Five judges have been appointed to decide the ethics charges against Nicholas County circuit judge-elect Steven Callaghan, after all of West Virginia's Supreme Court justices recused themselves from the case.
The state Judicial Hearing Board has recommended that the state Supreme Court bar Callaghan from taking the bench for a year.
Callaghan faces ethics charges for allegedly using shady campaign tactics during the nonpartisan May election, in which he defeated longtime Nicholas Circuit Judge Gary Johnson, who was just last week named the new administrator of the high court.
The disciplinary board has also asked the high court to suspend Callaghan's license to practice law for a year.
Arguments were set to be held this week before the Supreme Court. They were moved to Jan. 24 after Callaghan requested justices be removed from his case.
Justices last week named Johnson to replace Steve Canterbury as Supreme Court administrator.
About a week before the primary election, Callaghan sent out a flier to Nicholas County voters purporting to show Johnson partying with President Barack Obama. The ethics charges claim the fliers were meant to "deceive voters into believing that Judge Johnson and U.S. President Barack Obama were drinking beer and partying at the White House while conniving with one another to kill coal mining jobs in Nicholas County."
Justice Robin Davis had already stepped away from the case when Callaghan's lawyer, Lonnie Simmons, filed a motion to disqualify the remaining four justices. They all voluntarily stepped aside.
Simmons wrote that in Johnson's role as administrator he "will be working closely with the Court on a daily basis, creating a troubling set of circumstances where any person reasonably may question the impartiality of the four justices who have not recused themselves."
The motion also states that it was Johnson's son who filed the complaint against Callaghan.
Retired Justice Thomas McHugh, who serves as acting chief justice, appointed the following circuit judges to decide the case: Joanna I. Tabit, of Kanawha County; H. Charles Carl II, of Hampshire County; Robert A. Waters, of Wood County; and James Matish, of Harrison County.
Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.