Judge Arditti’s Suspension Lifted, Attorneys Fined In Her Nepotism Case
Judge Regina Arditti could have been walking into a very different situation Thursday morning. With her daughter at her side, the judge – accused of felony charges – instead hugged the people she can once again call her colleagues.
“I am ready to be back,” Arditti said after her acquittal on five counts, including bribery charges.
Arditti was hoping to return to work at 8 a.m. Thursday morning, but was forced to wait until the Commission on Judicial Conduct received a copy of the verdict, and that did not happen until 3:30 p.m., officially lifting her suspension.
It’s not a suspension, but fines Arditti’s defense attorneys are now dealing with. Visiting Judge Steven Smith held Theresa Caballero and Stuart Leeds in contempt of court, slapping both with hefty fines and admonishing Arditti for allowing such behavior from her attorneys.
“This court is fully aware that it will continue to be vilified and personally attacked,” Smith said.
“I’ve never had a judge do this with me,” Caballero responded after the fines were levied.
The administrative judge for Texas’ 6th region, which includes El Paso, said he does not deal with this sort of situation very often either.
“It doesn’t happen very often. You don’t have a lot of times where you have a judge who is holding attorneys in contempt.”
Ables said it is up to him whether to decide whether a judge or a jury will rule on the fines. Since they’re not facing jail time, Ables said he’s leaning toward a judge.
“I will probably use someone from out of town again,” Ables said. “But I haven’t really decided yet.”
Caballero feels differently.
“I’m going to demand a jury trial. I’m going to demand 12 El Pasoans,” Caballero said. “That is who is going to decide what is right and what is wrong.”
“If it does look like they’re entitled to something other than a bench trial, we’ll make sure that’s afforded them,” Ables said.
Ables said it will only take a couple of weeks before he makes a decision.
