Special counsel appointed in probe of Juvenile Court judge

The state has appointed a special counsel to help the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct investigate allegations of misconduct by a former top Plymouth County judge, a rare move taken only when the commission believes complaints warrant an especially in-depth probe.

The commission tapped Joan A. Lukey, a well-known Boston trial lawyer and past president of the Boston Bar Association, to investigate complaints about Juvenile Court Judge Robert F. Murray by his court clerk and a court security officer, according to the clerk and her lawyer. Murray allegedly made inappropriate phone calls to the clerk and gave an unwanted kiss to the officer.

The commission, which is responsible for disciplining state judges, investigated an average of 189 complaints a year from 1999 to 2004. But a special counsel was appointed on average only once a year over the past decade, according to the agency's executive director. Three of those cases led to formal charges and resulted in the only public hearings the commission has ever held on alleged judicial misconduct.

In a brief interview last week, Murray's court clerk confirmed that Lukey interviewed her recently about the judge, who went on paid medical leave around Jan. 1. Lukey has also questioned other employees at the Brockton courthouse, where Murray, until recently the first justice of Plymouth County juvenile courts, usually sat, according to people familiar with the case.

''It seems to me to signal that they're taking it seriously," the clerk's lawyer, Marisa A. Campagna, said of the appointment. ''I would be very surprised if Joan Lukey swept anything under the rug."

Lukey, a senior partner with Hale and Dorr and a highly respected litigator, would not discuss whether she was investigating the allegations against Murray, 60, a former Plymouth prosecutor. Complaints filed with the commission, she noted, are confidential unless the panel brings formal charges, which is rare.

''I don't think I'm allowed to confirm or deny, at this point, anything," she said.

Neither the court security officer who complained about Murray nor her lawyer would comment.

Meanwhile, Murray has hired Michael E. Mone, a Boston lawyer who once represented former Superior Court Judge Maria Lopez against charges of ethics violations. Mone this week declined to comment on the case. Murray did not return a phone call to his home.

The longtime executive director of the Commission on Judicial Conduct, Jill Pearson, said she could not comment on any pending complaint. Speaking generally, she said the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court appoints special counsel at the request of the commission.

Paul F. Ware Jr., who served as special counsel for about two years in the case of Lopez's alleged ethical violations, said the state typically appoints special counsel if the investigations are expected to be complex and time-consuming. In the vast majority of cases, the commission's staff investigates allegations of misconduct.

The investigation into allegations against Murray came to light in April, when Robert A. Mulligan, chief justice for administration and management of the trial courts, confirmed that he relayed complaints about the judge to the commission. Mulligan has declined to detail the allegations, and neither of the women who alleged misconduct will discuss them.

Martha P. Grace, chief justice of the state's juvenile courts, declined last week to discuss Murray's status, including whether he was still being paid while he is on leave. His annual salary as a judge was $112,777.

''It's in the hands of the Judicial Conduct Commission," she said. ''We'll await their decision."

Jonathan Saltzman can be reached at jsaltzman@globe.com.