BRAXTON MAGISTRATE SUSPENDED WITHOUT PAY

(03/16/2007)

The state Supreme Court has voted to suspend, without pay, Braxton County magistrate Carolyn Cruikshanks. She has been charged with conspiracy to retaliate against a state's witness by the West Virginia State Police. Since the court received a report from the Judicial Investigation Commission, they voted 3-to-1 in favor of the suspension without pay. According to the order, the court determined there is "cause to believe the respondent has engaged or is currently engaging in a serious violation of the Code of Judicial Conduct." Cruickshanks allegedly helped her son retaliate against a man who testified against him in a drug case. State Police Corporal Chad Tierney says the two let the man's fellow inmates at Central Regional Jail know he was a snitch. The man was threatened and had to be moved to protective custody. Trooper Tierney says the plan between Cruickshanks and her son was discussed in February phone conversations that were recorded by the jail. Cruickshanks faces up to five years in jail if convicted.

Hur Herald ®from Sunny Cal The information on these pages, to the extent the law allows, remains the exclusive property of Bob Weaver and Dianne Weaver The Hur Herald. All information may be freely used but must not be sold or used in any type of commercial endeavor, or used on any web site without the express permission of the owners ©Bob and Dianne Weaver, The Hur Herald, 1999, 2000, 2001