06302007 - News Article - Van Bokkelen to avoid criminal cases - New judge says he will not hear cases to avoid appearance of bias - ROBERT CANTRELL

Van Bokkelen to avoid criminal cases
New judge says he will not hear cases to avoid appearance of bias
NWI Times
Jun 30, 2007
nwitimes.com/news/local/van-bokkelen-to-avoid-criminal-cases/article_f2a4c3ab-8f76-591a-a65c-f38ed5d53bc5.html
If indicted public figures like Robert Cantrell, Jewell Harris Sr. or Will Smith Jr. go on trial someday, they won't go to the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen.

The soon-to-be judge will be prohibited from hearing any of those ongoing criminal cases, because they originated during Van Bokkelen's tenure as the top prosecutor in the Office of the U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of Indiana.

The recusals won't be limited to those three cases, which involve the alleged East Chicago political fixer, the Gary powerbroker, and the Lake County councilman, respectively.

Any case that came through the U.S. attorney's office between his appointment in October 2001 and when Van Bokkelen formally takes the bench next month will be off limits in his court.

"It's a very broad recusal," Van Bokkelen said. "If I was going to err, I'd err on the side of recusal."

In order to avoid the appearance of bias, Van Bokkelen said he intends to stay away from any case in which an FBI agent has even held preliminary discussions with a federal prosecutor in his office.

That means the new judge will probably hear very few criminal cases in his first year on the bench, he said, adding that the recusal policy will also extend to civil cases involving U.S. attorney staff, like bankruptcies and environmental actions.

Deputy U.S. Attorney David Capp, who is expected to become the acting head of the prosecutor's office when Van Bokkelen's judgeship is confirmed sometime after July 10, said there's precedent for the recusal policy.

U.S. District Judge Philip Simon was the head of the criminal division of the prosecutor's office before he was appointed to the federal bench. Simon recused himself from any case his prosecutors had been involved in.

The U.S. Senate approved Van Bokkelen's judgeship unanimously this week. The move was prompted by the decision of U.S. District Judge Rudy Lozano to move into semi-retirement on July 10.

The new judgeship means both of Hammond's full-time district judges -- Simon and Van Bokkelen -- will have their roots in the U.S. attorney's office in the basement of the federal courthouse.

It also means that all eight of the new courthouse's courtrooms are filled. Lozano and U.S. District Judge James Moody will be in semi-retirement in their own courts, and the remaining four rooms are filled by two bankruptcy judges and magistrate judges.