroit News
May 22, 2013
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
Ann Arbor - Embattled Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree testified Tuesday that his extramarital affair with a woman who had a case before him "surprised and thrilled him."
"I lusted after this woman," he said of Geniene La'Shay Mott, a litigant in a child support case assigned to him. "I'm in my middle 50s and she's a double dozen years my junior."
But, the judge said, their relationship was "volatile" and Mott "had problems with boundaries."
"Miss Mott is passionate," he testified. "She would be at the apex of euphoria and the abyss of homicidal anger."
The judge's testimony came during the second day of hearings brought by the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission, which has charged him with judicial misconduct over the way he handled the case.
McCree said he ended the six-month affair in November 2012 when he could no longer meet Mott's demands for his time and money. He said after they broke up, she announced she was pregnant and demanded he get a divorce and give her $10,000 to cover expenses including an abortion.
When he failed to come up with the money, he said she told him she was pregnant with twins and was experiencing both an ectopic pregnancy and a normal pregnancy. She threatened to tell his wife and the media about their affair.
"She wanted to become Mrs. McCree," the judge said. "She said 'Wade, I've made up my mind that you are the man for me.' "
Earlier Tuesday, LaVerne McCree, who has been married to the judge for 25 years, said her husband told her of the affair on Oct. 31 after she overheard him talking on the phone to a woman she later learned was Mott.
LaVerne McCree said the next day her husband told her Mott informed him she was pregnant. He also told his wife that he filed for divorce to appease Mott. LaVerne McCree testified that she and her husband later hatched a plan to make Mott think they really were going to divorce so she would terminate the pregnancy. The judge later withdrew the divorce papers.
There were also concerns, LaVerne McCree said, that if Mott did not have abortion, her husband could be liable for child support and the child could have a claim on the inheritance his mother left him.
At the heart of the tenure commission's case against McCree is his handling of Mott's child support case while they were in a relationship.
The investigation includes text messages McCree and Mott exchanged in which the judge discussed the case and whether the father of Mott's young daughter would go to jail if he didn't pay back child support.
When McCree was asked by his attorney, Brian Einhorn, why he had not recused himself from the case, the judge said he blundered in keeping the case, calling the move a "major oversight."
McCree said he went by the book when he ordered Robert King, the defendant in the case, to wear a tether for not being in compliance with his child-support payments that were $15,000 in arrears.
"I wasn't keeping the case for illicit purposes," McCree said. "Not to help out or hurt anyone."
The judge is also accused of sending inappropriate and sexually explicit text messages to Mott while court was in session.
In one of the messages, McCree made offensive remarks about litigants in his courtroom, describing them as "tatted up, overweight, half-ass English speaking gap tooth skank hoes."
McCree said he uses "colorful language" and "Afro-centric colloquialisms" in private conversations among friends and family.
"(Colorful speech) is something I use in private," McCree said. "But I wouldn't use them on the bench."
Those remarks, the tenure commission charges, are indicative of the judge's failure "to maintain high standards of conduct."
The judge's defense team called court personnel to testify about the judge's conduct in court.
Witnesses included Wayne County Circuit Judge Ulysses Boykin, who said McCree was respectful to those who appeared in his courtroom.
On Monday, Mott testified for three hours, describing her affair with the judge over a six-month period. She said she was pregnant but refused to say whether McCree was the father.
Charles Nelson, a retired Jackson County Circuit judge, is presiding over the hearing and will act as the fact finder.
If he concludes McCree was guilty of judicial misconduct, the judge could face censure, suspension or removal from the bench by the Michigan Supreme Court.
McCree's troubles began last year with a widely publicized complaint made by the husband of a courthouse staffer who said his wife received an email from the judge with a photo showing him shirtless.
When asked about the photo by a TV reporter, the judge delivered his now-infamous retort "No shame in my game."
McCree was publicly scolded by the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission for the incident.
The hearing is scheduled to resume Tuesday with McCree undergoing cross-examination by tenure commission lawyer Margaret Tynier.
McCree says he 'lusted after' woman in his court
May 22, 2013
Detroit News
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
Ann Arbor - Embattled Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree testified Tuesday that his extramarital affair with a woman who had a case before him "surprised and thrilled him."
"I lusted after this woman," he said of Geniene La'Shay Mott, a litigant in a child support case assigned to him. "I'm in my middle 50s and she's a double dozen years my junior."
But, the judge said, their relationship was "volatile" and Mott "had problems with boundaries."
"Miss Mott is passionate," he testified. "She would be at the apex of euphoria and the abyss of homicidal anger."
The judge's testimony came during the second day of hearings brought by the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission, which has charged him with judicial misconduct over the way he handled the case.
McCree said he ended the six-month affair in November 2012 when he could no longer meet Mott's demands for his time and money. He said after they broke up, she announced she was pregnant and demanded he get a divorce and give her $10,000 to cover expenses including an abortion.
When he failed to come up with the money, he said she told him she was pregnant with twins and was experiencing both an ectopic pregnancy and a normal pregnancy. She threatened to tell his wife and the media about their affair.
"She wanted to become Mrs. McCree," the judge said. "She said 'Wade, I've made up my mind that you are the man for me.' "
Earlier Tuesday, LaVerne McCree, who has been married to the judge for 25 years, said her husband told her of the affair on Oct. 31 after she overheard him talking on the phone to a woman she later learned was Mott.
LaVerne McCree said the next day her husband told her Mott informed him she was pregnant. He also told his wife that he filed for divorce to appease Mott. LaVerne McCree testified that she and her husband later hatched a plan to make Mott think they really were going to divorce so she would terminate the pregnancy. The judge later withdrew the divorce papers.
There were also concerns, LaVerne McCree said, that if Mott did not have abortion, her husband could be liable for child support and the child could have a claim on the inheritance his mother left him.
At the heart of the tenure commission's case against McCree is his handling of Mott's child support case while they were in a relationship.
The investigation includes text messages McCree and Mott exchanged in which the judge discussed the case and whether the father of Mott's young daughter would go to jail if he didn't pay back child support.
When McCree was asked by his attorney, Brian Einhorn, why he had not recused himself from the case, the judge said he blundered in keeping the case, calling the move a "major oversight."
McCree said he went by the book when he ordered Robert King, the defendant in the case, to wear a tether for not being in compliance with his child-support payments that were $15,000 in arrears.
"I wasn't keeping the case for illicit purposes," McCree said. "Not to help out or hurt anyone."
The judge is also accused of sending inappropriate and sexually explicit text messages to Mott while court was in session.
In one of the messages, McCree made offensive remarks about litigants in his courtroom, describing them as "tatted up, overweight, half-ass English speaking gap tooth skank hoes."
McCree said he uses "colorful language" and "Afro-centric colloquialisms" in private conversations among friends and family.
"(Colorful speech) is something I use in private," McCree said. "But I wouldn't use them on the bench."
Those remarks, the tenure commission charges, are indicative of the judge's failure "to maintain high standards of conduct."
The judge's defense team called court personnel to testify about the judge's conduct in court.
Witnesses included Wayne County Circuit Judge Ulysses Boykin, who said McCree was respectful to those who appeared in his courtroom.
On Monday, Mott testified for three hours, describing her affair with the judge over a six-month period. She said she was pregnant but refused to say whether McCree was the father.
Charles Nelson, a retired Jackson County Circuit judge, is presiding over the hearing and will act as the fact finder.
If he concludes McCree was guilty of judicial misconduct, the judge could face censure, suspension or removal from the bench by the Michigan Supreme Court.
McCree's troubles began last year with a widely publicized complaint made by the husband of a courthouse staffer who said his wife received an email from the judge with a photo showing him shirtless.
When asked about the photo by a TV reporter, the judge delivered his now-infamous retort "No shame in my game."
McCree was publicly scolded by the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission for the incident.
The hearing is scheduled to resume Tuesday with McCree undergoing cross-examination by tenure commission lawyer Margaret Tynier.
Wayne County judge's colorful testimony chronicles steamy affair with witness
Ann Arbor News
May 22, 2013
Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree conceded this week that much of the affairs he's on the hot seat for played out like "bad television," according to an MLive report.
McCree has been facing a misconduct trial all week in downtown Ann Arbor at the Washtenaw County Courthouse. The otherwise business-as-usual courthouse has been transformed into a verifiable media circus, with television and news organizations from all over the Detroit area converging on it to cover the sordid affair.
Judge Donald Shelton's courtroom has been commandeered for the proceedings, presided over by a retired Jackson County judge.
The allegations are that McCree presided over a steamy romantic entanglement with a female witness in his own Wayne County courtroom last summer. The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission claims McCree had sex with Geniene La'Shay Mott in his chambers and "sexted" her from the bench.
MLive reports that at one point through their fling last summer, McCree attempted to flatter Mott by texting her this from the bench: "C’mon, U’r talking about the ‘docket from hell,’ filled w/tatted up, overweight, half-ass English speaking, gap tooth skank hoes ... and then you walk in.”
McCree is also accused of failing to preclude himself from Mott's child support case, using his judicial power to reduce a bond for one of Mott's relatives and lying to investigators, according to MLive.
As the relationship soured, Mott told McCree, who is in his 50s and married with children, that she was pregnant with twins. McCree said Mott told him she wanted $10,000 to terminate the pregnancy and that if he didn't file divorce papers against his wife, she would go to the media with the story, according to testimony this week.
McCree thinks the pregnancy announcement was an attempt to manipulate him. He even proclaimed himself as "the king of latex" in reference to his allegedly prodigious condom use, according to the testimony of an investigator with the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office.
McCree began his own colorful testimony Tuesday, which chronicled the wild affair from when they first met during the woman's child custody case to when Mott started calling his home at the end of the affair, MLive reports. McCree will retake the stand next week when the trial resumes Tuesday.
McCree also ran into trouble last year with the state Supreme Court for sending a shirtless photo of himself to a female court employee.
"Hot dog. Yep, that's me," McCree said when WJBK-TV showed him a printout of the photo, according to MLive. "No shame to my game."
The strange testimony of Judge Wade McCree
FOX News - Detroit
May 22, 2013
Play the video to hear McCree describe his affair with Geniene La'Shay Mott.
Wayne County, MI -WJBK - Last year Fox 2's Charlie LeDuff showed Wayne County Judge a picture that the judge sent to his bailiff with his cell phone.
In the photo McCree is nearly nude. "Hot Dog," said McCree, "there's no shame in my game."
The photo and his reaction to it in Charlie LeDuff's report went viral across the country.
McCree's performance was so bizarre that the Michigan Supreme Court took the highly unusual step of censuring him for bringing shame to the profession and acting like a total "McCreep".
In the middle of the judge's Supreme Court investigation, his honor met up with Geniene La'Shay Mott, a woman who had dragged her ex-boyfriend into court on felony charges that he was ducking out on his child support.
"I met him as a litigant, a complaining witness in his courtroom, and he stayed around after the case was over and that's when the second half of the flirting started and we went from there and our relationship picked up," she said.
"It went from being a summer fling and just something to do to falling in love, promises of marriage, me getting pregnant, us buying a house together, name it."
Fast forward this Tuesday, where the judge said that he "lusted" after a much younger woman and carried on an affair with her while he was presiding over a case against the father of her child.
During a misconduct hearing that will help determine whether he keeps his job, Wade McCree testified that he regretted the "poor judgment" he exercised by getting involved with Geniene La'Shay Mott, 30. But he explained that he had found her too hard to resist.
Mott "surprised me and thrilled me. ... I lusted after that woman. I'm in my middle 50s and she's a double dozen years my junior," McCree, 56, said.
The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission said McCree's actions were irresponsible and eroded the public's confidence, especially because he continued to handle Mott's child support case.
"I should have transferred it immediately, and I didn't," he acknowledged.
It was an unflattering day for McCree, a member of a prominent Detroit family. His late father, Wade McCree Jr., was a federal judge who also argued cases before the U.S. Supreme Court as solicitor general under President Jimmy Carter.
But McCree didn't flinch as he answered questions. He spoke loudly, gestured and, without prompting, even paused to spell the last names of people mentioned during his testimony. The affair lasted from June to October last year.
"I was lonely," McCree said. "Certain things weren't as wonderful as I would have liked in my 25 years of marriage. ... I was vulnerable but my nose was open. I knew what I was doing."
He said he realized it was a bad relationship last fall. The judge said Mott's behavior ranged from the "apex of euphoria" to the "abyss of near-homicidal anger." McCree made a comparison to the 1987 movie "Fatal Attraction."
Mott testified Monday, saying she often had sex with McCree in his courthouse office. She said she's pregnant but declined to say whether the judge is the father.
More testimony from McCree is expected on Tuesday, May 28 and Fox 2 will be in the court room to catch what he says.
Embattled Judge Wade McCree: Affair with witness clouded my judgment
Detroit Free Press
May 22, 2013
ANN ARBOR — Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree told his side of the story for the first time publicly Tuesday in a case that could cost him his job.
His animated testimony in an Ann Arbor courtroom included sordid details about his sexual relationship with Geniene La’Shay Mott, a complaining witness in a nonpayment of child support case before him.
McCree said he talked to Mott in his courtroom and the two later met for lunch, hit it off and carried on a relationship that was both “passionate” and “volatile” for at least four months in 2012.
“It went from a summer romance to an absolutely fallout,” he recalled at his judicial misconduct trial being held at the Washtenaw County Circuit Courthouse.
At the time, McCree said, he was lonely and things weren’t as good as he would have liked in his marriage.
“I was going through a difficult point in my life,” he said. “It’s no secret I recently lost my dear sister and my mother.”
McCree, who has been suspended from his job without pay, failed to recuse himself from the case his mistress was involved with, discussed the case with her and oversaw a hearing in August where the father of Mott’s child was the defendant, according to a 20-page complaint filed by the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission in March.
“It was an absolute pure oversight,” he testified. “I should have recused myself from that case and transferred it to another judge in a more timely manner. I did not.”
He testified that his failure to do so did not affect his decisions in the case. McCree said he was not keeping the case to “help out or hurt anyone,” and he treated the father of Mott’s child the same way he treated other defendants.
Under cross-examination, Margaret Rynier, associate examiner with the Judicial Tenure Commission, asked if after the night of June 21 — the first night McCree and Mott had sex — it dawned on him to get rid of the case.
“No,” he replied, “It wasn’t on my mind.”
“What was on your mind?” she asked.
His response: “a woman of two dozen years my junior.”
