Judge accused of astonishing pattern of misbehavior — capped by drive-by shooting
An Oklahoma judge is facing removal from the bench after accusations of a run of bad behavior leading up to his alleged involvement in a pair of drive-by shootings in two states.
Garfield County associate district Judge Brian Lovell was indicted last September in Travis County, Texas, for allegedly shooting six parked cars at an intersection and then using his SUV to try to force a women's car into oncoming traffic during a road rage incident. Investigators say he fired off his 40-caliber Glock three more times in frustration, reported Law & Crime.
The 58-year-old judge was indicted again in May on Oklahoma charges that he allegedly went to his brother-in-law's house in February 2023 and fired several rounds into his home with the same pistol, which he then reported stolen but allegedly used nine months later in the Texas case.
An Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice filed a removal petition last week that doesn't even have anything to do with those alleged shootings to avoid jeopardizing either case, but instead focus on alleged sexual misconduct and other improper use of judicial authority.
According to the complaint, Lovell is accused of "engaging in ex parte communications with attorneys appearing before him, making disparaging remarks about attorneys appearing before him, publicly evidencing bias for a particular attorney, and setting the amount of bond on criminal charges based on bias for the defendant’s attorney or the defendant.”
Lovell allegedly exchanged “sexually graphic messages and images with court staff inside the courthouse during courthouse hours,” according to the complaint, and allegedly had “sexual intercourse with court staff inside the courthouse during courthouse hours.”
A bailiff he was accused of having sex with was forced to resign after the allegations came to light in 2011, but fellow judges voted to keep Lovell on the bench. But he was accused of having sex with another bailiff in summer 2023 in the courthouse during business hours.
The judge was also highly favorable to one particular attorney and praised him as "brilliant" and "excellent" from the bench, although he did not praise other attorneys in that way, and secured favorable bond conditions for that attorney's clients via private text messages, according to the accusations.
The removal petition accuses Lovell of a pattern of conduct described as “gross neglect of duty, gross partiality, corruption in office, commission of offenses involving moral turpitude while in office, and oppression in office.”
Lovell was temporarily suspended from performing his judicial duties and has a July 8 deadline to contest the suspension order, and a hearing for the removal petition is scheduled for July 30.