Vote judge out, Missouri Bar committee evaluation recommends

St. Louis Daily Record & St. Louis Countian, Sep 5, 2008 by Donna Walter

A 12-member Missouri Bar committee issued a recommendation that St. Louis County residents vote no on retaining Associate Circuit Judge Dale W. Hood.

All other judges evaluated this year were recommended for retention.

The Missouri Bar and the St. Louis and Kansas City bar associations released the results of performance evaluations Thursday morning. The evaluation process has been revised since the last election in an effort to give more meaningful information to the voters.

Part of the new system is a recommendation by a judicial performance evaluation committee about whether to retain or not retain a judge.

Some lawyers who appear before Hood, however, defended his reputation.

"What people probably don't like about him is he speaks his mind and he speaks it very clearly," family law attorney Nathan Cohen in a phone call from Delaware. Hood lets lawyers who appear in his courtroom know who's in charge, Cohen said.

That only one judge received the negative recommendation shows that "the overwhelming numbers of judges that we have are doing a great job," said Tom Burke, president-elect of The Missouri Bar. "That should be reassuring to the public."

Gov. Matt Blunt appointed Hood to the bench in 2005. This is his first retention election. He did not return calls for comment.

The survey used to rate the judges has also undergone some changes. Lawyers rated the judges on 16 factors, such as how they treat people, weigh evi-dence, run their courtrooms and explain their decisions, among others. Under the new process, lawyers choose, on a scale of 1 to 5, how strongly they agree or disagree with a statement.

The committee noted Hood scored less than 3 on 14 of the 16 categories of the attorney survey. His lowest scores were a 2.58 on demonstrating appropriate demeanor on the bench and a 2.64 for weighing all the evidence fairly and impartially. On the high side, Hood received a score of 3.04 for being prepared for hearing and trials and a 3.16 for maintaining order in his courtroom.

On the other hand, the committee noted that Hood's written judgment pending dissolution proceeding was "well written, precise, and in keeping with the Missouri statutes cited in the judgment." The Missouri Court of Appeals in St. Louis affirmed Hood's decision in January.

Bridgeton lawyer Rand E. Scopel says Hood's recommendation is unjust. Scopel practices family law and has appeared before Hood since he joined the bench. In St. Louis County, all new judges are assigned to family court.

"I can understand why certain attorneys would say that because at times his disposition -- at least initially -- wasn't as complimentary as some of the oth-er judges. However, I honestly think he's made a lot of progress," Scopel said Thursday.

Hood was an assistant prosecuting attorney in the city of St. Louis when he was appointed to the bench. That's a "much different environment" than family law, Scopel said. He said Hood also has a greater grasp of family law than he did when he assumed the bench.

Cohen agreed with Scopel's assessment. "It's a hard place to cut your teeth," he said.

St. Louis County lawyer Bradley J. Bakula also came to Hood's defense. "Usually when you have a whole group of lawyers who don't like a judge, it's be-cause the judge doesn't put up with their B.S.," he said.

Vivian Eveloff, a lay member of committee evaluating St. Louis County judges, said the surveys indicated that Hood "seemed not to pay close attention to the evidence" and was more concerned about moving cases along.

Other scores

Of the judges in the St. Louis area, Judge John J. Riley, of the city circuit court, received the highest score of any category -- a 4.71 in for maintaining proper order and decorum in the courtroom. At 4.43, Riley's lowest score came in the area of not being affected by partisan considerations, the evaluating committee noted.

Judge John A. Ross, who is on the county circuit bench, received a 4.69 in the same category. Ross' lowest score also was in the partisanship category, but it was a still a 4.41, the committee said. He scored 4.50 or above in 13 of the 16 categories, the committee said.

Both judges were commended for their written opinions.

The St. Louis-area appellate judges up for retention are Judge Robert G. Dowd Jr., Judge Roy L. Richter and Judge Kurt S. Odenwald. This is the first re-tention election for Richter and Odenwald.

Dowd's high point was being courteous to lawyers; he received a 4.57 in that category. He received a 4.30, his lowest score, in two categories, both per-taining to writing clear opinions and adequately explaining the court's decision.

Odenwald's and Richter's scores show some room for improvement. Richter's low score was a 3.95 for writing clear opinions, and Odenwald's low score was a 3.80 for refraining from reaching issues that need not be decided. Their high scores were for being courteous toward attorneys; Richter scored a 4.31, and Odenwald scored a 4.15.

Supreme Court Judge Patricia Breckenridge, appointed in September 2007, scored well in the nine categories pertaining to appellate judges and totaled a 4.39 overall.