McCree spoke loud and clearly, often using his hands, used inflection in his voice as he read text messages exchanged with Mott and spelled out names for the court reporter when mentioning them.
The Judicial Tenure Commission also has accused McCree of sending inappropriate or derogatory messages referencing people before him.
“C’mon, U’r talking about the ‘docket from hell, ‘filled w/tatted up, overweight, half-ass English speaking, gap tooth skank hoes ... and then you walk in,” was a message sent to Mott from McCree’s phone, according to the JTC’s complaint.
That was a private conversation to tell her she was a “star amongst the commoner,” he said adding he doesn’t think of the people before him that way.
“I have a rather colorful vocabulary,” he said. “I do, in private, use many colloquialisms that many people of color would use amongst themselves but may not use in mixed company or outside of private conversations.”
Before he took the stand Tuesday, LaVerne McCree, his wife of 25 years, testified about her husband’s affair. She said she first learned of it at the end of October, when she was putting groceries away. The home phone rang, she said, and her husband answered. She picked up and listened to the conversation.
She then confronted her husband, who admitted to the affair.
Soon after, LaVerne McCree learned that Mott told her husband she was pregnant and found out that her husband had filed for divorce, but he didn’t intend to follow through with it, she testified.
They had thought Mott would get an abortion if McCree provided a proof of service that he was getting divorced, she said.
On Monday, Mott testified that she is pregnant but provided few other details about her pregnancy and never revealed the baby’s father.
McCree could face censure, suspension or removal from the bench. The hearing is set to resume May 28.
Let it Rip: Interview with Geniene La'Shay Mott
FOX News - Detroit
May 23, 2013
Former mistress hasn't ruled out lawsuit against McCree
Detroit News
May 24, 2013
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
Southfield - The woman at the center of the scandal swirling around Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree has not ruled out legal action against him.
Geniene LaShay Mott, McCree's former mistress, was a guest on WJBK Channel 2's "Let It Rip" and told host Huel Perkins "who knows what will happen ... anything is possible" in answer to Perkins' question about a lawsuit.
Mott again refused to say if McCree is the father of the child she said she is carrying.
The judicial disciplinary hearing on misconduct charges against McCree continues Tuesday in Washtenaw County Court in Ann Arbor. At the heart of the complaint by the tenure commission's case against McCree is his handling of a child support case in which Mott was the litigant.
Doc: Judge accused of misconduct has mental issues
Associated Press State Wire: Michigan (MI)
May 28, 2013
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — The doctor of a Michigan county judge accused of misconduct says he suffers from a mental condition that led to abnormal, overly confident public statements.
Dr. David Jacobi testified Tuesday that he diagnosed Wayne County Judge Wade McCree last year with a condition called "hypomania." The diagnosis came after McCree sent a shirtless photo of himself to a courthouse employee and told a reporter, "No shame in my game."
McCree is undergoing a hearing in Ann Arbor stemming from a different matter that will help determine whether he keeps his job. The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission says he acted irresponsibly when he had an affair with a woman while presiding over a case against the father of her child.
McCree testified last week he should have transferred the case immediately.
Doctor: McCree's 'no shame' comment shows mental condition
May 28, 2013
Detroit News
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
Ann Arbor - Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree suffers from a mental condition called hypomania, his personal physician testified Tuesday.
In a third day of hearings brought by the Michigan Judicial Commission that included McCree's testimony, Dr. David Jacobi said he became convinced McCree was suffering from hypomania when he gave an "abnormal response" to a TV reporter after being confronted about sending a shirtless photo to a female staffer and exclaimed "no shame in my game."
"I thought Wade had lost the ability to manage his public persona," said Jacobi, an internist at Henry Ford Hospital.
"When he said, 'No shame in my game,' that set up alarm bells in my mind. That was a strikingly abnormal thing for Wade."
Jacobi said McCree's response was not a typical one he would have expected from a judge or any other person. The doctor said McCree "crossed the line" from being overly gregarious to exhibiting an "abnormal response." Jacobi said the behavior so concerned him he called the judge to discuss it.
Jacobi said he first made the hypomania diagnosis in April 2012. McCree, 56, has been his patient for 10 years.
Also testifying Tuesday was Dr. Curtis Longs, a friend of McCree and also a psychotherapist , who said the judge is bipolar. McCree took the stand later Tuesday for cross-examination by tenure commission lawyer Margaret Rynier.
He was grilled for more than three hours about text messages between him and his mistress Geniene La'Shay Mott. One of them included demands for money. Another was an exchange about Mott moving into McCree's late mother's home in Ann Arbor because he could not afford to put her and her two children up in a hotel.
At the center of the hearing is McCree's extra-marital affair with Mott, who was a litigant in a child support case before him.
After the two embarked on a tumultuous affair, the judge failed to recuse himself, as judicial ethics demand, for four months from the case.
The judicial hearing took on a salacious tone last week when McCree and Mott gave testimony that included intimate details about their affair.
The commission also charged that McCree intervened in a case scheduled in his courtroom in November that involved Mott's cousin, Damone Tillman.
Mich. judge testified in misconduct trial about $6,000 for mistress
USA TODAY
May 28, 2013
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Two days of testifying, two different demeanors on the stand.
Embattled Wayne County (Mich.) Circuit Judge Wade McCree testified again Tuesday during his disciplinary hearing stemming from accusations of misconduct in office, but his demeanor was in stark contrast to his animated testimony last week.
McCree often gave one-word answers such as "yes" or "no," without elaborating, seldom used his hands to talk, and his voice lacked the inflection he used last week while reading text messages at the Washtenaw County Courthouse in Ann Arbor, Mich.
But like last week, much of his testimony centered on an affair he had with Geniene La'Shay Mott, was a complaining witness in a nonpayment of child support case before him.
McCree, who has been suspended from his job without pay and accused of misconduct in office by the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission, testified under cross-examination, saying Mott lived in his deceased mother's home in Ann Arbor because he couldn't afford a hotel with a kitchen and living quarters like she wanted.
"I couldn't afford to put her up," he said. "I don't have money like that, and so this was a compromise of sorts."
He had given her $6,000 to cover bills and expenses throughout the course of the affair, which took place last year, McCree said.
Earlier Tuesday, Dr. David Jacobi, an internal medicine physician at Henry Ford Health System, testified that an alarm went off when he heard that McCree told a reporter there was "no shame in my game" in response to a question about a shirtless photo McCree sent of himself to a Wayne County Sheriff's Office employee. McCree was later censured for sending the photo.
Jacobi said he called McCree, who has been his patient for more than 10 years, after hearing the comment and told him, "I think you may have a condition called hypomania."
People with the condition -- described by Jacobi as the opposite of depression in which people can lose the ability to act prudently -- know the difference between right and wrong, he said.
"The problem is they're impulsive," he said. "That internal sensor isn't working, and so they often cross that line."
Before he heard the comment, Jacobi testified, he thought some of McCree's behavior was consistent with hypomania but never had crossed the line.
McCree, who could face censure, suspension or removal, is expected to take the stand again Wednesday morning in the fourth day of the hearing.
Judge Wade McCree faces Day 3 of Judicial Tenure Commission hearing on misconduct
WXYZ-TV Detroit
Published on May 28, 2013
Colorful Wayne County Judge Wade McCree takes stand in judicial tenure hearing
MLive
May 28, 2013
Wayne County Judge McCree has a unique way with words.
He's dubbed himself the "King of latex, regarding his propensity to wear condoms; has no shame in his game; and says "Wade got played" by a mistress whom McCree says tied to blackmail $10,000 from him after an illicit extramaritial affair
The Detroit judge returns to the stand in Ann Arbor's Washtenaw Circuit Court at 10 a.m. Tuesday after a week-long hiatus.
McCree is accused of sleeping with a litigant before him, violating ethical conduct rules by giving his mistress preferential treatment, having sex in his judicial chambers and discussing her case with her prior to rendering ruling.
The mistress, Geniene La'Shay Mott, began demanding more of family man McCree's time, and McCree said the relationship became strained, ultimately ending with an alleged pregnancy and an attempt at blackmail, McCree alleges.
Follow along as McCree takes the stand for a second day in this judicial tenure hearing that could cost the judge his job and potentially result in criminal charges.
Doctor Testifies ‘Shirtless Judge’ McCree Has Mental Condition
CBS News - Detroit
May 28, 2013
http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/05/28/doctor-testifies-shirtless-judge-mccree-has-mental-condition/
ANN ARBOR (WWJ/AP) - A controversial Wayne County judge just can’t help himself. That’s a doctor’s testimony about Wade McCree, who is fighting to keep his job.
Henry Ford physician Dr. David Jacobi says McCree, who stands accused of misconduct, suffers from a mental condition that led to abnormal, overly confident public statements.
Jacobi testified Tuesday that he diagnosed McCree last year with a condition called “hypomania.” The diagnosis came after McCree sent a shirtless photo of himself to a courthouse employee and told a reporter: “No shame in my game.”
Jacobi said he became concerned about McCree’s behavior when he saw him on TV boasting about his physique following the embarrassing incident.
“Most people instinctively, without thinking about it, would immediately react in a very serious way,” said Jacobi. “And I thought this was a striking maladroit response to the media that made me think, ‘I wonder if Wade has sort of lost that capacity to manage his public persona.’”
Jacobi said McCree’s outlandish behavior suggests “a loss of the normal control” that a judge would typically have.
Said Jacobi, on the stand,”Wade has always been ambitious, politically astute, and he’s always been very gregarious. But he’s always managed that public persona very well,” prior to these incidents.
The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission ruled McCree acted irresponsibly when he carried on an affair with a woman while presiding over a case against the father of her child.
McCree testified last week he should have immediately transferred the case.
Hypomania blamed for Detroit Judge Wade McCree's questionable behavior
MLive
May 28, 2013
DETROIT — Tuesday marked the third day in a judicial tenure hearing for Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree.
The judge has admitted to making some questionable decisions, among them cheating on his wife with an attractive litigant two and a half decades his junior, but there may be a defense for his actions.
On Tuesday, the McCree's attorneys laid out a medical defense for his actions. He suffers from hypomania, a symptom of bipolar disorder that results in impulsive behavior.
McCree is accused of sleeping with a litigant, Geniene La'Shay Mott, 30, who originally came before him in a child support matter, inappropriately discussing the case and his possible ruling with Mott; failing to remove himself from Mott's case or the case of one of her relatives for whom she sought preferential treatment; lying during a subsequent investigation and making fraudulent stalking allegations against Mott when the relationship imploded.
Sexual romps occurred in the judge's chambers and McCree issued inappropriate text messages, occasionally of a sexual nature, while on the judicial bench.
McCree says he should have removed himself from Mott's case, but it didn't impact the way he dealt with the father of her child.
He says the relationship fell apart due to time and commitment demands Mott began to make. It ended when she said she was pregnant, made a surprise visit to the McCree home and demanded $10,000 to abort the baby, McCree testified a week ago.
The judge has become known for his impromptu one-liners, most notably when he said "Hot dog, yep, that's me... No shame to my game," after a shirtless photo of the judge made its way to the Fox 2 News in 2012. The photo was originally distributed to a female bailiff, among others, in 2010 and his public reaction led to his censure, a formal legal scolding.
Two doctors testified Tuesday that McCree exhibited signs of hypomania, a symptom of bipolar disorder that ranks below mania.
"Hypomania is a mood that many don't perceive as a problem," according to WebMD. "It actually may feel pretty good. You have a greater sense of well-being and productivity."
Dr. Curtis Long, a friend of McCree's since they attended the University of Michigan as undergraduates together, diagnosed McCree shortly after the Mott text messages were taken to FOX 2 News and made public, he testified.
Dr. David Jacob told the court those with hypomania are often hyper-sexual, have multiple partners and get into trouble with sexual harassment.
He said the first time he saw an indication of hypomanic behavior by McCree was the public response to the shirtless photo.
He said people in a hypomanic state know right from wrong, but they have trouble controlling their impulsive actions.
The result of the ongoing disciplinary hearing could result in McCree's removal from the bench.
Hypomania and Mania in Bipolar Disorder
Web MD
Bipolar mania, hypomania, and depression are symptoms of bipolar disorder. The dramatic mood episodes of bipolar disorder do not follow a set pattern -- depression does not always follow mania. A person may experience the same mood state several times -- for weeks, months, even years at a time -- before suddenly having the opposite mood. Also, the severity of mood phases can differ from person to person.
Hypomania is a less severe form of mania. Hypomania is a mood that many don't perceive as a problem. It actually may feel pretty good. You have a greater sense of well-being and productivity. However, for someone with bipolar disorder, hypomania can evolve into mania -- or can switch into serious depression.
The experience of these manic stages has been described this way:
Hypomania: At first when I'm high, it's tremendous ... ideas are fast ... like shooting stars you follow until brighter ones appear... All shyness disappears, the right words and gestures are suddenly there ... uninteresting people, things become intensely interesting. Sensuality is pervasive, the desire to seduce and be seduced is irresistible. Your marrow is infused with unbelievable feelings of ease, power, well-being, omnipotence, euphoria ... you can do anything ... but somewhere this changes.
Mania: The fast ideas start coming too fast and there are far too many ... overwhelming confusion replaces clarity ... you stop keeping up with it … memory goes. Infectious humor ceases to amuse.
Your friends become frightened ... everything is now against the grain ... you are irritable, angry, frightened, uncontrollable, and trapped.
If you have three or more of the mania symptoms below most of the day -- nearly every day -- for one week or longer, you may be having a manic episode of bipolar disorder:
Some people with bipolar disorder become psychotic, hearing things that aren't there. They may hold onto false beliefs, and cannot be swayed from them. In some instances, they see themselves as having superhuman skills and powers -- even consider themselves to be god-like.
- Excessive happiness, hopefulness, and excitement
- Sudden changes from being joyful to being irritable, angry, and hostile
- Restlessness, increased energy, and less need for sleep
- Rapid talk, talkativeness
- Distractibility
- Racing thoughts
- High sex drive
- Tendency to make grand and unattainable plans
- Tendency to show poor judgment, such as impulsively deciding to quit a job
- Inflated self-esteem or grandiosity -- unrealistic beliefs in one's ability, intelligence, and powers; may be delusional
- Increased reckless behaviors (such as lavish spending sprees, impulsive sexual indiscretions, abuse of alcohol or drugs, or ill-advised business decisions)
Doctor testifies Judge Wade McCree has hypomania
Fox 2 News
May 28, 2013
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (WJBK) - Wayne County Judge Wade McCree is fighting to save his job in the wake of a sex scandal. Not only is he facing a judicial disciplinary hearing, his physician revealed in court on Tuesday he is suffering from hypomania.
