Nashville court find Judge Kelvin Jones acted illegally in proceedings
A sitting down Nashville decide acted illegally through contentious divorce proceedings, a unique judge located this week.
Circuit Court docket Decide Kelvin Jones is under investigation for his functions in the study course of divorce proceedings stretching again at least to 2019. At no position has Jones been charged criminally.
On Monday, Senior Choose Robert E. Lee Davies uncovered Jones relied on “legal professional/client privileged communications that had been illegally attained” in the course of the class of the proceedings.
The purchase general denied Jones’ attempts to reverse the original judgment in the divorce.
Jones, when reached by cellular phone, reported he disputed the wording in the revealed order but was not challenging the ruling itself.
He vehemently denied any unlawful activity.
In a June 2020 deposition in the scenario, the Nashville Circuit Court docket judge admitted to burying about $100,000 in his backyard to defend it from the state and lenders.
Jones also explained he surreptitiously used a regional legislation firm’s cell phone to connect with his residence and go away a voicemail in which he impersonated a neighborhood divorce lawyer.
He also admitted to logging onto his wife’s e-mail account and forwarding himself dozens of e-mail. Jones’ spouse, Denise Jones, is a vice president and authorized counsel at the Sarah Cannon Most cancers Institute.
“We have been given a duplicate of the order. We consider it does not replicate the conclusions in the case,” Jones told The Tennessean. “At no stage all through the hearing did Judge Davies ever suggest or condition that I had engaged in any illegal activity.”
Jones explained that not only was he not a defendant in the civil situation, there was no evidence in the file or truth-discovering get the job done carried out by Davies for the duration of the proceedings that supported the assert in the final order.
He mentioned Thursday afternoon he strategies to check with the judge established aside this order. Both equally get-togethers submitted proposed orders, he stated, as is prevalent, and the choose signed the a person geared up by his ex-wife’s counsel.
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The acrimonious divorce case has been ongoing due to the fact August 2019. A collection of allegations emerged more than the course of months as the situation wore on.
In courtroom documents, Denise Jones mentioned the judge accessed and saved her perform email messages as nicely as email messages among her and her lawyer, violating lawyer-consumer privilege.
Final 12 months, equally the Board of Judicial Conduct and the district attorney’s workplace have been alerted to the info in the deposition.
DA Glenn Funk’s office environment referred the subject to the Tennessee District Lawyers Standard Conference, which tapped Shelbyville District Lawyer Robert Carter to provide as exclusive prosecutor in the make a difference. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation verified previous April it was assisting as needed in the investigation.
Jones recently utilized to be appointed to the Tennessee Supreme Court after a vacancy was still left by the demise of Justice Cornelia Clark. Gov. Bill Lee in the long run tapped present Justice Sarah Campbell for the spot.
In the course of the job interview system for the seat, Jones described he was underneath investigation in link to the divorce proceedings.
“It could seem to be weird, but I am from Alabama,” Jones stated, in reference to the buried cash, in the course of the interviews.
He is up for reelection in the Could 3 Davidson County most important. He has 1 opponent: Lynne T. Ingram. Early voting in the election operates by April 28.
Attain reporter Mariah Timms at mtimms@tennessean.com or 615-259-8344 and on Twitter @MariahTimms.
