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<h3><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://www.the-chesapeake.com//wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Judge-Cougar-and-the-Burglar1.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-4151" src="https://www.the-chesapeake.com//wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Judge-Cougar-and-the-Burglar1.jpg" alt="Judge Cougar and the Burglar" width="443" height="336" /></a>News and Commentary on the Criminal Class</span></h3>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">By Ken Rossignol</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge who was appointed to the bench by Gov. Martin O&#8217;Malley and found her judicial career intertwined with her relationship with her boy-toy burglar lover has now quit the bench in order to halt an investigation that could have disrobed her permanently. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/CHESAPEAKE-TODAY-June-2015-Crime-ebook/dp/B00ZGYB0EU/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&;qid=1434457580&;sr=8-4&;keywords=The+Chesapeake+Today"><img class="alignleft wp-image-8809 size-medium" src="https://www.the-chesapeake.com//wp-content/uploads/2015/06/The-Chesapeake-Today-June-front-page-235x300.jpg" alt="The Chesapeake Today June front page" width="235" height="300" /></a>The affair of Judge Audrey Creighton was exposed by her lover, an ex-client while she was a public defender, was convicted earlier this year of kidnapping her and fleeing in her car before crashing it last year. Rickley Senning needed legal advise during the time he was living with the Judge and an opponent in last year&#8217;s election provided political dynamite to the election when he alleged that Judge Creighton had improperly acted as an attorney and gave legal advise and perhaps wrote statements for Senning.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The super secret process of investigating a sitting judge in Maryland does not allow for any of that good old transparency magic that politicians in Maryland love to talk about. Instead, the process is cloaked in secrecy with little of the affairs of Judges exposed to the public. The resignation apparently is the antidote for a pending negative decision by the Maryland Commission on Judicial Disabilities. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The life-time salaries of Judges equal the same amount in retirement. Creighton&#8217;s time on the bench, just over a year, hopefully won&#8217;t make her eligible for retirement, nor her age, but since this is Maryland, anything is possible.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Senning had multiple criminal convictions including stealing guns and burglary prior to becoming the Judge&#8217;s live-in lover. Given all the information available to the Judicial Panel investigating her, it might be safe to assume &#8212; and that is all the public can do &#8212; the Maryland Judicial Disabilities Commission could have stripped her of her post. By resigning, she will be able to be referred to has &#8220;Judge Creighton&#8221; and can continue to practice law. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Ironically, her resignation will leave the door wide open for the appointment of the Montgomery County attorney who took on the sitting judges in last year&#8217;s election and won a spot on the ballot by winning the GOP primary. With no Democrat in the Governor&#8217;s chair, which was Creighton&#8217;s entry to the bench, it may be that Daniel Connell will be appointed by Gov. Larry Hogan.<br />
<a href="https://www.the-chesapeake.com//wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Statement-by-Judge-Cougar.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-4363" src="https://www.the-chesapeake.com//wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Statement-by-Judge-Cougar-300x203.jpg" alt="Statement by Judge Cougar" width="300" height="203" /></a><br />
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<p><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><strong><em>From The Montgomery County Sentinel:</em></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ROCKVILLE &#8211; Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Audrey Creighton has retired from her judicial duties effective July 3, officials confirmed.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">She will apparently use accumulated vacation pay and/ or accumulated leave and will no longer be on the bench from now until her retirement date, according to sources.