At times, McCree was a veritable mannequin during the hearing Tuesday compared to last week's effervescent testimony. It was a veritable potpourri of yeses, nos, that's correct and I can't recall all the while staring at an imaginary spot on the carpet like it was a gravy stain.
On at least two occasions, McCree began splitting legal hairs.
"You are now calling other judges on behalf of your mistress? Am I not correct?" he was asked.
"You are not correct," McCree said.
"Calling on your own behalf, Mr. McCree?" he was asked.
"No. I called the judge's clerk. I didn't call the judge," McCree said.
"You called the judge's clerks, did you not?" he was asked.
"Yes. That I did," McCree said.
The judge was also asked, "You wanted to break up with her in June-July?"
"I didn't say June," McCree said.
"July, August, September and October, correct?" he was asked.
"Yes," McCree said.
Now the judge's lover, Ms. Mott, must have been watching the live stream on myFOXDetroit.com because she texted me her appraisal of McCree's performance. She said, "Your fav judge has taken the witness stand either high or sedated."
Then, just like that, the judge lost sight of the gravy stain and started freelancing.
"I couldn't afford to put her up. She asked me to put her up in one of those Residence Inn hotels where you get the kitchen and the living quarters. I said, 'I don't have money like that,'" McCree said.
"It would be a much more graduated influx into the amplitude of her emotional sign curve," the judge remarked at another point.
"So you do want to have sex with her?" he was also asked.
"Yeah, it would be fine with me," McCree said.
Earlier in the day, McCree's personal doctor, David Jacobi, blamed his behavior on hypomania, an impulse control disorder. He said he learned about it when we did.
"When I heard Wade McCree report to have said... 'no shame in my game,' it suggested to me a loss of the normal control that people who are judges normally have," Jacobi testified.
McCree's testimony will continue Wednesday morning.
Judge McCree tones it down as he's cross-examined on affair
Detroit Free Press
May 28, 2013
Two days of testifying, two different demeanors on the stand.
Embattled Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree testified again today during his disciplinary hearing stemming from accusations of misconduct in office, but his demeanor was in stark contrast to his animated testimony last week.
McCree often gave one-word answers such as “yes” or “no,” without elaborating, seldom used his hands to talk, and his voice lacked the inflection he used last week while reading text messages at the Washtenaw County Courthouse in Ann Arbor.
But like last week, much of his testimony centered on an affair he had with Geniene La’Shay Mott, a complaining witness in a child support case before him.
McCree, who was accused of misconduct in office by the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission, testified under cross-examination, saying Mott lived in his deceased mother’s home in Ann Arbor because he couldn’t afford a hotel with a kitchen and living quarters like she wanted.
“I couldn’t afford to put her up,” he said. “I don’t have money like that, and so this was a compromise of sorts.”
He had given her $6,000 to cover bills and expenses throughout the course of the affair, which took place last year, McCree said.
Earlier today, Dr. David Jacobi, an internal medicine physician at Henry Ford Health System, testified that an alarm went off when he heard that McCree told a reporter there was “no shame in my game” in response to a question about a shirtless photo McCree sent of himself to a Wayne County Sheriff’s Office employee.
Jacobi said he called McCree, who has been his patient for more than 10 years, after hearing the comment and told him, “I think you may have a condition called hypomania.”
People with the condition — described by Jacobi as the opposite of depression in which people can lose the ability to act prudently — know the difference between right and wrong, he said.
“The problem is they’re impulsive,” he said. “That internal sensor isn’t working, and so they often cross that line.”
Before he heard the comment, Jacobi testified, he thought some of McCree’s behavior was consistent with hypomania but never seemed to cross the line.
McCree, who could face censure, suspension or removal from the bench, is expected to take the stand again Wednesday morning in the fourth day of the hearing.
Judge Wade McCree faces Day 3 of Judicial Tenure Commission hearing on misconduct
WXYZ News - Detroit
May 28, 2013
(WXYZ) - Wayne County Judge Wade McCree was back before the Judicial Tenure Commission for a third day in an effort to keep his job.
There was testimony today that a mental condition might explain the erratic behavior of Judge Wade McCree. It came from McCree’s doctor at a Judicial Tenure Commission hearing to decide whether McCree will be punished and how severely.
There was also some salacious testimony today from another doctor who is also a friend of the Judge - Dr. Curtis Long, a psychiatrist and former college roommate of McCree.
McCree’s former roommate said he witnessed some very inappropriate behavior between McCree and his mistress. And it happened right in the doctor’s living room.
Judge McCree admits he had an affair with Geniene LaShay Mott, a woman who had a child support case before him, and that he texted shirtless picture to here.
Today, McCree’s doctor offered a possible explanation for the erratic behavior. He testified that McCree might have suffered from a condition called hypomania.
“They know the difference between right and wrong. The problem is they are impulsive - they don’t have - that internal sensor isn’t working. And so they often cross that line,” Dr. David Jacobi said describing how people with hypomania behave.
McCree’s friend and psychiatrist, Dr .Curtis Longs also took the stand - saying he had warned McCree that Mott was trouble.
“I suggested that he needed to do whatever he can, whatever he could, to end this relationship with her. I didn’t see anything good coming out of that relationship that he had with her,” Long said.
Long said he was shocked when McCree and Mott came to his home to watch a football game and cuddled up on the couch.
“Her just fondling over him I thought was definitely inappropriate.,” said Long.
“I’m sorry, her what?” asked Judicial Tenure Commission attorney Margaret Rynier.
“Fondling over him,” Longs replied.
“You mean fondling over him or fondling him? “ Rynier asked.
“Him,” Longs answered.
Rynier grilled McCree’s friend about why both he and McCree allowed the fondling to go on.
“Does he tell her stop - 'I don’t like this?' Yes or no sir,” Rynier pressed. “No,” Longs replied.
“Did you say to her 'stop you’re in my house' and 'I don’t like what you are doing?' Yes or no?” Ranier asked.
“I don’t recall saying it or putting it that way,” Longs said.
McCree was back on the stand today, admitting that he allowed Mott to stay at his deceased mother’s home in Ann Arbor. He also allowed her to park in a judge's spot outside the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice.
Besides the sexual relationship with a litigant in his courtroom, McCree is accused of filing a false felony report and demeaning defendants in his courtroom.
Judge McCree's character debated in closing arguments
Detroit News
May 29, 2013
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
Ann Arbor - Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree on Wednesday was described in closing arguments as a manipulative liar who abused the legal system for his own gain.
In closing arguments, Tenure Commission examiner Margaret Rynier said McCree is an admitted complete liar who used his judicial bench "to pick a mistress (and) used his chambers to have sex with her" and involved his children in his extra-marital affair.
The judicial disciplinary hearings were held by the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission on charges of judicial misconduct against McCree.
Rynier said McCree lied to his wife about the affair and also about why he didn't transfer the child support case his mistress was a litigant in. Rynier said McCree needed the woman's child's father, Robert King, to continue to financially support her because McCree could not continue to take care of his "demanding" mistress, Geniene La'Shay Mott.
McCree's attorney Brian Einhorn countered Rynier's closings statement saying the only thing McCree did wrong relating to his position as a judge was not transfer the King case when he began his affair with Mott.
Rynier said the public deserves a judge who is honest and does not think of them as "ignorant, worthless or skank hoes." Rynier's was referring to a text message in which McCree allegedly made remarks about litigants in his courtroom when trying to flatter Mott. She also said McCree manipulated the legal system for his own personal gains and has "disregarded its canons."
"Yes he should have recused himself," said Einhorn. "He should not have heard the King case. We said it was wrong. He violated his duties as a judge by doing it."
Einhorn said while McCree was "stupid" to have the extra-marital affair with Mott, that is not what he should be sanctioned for.
"There was no obstruction of justice," said Einhorn of McCree's handling of the King case. "Mr. King got what he deserved ... Maybe more than he deserved."
McCree's handling of the King case and another child support case is at the heart of the Tenure Commission's complaint against him. Also on Wednesday, McCree took the stand under cross-examination by Rynier, who continued her line of questions about when McCree actually ended his relationship with Mott.
McCree, 56, has contended that he broke off his affair with Mott in late October. Rynier introduced emails showing McCree and Mott continued to see one another in November when Mott allegedly exchanged an email with McCree about how she enjoyed "being held in your arms" during a recent encounter.
But McCree said he continued contact with Mott to please her but she had become demanding and even scratched him during a visit to her home in November 2012.
"I'm pacifying her," said McCree. "She'd been sweating me. I'm trying to keep her calm trying to get this resolution of this pregnancy."
McCree's wife testified last week that she and her husband had hatched a plan to have Mott believe they were divorcing in order to get her to have an abortion. Mott, who says she is pregnant, refused during testimony last week to reveal who the baby's father is.
LaVerne McCree said the plan was to have Mott get the abortion so that she wouldn't get child support from the judge or part of a $570,000 estate left by McCree's late mother Dores.
The four-day proceedings included sordid testimony and salacious text messages detailing McCree and Mott's affair.
On Tuesday, McCree's personal physician testified that the McCree has a mental condition called hypo-mania which is marked by extreme gregariousness and impulsiveness.
Retired Jackson County Circuit Judge Charles Nelson presided over the proceedings and will issue his findings on the case in the next month. The Tenure Commission will then make its recommendation on a sanction for McCree which can range from censure, suspension to removal from the bench to the Michigan Supreme Court which will ultimately decide McCree's fate on the court.
Each decision or opinion on the matter will be made public. The state Supreme Court's decision is not expected until around September.
Also on Wednesday, the Tenure Commission brought in a statistician from the Michigan Supreme Court who testified that McCree ranks 41st of the 64 judges on the Wayne County Circuit Court in terms of workload and disposition of his cases. Last week, McCree said he has one of the biggest dockets in Wayne County.
"I adjudicated more cases than anyone in the Wayne County court system," said McCree last week.
McCree's misconduct hearing ends with closing arguments
Fox 2 News
May 29, 2013
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (WJBK) - Closing arguments brought an end to a hearing for suspended Wayne County Judge Wade McCree. The embattled judge is accused of misconduct after admitting he oversaw a child support case involving his mistress.
The Judicial Tenure Commission and McCree's attorney agreed on many things, but differed on whether or not he is fit to be a judge.
"In essence, respondent got caught. He got caught because of the pending investigation that he had Fox 2 News on his back. Members of the public who appear before Wade McCree have the right to know that the judge that they appear before does not think of them as a joke... ignorant, worthless or skank hoes. And they have a right to know that their cases are not discussed and decided behind closed doors or between bed sheets, but in an open court, on the record, and with representation," said Margaret Rynier from the Judicial Tenure Commission.
McCree's lawyer admitted that the judge should have recused himself from his lover's child custody case, but even though he did not, the baby daddy received justice.
"He should not have heard the King case. We said it. We didn't have to sit here for a week and a half listening to try to prove something we admitted. It was wrong, and he violated his duty as a judge by doing it," said Brian Einhorn. "Did Judge McCree cheat justice? Did he somehow deprive Mr. King of his rights? Absolutely not. Mr. King did not suffer any injury. Mr. King got what he deserved and maybe better than what he deserved."
McCree had no comment outside of the courtroom.
An opinion will be rendered in about a month. The JTC will review it, and then it will go to the Michigan Supreme Court. If McCree is removed, it could happen sometime in October or November.
Closing arguments in Judge McCree's misconduct hearing focus on respect
Detroit Free Press
May 29, 2013
Respect. It’s a word both sides used today during closing arguments in Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree’s disciplinary hearing in Ann Arbor stemming from accusations of misconduct in office.
“Respect is something that Wade McCree knows nothing about,” said Margaret Rynier, associate examiner with the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission. “You get the respect that you give.”
McCree, she said, “used the judicial bench to pick a mistress, used his chambers to have sex with her, and engaged in repeated insults to litigants” and others.
“How possibly can the public have any confidence in a judiciary with this kind of irresponsible and improper conduct?” Rynier asked.
McCree’s attorney, Brian Einhorn, countered by saying several people testified during the hearing that McCree is respectful to people before him, despite a text message McCree allegedly sent to his mistress referring to the “docket from hell.”
“He has high, high respect in that courtroom,” Einhorn said. “People love being in his courtroom.”
Both sides agreed on one thing: McCree should have recused himself from a case involving Geniene La’Shay Mott, with whom he had an affair. She was a complaining witness in a criminal nonpayment of child support case before McCree last year.
“It was wrong,” Einhorn said. “And he violated his duty as a judge by doing it.”
Even though McCree embarrassed himself and his family, Einhorn contended that no obstruction of justice occurred in the case involving the father of Mott’s child. He said McCree shouldn’t be removed from the bench for his mistake.
McCree could face censure, suspension or removal from the bench. Testimony, which took place over four days at the Washtenaw County Courthouse, finished today, but a final decision likely will take months.
Judge Wade McCree misconduct trial continues before Judicial Tenure Commission
WXYZ News - Detroit
May 29, 2013
(WXYZ) - Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree made a "mockery" of the court system by carrying on a relationship with a complaining witness in his courtroom, a lawyer for the Judicial Tenure Commission said today.
In closing arguments, JTC lawyer Margaret Rynier said McCree violated the code of judicial conduct and deserves to be punished.
McCree is facing misconduct charges for having an ongoing relationship with Genine La’Shay Mott, a complaining witness on a pending child support case that was before him. Rynier said McCree knew his relationship was wrong, as evidenced by text messages where the judge asked her to not tell anyone about their affair.
"He told Mott, 'Please keep it quiet,'" Rynier said
JTC officials tried their best today to show that McCree wasn’t always truthful, showing inconsistencies in what he said in text messages, and what he testified to on the bench. McCree said he didn’t remember details of many of the texts, including one he sent to Mott after the two supposedly broke up. In the message, McCree says he still wants to be together. It’s up to Mott, he wrote, to end their relationship.
McCree said the text message was a lie meant merely to "pacify" Mott.
Rynier asked McCree if he was lying now, or lying then.
"It’s salesman’s puffery," McCree said.
"What are you selling?" Rynier asked.
"I’m selling myself at this point," the judge responded.
Testimony has concluded for the hearing. Closing arguments are expected to continue for the rest of the afternoon.
