DENVER—Edward W. Nottingham, the chief federal district judge in Colorado who oversaw the insider trading trial of former Qwest Communications CEO Joe Nacchio, is resigning amid complaints of judicial misconduct.
A statement posted on the Web site of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals says Nottingham has “ceased judicial duties” effective immediately and that his resignation is effective Oct. 29.
Tuesday’s statement, issued by Chief Circuit Judge Robert H. Henry, said that the 10th Circuit Judicial Council has initiated misconduct proceedings against Nottingham and that Nottingham was stepping down “at this critical time in the investigation of these multiple complaints of misconduct.”
Henry did not elaborate, and he said the judicial council would have no further comment on the investigation. Judge Wiley Y. Daniel succeeds Nottingham as chief judge, Henry said.
Nottingham’s attorney, Stephen Peters, did not immediately return telephone messages for comment. A phone message left with Nottingham’s chambers wasn’t immediately returned.
But a statement issued by Peters’ office to Denver-area news media said Nottingham “is deeply remorseful for his actions. He is also embarrassed and ashamed for any loss of confidence caused by those actions and attendant publicity, and sincerely apologizes to the public and judiciary.”
Sean Harrington, who heads a legal technology firm, had filed a complaint in January citing news reports that Nottingham allegedly viewed adult Web sites on his government computer in his chambers.
Harrington also alleged that Nottingham had testified in his own divorce case that he spent $3,000 at a strip club. Sealed transcripts of the divorce case were first obtained in August 2007 by KUSA-TV.
At the time, Nottingham issued a statement saying the reports dealt with “private and personal matters involving human frailties and foibles” and that they became public because of “protracted, bitter divorce proceedings.”
In March, Henry acknowledged that a complaint had been filed with the 10th Circuit alleging that a district court judge had “brought disrepute to the judiciary.”
Henry did not identify the judge at the time, but Harrington confirmed it was his complaint about Nottingham. Court officials told Harrington in May his complaint had been submitted to a judicial council for review.
Another complaint against Nottingham involved a September 2007 dispute between him and attorney Jeanne Elliott over a parking spot for the disabled. Nottingham had parked in the spot, and Elliott parked her wheelchair behind his vehicle and refused to get out of his way. Police issued Nottingham a $100 ticket.
When Denver’s KUSA-TV reported the incident in October 2007, Nottingham issued a statement saying he regretted parking in the handicapped space.
KUSA and the Rocky Mountain News reported last week that Nottingham planned to step down.
“I wish Judge Nottingham well and look forward to working with Chief Judge Daniel,” U.S. Attorney Troy Eid said in a terse statement Tuesday.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar had called for Nottingham to step down.
“On the bench, Chief Judge Edward Nottingham was one of the most skillful lawyers and jurists I have known. I am saddened by the allegations and it is right that he resign,” Salazar said in a statement Tuesday.
Nottingham presided over the high-profile trial of Nacchio, the former CEO of Denver-based Qwest.
Nacchio was acquitted in April 2007 of 23 counts of insider trading but convicted him on 19 counts. Federal prosecutors argued he sold $52 million worth of stock at a time when he knew Qwest was at risk while other investors did not. He was sentenced to six years in prison but is free pending appeal.
A three-judge panel of the 10th Circuit ordered a new trial in March, saying Nottingham improperly prevented a defense expert from testifying. The panel ordered the case go before a new judge, saying that “it would be unreasonably difficult to expect this judge (Nottingham) to retry the case with a fresh mind.”
The full 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is reviewing the panel’s decision.
Nottingham, a native of Eagle County in the Colorado mountains, took up his position on the federal bench in November 1989. He became chief judge of the U.S. District Court for Colorado last year.
Nottingham was known for his bursts of temper and a cutting manner, and he’d punish attorneys he considered to be unprepared by holding trial review sessions at 6:30 a.m.
“I don’t think he has a lot of patience for people who aren’t prepared,” said Donald Lozow, an attorney who has had dozens of cases before Nottingham over the years. “His patience is not good.”
Richard Kalamaya, a trial lawyer from Longmont, attended law school with Nottingham from 1970 to 1972. He said the judge was known as a good student.
“He’s one of those guys that carries himself like you would think a federal judge would carry himself, but with an air of arrogance and untouchableness,” Kalamaya said.
“He is truly one of the brightest minds on the federal bench. But the problem that Judge Nottingham has consistently had is that of his judicial temperament,” said attorney David Lane, who had several cases before Nottingham. “Judge Nottingham’s arrogance has always been a problem, that and the disdain he shows for litigants.”
Nottingham once questioned why Nacchio, “the son of Italian immigrants … in New Jersey and New York, should ever have come out here to Colorado.”
Nacchio’s attorneys quoted the remark in demanding that Nacchio’s conviction be thrown out. Nacchio’s Washington-based appeals attorney, Maureen Mahoney, did not immediately return a telephone message left after business hours Tuesday.
The three-times divorced father of three is an active skier and cyclist. He received a law degree from the University of Colorado and served as an assistant U.S. attorney in Denver for nine years before going into private practice in Grand Junction.