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> &#8220;I have just been informed she has retired effective July 3, but that it is her intention to use what leave she has between now and then,&#8221; Administrative Judge John Debelius III said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Creighton’s retirement announcement comes almost a month after multiple sources confirmed the Commission on Judicial Disabilities had serviced disciplinary charges against her for judicial misconduct. According to the Maryland Rules on Judicial Conduct, the charges can become public 30 days after the Commission notifies the judge in order to give the judge time to respond.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The 30 days would have come up on June 17. The rules governing the Commission do not make specific provisions about how an investigation proceeds should a judge resign prior to the charges becoming public. However, the Commission no longer has jurisdiction if a judge resigns during an investigation, according to David Nitkin, spokesperson for the Maryland Attorney General’s Office.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">“If a judge resigns from the bench during an investigation, the Commission on Judicial Disabilities is divested of jurisdiction,” Nitkin said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Governor Martin O’Malley appointed Creighton to the circuit court from the district court in April 2014. Voters elected her, along with three other sitting judges, in the November 2014 &#8230;<strong><em>..<a href="http://www.thesentinel.com/mont/index.php?option=com_k2&;view=item&;id=2115:breaking-news-creighton-resigns-from-the-bench&;Itemid=766" target="_blank">MORE</a></em></strong></span></p>
<div id="metaslider-id-8602" style="max-width: 700px;" class="ml-slider-3-100-1 metaslider metaslider-flex metaslider-8602 ml-slider ms-theme-default" role="region" aria-label="KLAN" data-height="500" data-width="700">
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 <li style="display: block; width: 100%;" class="slide-8603 ms-image " aria-roledescription="slide" data-date="2015-05-21 20:43:58"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/KLAN-Killing-America/dp/B00GONSVA8/ref=la_B0051KKWKM_1_5_title_0_main?s=books&;ie=UTF8&;qid=1432255919&;sr=1-5" target="_self" aria-label="View Slide Details" class="metaslider_image_link"><img src="https://www.the-chesapeake.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/10-450x321.jpg" height="500" width="700" alt="" class="slider-8602 slide-8603 msDefaultImage" /></a><div class="caption-wrap"><div class="caption">Senning had multiple criminal convictions including stealing guns and burglary prior to becoming the Judge's live-in lover. Given all the information available to the Judicial Panel investigating her, it might be safe to assume --- and that is all the public can do --- the Maryland Judicial Disabilities Commission could have stripped her of her post. By resigning, she will be able to be referred to has "Judge Creighton" and can continue to practice law. </div></div></li>
 <li style="display: none; width: 100%;" class="slide-8604 ms-image " aria-roledescription="slide" data-date="2015-05-21 20:45:37"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/KLAN-Killing-America/dp/B00GONSVA8/ref=la_B0051KKWKM_1_5_title_0_main?s=books&;ie=UTF8&;qid=1432255919&;sr=1-5" target="_self" aria-label="View Slide Details" class="metaslider_image_link"><img src="https://www.the-chesapeake.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/02-1-700x500.jpg" height="500" width="700" alt="" class="slider-8602 slide-8604 msDefaultImage" /></a><div class="caption-wrap"><div class="caption">Senning had multiple criminal convictions including stealing guns and burglary prior to becoming the Judge's live-in lover. Given all the information available to the Judicial Panel investigating her, it might be safe to assume --- and that is all the public can do --- the Maryland Judicial Disabilities Commission could have stripped her of her post. By resigning, she will be able to be referred to has "Judge Creighton" and can continue to practice law. </div></div></li>
 <li style="display: none; width: 100%;" class="slide-8605 ms-image " aria-roledescription="slide" data-date="2015-05-21 20:47:15"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/KLAN-Killing-America/dp/B00GONSVA8/ref=la_B0051KKWKM_1_5_title_0_main?s=books&;ie=UTF8&;qid=1432255919&;sr=1-5" target="_self" aria-label="View Slide Details" class="metaslider_image_link"><img src="https://www.the-chesapeake.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/01-700x500.jpg" height="500" width="700" alt="" class="slider-8602 slide-8605 msDefaultImage" /></a><div class="caption-wrap"><div class="caption">Senning had multiple criminal convictions including stealing guns and burglary prior to becoming the Judge's live-in lover. Given all the information available to the Judicial Panel investigating her, it might be safe to assume --- and that is all the public can do --- the Maryland Judicial Disabilities Commission could have stripped her of her post. By resigning, she will be able to be referred to has "Judge Creighton" and can continue to practice law. </div></div></li>