Two sides painted of McCree
Misconduct case's findings may come in the next month
Detroit News
May 30, 2013
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
Ann Arbor - Embattled Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree is an admitted liar who abused his position for his own personal gain, said the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission's lawyer during closing arguments in his judicial misconduct case Wednesday.
"He has not been faithful to the law," Margaret Rynier said. "He used the judicial bench to pick a mistress (and) he used his chambers to have sex with her."
In February, the tenure commission filed a formal complaint against McCree, 56, charging him in a series of complaints with professional misconduct for having an extramarital affair last year with Geniene La'Shay Mott, a litigant who had a child support case before him.
Rynier said McCree knew it was wrong to continue to handle her case after the affair began but he didn't recuse himself for three months.
"He says it didn't dawn on (him) to transfer the case," Rynier said. "He knew it was wrong."
In response, McCree's attorney, Brian Einhorn, said the only thing his client did wrong as a judge was not bowing out of the case when he began his affair.
"Yes, he should have recused himself," Einhorn said in his closing statement. "We said it was wrong. He violated his duties as a judge by doing it."
Einhorn said while McCree was "stupid" to have the affair with Mott, but he should not face sanctions for it.
"There was no obstruction of justice," said Einhorn of McCree's handling of the case.
The proceedings in Washtenaw Circuit Court, which involved four days of testimony with multiple witnesses over two weeks, wrapped up Wednesday.
The judge and Mott testified about intimate details of their torrid affair.
Also testifying were two of McCree's doctors, his wife, LaVerne, and court personnel.
The complaint also alleges the mishandling of another child support case involving Mott's cousin.
Retired Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Charles Nelson is acting as fact finder in the case.
Nelson is expected to issue his findings on the case in the next month.
If he finds McCree guilty of judicial misconduct, the tenure commission will then make its recommendation on a sanction for McCree which can range from censure, suspension to removal from the bench.
The Michigan Supreme Court will ultimately decide McCree's fate on the court.
Ain't No Shame In His Game: Detroit Judge On Trial For Having Affair With A Witness
Roland S. Martin
May 31, 2013
State of Michigan
Before the Judicial Tenure Commission
Judge Wade H. McCree
Complaint No. 93
Master's Report per Rule 9.214
June 23, 2013
Fact finder's report slams Wayne County Judge McCree
Detroit News
June 24, 2013
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
There is "shame in the McCree game," a fact finder concluded after judicial disciplinary hearings last month against embattled Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree.
In his concluding summary of a 17-page report on his findings in the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission case against McCree, retired Judge Charles Nelson wrote, "There is shame in the McCree game: shame of the good name of McCree and shame brought upon the judiciary of the State of Michigan."
Nelson's remarks were made in the report dated June 23 and released Monday. McCree is accused of professional misconduct for having an extramarital affair with a woman who had a child support case in his court.
Nelson presided over the disciplinary hearings, held over four days in mid-May in the Washtenaw County courthouse in Ann Arbor, to help determine whether McCree should be ousted from the bench or censured. The Michigan Supreme Court will ultimately make the decision on McCree's future.
McCree's troubles began last fall with a widely publicized complaint made by the husband of a courthouse staffer who said his wife received an email from the judge with a photo showing him shirtless. When asked about the photo by a TV reporter, the judge delivered his now-infamous retort: "No shame in my game."
McCree was publicly scolded by the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission for the incident.
Things worsened in February when the tenure commission filed a formal complaint against McCree, charging him with professional misconduct only months after the agency reprimanded him for the unsavory photo incident.
The latest charges allege McCree had a sexual relationship with Geniene La'Shay Mott while she had a child support case before him. The tenure commission charges the judge and the plaintiff conspired to have the father of her child, Robert King, jailed if he didn't pay child support.
Nelson said McCree's "actions in the King case" illustrate a gross dereliction of judicial duties.
"His standard of conduct, for his own sexual gratification, has severely damaged the public's view of the judiciary," Nelson concluded in his report. "His irresponsible conduct could only lead to the public having no confidence in the judiciary."
The judge also is accused of sending inappropriate and sexually explicit text messages to Mott between May and November 2012.
In one of the text messages, McCree makes offensive remarks about litigants in his courtroom, describing them as " ... tatted up, overweight, half-ass English speaking, gap tooth skank hoes."
Nelson concluded, however, that while "one cannot excuse the language used ... it was used in a private context and when used there was no reason to believe that the statements would become public."
"There is no showing that the sending of the texts in any way interfered with his duties as a judge," Nelson wrote. "I do not believe that this count rises to the level of judicial misconduct."
The hearings were punctuated by personal details of McCree's life and salacious testimony during which the judge, 56, the married father of two, laid out details of his six-month affair with Mott.
McCree said his affair with Mott did not influence his decision in her case.
Mott testified that she is pregnant but would not say whether the child is McCree's.
During the disciplinary hearings, McCree's personal physician told the Tenure Commission's examiner that the judge suffers from a mental condition called hypomania.
Dr. David Jacobi said he confirmed that McCree was suffering from the condition when the judge showed an "abnormal response" when he made the "no shame in my game" remark.
"I thought Wade had lost the ability to manage his public persona," Jacobi said. "When he said, 'No shame in my game,' that set up alarm bells in my mind. That was a strikingly abnormal thing for Wade."
Also during the hearings, McCree's wife, LaVerne, testified that she and her husband hatched a scheme to have his mistress believe the couple was divorcing so she would terminate her pregnancy. Mott, according to McCree, had told him that she was having his baby.
At the close of the hearings, McCree was described as a manipulative liar who abused the legal system for his own gain.
Tenure Commission examiner Margaret Rynier said McCree is an admitted liar who used his judicial bench "to pick a mistress (and) used his chambers to have sex with her" and involved his children in his extra-marital affair.
But McCree's lawyer Brian Einhorn said his client did commit judicial misconduct and the only thing he did wrong was to have an extramarital affair and not ask soon enough to have her child support case transferred out of his courtroom.
"Yes, he should have recused himself," said Einhorn. "He should not have heard the King case. We said it was wrong. He violated his duties as a judge by doing it."
The Michigan Supreme Court will make the ultimate decision whether McCree should be censured, suspended or permanently removed from the bench.
Report finds 'shame in the Wade McCree game'
FOX News - Detroit
Jun 24, 2013
He told FOX 2's Charlie LeDuff there was "no shame" in his game, but a new report examining the behavior of Wayne County Judge Wade McCree does not agree.
Judge: There Is ‘Shame’ In Wade McCree’s Game
CBS News - Detroit
June 24, 2013
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) – A married Wayne County Circuit Court jurist who bragged there was “no shame in [his] game” about a shirtless photo he sent to a married court deputy is being blasted by the judge who presided over his misconduct hearing.
In a report Sunday to the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission, retired Jackson County Judge Charles Nelson writes that “there is shame in” Wade McCree’s game.
The commission accuses the 56-year-old McCree of having an affair with Geniene La’Shay Mott who had a child-support case before him. The commission also says McCree falsely claimed Mott was stalking him.
The report concludes: “In final summary there is Shame in the McCree game: shame to the good name of McCree and shame brought upon the judiciary of the State of Michigan.”
Defense lawyer Brian Einhorn says he’s disappointed by some of Nelson’s conclusions.
This latest comes after Henry Ford physician Dr. David Jacobi testified last month that McCree suffers from “hypomania,” a mental condition that led to abnormal, overly confident public statements.
McCree has admitted to sending explicit texts to Mott from the bench and also to having sex with her in his judicial chambers. Documents show, in a message sent to Mott on June of last year, McCree stated, “Oh yeah, I text from the bench. After last nite, its all I can do not 2 **** off ‘under’ the bench:-).”
The commission will recommend to the Michigan Supreme Court if or how McCree should be punished. That could include firing.
McCree is the son of the late Wade Hampton McCree, Jr., notable as the first African-American appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and the second African-American Solicitor General in the history of the U.S.
There is 'shame' in Judge Wade McCree's game, ethics review judge rules
MLive
June 24, 2013
A review judge for the Judicial Tenure Commission issued a report finding Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree committed judicial misconduct and ethics violations stemming from an affair he had with a litigant involved in a case before him last year.
"In final summary there is shame in the McCree game: Shame to the good name of McCree and shame brought upon the judiciary of the state of Michigan," Washtenaw Circuit Judge Charles A. Nelson ruled in a report issued Monday.
The Judicial Tenure Commission will not decide whether to accept the report, and if so, what McCree's punishment will be.
Much of the report was written in a direct, sometimes tongue-in-cheek style.
McCree was accused of sleeping with a litigant before him, violating ethical conduct rules by giving his mistress preferential treatment, having sex in his judicial chambers and discussing her case with her prior to rendering ruling.
The mistress, Geniene La'Shay Mott, began demanding more of family man McCree's time, and McCree said the relationship became strained, ultimately ending with an alleged pregnancy and an attempt at blackmail, McCree alleges.
"Whether Mott is pregnant or not and who is the baby's father are not of concern, we leave that for the Jerry Springer Show," wrote Nelson.
McCree first met Mott when she came to his courtroom as a party to a case against the father of her child, who owed her $15,000 in child support.
The pair hit it off and a sexual relationship developed. Eventually they began discussing the Mott's case and the possible punishment he'd deliver to the father of her child.
"His actions in the... case show, however, a gross dereliction of duties," Nelson said."His standard of conduct, for his own sexual gratification, has severely damaged the public's view of the judiciary."
As the relationship progressed, Mott claimed McCree, the self-dubbed "King of Latex," got her pregnant. McCree said Mott began trying to extort and stalk him.
McCree took his stalking allegations to Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy.
"His claim that 'Wade got played' and that he was the King of Latex and could not be the father are not indicative of a person who is being stalked and who is being extorted," said Nelson. "It is clear he was in the midst of his game with Mott to see would cold outsmart the other."
McCree blamed hypomania, a mild form of bipolar disorder that impacts self control, for his improprieties and lies. Nelson didn't seem to take the condition into account while writing his ruling.
This is not the first time the ethics of McCree have come under scrutiny.
"Hot dog, yep, that's me... No shame to my game," McCree said when presented a shirtless photo by Fox 2 News in 2012 that he allegedly sent to a deputy.
Judge: Wade McCree brought 'shame' to the bench
Detroit Free Press
June 24, 2013
There is shame in Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree’s game, shame to the McCree name and shame brought upon the Michigan judiciary, a report released today said.
The 17-page report written by retired Jackson Circuit Judge Charles Nelson, the master who presided over McCree’s misconduct trial last month, said repeatedly that the judge lied — including about why he eventually transferred a case.
“His standard of conduct, for his own sexual gratification, has severely damaged the public’s view of the judiciary,” Nelson wrote. “His irresponsible conduct could only lead to the public having no confidence in the judiciary.”
McCree, who has been suspended without pay, admitted having an affair with Geniene La’Shay Mott, a complaining witness in a child support case before him, and agreed during testimony that he should have recused himself. He testified that his failure to do so did not affect his decisions in the case.
For McCree to testify that he didn’t transfer the case because of an oversight is not credible, Nelson wrote in the report dated Sunday.
He summarized the report by saying “there is shame in the McCree game.”
McCree’s attorney, Brian Einhorn, said he’s not surprised by the report but was disappointed in some of Nelson’s factual findings.
Nelson said McCree was “improperly seeking to get the prosecutor and her office involved with alleged crimes that were not existent,” but Einhorn contends Mott was stalking McCree.
“Obviously (McCree) brought shame on himself and acknowledged that,” Einhorn said.
McCree continues to fight for his job because he thinks he’s a good judge, Einhorn said. “He engaged in a bad act and he should be sanctioned for it, but he shouldn’t be removed for it,” he said.
Mott testified during the trial that she was pregnant but never revealed who the father is.
“Whether Mott is pregnant or not and who is the baby’s father are not of concern,” Nelson wrote. “We leave that for the ‘Jerry Springer Show.’ ”
The Judicial Tenure Commission accused McCree of two counts of improper conduct, false report of a felony, improper bench conduct and demeanor and misrepresentations to the commission.
Some of those accusations Nelson didn’t find substantiated. He said the language McCree used in texts cannot be excused, but the texts were sent in private.
There is no indication that it interfered with his duties as a judge, and he doesn’t believe the count of improper bench conduct and demeanor rises to the level of judicial misconduct.
McCree could face censure, suspension or removal from the bench. Next, the Judicial Tenure Commission will make a recommendation. Ultimately, the Michigan Supreme Court will decide whether action is warranted against McCree.
Report on Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree says there is "shame" in his game
WXYZ News - Detroit
June 24, 2013
(WXYZ) - Following Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree’s week-long disciplinary hearing, a new report concludes that “…there is shame in the McCree game.”
The new report comes from the Special Master for the Judicial Tenure Commission (JTC). It accuses McCree of having a sexual relationship with a woman who had a child support case before him, and other misconduct.
The formal counts against McCree include improper conduct, improper conduct on the bench, falsely reporting a felony, and making misrepresentations to the JTC, according to the Special Master’s report.
The charge of falsely reporting a felony stems from McCree telling the Wayne County Prosecutor that the woman with whom he is accused of having an affair was stalking him.
The 17-page report concludes, “In final summary there is Shame in the McCree game: shame to the good name of McCree and shame brought upon the judiciary of the State of Michigan.”
As you may recall, McCree is the controversial judge who sent a bare-chested picture of himself with a text saying, "…no shame in my game."
McCree is the son of the late Wade H. McCree, who was the first African-American to serve on Wayne County Circuit Court bench and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
It is now up the JTC to decide if it will accept the Special Master’s report. If it does accept the report, the JTC will then determine what punishment McCree should receive.
Group considers sanctions for suspended Mich. judge
June 25, 2013
Charleston Daily Mail
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
DETROIT - A married judge who once bragged there was "no shame" in his "game" about a shirtless photo he sent to a married court deputy lied about his handling of a child support case, according to a report submitted to the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission.
The commission will use the report to recommend to the state Supreme Court possible sanctions for suspended Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree.
Retired Jackson County Judge Charles Nelson submitted his Master's Report Sunday to the commission. Nelson presided last month over a hearing in which the commission accused McCree of misconduct and making a false felony report.
McCree met Geniene LaShay Mott when a child support case involving Robert King, her daughter's father, came before his court in March 2012. McCree and Mott eventually started an affair that included the two of them having sex in the judge's chambers.
The judge failed to immediately recuse himself from the case and ordered King to wear an electronic tether until the child support was paid.
