Zimmer, Duncan & Cole

There are a few bad apples in any profession, and unfortunately the legal system is no exception.
This week, we hear about a judge who lost his way after arriving on the bench. His story is told in a case called The Formal Inquiry Concerning Judge A.P. Fuller (2011 S.D. 22).
Pete Fuller was one of the first judges appointed by Governor Rounds in 2003. Prior to his time on the bench, Judge Fuller worked for over thirty years as an attorney in Lead, South Dakota.
Those who know Judge Fuller call him a "likable guy". However, his behavior after becoming a judge suggests a darker side.
During open court, Judge Fuller was impatient, rude and condescending. He routinely got angry. He acted disrespectfully toward almost everyone.
He swore at the clerks, at the attorneys, and at nobody in particular. He used phrases like "the goddamn clerk," "the goddamn schedule," and "the goddamn calendar." From his chambers, the clerks heard him screaming and using the "F" word.
The judge would laugh about his off-color comments. His clerks were not amused. Within a year, two of the deputy clerks refused to even enter his courtroom.
The clerks are the unsung heroes of any courthouse. They are the judge's right hand, and sometimes the left hand, too. All the good judges (and attorneys) I've ever known go out of their way to take care of the clerks. Without their hard work nothing would get done.
Yet during a jury trial in 2007, Judge Fuller dismissed the clerk from his courtroom. When she suggested this was not such a good idea, the judge got very angry.
Later at that trial, the clerk tried to explain the difficulty of feeding a jury in Custer before restaurants were open for the tourist season. Judge Fuller got red in the face, pointed his finger at her, and loudly instructed her, "You will do as you are told."
The judge treated attorneys with equal derision.
He called one attorney "an a--hole" back in chambers, and then in open court used the middle-finger gesture toward the attorney and his client. (In a footnote, the Court then tells us how to say "flipping the bird" in Latin: digitus impudicus.)
The attorney who received this bird-flip lost his case and then appealed. The Supreme Court sent it back for a new trial. Judge Fuller thought the high court was wrong, so he ignored their instructions and ruled the same way again.
On at least one occasion, Judge Fuller engaged in a judicial no-no called ex parte communications (when the judge talks to only one attorney, without the presence of opposing counsel).
Judge Fuller called juvenile delinquents "my little peckerheads". He told female attorneys that the profession was better off without them. While hanging artwork of Native American leaders on his courtroom walls, he said "This is where I hang my Indians."
He suggested these were jokes, but nobody was laughing. For seven long years nobody dared to complain, either. It's never a good idea to get on a judge's bad side.
The tipping point came last year when he called the Rapid City police department "a bunch of racists". The police chief filed a formal complaint, along with the county sheriff and State's Attorney.
All judges take an oath to uphold the constitution and to abide by the Judicial Code of Conduct. The oath is not an idle promise. Our judges must always act with the highest integrity because the legal system cannot function without the public's confidence. Our state Supreme Court disciplines those who stray from their oath.
Despite these high standards, the Court had never encountered a situation that required removing a judge from office...until now.
As our Court explained, the purpose of disciplining judges is not to punish them, but instead to protect the judiciary. Ours is a government of laws, not of men.
Judge Fuller's actions extended far beyond his own chambers: his conduct harmed the reputation of every judge in this state.
The Court retired Judge Fuller, effective immediately. But it also hoped he was "capable of rehabilitation."
The Court will allow him to try again, under strict supervision, if the Judge complies with a long list of conditions, including a six-month suspension, indefinite probation, and behavioral therapy. Judge Fuller has thirty days to decide which option to pursue.

Daniel K. Brendtro is a trial attorney from Sioux Falls. His firm, Zimmer, Duncan & Cole, LLP, has represented clients statewide since 1948 on all types of cases, including injuries, accidents, criminal defense, and business lawsuits.