Tidd Exonerated by Judicial Discipline Court

Until he resigned in July 2016, David Tidd was Magisterial District Judge in Hellertown and Lower Saucon Township. It was a position he had held since 2009. He should be there now. But he stepped down because of a distracting investigation and eventual complaint filed by officious lawyers on the Judicial Conduct Board. Chief Counsel Robert Graci and his Deputy, Elizabeth Flaherty, had painted a bull's eye on Tidd's back. They were all-too-willing to accept the word of clerks who had tried and nearly succeeded in setting up a good man. Fortunately, the Court of Judicial Discipline saw things differently. Except for one instance in which Tidd angrily confronted his staff, the Court found no merit in any of the numerous other accusations.

Tidd was represented by West Chester Attorney Samuel C. Stretton. The judges on this panel were Allegheny County Magisterial District Judges David Barton, Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Minehart and Lackawanna County President Judge Michael Barrasse.

This ordeal took its toll on Tidd. In addition to resigning as a Magisterial District Judge, he also moved his law practice to Berks County.

He still faces a potential parallel complaint with the state Disciplinary Board, but Friday's ruling makes that far less likely. .

Though exonerated by the Court of Judicial Discipline, Tidd was convicted by the Express Times long ago. Here are some of the headlines. "Bully judge dropped F-bombs, slept on floor in robes, panel finds." "Misconduct trial starts for ex-judge who ran 'fast food' court." "Bully judge ignored warnings about misconduct, clerk testifies." "Work was 'intolerable' with judge's cursing, abuse, clerk testifies." "Judge held clerks 'against our will' in confrontation, witness says." "Disgraced judge admits regrets, suicidal thoughts, but not misconduct."

As if this were not bad enough, he was also accused of playing favorites with a local defense lawyer.

Headlines are one thing, but facts are another. As the 32-page opinion below makes clear, Tidd was victimized by office staffer Brenda Anthony, who for some reason had it in for him. You'll have to ask her why. Tidd even hired her daughter, Amber Glass, to work for him. Tidd lent his staff money, too. But behind his back, Brenda Anthony was talking to Tidd's election opponent, feeding him confidential information. This is in violation of a ban on partisan political activity by court-appointed employees. She and Amber kept notes about Tidd, and would save video clips from within the office if they were juicy, while deleting everything else. They even scheduled hearings for him on election day, forcing him to leave the campaign trail.

They dimed him for sleeping on his robe without bothering to point out that he used his robe as a pillow to take a nap one day because of a serious medical illness.

He was slammed for running a "fast food" court, dispensing justice from his office counter. But as witnesses explained, Tidd never conducted trials from a counter. He did sometimes ask a police officer or a defendant of there was going to be a plea arrangement. His function there was mostly administrative and had more to do with being in confined quarters than any desire for a judicial McDonald's.

He was also accused of playing favorites by notifying a local defense lawyer he knew of outstanding parking tickets so he could come in and pay the fine before an arrest warrant was issued.  Testimony showed that Tidd offered this same courtesy to others.

He was charged with using his position as a judge to pick up work as a lawyer or to represent peiple who had matters before him as a jurist. Testimony showed that Tiidd sought and followed ethical guidance concerning anyone who approached him for representation when there was a matter before him as a judge. When there was a conflict, he'd have the judicial matter reassigned. One of the persons who testified against him was Leslie Ziegler, the wife of one of Tidd's judicial opponents in 2015."We find troubling the apparent motivation behind Ziegler's April, 2015 complaint concerning acts that occurred in 2010 and 2011," the Court observed.

So after being tarred and feathered, where does Tidd go to get his reputation back?

As of November, Brenda Anthony was still listed as a Magisterial District Judge Tech. Her daughter, Amber Glass, is a 911 operator.

Todd Exonerated by Court of Judicial Discipline by BernieOHare on Scribd