The Supreme Court suspended McCree without pay in February.
McCree testified at last month's hearing that failing to move the child support case from his courtroom was an oversight. McCree's doctor also testified that he diagnosed the judge last year with a mental condition called "hypomania," which causes him to make abnormal, overly confident public statements.
Nelson wrote that McCree's testimony was not credible and that McCree lied to the tenure commission which investigated his actions.
"He had a hot young lady who was in his words `eye candy' and a way to keep her interested was to keep her case and be of assistance in the collection of money," Nelson wrote. " . . . it should have DAWNED on him that he should not even by hearing the matter."
As his relationship with Mott soured and she demanded that McCree divorce his wife, McCree told a prosecutor that he was being stalked.
Mott also testified last month that she was pregnant but declined to say whether McCree is the father.
"Whether Mott is pregnant or not and who is the baby's father are not of concern," Nelson wrote, "we leave that for the Jerry Springer show. But the events . . . show a pattern of lies and deception by McCree in his dealings with Mott."
McCree's attorney, Brian Einhorn, told The Associated Press Monday that he was disappointed by portions of Nelson's report.
"He felt Wade McCree not recusing himself was a bad act and a bad move - a statement we agreed with," Einhorn said.
But Nelson questioned McCree's credibility with his claims that Mott was stalking him, Einhorn added. u
"Which was disappointing because Judge McCree was being candid," he said.
McCree is a member of a prominent Detroit family. His late father, Wade McCree Jr., was a federal judge who also argued cases before the U.S. Supreme Court as solicitor general under President Jimmy Carter.
In a different ethics case, the Michigan Supreme Court reprimanded McCree last year after he sent a shirtless photo of himself to a female court employee.
At the time, McCree told TV station WJBK: "No shame to my game."
Nelson disagreed.
"In final summary there is shame in the McCree game: shame to the good name of McCree and shame brought upon the judiciary of the state of Michigan," he wrote.
Einhorn suspects the tenure commission will seek McCree's removal from the bench as a sanction.
"I don't think that's appropriate," he said.
Fact finder: 'Shame in the McCree game'
Report says Wayne judge hurt public's view of judiciary
Detroit News
June 25, 2013
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
Detroit – A fact finder in judicial disciplinary hearings for disgraced Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree concluded Monday that his actions in dating a woman whose child support case he presided over show "a gross dereliction of judicial duties."
"There is shame in the McCree game: shame to the good name of McCree and shame brought upon the judiciary of the State of Michigan," concluded retired Judge Charles Nelson of the Jackson County Circuit Court, who presided over four days of hearings in mid-May.
Nelson, who was parroting McCree's "shame" catchphrase in another incident, made his remarks in a 17-page report released Monday. The report summarizes his conclusions of several complaints against McCree by the Judicial Tenure Commission, which include misconduct and improper bench conduct and demeanor.
"His actions in the (child custody) case show, however, a gross dereliction of judicial duties. His irresponsible conduct could only lead to the public having no confidence in the judiciary.
"His standard of conduct, for his own sexual gratification, has severely damaged the public's view of the judiciary," Nelson said in his remarks dated June 23 but released Monday. "His irresponsible conduct could only lead to the public having no confidence in the judiciary."
Nelson did not make any recommendations in his report about what action should be taken against McCree. The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission will make a recommendation and forward it to the Michigan Supreme Court, which will decide whether to remove McCree from the bench, suspend him or censure him. The recommendation could come in the next 30 days.
McCree's troubles began last fall in an incident involving a widely publicized complaint about McCree sending a topless photo of himself to a female court staffer. When asked about the photo by a TV reporter, the judge responded: "No shame in my game."
McCree was reprimanded by the commission for the incident.
The woman McCree had the extramarital affair with, Geniene La'Shay Mott, has told investigators that she is pregnant, but Mott refused to name the father during the disciplinary hearings.
Nelson wrote: "Whether Mott is pregnant or not and who is the baby's father are not of concern, we leave that for the Jerry Springer show."
Report: There is shame in Judge McCree game
FOX News - Detroit
Jun 26, 2013
Opinion on suspended Wayne County judge: 'A gross dereliction of judicial duties'
Michigan Lawyers Weekly
July 2, 2013
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
(June 24, 2013) Embattled Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree told a news reporter some months back that there was “no shame in [his] game,” regarding a shirtless photo McCree sent of himself to a Wayne County Sheriff’s Office employee.
But a retired Jackson County Circuit judge has ruled that “there is shame in the McCree game: shame to the good name of McCree and shame brought upon the judiciary of the State of Michigan.”
Judge Charles A. Nelson, who oversaw the disciplinary hearing of McCree last month in Ann Arbor, issued a 17-page decision (MiLW No. 14-82493), which the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission will now consider.
On March 12, the JTC had filed a 20-page complaint against the judge (who the Michigan Supreme Court suspended without pay Feb. 8), and the counts included improper conduct, false reporting of a felony, improper bench conduct and demeanor and misrepresentations to the JTC.
In its complaint, the JTC said McCree privately discussed his mistress Geniene La’Shay Mott’s child support case, which was before him. McCree instructed her to keep him informed when Robert King, the father of her 6-year-old daughter, was not in compliance with his child support arrangements. McCree had initially denied the allegations.
McCree, who is married, admitted in his official answer that he “became involved in a sexual relationship with Ms. Mott that began in June 2012,” and “that on a few occasions, the (sexual) relationship took place” in his chambers. Mott alleged being pregnant with McCree’s child; McCree denied this, calling himself the “King of latex.”
Regarding the charge of improper conduct, Nelson wrote: “Whether Mott is pregnant or not and who is the baby’s father are not of concern, we leave that for the Jerry Springer show. But the events over the October 30 through late November period show a pattern of lies and deception in his dealings with Mott (not to say that she was an innocent party in those events).”
Nelson further wrote that McCree’s action in King’s case show “a gross dereliction of judicial duties. His standard of conduct, for his own sexual gratification, has severely damaged the public’s view of the judiciary. His irresponsible conduct could only lead to the public having no confidence in the judiciary. He clearly knew he was especially subject to public scrutiny when he had a case pending before the JTC when he began his escapade with Mott. He knew he was on the ‘chopping block.’
“Yet he continued to engage in activities which would bring even greater scrutiny. He was using his judicial position to advance his own interests by keeping the King case. His social relationship gave Mott the belief that she was able to influence his judicial duties. He continuously engaged in ex pate communications with Mott about the case.”
Nelson addressed McCree’s false reporting of a felony, in which McCree made a complaint to the prosecutor’s office that he was being stalked by Mott and that she sought to extort money from him. But a timeline breakdown showed McCree “just playing the game of trying to outsmart Mott,” Nelson wrote.
“It is clear that he was improperly seeking to get the prosecutor and her office involved with alleged crimes that were not existent,” Nelson added.
Nelson further charged McCree with improper conduct over a case in which McCree should not have been involved. An uncle of Mott had a case before McCree for felony nonsupport, but when the uncle was picked up on a warrant, McCree was not on the bench, and another judge took over.
Mott stated that she talked to McCree about the uncle being locked up, and sent a note and text messages to McCree about the case. McCree then signed an order for reduction of bond for the uncle.
“The main import of the matter to me is that he again had a case in which Mott had an interest,” Nelson wrote. “He was ethically not to be involved and should not have been signing any orders pertaining to the case. McCree’s actions were beyond an appearance of impropriety — they were in violation of the ethical standards.”
Regarding the improper bench conduct count — in which McCree “sent text messages making disparaging remarks about some women in general and some specific persons” some of which were sent while he was on the bench — Nelson said the texts were used in “a private context and when used there was no reason to believe that the statements would become public” and does not rise “to the level of judicial misconduct.”
One of McCree’s alleged texts to Mott from the bench read: “C’mon, U’r talking about the ‘docket from hell,’ filled w/tatted up, overweight, half-ass English speaking, gap tooth skank hoes … and then you walk in.”
Nelson also said the count regarding misrepresentations made to the JTC over McCree’s ending his relationship with Mott also don’t warrant JTC action.
The Michigan Supreme Court will decide if further action is warranted against McCree.
Federal lawsuit tossed against embattled Wayne County Judge McCree
Detroit News
July 26, 2013
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
Detroit - A lawsuit against embattled Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree was tossed Friday by a federal judge.
U.S. District Court Judge Avern Cohn dismissed the lawsuit brought against McCree and Geniene La'Shay Mott by Robert King, the father of a child he has with Mott, who is McCree's former mistress.
McCree presided over Mott's child support case against King, a Roseville resident, last year. In a judicial disciplinary hearing brought against McCree by the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission in May, McCree admitted he had an affair with Mott and that he should have transferred the child support case earlier than he did.
King alleges that McCree violated his constitutional rights and denied him due process of law by discussing the case with Mott and that they conspired to have him thrown in jail unless he came up with the back child support payments he owed to Mott for their young daughter.
In his ruling, Cohn said while "the court in no way endorses the conduct described in the complaint (against McCree). The courtroom, however, is not the appropriate venue to remedy King's complaints because McCree is absolutely immune from a civil lawsuit arising out of his judicial actions."
Cohn added in his decision that " McCree is entitled to absolute immunity because his acts were judicial acts. King's allegations that McCree conspired with Mott to deprive him of his due process rights does not change this result."
King's attorney, Joel Sklar, said he will appeal Cohn's decision, arguing McCree's actions don't fall under judicial immunity and that judicial immunity "doesn't extend as far as the court says."
"These were really non-judicial acts that violated someone's constitutional rights," said Sklar on Friday.
Last month, a fact finder for the Tenure Commission found that McCree, who has been suspended without pay from the Wayne County Circuit Court since February, committed judicial misconduct and ethics violations in having the affair with Mott and presiding over the child support case involving her.
The Michigan Supreme Court will ultimately decide if McCree will be removed from the bench, face further suspension or be censured.
Shirtless Judge Gets Vindication As Lawsuit Against Him Tossed
CBS News - Detroit
July 26, 2013
DETROIT (AP) – A federal judge has tossed out a lawsuit against a suspended Wayne County judge accused of violating a man’s civil rights.
Robert King filed the suit earlier this year against Wade McCree and his alleged mistress, Geniene Mott.
King claimed McCree was having a sexual relationship with Mott while presiding over a child support case between her and King in which King was ordered to wear a tether until he paid child support.
McCree is the judge who has been reprimanded for sending a shirtless photo of himself to a court employee. The Michigan Supreme Court will decide if or how he should be punished.
“These are judicial acts,” wrote Cohn, who went on to state: “The court in no way endorses the conduct described in the complaint. The courtroom, however, is not the appropriate venue to remedy King’s complaints because McCree is absolutely immune from a civil lawsuit arising out of his judicial actions.”
King’s lawyer, Joel Sklar, has promised an appeal, arguing judges should not be able to do whatever they want and get away with it — just because they are judges.
“Having a romantic relationship with a litigant in front of you is way out of line,” argued Sklar, referring to McCree’s now admitted affair with the mother, Geniene La’Shay Mott. He said he believes McCree does not deserve the immunity typically offered to judges because “the facts are so extreme” in his case.
“The facts are so remarkable, you couldn’t write a movie script and believe it,” Sklar said. “This conduct is absurd, it’s so beyond description. A judge uses his chambers to have sex with a litigant. ... If this isn’t too far, what is too far?”
According to King’s lawsuit:
■ McCree flirted with Mott from the bench and had a lunch date with her.
■ McCree had sex repeatedly with her, including in chambers.
■ McCree sent Mott sexual texts from the bench.
■ McCree kept the affair quiet while he presided over their child support case.
But that’s a personal matter, countered McCree’s lawyer, Brian Einhorn, who said he believes McCree acted appropriately in the child support case and should not be sued just because “a deadbeat father” doesn’t like the outcome.
“He followed the law,” Einhorn said of McCree, adding Cohn’s ruling “shows that he was doing what he was supposed to do as a judge.”
Einhorn conceded, however, that McCree did cross a line.
“Not recusing himself was bad. He obviously brought some disrespect to the judiciary,” Einhorn said, adding the Judicial Tenure Commission is handling the issue.
At a judicial disciplinary hearing in May, McCree, who has been suspended without pay, admitted to having an affair with Mott and conceded he should have recused himself from her case earlier than he did.
“Unfortunately for King, none of the acts he complains of involved McCree dealing with him; they involved McCree and Mott,” Cohn wrote.
King also sued Mott, alleging she and McCree conspired to deprive him of his due process rights when they carried on their secret affair while he was a defendant in the child support case before McCree.
Last month, the Judicial Tenure Commission accused McCree of improper conduct, false report of a felony, improper bench conduct and demeanor and misrepresentations to the commission.
McCree could face censure, suspension or removal from the bench. The Michigan Supreme Court will decide McCree’s fate.
Lawsuit against Judge Wade McCree is tossed
Detroit Free Press
July 26, 2013
A federal judge tossed a lawsuit today against Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree, who was accused of giving favorable rulings to an ex-mistress — to the chagrin of her child’s father.
That man, Robert King, sued McCree, alleging he ordered high child support payments and forced him to wear a tether because McCree was having an affair with his child’s mother and acting on his “desires for sexual gratifications.” This, he argued, deprived him of his due process rights, specifically, the right to be heard by a fair and impartial judge.
U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn disagreed, concluding that McCree is entitled to immunity from lawsuits arising out of his actions as a judge.
And the actions that King complained about, he wrote, are the normal functions of a judge: McCree accepted the man’s guilty plea to failure to pay child support; set up a payment plan requiring him to pay $280.50 per month; put the father on a tether for failing to abide by that payment plan, and later recused himself from the case.
Suspended Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree immune from federal lawsuit, judge rules
Michigan Lawyers Weekly
August 3, 2013
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
(July 26, 2013) U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn has thrown out a federal lawsuit against suspended Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree.
Cohn dismissed a claim brought by Robert King, who fathered a child with Geniene La’Shay Mott, McCree’s former mistress. McCree had presided over Mott’s child-support case against King, reports The Detroit News.
The Judicial Tenure Commission brought a disciplinary action against McCree, after the judge admitted he had an affair with Mott and that he should have transferred the case to another judge earlier than he did.
King claimed that McCree violated his constitutional rights and denied him due process by discussing the child-support case with Mott. He also asserted they conspired to have him thrown in jail, unless he paid back child support that he owed.