 <li style="display: none; width: 100%;" class="slide-8606 ms-image " aria-roledescription="slide" data-date="2015-05-21 20:47:56"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/KLAN-Killing-America/dp/B00GONSVA8/ref=la_B0051KKWKM_1_5_title_0_main?s=books&;ie=UTF8&;qid=1432255919&;sr=1-5" target="_self" aria-label="View Slide Details" class="metaslider_image_link"><img src="https://www.the-chesapeake.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/21-700x500.jpg" height="500" width="700" alt="" class="slider-8602 slide-8606 msDefaultImage" /></a><div class="caption-wrap"><div class="caption">Senning had multiple criminal convictions including stealing guns and burglary prior to becoming the Judge's live-in lover. Given all the information available to the Judicial Panel investigating her, it might be safe to assume --- and that is all the public can do --- the Maryland Judicial Disabilities Commission could have stripped her of her post. By resigning, she will be able to be referred to has "Judge Creighton" and can continue to practice law. </div></div></li>
 <li style="display: none; width: 100%;" class="slide-8607 ms-image " aria-roledescription="slide" data-date="2015-05-21 20:48:46"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/KLAN-Killing-America/dp/B00GONSVA8/ref=la_B0051KKWKM_1_5_title_0_main?s=books&;ie=UTF8&;qid=1432255919&;sr=1-5" target="_self" aria-label="View Slide Details" class="metaslider_image_link"><img src="https://www.the-chesapeake.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/18-600x428.jpg" height="500" width="700" alt="" class="slider-8602 slide-8607 msDefaultImage" /></a><div class="caption-wrap"><div class="caption">Senning had multiple criminal convictions including stealing guns and burglary prior to becoming the Judge's live-in lover. Given all the information available to the Judicial Panel investigating her, it might be safe to assume --- and that is all the public can do --- the Maryland Judicial Disabilities Commission could have stripped her of her post. By resigning, she will be able to be referred to has "Judge Creighton" and can continue to practice law. </div></div></li>
 <li style="display: none; width: 100%;" class="slide-8608 ms-image " aria-roledescription="slide" data-date="2015-05-21 20:49:23"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/KLAN-Killing-America/dp/B00GONSVA8/ref=la_B0051KKWKM_1_5_title_0_main?s=books&;ie=UTF8&;qid=1432255919&;sr=1-5" target="_self" aria-label="View Slide Details" class="metaslider_image_link"><img src="https://www.the-chesapeake.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/19-686x490.jpg" height="500" width="700" alt="" class="slider-8602 slide-8608 msDefaultImage" /></a><div class="caption-wrap"><div class="caption">Senning had multiple criminal convictions including stealing guns and burglary prior to becoming the Judge's live-in lover. Given all the information available to the Judicial Panel investigating her, it might be safe to assume --- and that is all the public can do --- the Maryland Judicial Disabilities Commission could have stripped her of her post. By resigning, she will be able to be referred to has "Judge Creighton" and can continue to practice law. </div></div></li>
 <li style="display: none; width: 100%;" class="slide-8609 ms-image " aria-roledescription="slide" data-date="2015-05-21 20:55:28"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/KLAN-Killing-America/dp/B00GONSVA8/ref=la_B0051KKWKM_1_5_title_0_main?s=books&;ie=UTF8&;qid=1432255919&;sr=1-5" target="_self" aria-label="View Slide Details" class="metaslider_image_link"><img src="https://www.the-chesapeake.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/13-655x468.jpg" height="500" width="700" alt="" class="slider-8602 slide-8609 msDefaultImage" /></a><div class="caption-wrap"><div class="caption">Senning had multiple criminal convictions including stealing guns and burglary prior to becoming the Judge's live-in lover. Given all the information available to the Judicial Panel investigating her, it might be safe to assume --- and that is all the public can do --- the Maryland Judicial Disabilities Commission could have stripped her of her post. By resigning, she will be able to be referred to has "Judge Creighton" and can continue to practice law. </div></div></li>
 <li style="display: none; width: 100%;" class="slide-8610 ms-image " aria-roledescription="slide" data-date="2015-05-21 20:57:06"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/KLAN-Killing-America/dp/B00GONSVA8/ref=la_B0051KKWKM_1_5_title_0_main?s=books&;ie=UTF8&;qid=1432255919&;sr=1-5" target="_self" aria-label="View Slide Details" class="metaslider_image_link"><img src="https://www.the-chesapeake.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/12-525x375.jpg" height="500" width="700" alt="" class="slider-8602 slide-8610 msDefaultImage" /></a><div class="caption-wrap"><div class="caption">Senning had multiple criminal convictions including stealing guns and burglary prior to becoming the Judge's live-in lover. Given all the information available to the Judicial Panel investigating her, it might be safe to assume --- and that is all the public can do --- the Maryland Judicial Disabilities Commission could have stripped her of her post. By resigning, she will be able to be referred to has "Judge Creighton" and can continue to practice law. </div></div></li>
