Judge Benge 'devastated' after being removed from bench

by Staff and wire reports

Posted on November 6, 2009 at 2:07 PM

Updated yesterday at 6:20 PM

NEW ORLEANS – A Jefferson Parish judge is “devastated” by a Louisiana Supreme Court ruling that removed her from the bench, according to her attorney.

Judge Joan Benge was ordered out of her post in a ruling over whether she had allowed a relationship with another judge to influence her decision in a case.

The court's ruling cited evidence that Benge awarded money to a man who had sued over a traffic accident even though she privately said the suit had no merit.

“She is devastated,” said her attorney Franz Ziblich. “She felt the same way we all felt coming out of oral arguments. We all felt really good, and she is devastated.”

FBI agents investigating broader allegations of judicial misconduct taped a 2001 conversation between Benge and former state Judge Robert Bodenheimer in which he lobbied her to rule in favor of the plaintiff, whose lawyer was one of Benge's campaign donors.

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