In making the ruling, Cohn said “the court in no way endorses” the conduct described in the complaint. However, the courtroom “is not the appropriate venue to remedy King’s complaints because McCree is absolutely immune from a civil lawsuit arising out of his judicial actions.”
According to Cohn, “McCree is entitled to absolute immunity because his acts were judicial acts. King’s allegations that McCree conspired with Mott to deprive him of his due process rights does not change this result.”
Joel Sklar, King’s lawyer, said he will appeal the ruling. He said that judicial immunity “doesn’t extend as far as the court says” it does. “These were really non-judicial acts that violated someone’s constitutional rights.”
The JTC ultimately found that McCree, who has been suspended without pay from the Wayne County bench since February, committed judicial misconduct and ethics violations. The Michigan Supreme Court will eventually decide the matter.
Commission head says Judge McCree 'unfit' for post, recommends removal
Detroit News
August 5, 2013
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
Detroit - The executive director of the Michigan Tenure Commission said Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree "suffers from egomania" and is a "narcissist" who is no longer fit to serve as a judge.
"Judge McCree is unfit to stand in judgment of others," said Paul Fischer on Monday during the hearing in a courtroom of Michigan Court of Appeals on the 14th floor of the Cadillac Place building. "He should be removed from office."
Fischer, who is also one of the examiners in a judicial misconduct case against McCree, made the the remarks during oral arguments at a hearing Monday before the nine-member commission, which will decide whether to accept Fischer's recommendation that McCree be permanently removed from the bench. Fischer also recommends that McCree, 57, pay more than $11,000 in court costs and other fees associated with the case.
The commissioners, which include other local judges and Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence, heard nearly an hour of arguments by Fischer and McCree's attorney Brian Einhorn.
Fischer said McCree lied to the commission and also to a retired judge who presided over disciplinary hearings in the case against McCree on judicial misconduct.
McCree is in hot water with the commission about presiding over a child support case involving a woman, Geniene La'Shay Mott, with whom McCree had an extramarital affair while he was hearing the case in 2012. He also is accused of giving favorable treatment to a relative of Mott's who also was jailed on oustanding child support payments.
Fischer said McCree should have rescued himself from the case "the moment" he decided to have a relationship with Mott.
McCree, who sat attentively and passively during the proceedings, did not testify during the hearing or make any comments to reporters afterwards.
Einhorn said "Judge McCree lied to no one" and that he did not testify falsely.
"What McCree said is that there is shame in his game," said Einhorn, who explained that while McCree dated Mott he did not cheat Robert King, the father of Mott's young daughter of his day in court in the child support case. "
Einhorn said McCree doesn't dispute that he should have recused himself from the case as soon as he got involved with Mott.
"It's something he should have done and didn't, but he didn't prejudice the actual administration of justice," said Einhorn Monday.
Einhorn asked the commissioners not to recommend removal of McCree but to consider a four to six month suspension for the judge instead.
The commission is expected to make its decision within four weeks. The Michigan Supreme Court will ultimately make the decision on McCree's future.
McCree has been suspended without pay from the bench since February.
Judge Wade McCree faces judgment day
WXYZ-TV
Published on Aug 5, 2013
Oral arguments to be held today in judicial misconduct case of Judge McCree
Detroit News
August 5, 2013
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
Detroit - The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission will hold a hearing at 1 p.m. Monday to hear oral arguments in the judicial misconduct case regarding Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree.
McCree has been suspended without pay from the bench since February on a complaint of judicial misconduct after he sent a shirtless photo of himself to a female staffer at the court last year. When asked by a television reporter about the racy photo, McCree retorted there's "no shame in my game."
The judge also got into hot water following a complaint by a Roseville man, Robert King, that McCree was having an extramarital affair with Geniene La'Shay Mott, the mother of his young daughter and that the two were plotting against him in a child support case against King that McCree presided over.
In May, a Tenure Commission examiner held four days of hearings in the King matter against McCree. The hearings were held in Washtenaw County Court and presided over by retired Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Charles Nelson.
In June, Nelson concluded in his report that McCree indeed "brought shame" upon the judiciary of the State of Michigan." Nelson said McCree's "actions in the King case" illustrate a gross dereliction of judicial duties.
"His standard of conduct, for his own sexual gratification, has severely damaged the public's view of the judiciary," Nelson concluded in his report. "His irresponsible conduct could only lead to the public having no confidence in the judiciary."
The judge also is accused of sending inappropriate and sexually explicit text messages to Mott between May and November 2012.
In one of the text messages, McCree makes offensive remarks about litigants in his courtroom, describing them as " ... tatted up, overweight, half-ass English speaking, gap tooth skank hoes."
Nelson concluded, however, that while "one cannot excuse the language used ... it was used in a private context, and when used, there was no reason to believe that the statements would become public."
"There is no showing that the sending of the texts in any way interfered with his duties as a judge," Nelson wrote. "I do not believe that this count rises to the level of judicial misconduct."
The hearings were punctuated by personal details of McCree's life and salacious testimony during which the judge, 57, the married father of two, laid out details of his six-month affair with Mott.
McCree said his affair with Mott did not influence his decision in her case.
Monday's hearing, which will be held at the Tenure Commission's office in the Cadillac Place building, is open to the public. The Michigan Supreme Court will ultimately make the decision on McCree's future.
Panel To Decide Fate Of ‘Shirtless Judge’ Wade McCree
CBS News - Detroit
August 5, 2013
DETROIT (WWJ) - He admits to having an intimate relationship with a woman who appeared before him in a child support case.
Arguments were heard Monday against 56-year-old Judge Wade McCree who made headlines last year after sending a semi-nude photo to a court staffer and telling a reporter: “No shame in my game.”
Attorney Paul Fisher argued that McCree is a narcissist and egomaniac who should absolutely be removed from the bench.
“He claims that he suffers from some type of a medical condition that can be treated with medication — although he offered no medical testimony on it,” Fisher said.
“Egoism and narcissism cannot justify his behavior. He knew what he was doing all along. He knew what he was doing when he lied to Judge Nelson,” Fisher said. “There’s only one remedy to what’s transpired here — and I ask the court that he be removed from office.”
According to a complaint, Genine Le’Shay Mott, who reportedly came to McCree’s courtroom seeking child support, had sex with McCree at various locations, including McCree’s judicial chambers.
Text messages documented in the report are sometimes explicit. In once message, sent to Mott on June of last year, McCree states, “Oh yeah, I text from the bench. After last nite, its all I can do not 2 **** off ‘under’ the bench:-).”
Messages from McCree to Mott often included derogatory references to defendants, litigants or witnessed appearing before him. In one message, McCree writes, “C’mon, U’r talking about the ‘docket from hell’, filled w/tatted up, overweight, half-ass English speaking, gap tooth skank hoes … and then you walk in.”
WWJ’s Marie Osborne reported McCree sat silently throughout Monday’s proceedings, only nodding when his attorney, Brian Einhorn, talked about how difficult all of this has been for McCree’s wife and children.
Einhorn said his client is a good guy who admits that he did the wrong thing. He said McCree should not be removed from the bench, but should only be suspended for four to six months without pay.
A Judicial Tenure Commission panel will decide McCree’s fate in the coming weeks, issuing a written ruling,
McCree is the son of the late Wade Hampton McCree, Jr., notable as the first African-American appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and the second African-American Solicitor General in U.S. history.
Judicial Tenure Committee Hearing to determine punishment for Judge Wade McCree
FOX TV News - Detroit
Aug 05, 2013
Fate of McCree in misconduct case in hands of judicial commission
Detroit Free Press
August 5, 2013
Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree’s fate is in the hands of the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission after a hearing today in Detroit.
The board could recommend removing McCree from the bench for not recusing himself from a custody case he was handling while having an affair with one of the defendants.
McCree, who has been suspended without pay, admitted having an affair with Geniene La’Shay Mott, a complaining witness in a child support case before him, and agreed during testimony that he should have recused himself. He testified that his failure to do so did not affect his decisions in the case.
A decision is expected in about a month.
McCree’s lawyer, Brian Einhorn, said today that McCree didn’t handle the case differently than any other before him.
Einhorn noted that McCree made arrangements for the man to make $50 child support payments.
“Because of the sex aspect of it … it’s gotten a lot of attention,” he said.
Einhorn asked the commission to limit McCree’s punishment to a four- to six-month sanction, or temporary removal from the bench. McCree, who said there was “no shame in my game” during a television interview about a shirtless photo he had texted to a court employee, sat silently during the hearing.
Paul Fischer, executive director and general counsel for the commission, pushed for McCree to be taken off the bench, arguing that he should have immediately transferred the case to another judge.
Fischer also dismissed claims by McCree’s doctor that he suffers from a medical condition called hypomania, treatable by medication.
“I think the record is replete with evidence to prove that he certainly suffers from egomania; the man is an absolute narcissist,” Fischer said. “There was no evidence offered to support this bizarre theory. Egomania and narcissism does not justify his behavior. He knew what he was doing all along.”
He’s facing two counts of improper conduct, false report of a felony, improper bench conduct and demeanor and misrepresentations to the commission.
A 17-page report about the situation written by retired Jackson Circuit Judge Charles Nelson, the master who presided over McCree’s misconduct trial, said repeatedly that the judge lied — including about why he eventually transferred the case.
Ultimately, the Michigan Supreme Court will decide whether action is warranted against McCree.
Hearing held to decide future of Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree
WXYZ News - Detroit
August 05, 2013
DETROIT (WXYZ) - A lawyer for the state's Judicial Tenure Commission urged that Wayne County Judge Wade McCree be removed from the bench for misconduct that took place in his courtroom.
McCree was suspended without pay after admitting to having an affair with a woman whose child support case was before him.
"Judge McCree testified falsely under oath," said JTC Executive Director Paul Fischer, who insisted that McCree wasn't truthful to the commission.
"He is unfit to sit in judgment of others. He should be removed from office and assessed the costs incurred in this matter."
McCree admits to carrying on an improper, sexual relationship with Geniene LaShay Mott, a witness in his courtroom. Mott complained that Robert King, the father of her child, wasn’t paying enough in child support.
"The moment he decided he wanted to start a relationship with her, he should have disqualified himself. He didn’t," Fischer said.
Today marked both side’s final arguments before McCree’s fate is finally decided by the 9 member panel. McCree’s attorney Brian Einhorn said the judge should have recused himself from Mott’s case once their relationship began, but it slipped his mind.
"He comes in Monday morning and that’s the last thing on his mind. He’s got his docket in front of him. It’s the way his mind works. He is not thinking of the case," Einhorn said.
The JTC's recommendation could come as soon as next month. The supreme court will decide McCree's fate.
Both sides suggest penalty for McCree
Cases made before panel for suspension or judge's removal
Detroit News
August 6, 2013
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
Detroit – The executive director of the Michigan Tenure Commission said Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree "suffers from egomania" and is a "narcissist" who is no longer fit to serve as a judge.
"Judge McCree is unfit to stand in judgment of others," said Paul Fischer on Monday during the hearing in a courtroom of Michigan Court of Appeals on the 14th floor of the Cadillac Place building. "He should be removed from office."
Fischer, who is also one of the examiners in a judicial misconduct case against McCree, made the remarks during oral arguments at a hearing Monday before the nine-member commission, which will decide whether to accept Fischer's recommendation that McCree be permanently removed from the bench.
Fischer also recommends that McCree, 57, pay more than $11,000 in court costs and other fees associated with the case.
The commissioners, which include other local judges and Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence, heard nearly an hour of arguments by Fischer and McCree's attorney Brian Einhorn.
Fischer said McCree lied to the commission and also to a retired judge who presided over disciplinary hearings in the judicial misconduct case.
McCree is in hot water with the commission about presiding over a child support case involving a woman, Geniene La'Shay Mott, with whom McCree had an extramarital affair while he was hearing the case in 2012.
He also is accused of giving favorable treatment to a relative of Mott's who also was jailed on oustanding child support payments.
Fischer said McCree should have recused himself from the case "the moment" he decided to have a relationship with Mott.
McCree, who sat attentively and passively during the proceedings, did not testify during the hearing or make any comments to reporters afterward.
Einhorn asked the commissioners to consider a four- to six-month suspension for the judge instead of removal.
The commission is expected to make its decision within four weeks. The Michigan Supreme Court will ultimately make the decision on McCree's future.
McCree has been suspended without pay since February.
Commission head says Judge McCree 'unfit' for post, recommends removal
Detroit News
August 6, 2013
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
Detroit - The executive director of the Michigan Tenure Commission said Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree "suffers from egomania" and is a "narcissist" who is no longer fit to serve as a judge.
"Judge McCree is unfit to stand in judgment of others," said Paul Fischer on Monday during the hearing in a courtroom of Michigan Court of Appeals on the 14th floor of the Cadillac Place building. "He should be removed from office."
Fischer, who is also one of the examiners in a judicial misconduct case against McCree, made the the remarks during oral arguments at a hearing Monday before the nine-member commission, which will decide whether to accept Fischer's recommendation that McCree be permanently removed from the bench. Fischer also recommends that McCree, 57, pay more than $11,000 in court costs and other fees associated with the case.
The commissioners, which include other local judges and Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence, heard nearly an hour of arguments by Fischer and McCree's attorney Brian Einhorn.
Fischer said McCree lied to the commission and also to a retired judge who presided over disciplinary hearings in the case against McCree on judicial misconduct.
McCree is in hot water with the commission about presiding over a child support case involving a woman, Geniene La'Shay Mott, with whom McCree had an extramarital affair while he was hearing the case in 2012. He also is accused of giving favorable treatment to a relative of Mott's who also was jailed on oustanding child support payments.
Fischer said McCree should have rescued himself from the case "the moment" he decided to have a relationship with Mott.
McCree, who sat attentively and passively during the proceedings, did not testify during the hearing or make any comments to reporters afterwards.
Einhorn said "Judge McCree lied to no one" and that he did not testify falsely.
"What McCree said is that there is shame in his game," said Einhorn, who explained that while McCree dated Mott he did not cheat Robert King, the father of Mott's young daughter of his day in court in the child support case. "
Einhorn said McCree doesn't dispute that he should have recused himself from the case as soon as he got involved with Mott.
"It's something he should have done and didn't, but he didn't prejudice the actual administration of justice," said Einhorn Monday.
Einhorn asked the commissioners not to recommend removal of McCree but to consider a four to six month suspension for the judge instead.
The commission is expected to make its decision within four weeks. The Michigan Supreme Court will ultimately make the decision on McCree's future.
