McFalls resigns, promises never to return to bench
Facing a Wednesday deadline to go to trial on 39 misconduct charges, an Allegheny County judge accused of drinking on the job and neglecting his duties resigned from the bench, effective Monday.
H. Patrick McFalls, 59, of Shadyside, who had been accused of conducting court business while under the influence of alcohol and appearing intoxicated in public, agreed to never again seek judicial office or to seek a position as a senior judge.
In return for McFalls' resignation from Common Pleas Court, the Judicial Conduct Board withdrew all charges on which he faced trial Wednesday before the Court of Judicial Discipline. Had the Court of Judicial Discipline found that McFalls engaged in misconduct, he would have faced possible sanctions ranging from reprimand to removal from office.
Board Counsel Joseph A. Massa Jr. said that McFalls' resignation wasn't contingent on his being able to get a disability pension based on his admitted alcoholism. An official of the state's retirement system wouldn't say whether McFalls had applied for a disability pension.
In an agreement with the Judicial Conduct Board last month, McFalls agreed to quit as long as he could qualify for a disability pension. In turn, the board would drop alcohol-related charges as long as he never held judicial office again.
Sean Sanderson, a spokesman for the State Employees' Retirement System, said yesterday he could neither confirm nor deny that McFalls had applied for such a pension.
If an application were filed, Sanderson said, it wouldn't be disclosed until the retirement board's meeting Oct. 23.
Massa said the Judicial Conduct Board preserved the right to proceed to trial against McFalls if he violates the terms of the agreement not to seek judicial office.
On Sept. 12, McFalls — elected in November 1985 and retained for another 10-year-term in 1995 — wrote to state Supreme Court Justice Stephen A. Zappala Sr. that "I have determined that it is in my best interest to retire from my position" on the Allegheny County bench.
"I hereby tender my resignation from office, such resignation to be effective Sept. 23, 2002, and shall not seek any future judicial position whatsoever, including senior status," McFalls wrote.
Senior status permits a retired jurist to be appointed to hear cases.
Massa said McFalls' resignation is an acceptable resolution to the board.
"It precisely satisfies the objectives of the board while furthering the preservation of the integrity, dignity and honor of the judiciary," Massa said.
He said McFalls' immediate supervisors, Common Pleas Judge Joseph M. James, administrative head of the Civil Division, and President Judge Robert A. Kelly support the resolution of the case against McFalls "as advancing the independence and integrity of the judiciary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Fifth Judicial District."
James declined further comment and referred questions to Massa. Kelly was unavailable for comment.
Attempts yesterday to reach McFalls' attorneys Robert O. Lampl and John R. Orie Jr. for comment were unsuccessful.
McFalls had been placed on administrative leave with pay last December after the three members of his staff he fired filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the judge was impaired by alcohol while conducting court business.
McFalls, who has a history of alcohol abuse, was placed on two years' probation in June through the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program for his arrest on a drunken driving charge in March in West Homestead. The arrest came shortly after he had completed an alcohol rehabilitation program.
Last week, Lampl said in an interview after a federal court hearing on the lawsuit by the three former employees that McFalls is awaiting word from the State Employees' Retirement System on whether he will receive a disability pension, which would pay about $7,000 a month.
McFalls' resignation comes just as federal officials are deepening their investigation of Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Joseph Jaffe, who was indicted Sept. 17 on a single count of extortion for allegedly seeking money from a lawyer who had cases before him.
U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan has said that federal investigators are examining Jaffe's other cases to determine whether any wrongdoing was involved.
McFalls and Jaffe were assigned to the court's Civil Division. Their offices were next to each other on the seventh floor of the City-County Building.
