Vilma Leake phoned a judge to discuss a juvenile case. After he said no, she kept calling.
A powerful Mecklenburg County elected leader repeatedly called a judge in a weeklong attempt to discuss a sensitive Juvenile Court case involving a constituent, drawing a letter from a state attorney asking her to stop.
In all, veteran County Commissioner Vilma Leake called Mecklenburg District Judge Rex Marvel at least seven times from March 22-27 following a hearing he’d held in the case, according to a highly unusual letter Leake received from Corrine Lusic, deputy legal counsel for the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts.
In the March 30 letter, Lusic asked Leake to back off, explaining that Marvel and other N.C. judges are banned from having “ex parte” communications about a case. That’s a Latin phrase meaning “on one side only.”
“Accordingly, Judge Marvel is prohibited from speaking with you about any pending cases,” Lusic wrote. “This prohibition has been communicated to you by both Judge Marvel and a Mecklenburg County attorney. I ask that you respect his prohibition and refrain from contacting Judge Marvel regarding pending cases.”
The AOC declined further comment on Friday.
Leake, a seven-term county commissioner who previously served 11 years on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board, is one of the Charlotte area’s best-known elected officials — earning a reputation as a fierce advocate for the residents of her west Charlotte district.
She did not respond to Observer emails and phone calls Thursday and Friday seeking comment.
Leake told WFAE, which first reported the story, that one of her constituents had asked for her help in the Juvenile Court case. She acknowledged calling Marvel but said she only phoned once — not the seven times alleged by Lusic’s letter.
“That’s a lie — I never called but once,” Leake told the radio station. “That’s not true. (Marvel) told a lie. Well, you know I don’t have that kind of time (to make multiple calls).”
Marvel, who was first elected to the bench in 2018, declined comment to the Observer on Friday, citing, through a spokeswoman, the confidentiality of “the juvenile neglect case.”
He told WFAE that the contents of Lusic’s letter are accurate.
Former judge: ‘Totally improper’
Richard Boner, a retired Mecklenburg County Superior Court judge, says judges risk their careers if they have ex parte conversations about active cases. He recalled an incident a decade ago when an N.C. judge was reprimanded for discussing an ongoing case on Facebook with one of the attorneys involved.
“It’s totally improper,” Boner said. “It’s also improper for anyone to engage a judge sitting on a case. ... The only conversation you can have is in the courtroom or when both lawyers are there. You cannot have an off-the-record conversation with only one side. You don’t want the other side thinking that you’re hiding something.”
The nature of Marvel’s court hearing on March 21, as well any rulings he may have made, remains unknown since juvenile cases are kept confidential under N.C. law.
Leake, according to the AOC letter, called Marvel’s personal cellphone the day after the hearing and told the judge she wanted to discuss the case. Marvel told her he could not and “promptly ended the call,” Lusic wrote.
Marvel reported the incident to Chief Mecklenburg District Judge Elizabeth Trosch, who sent word to Deputy Mecklenburg County Attorney Twyla Hollingsworth. Hollingsworth said she would speak to Leake, according to the letter.
Instead, according to the letter, Leake appears to have kept calling. Marvel did not pick up.
Leake’s last call came on March 27, almost a week after the hearing, the letter says.
Trosch declined comment Thursday.
In a response to an Observer request for an interview with Hollingsworth, a spokesman for Mecklenburg County said the matter is confidential and that the county would have no further comment.
The incident involving two arms of Mecklenburg County government surfaces at a potentially awkward time.
On Tuesday, a delegation of county judicial officials — including Trosch — will appear before Leake and her fellow commissioners to discuss a courthouse request for almost $660,000 in county money for various needs.
This story was originally published April 22, 2022 at 1:00 PM.
