Hearing for Massachusetts judge accused of helping man evade ICE begins Monday
Judge Shelley Joseph will go before the commission on June 9 at Suffolk County Courthouse.
Federal authorities indicted Joseph on charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice, aiding and abetting obstruction of justice, aiding and abetting obstruction of a federal proceeding and perjury in 2019.
The year before, prosecutors say, Joseph allowed a man who was subject to an immigration detainer to avoid capture by exiting through a side door of a Newton courthouse.
The indictment was filed while Andrew Lelling, a Trump appointee, served as U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts. But the charges were dismissed in 2022 under Rachael Rollins, a Biden appointee, after Joseph attested to a statement of relevant facts and agreed to refer herself to the Commission on Judicial Conduct.
Since then, the commission has filed its charges against Joseph, kicking off a process that begins with the June hearing. A hearing officer appointed by the Supreme Judicial Court, in this case, attorney Denis McInerney, will issue a report with proposed findings and recommendations within 30 days of the hearing.
The commission then submits a report and recommendations to the SJC, at which point Joseph can request an additional public hearing. The SJC will then issue a final determination on discipline, either adopting the commission's recommendation or imposing greater or lesser punishment.
Joseph has denied all wrongdoing, writing in a statement that she 'has attempted at all times to treat the parties before her ... fairly and in accordance with the law and court policies, and to promote the fair administration of justice and public confidence in the independence, integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.'
Massachusetts state law bars defendants from being held solely on a civil immigration detainer. But in Joseph's case, she is accused of helping a man, Jose Medina-Perez, avoid ICE agents in Newton District Court in part by letting him exit out the back door.
Joseph has been earning her six-figure-a-year salary since her arrest. State payroll records show she was paid more than $200,000 in each of 2023 and 2024.
Her case has similarities to that of Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan, who was taken into custody by the FBI in April. Dugan is also accused of allowing a man to escape ICE detention and has since been suspended by the state's supreme court.
Dugan is being represented by at least six lawyers, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
Her trial is scheduled for next month.
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