McCree has been suspended without pay from the bench since February.
Judicial Tenure Commission executive director:
Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree is a 'narcissist' and an 'egomaniac'
Michigan Lawyers Weekly
August 14, 2013
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
(August 6, 2013) Embattled Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree “suffers from egomania” and is a “narcissist” who is no longer fit to be a judge.
These are the words of Paul Fischer, executive director of the Judicial Tenure Commission, at yesterday’s judicial misconduct hearing against McCree.
“Judge McCree is unfit to stand in judgment of others. … He should be removed from office,” Fischer told the nine-member panel hearing the misconduct case, reports The Detroit News.
Fischer also asked that McCree pay more than $11,000 in court costs and other fees.
In addition to Fischer, the panel deciding McCree’s fate includes local judges and Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence. Yesterday, they heard nearly an hour of arguments from Fischer and McCree’s attorney, Brian Einhorn.
The misconduct allegations against McCree stem from the fact that he presided over a child-support case involving Geniene La’Shay Mott and also had an affair with her while he was hearing the case in 2012. He is also accused of giving favorable treatment to one of Mott’s relatives.
Fischer said McCree should have recused himself from the case “the moment” he decided to have a relationship with Mott. According to Fischer, McCree also lied to the JTC and to a retired judge who presided over disciplinary hearings in the case against McCree.
However, Einhorn told the panel that “Judge McCree lied to no one” and didn’t testify falsely. “What McCree said is that there is shame in his game,” Einhorn stated.
Einhorn said McCree does not dispute that he should have recused himself when he initially got involved with Mott. “It’s something he should have done and didn’t, but he didn’t prejudice the actual administration of justice,” Einhorn told the JTC.
Instead of removal, Einhorn asked the JTC to suspend McCree.
McCree did not testify during the hearing or make any comments to reporters afterward.
It is anticipated the JTC will issue its decision in about a month. The Michigan Supreme Court will make the ultimate decision in the matter.
McCree has been suspended without pay from the bench since February. (See, "Wayne judge confesses to sex with woman whose case was in his court," MiLW Blog, March 29, 2013.)
STATE OF MICHIGAN
BEFORE THE MICHIGAN JUDICIAL TENURE COMMISSION
IN THE MATTER OF:
Hon. Wade H. McCree Formal Complaint No. 93
Wayne County Circuit Court
Frank Murphy Hall of Justice
1421 St. Antoine, Room 202
Detroit, Michigan 48226
__________________________/
DECISION AND RECOMMENDATION
At a session of the Michigan Judicial
Tenure Commission held on
September 9, 2013, in the City of Detroit
Commission recommends Wayne Co. Judge McCree be suspended from bench
Detroit News
September 9, 2013
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission, which oversees the conduct of state judges Monday recommended to the Michigan State Supreme Court that embattled Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree be removed from the bench.
In its 22-page decision, the commission concluded McCree's behavior - which included extramarital rendezvous in his chambers - was gross misconduct which brought embarrassment and shame to the judiciary. The state Supreme Court will have the final say on what happens to the judge.
"Based on the egregious nature of the misconduct, the commission recommends that the Michigan Supreme Court remove respondent from judicial office and conditionally suspend him from office, without pay, for a period of six years, beginning January 1, 2015," the nine commissioners said.
McCree was also ordered to pay costs of $11,945 in connection with his case.
McCree got into hot water with the commission while presiding over a 2012 child support case involving Geniene La'Shay Mott, with whom McCree had an extramarital affair. He also is accused of giving favorable treatment to a relative of the woman.
"My hope is that the Supreme Court will look at it with a fresh eye and decide he doesn't deserve a removal," said McCree's attorney, Brian Einhorn.
Einhorn said the commission added the conditional suspension to its recommendation because they are "so afraid" voters would re-elect McCree to the bench.
He said the commission made up its mind early that it wanted McCree removed from office.
During a hearing last month, the executive director of the Michigan Tenure Commission said McCree "suffers from egomania" and is a "narcissist" who is no longer fit to serve as a judge.
McCree was re-elected in 2008 to a six-year term and earns $139,919 a year.
He is currently suspended without pay. The conditional suspension would go into effect if he is re-elected in 2014.
Panel recommends removal of scandal-plagued Mich. judge
USA TODAY
September 9, 2013
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
LANSING, Mich. -- Citing a pattern of misconduct that included having an affair with a witness in a case he was hearing and repeatedly lying under oath, the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission recommended Monday that Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree be removed from the bench.
If McCree, who is already suspended without pay, wins re-election in 2014, he should be suspended for six years beginning Jan. 1, 2015, the commission said in a report released Monday.
The commission also recommends McCree pay $11,945 in court costs.
The recommended punishment is subject to approval by the Michigan Supreme Court, which is expected to rule late this year.
McCree, who infamously told a Detroit TV reporter "There's no shame in my game" when confronted about once sending a shirtless photo of himself to a sheriff's office employee, gave more chastened testimony when he was cross-examined at his disciplinary hearing in May.
He did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment Monday.
"I don't agree with it," but "I'm not surprised," McCree's attorney, Brian Einhorn, said of the recommendation.
McCree admitted having an affair with Geniene La'Shay Mott, a complaining witness in a child support case before him, and agreed during testimony in his disciplinary hearing that he should have recused himself. McCree, who is married, testified that his failure to do so did not affect his decisions in the case.
"The evidence reveals a pattern of misconduct in this case," the commission said.
"During his relationship with Mott, respondent used his chambers to engage in sexual intercourse with Mott, permitted Mott to enter the courthouse through an employee entrance without going through security, allowed Mott to remain alone in his chambers while he was on the bench, arranged for Mott to park her vehicle in an area reserved for judges, and brought Mott's cell phone into the courthouse for her, in violation of the court's security policy, so that she could communicate with him while he was on the bench."
The commission noted McCree also presided over a second case, involving a relative of Mott's, without recusing himself.
Also, McCree "engaged in a pervasive pattern of dishonesty that included lying under oath to the commission."
A physician testified McCree might suffer from hypomania -- a condition described as the opposite of depression in which people can lose the ability to act prudently or know the difference between right and wrong.
Einhorn, McCree's attorney, said it was "unusual and grossly unfair" to suspend McCree while the case against him was pending. Einhorn will have an opportunity to make arguments before the Michigan Supreme Court about the appropriateness of the recommended punishment.
A 17-page report about the situation written by retired Jackson Circuit Judge Charles Nelson, the special master who presided over McCree's misconduct trial, said repeatedly that the judge lied -- including about why he eventually transferred the case.
Judicial Tenure Commission wants Judge McCree out of office
Fox News, Detroit
Sep 09, 2013
The Judicial Tenure Commission recommended to Michigan Supreme Court that Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree be removed from the bench, and proactively suspended from the bench in case he runs for reelection next year.
Board Recommends Suspension For Judge Wade McCree
CBS News - Detroit
September 9, 2013
DETROIT (WWJ) - The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission is recommending that Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree be suspended without pay for a period of six years.
A ruling released Monday by the commission states that McCree committed misconduct when he carried on a romantic relationship with a woman who had a case before him.
McCree was under investigation and suspended in February after his extramarital affair came to light.
According to a complaint, Genine Le’Shay Mott, who came to McCree’s courtroom seeking child support in 2012, had sex with McCree at various locations — including McCree’s judicial chambers.
The complaint also details multiple inappropriate, and sometimes sexually explicit, text messages that McCree sent to Mott from the bench.
“During his relationship with Mott, Respondent used his chambers to engage in sexual intercourse with Mott, permitted Mott to enter the courthouse through an employee entrance without going through security, allowed Mott to remain alone in his chambers while he was on the bench, arranged for Mott to park her vehicle in an area reserved for judges, and brought Mott’s cell phone into the courthouse for her, in violation of the court’s security policy, so that she could communicate with him while he was on the bench,” the ruling states.
The commission found that rather than immediately recusing himself from the cases, McCree took steps to “maintain the secrecy of his relationship.”
The commission also recommends McCree pay $11,945 in court costs.
McCree’s attorney, Brian Einhorn, said his client is a good guy who admits he did the wrong thing.
The Michigan Supreme Court will make a final decision on McCree’s punishment. If approved, the suspension would take effect Jan. 1, 2015, if McCree is re-elected in Nov. 2014.
The commission’s ruling comes after McCree made headlines last year when he sent a semi-nude photo to a court staffer and told a reporter: “No shame in my game.”
McCree is the son of the late Wade Hampton McCree, Jr., notable as the first African-American appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and the second African-American Solicitor General in U.S. history.
Board recommends removal of Judge McCree, 6-year suspension if he is re-elected
Detroit Free Press
September 9, 2013
LANSING — Citing a pattern of misconduct that included having an affair with a witness in a case he was hearing and repeatedly lying under oath, the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission recommended today that Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree be removed from the bench.
If McCree, who is already suspended without pay, wins re-election in 2014, he should be suspended for six years beginning Jan. 1, 2015, the commission said in a report released today.
The commission also recommends McCree pay $11,945 in court costs.
The recommended punishment is subject to approval by the Michigan Supreme Court, which is expected to rule late this year.
McCree, who infamously told a Detroit TV reporter “There’s no shame in my game” when confronted about once sending a shirtless photo of himself to a sheriff’s office employee, gave more chastened testimony when he was cross-examined at his disciplinary hearing in May.
He did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment Monday.
“I don’t agree with it,” but “I’m not surprised,” McCree’s Southfield attorney, Brian Einhorn, said of the recommendation.
McCree admitted having an affair with Geniene La’Shay Mott, a complaining witness in a child support case before him, and agreed during testimony in his disciplinary hearing that he should have recused himself. McCree, who is married, testified that his failure to do so did not affect his decisions in the case
“The evidence reveals a pattern of misconduct in this case,” the commission said.
“During his relationship with Mott, respondent used his chambers to engage in sexual intercourse with Mott, permitted Mott to enter the courthouse through an employee entrance without going through security, allowed Mott to remain alone in his chambers while he was on the bench, arranged for Mott to park her vehicle in an area reserved for judges, and brought Mott’s cell phone into the courthouse for her, in violation of the court’s security policy, so that she could communicate with him while he was on the bench.”
The commission noted McCree also presided over a second case, involving a relative of Mott’s, without recusing himself.
Also, McCree “engaged in a pervasive pattern of dishonesty that included lying under oath to the commission.”
Paul Fischer, executive director and general counsel of the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission, said the commission wanted McCree removed but added the suspension language as a fallback in case McCree gets re-elected in 2014. Otherwise, McCree might have been able to serve his term if he won the November 2014 election, he said.
Larry Dubin, a professor at University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, said he wasn’t surprised the panel recommended McCree’s removal.
“The misconduct that was established against him was clearly of a serious nature and would be beyond the realm of any prudent, impartial judge,” Dubin said.
The best case that could be made to the Supreme Court for a suspension, rather than a removal, would be that McCree’s actions were an aberration from his normal conduct, based on mental health issues, Dubin said.
A physician testified McCree might suffer from hypomania — a condition described as the opposite of depression in which people can lose the ability to act prudently or know the difference between right and wrong.
Einhorn, McCree’s attorney, said it was “unusual and grossly unfair” to suspend McCree while the case against him was pending. Einhorn will have an opportunity to make arguments before the Michigan Supreme Court about the appropriateness of the recommended punishment.
A 17-page report about the situation written by retired Jackson Circuit Judge Charles Nelson, the special master who presided over McCree’s misconduct trial, said repeatedly that the judge lied — including about why he eventually transferred the case.
Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission recommends 'shirtless judge' Wade McCree be removed from bench
WXYZ.com Web Staff
September 09, 2013
(WXYZ) - The Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission has recommended that Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree be removed from the bench.
The commission found that McCree breached the standards of judicial conduct in multiple ways, including misconduct in office.
McCree was suspended without pay after admitting to having an affair with a woman whose child support case was before him.
McCree admits to carrying on an improper, sexual relationship with Geniene LaShay Mott, a witness in his courtroom. Mott complained that Robert King, the father of her child, wasn’t paying enough in child support.
The commission also recommends that McCree be conditionally suspended without pay for a period
of six years, beginning January 1, 2015 and that he be ordered to pay court costs of almost $12,000.
The recommendation now goes to the Michigan Supreme Court for a formal ruling on McCree's future. A date for that hearing has not been set.
Six-year unpaid suspension recommended for Detroit judge who had affair with litigant
MLive
September 10, 2013
DETROIT — Wayne County Judge Wade McCree could lose his judgeship for six years if the Michigan Supreme Court follows the recommendation of the state Judicial Tenure Commission released Monday.
McCree entered into a precarious extramarital affair with Geniene La'Shay Mott, a litigant he met during a child support hearing. Mott wanted the father of her child to pay thousands in back-child support.
As the relationship spiraled toward doom, McCree says Mott tried to extort money from him to keep the relationship quiet and to pay for the abortion of a child Mott claimed was his.
McCree filed a stalking complaint and an investigation ensued leading to a nearly two-week hearing in August, the findings of which the Judicial Tenure Commission reviewed.
"Based on the evidence and exhibits presented at the formal hearing and the arguments of counsel, the Commission concludes that Respondent committed misconduct contrary to the Michigan Code of Judicial Misconduct," the Commission wrote in its ruling.
McCree has been suspended from his judge duties without pay since Feb. 8. The Commission recommends that, should McCree be re-elected in 2015, he be suspended without pay for the next six years.
The relationship began when Mott appeared as a complaining witness against the father of her child in McCree's courtroom in May of 2012.
They swapped business cards, nearly a week later had dinner and it quickly became physical. "Heavy petting," McCree testified, evolved into a full-out "volatile" and intensely sexual relationship.
McCree claims Mott wanted to be more than a side fling and demanded increasing amounts of his time away from his children, now 18 and 13, and wife LaVerne. They began "bickering" by mid-summer of 2012, he said.
McCree was accused of judicial misconduct, including sending inappropriate and sometimes sexual text messages from the bench, having sex with Mott in his chambers, failing to preclude himself from Mott's child support case, using his judicial power to reduce a bond for one of Mott's relatives and lying to investigators.
McCree and his doctor blamed hypomania, a symptom of bipolar disorder marked by impulsive behavior, as a contributor to the judge's erratic and irresponsible behavior.
He was previously censured for his response to media after a 2010 shirtless picture of the trim judge, which he is said to have sent to a female bailiff, made its way to the news in 2012.
