(4/7/98)

Judge drank with jurors, lawyer after DUI case

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) -- When the jury began deliberations in a
drunken-driving case, the judge went out and got a 12-pack of
beer. Guilty verdict in, he drank a ``cold one'' with a lawyer and
a couple of jurors, then drove home with a half-finished beer,
state investigators say.

Lakewood Municipal Court Judge Ralph H. Baldwin said the
charges brought by the state's judicial watchdog board are
largely true and he will resign.

``When I saw it put down on paper, it looked awful,'' Baldwin
told The News Tribune of Tacoma. ``It was stupid. When I
thought about it, I thought, `Oh my God, you fool.'''

He has served only three months in the $65,000-a-year post in
Lakewood, just south of Tacoma.

The case that got him in trouble reached a verdict Feb. 20.
Baldwin ``made remarks such as, `stay for a cold one,' `I know
this is uncommon, and kind of funny following a DUI case,' `I'll
deny it if any of you repeat it,' and `I'm not responsible for any
drinking or driving,''' investigators with the Washington
Commission on Judicial Conduct alleged Monday.

Two members of the jury and the assistant city attorney took
Baldwin's invitation and drank beer in the jury room,
investigators said.

He called a court administrator a ``wimp, or words to that
effect,'' when she refused to drink, the investigators said, and
followed up the comment with ``but she's got a nice pair of tits,
doesn't she?''. It was she who reported him to authorities.

When Baldwin left, he said, ```I might as well drink and drive, I
do it all the time anyway,''' before getting into his car and
driving away with an open beer, investigators said. Baldwin
did dispute that part of the investigators' findings, saying his
comment was ``a very poor attempt at humor'' and he never
drinks and drives.

State law bars drinking alcohol on court premises, and the
judicial code requires judges to maintain high standards of
behavior.