Former Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Pinkey S. Carr has been found guilty of three counts of falsification, all first-degree misdemeanors, in connection with cases she heard while on the bench.
Carr had pleaded no contest to the charges, but a visiting judge presiding over the case found her guilty and sentenced her to four months probation.
Carr previously resigned her seat on the bench and is under an indefinite suspension by the Ohio Supreme Court, which prevents her from practicing law.
“When the judge acts like a jester, justice goes awry,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said. “Today’s criminal sentencing enforces that no one is above the law.”
What led up to her being charged
The charges stem from her alleged actions during three separate court hearings.
In the first case on May 21, 2019, Carr amended and dismissed charges against a defendant "without input from a prosecutor" and allegedly marked a court form that indicated a prosecutor signed off on the charge and changes, according to court documents.
In the second case, on June 16, 2020, Carr also allegedly amended a charge without a prosecutor being present, as well as signed paperwork stating that she held a hearing about a defendant's ability to pay for court costs despite the hearing having never occurred, records state.
In the third case, on June 18, 2020, Carr allegedly amended the charges a defendant faced without the input of a prosecutor and then signed off on paperwork indicating that the prosecutor had, in fact, changed the charge.
On Oct. 18, 2022, the Ohio Supreme Court issued an opinion removing Judge Pinkey S. Carr from her Cleveland Municipal Court bench, where she had served for more than a decade, due to her more than 100 incidents of misconduct going back several years.
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