"Hot dog. Yep, that's me," McCree said when WJBK-TV showed him a printout of the photo. "No shame to my game."
Wayne Co. Judge McCree's lawyer seeks censure instead of removal
Detroit News
October 8, 2013
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
The lawyer for disgraced Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree said removing the judge from the bench is both unprecedented and draconian.
McCree, who is under fire from the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission for complaints of judicial misconduct, should instead be censured and temporarily suspended, said his lawyer Brian Einhorn.
In his written brief in response to the tenure commission's findings, Einhorn asked to be allowed to make oral arguments in the matter before the Michigan Supreme Court.
McCree got into hot water with the commission while presiding over a 2012 child support case involving Geniene La'Shay Mott with whom he had an extramarital affair.
He also is accused of giving favorable treatment to a relative of Mott's and for using derogatory remarks to describe some litigants in his courtroom. Last month the nine-member commission recommended to the Michigan Supreme Court McCree be removed from office and also called for a six-year "conditional" suspension for the judge in the event he is re-elected to the bench next year.
During a hearing last month, the executive director of the Michigan Tenure Commission said McCree "suffers from egomania" and is a "narcissist" who is no longer fit to serve as a judge.
In a 22-page decision, the commission concluded McCree's behavior - which included extramarital rendezvous in his chambers - was gross misconduct which brought embarrassment and shame to the judiciary.
"Based on the egregious nature of the misconduct, the Commission recommends that the Michigan Supreme Court remove Respondent from judicial office and conditionally suspend him from office, without pay, for a period of six years, beginning January 1, 2015," the nine commissioners said.
McCree was also ordered to pay costs of $11,945 in connection with his case.
But Einhorn said the commission's recommendation that the judge be removed from the bench should be rejected by the state Supreme Court because "it is based on several erroneous, inaccurate and improper findings."
In his 50-page brief Einhorn said the Judicial Tenure Commission was wrong when it concluded that McCree "lied about his affair (with Mott) to the Commission and to the Master (a fact finder in the disciplinary case)."
Einhorn noted in his answer to the Michigan Supreme Court that "Judge McCree has consistently admitted that he should have recused himself in the (Mott vs. King) case earlier than he did. He testified: "I should have recused myself from the case and transferred it to another judge."
Einhorn also said McCree is facing more punishment than other judges disciplined in similar circumstances.
"The unprecedented level of discipline that it recommends was seemingly plucked from the air, untethered to anything that has preceded it," Einhorn wrote. "Discipline is warranted. But equivalent misconduct must be treated equivalently."
The state Supreme Court will have the final say on what happens to McCree.
McCree was re-elected in 2008 to a six-year term and earns $139,919 a year. The judge is currently suspended without pay.
Michigan's high court to hear oral arguments in McCree disciplinary case
Detroit News
November 21, 2013
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
Detroit- The Michigan Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Dec. 11 in the judicial disciplinary case of disgraced Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Wade McCree.
The hearing is one of the last steps in the case against McCree before the court makes the final decision on whether McCree should be removed from the court.
McCree is fighting for his position after coming under fire from the Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission, which has accused him of judicial misconduct. The judge got into hot water with the commission while presiding over a 2012 child support case involving Geniene La'Shay Mott with whom he had an extramarital affair.
McCree also is accused of giving favorable treatment to a relative of Mott's and for using derogatory remarks to describe some litigants in his courtroom. In September, the nine-member commission recommended to the Michigan Supreme Court McCree be removed from office and also called for a six-year "conditional" suspension for the judge in the event he is re-elected to the bench next year.
McCree's attorney, Brian Einhorn, said he doesn't know yet if McCree will attend the hearing on his own behalf. Einhorn said it's not mandatory that the 57-year-old jurist be there.
During the September hearing, the executive director of the Michigan Tenure Commission said McCree "suffers from egomania" and is a "narcissist" who is no longer fit to serve as a judge.
In a 22-page decision, the commission concluded McCree's behavior - which included extramarital rendezvous in his chambers - was gross misconduct which brought embarrassment and shame to the judiciary.
"Based on the egregious nature of the misconduct, the Commission recommends that the Michigan Supreme Court remove Respondent from judicial office and conditionally suspend him from office, without pay, for a period of six years, beginning January 1, 2015," the nine commissioners said.
McCree was also ordered to pay costs of $11,945 in connection with his case.
But Einhorn said the commission's recommendation that the judge be removed from the bench should be rejected by the state Supreme Court because "it is based on several erroneous, inaccurate and improper findings."
In his 50-page brief, Einhorn said the Judicial Tenure Commission was wrong when it concluded that McCree "lied about his affair (with Mott) to the Commission and to the Master (a fact finder in the disciplinary case)."
Einhorn noted in his answer to the Michigan Supreme Court that "Judge McCree has consistently admitted that he should have recused himself in the (Mott vs. King) case earlier than he did. He testified: "I should have recused myself from the case and transferred it to another judge."
Einhorn also said McCree is facing more punishment than other judges disciplined in similar circumstances.
"The unprecedented level of discipline that it recommends was seemingly plucked from the air, untethered to anything that has preceded it," Einhorn wrote.
McCree, who was re-elected in 2008 to a six-year term and earns $139,919 a year, is currently suspended without pay.
Last year, McCree got into trouble for sending a shirtless photo of himself to a female court staffer. When confronted about the photo by a local television reporter, McCree retorted there was "no shame in my game."
Judicial Tenure Commission argues to remove Judge Wayne McCree from bench
WXYZ-TV Detroit
Dec 11, 2013
Let Judge McCree keep job, attorney urges high court
Detroit News
December 12, 2013
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
Lansing – The attorney for disgraced Wayne County Circuit Judge Wade McCree made a final plea Wednesday before the Michigan Supreme Court urging the high court to keep the disgraced judge on the bench.
In September, the nine-member Michigan Judicial Tenure Commission concluded McCree's behavior – which included extramarital rendezvous in his chambers with a woman who had a case before him – was gross misconduct which brought embarrassment and shame to the judiciary. It has asked McCree receive a lengthy suspension from the bench.
"Based on the egregious nature of the misconduct, the commission recommends that the Michigan Supreme Court remove respondent from judicial office and conditionally suspend him from office, without pay, for a period of six years, beginning January 1, 2015," the nine commissioners said.
The commissioners also ordered McCree to pay costs of $11,945 in connection with his case.
The tenure commission's recommendations came after four days of testimony in May before a court-appointed fact-finder, who concluded McCree has disgraced the bench.
The hearings included salacious details about his sexual relationship with Geniene La'Shay Mott, a plaintiff who had a child support case before him.
The tenure commission charged the judge and the plaintiff conspired to have her receive favorable treatment and have the father of her child jailed if he didn't pay child support.
McCree, 57, the married father of two, admitted to the affair. But McCree said his affair with Mott did not influence his decision in her case. The state supreme court will determine whether McCree remains on the bench and what, if any, punishment he will receive.
McCree's attorney Brian Einhorn told the seven-member court that a six-year suspension is unprecedented and unfair punishment.
Judge Wade McCree removed from the bench in Wayne County
WXYZ-TV Detroit
March 26, 2014
Court: Ex-judge Wade McCree immune from civil suit
Associated Press State Wire: Michigan (MI)
July 22, 2014
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
DETROIT (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court's ruling that a disgraced Detroit judge cannot be sued by a defendant in a child support case he presided over.
The decision dated Monday by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati cites existing U.S. Supreme Court law that Wade McCree is immune from lawsuits stemming from judicial actions.
Robert King said the ex-Wayne County Circuit Court judge violated his civil rights.
The married McCree had a sexual relationship with Geniene La'Shay Mott while presiding over a 2012 child support case between her and King. Some of the trysts took place in McCree's chambers.
Michigan's Supreme Court in March ordered McCree removed from office and suspended him for six more years if he's re-elected in November.
Judge Gets Away With Having Affair With Mother On His Case
The Young Turks
Published on Aug 2, 2014
"A Michigan judge who admittedly had an affair with the wife of a man in a child-support case before his court won't have to face a federal civil rights case, a U.S. appeals court has ruled.
The limits of judicial immunity
Detroit News
August 22, 2014
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
The concept of judicial immunity — that judges can’t be sued for their judicial actions or rulings, no matter how wrong or corrupt — is an old one. And an annoying one. Objections are being trotted out now that the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had said ex-Wayne Circuit Judge Wade H. McCree can’t be sued.
McCree, it will be remembered, was thrown off the county court by the Michigan Supreme Court after it was revealed that he had engaged in a romantic and sexual relationship with a woman while he was hearing her complaint against her ex-boyfriend for back child support.
The boyfriend, Robert King, filed a federal civil rights suit against McCree, charging he was denied his right to a fair hearing. Federal Judge Avern Cohn ruled that the doctrine of judicial immunity applied and McCree couldn’t be sued. Cohn’s ruling was ultimately upheld by a federal appellate court panel based in Cincinnati.
The judges on the appeals court noted in their opinion that the exact dimensions of the immunity rule remain a matter of dispute, but added that they were bound by legal precedent and that Judge Cohn had correctly applied those precedents. They added that they were very pleased that the Michigan Supreme Court had removed McCree from the Wayne County Circuit Court bench.
In fact, the doctrine of judicial immunity stretches back nearly 500 years, to the early 1600s in English common law. The doctrine was incorporated into American law by a series of U.S. Supreme Court precedents beginning in the 1800s.
But the doctrine of judicial immunity is not absolute. The limits of the doctrine were ironically illustrated by Judge Cohn — the same judge who ruled McCree’s actions immune from suit — in another case involving a Wayne Circuit Court judge.
Many will remember the uproar that occurred a few years ago when a dad, taking his 7-year-old son to a Tigers game at Comerica Park, bought him a Mike’s Hard Lemonade, innocently thinking it was an ordinary brand of lemonade rather than an alcoholic drink.
The dad was accosted by ballpark security, the police were called, the son was taken to the hospital and ultimately turned over to the state Department of Human Services (DHS). The son wound up spending the weekend in foster care before he was returned to his parents.
The incident was widely seen as a case of an overzealous bureaucracy run amok. In the civil rights suit that followed, it came out that one reason the DHS was able to remove the son from his parents’ custody was that it had a court order granting it authority to do so.
The order was signed by Wayne Circuit Judge Judy Hartsfield. But here’s the thing. Judge Hartsfield never presided over a custody removal hearing. She simply signed a number of blank forms in advance and left them to be filled in by a probation officer as needed on the weekend.
One of these forms allowed the child to be removed from his parents and sent to foster care.
When she was included in the parents’ suit, Judge Hartsfield pleaded judicial immunity. But Judge Cohn ruled she had no such immunity. The act of signing the forms was administrative, not judicial. At the time she signed the blank forms, there was no actual case before her. There were no people in her court and no individual decision to be made.She did not speak to the officer filling in the forms she had signed before the child was sent to foster care.
She was not acting as a judge in a particular case, Cohn ruled. Her court order was “issued without judicial review and in violation of Michigan law and the due process clauses” of the U.S. Constitution.
As a result, Judge Hartsfield had to remain as a defendant in the case. The lawsuit against her was ultimately settled out of court.
The idea behind the 500-year-old doctrine of judicial immunity is that judges should be fearless in the performance of their duties. They should not have to look over their shoulders fearing a civil suit after they issue a ruling.
But if they misbehave as administrators or actually commit crimes, they are as liable as anyone else. They can be kicked off the bench for bad behavior by higher courts, as was McCree. They can be sued for improper acts of administration, as was Judge Hartsfield. They can be charged with criminal mortgage fraud and sent to prison, as was ex-Democratic Michigan Supreme Court Justice Diane Hathaway.
And in this state, voters can always throw judges out of office for any reason.
That judges are immune from civil suit can be hard on the Robert Kings of the world. Perhaps the doctrine can be narrowed around the edges. But keeping judges out of the clutches of rapacious trial lawyers seems like a good idea.
Judge's affair case before High Court
Detroit News
January 17, 2015
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
Detroit – A case involving former Wayne Circuit Judge Wade McCree over a lawsuit involving his alleged former mistress has made its way to the nation's highest court.
The case, which has been slated for preliminary review by the U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 23, stems from a lawsuit filed by Robert King, the father of a child with McCree's alleged former girlfriend, Geniene La'Shay Mott.
McCree had a sexual relationship with Mott while presiding over a 2012 child support case between her and King. It was revealed during judicial disciplinary hearings on a complaint of judicial misconduct that Mott and McCree traded texts about King during the child support hearings.
As a result, King said his constitutional rights to a fair hearing were violated because of the affair between McCree, who is married, and Mott. King sued McCree in federal court in Detroit, but McCree requested judicial immunity.
King's attorney, Joel Sklar, said he hopes the justices will decide to take up his client's case for review.
"The question is whether my client had a fair and impartial judge," Sklar said Friday. "That's the questions we're still trying to get to."
McCree has maintained his handling of the King case was not affected by his relationship with Mott.
Attorney Brian Einhorn, McCree's attorney, says the issue of judicial immunity has been a "bedrock" for 150 years and he does not believe the Supreme Court's justices will take the case for further review.
Einhorn added McCree "exercised his authority" as a judge with complete responsibility in the King case.
"He did not violate his responsibility as a judge and that's key and that's why I don't think the court will look at it," Einhorn said Friday.
In July, a federal appeals court upheld a lower court's ruling that McCree cannot be sued by King.
The decision by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati cites U.S. Supreme Court law that McCree is immune from lawsuits stemming from judicial actions.
Michigan's Supreme Court in March removed McCree from office.
He is not eligible to be re-elected as a judge for six years.
McCree, 57, was accused of having romantic rendezvous in his chambers with Mott. He also was accused of making offensive remarks to her about litigants in his courtroom, referring to some of them as "tatted up, overweight, half-a-- English speaking gap-tooth skank hoes" in text messages to Mott.
Justices: No lawsuit against disgraced ex-Detroit judge
Associated Press State Wire: Michigan (MI)
January 26, 2015
https://infoweb.newsbank.com
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court has put an end to a civil lawsuit against a former Detroit judge who had an affair with a woman while he presided over her bid for child support.
The justices offered no comment Monday in leaving in place lower court rulings in favor of former Wayne County judge Wade McCree.
The defendant in the child support case sued McCree for violating his civil rights. But the courts dismissed the suit because judges are immune from lawsuits stemming from their judicial actions.
The Michigan Supreme Court removed McCree from office after he admitted to the affair.
