Two judges cleared in Wilkerson case delay

A state investigation of two Roxbury District Court judges has concluded that a delayed judgment last year in a civil case against state Senator Dianne Wilkerson was inadvertent and that there was no misconduct on the part of the judges, Michael C. Bolden and Edward R. Redd.

The Judicial Conduct Commission launched an investigation of the judges last September after a case file for a potentially embarassing lawsuit against Wilkerson languished in Bolden's chambers, out of public view, for nearly three months without a ruling as Wilkerson waged a tough campaign to keep her seat.

The suit alleged that Wilkerson had not paid $13,335 in condominium fees on her Roxbury residence for more than a year and included filings showing that the senator had bounced more than $5,000 in checks during the previous three years and hadn't paid her $466 monthly fee to the 3 Douglass Park Condominium Association since September 2005.

Bolden took the case under advisement after a June 27 hearing and did not issue a ruling until Sept. 25, several days after Wilkerson declared victory in a tight primary election.

Redd, who is in charge of all case flow at the court, had been a Wilkerson campaign contributor before being sworn in as a judge in 1993 and had listed the senator as one of five witnesses to vouch for his qualifications for the bench before the Governor's Council.

"The commission's investigation revealed that, while there was inadvertent delay in the processing of this case, there was no misconduct on the part of any judge," says a statement released yesterday by the Judicial Conduct Commission.

The commission interviewed witnesses, reviewed case files and dockets and scrutinized court procedures before voting Feb. 13 to dismiss allegations of wrongdoing against Bolden and Redd.

The commission's statement did not cite the reasons for the delay, other than that it was inadvertent.

Bolden said last year that he did not rule immediately in the case because he wanted to review the file and that his failure to do so in a timely manner was due to the press of business in the courts.

Bolden ultimately ordered Wilkerson to pay the condominium fees.

"It is important to me that the good work of the people who toil through incredible caseloads at one of the busiest courts in our system are exonerated and vindicated," Wilkerson said yesterday.

Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com.