 <li style="display: none; width: 100%;" class="slide-8611 ms-image " aria-roledescription="slide" data-date="2015-05-21 20:58:13"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/KLAN-Killing-America/dp/B00GONSVA8/ref=la_B0051KKWKM_1_5_title_0_main?s=books&;ie=UTF8&;qid=1432255919&;sr=1-5" target="_self" aria-label="View Slide Details" class="metaslider_image_link"><img src="https://www.the-chesapeake.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/16-600x428.jpg" height="500" width="700" alt="" class="slider-8602 slide-8611 msDefaultImage" /></a><div class="caption-wrap"><div class="caption">Senning had multiple criminal convictions including stealing guns and burglary prior to becoming the Judge's live-in lover. Given all the information available to the Judicial Panel investigating her, it might be safe to assume --- and that is all the public can do --- the Maryland Judicial Disabilities Commission could have stripped her of her post. By resigning, she will be able to be referred to has "Judge Creighton" and can continue to practice law. </div></div></li>
 <li style="display: none; width: 100%;" class="slide-8612 ms-image " aria-roledescription="slide" data-date="2015-05-21 21:00:02"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/KLAN-Killing-America/dp/B00GONSVA8/ref=la_B0051KKWKM_1_5_title_0_main?s=books&;ie=UTF8&;qid=1432255919&;sr=1-5" target="_self" aria-label="View Slide Details" class="metaslider_image_link"><img src="https://www.the-chesapeake.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/11-400x285.jpg" height="500" width="700" alt="" class="slider-8602 slide-8612 msDefaultImage" /></a><div class="caption-wrap"><div class="caption">Senning had multiple criminal convictions including stealing guns and burglary prior to becoming the Judge's live-in lover. Given all the information available to the Judicial Panel investigating her, it might be safe to assume --- and that is all the public can do --- the Maryland Judicial Disabilities Commission could have stripped her of her post. By resigning, she will be able to be referred to has "Judge Creighton" and can continue to practice law. </div></div></li>
 <li style="display: none; width: 100%;" class="slide-8613 ms-image " aria-roledescription="slide" data-date="2015-05-21 21:01:32"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/KLAN-Killing-America/dp/B00GONSVA8/ref=la_B0051KKWKM_1_5_title_0_main?s=books&;ie=UTF8&;qid=1432255919&;sr=1-5" target="_self" aria-label="View Slide Details" class="metaslider_image_link"><img src="https://www.the-chesapeake.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/04-700x500.jpg" height="500" width="700" alt="" class="slider-8602 slide-8613 msDefaultImage" /></a><div class="caption-wrap"><div class="caption">Senning had multiple criminal convictions including stealing guns and burglary prior to becoming the Judge's live-in lover. Given all the information available to the Judicial Panel investigating her, it might be safe to assume --- and that is all the public can do --- the Maryland Judicial Disabilities Commission could have stripped her of her post. By resigning, she will be able to be referred to has "Judge Creighton" and can continue to practice law. </div></div></li>
 <li style="display: none; width: 100%;" class="slide-8614 ms-image " aria-roledescription="slide" data-date="2015-05-21 21:03:09"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/KLAN-Killing-America/dp/B00GONSVA8/ref=la_B0051KKWKM_1_5_title_0_main?s=books&;ie=UTF8&;qid=1432255919&;sr=1-5" target="_self" aria-label="View Slide Details" class="metaslider_image_link"><img src="https://www.the-chesapeake.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/03-700x500.jpg" height="500" width="700" alt="" class="slider-8602 slide-8614 msDefaultImage" /></a><div class="caption-wrap"><div class="caption">Senning had multiple criminal convictions including stealing guns and burglary prior to becoming the Judge's live-in lover. Given all the information available to the Judicial Panel investigating her, it might be safe to assume --- and that is all the public can do --- the Maryland Judicial Disabilities Commission could have stripped her of her post. By resigning, she will be able to be referred to has "Judge Creighton" and can continue to practice law. </div></div></li>
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