State admonishes judge for remarks he made at a sentencing

Superior Court Judge Joseph Wilson called a domestic-violence convict an “animal” and silenced him.

EVERETT — A Snohomish County judge was admonished by a state watchdog agency on Friday for repeatedly calling a man convicted of a domestic-violence crime an “animal” and otherwise behaving with discourtesy toward him during a 2017 sentencing.

“You do not have the integrity to talk to me,” Superior Court Judge Joseph Wilson said at one point, silencing the man during his July 10 sentencing, records show.

Wilson on Friday publicly entered a stipulation with the state Commission on Judicial Conduct. He received an admonishment — the least severe disciplinary action. As part of the resolution, the judge agreed to participate in ethics training focused on appropriate courtroom demeanor.

Wilson acknowledged that his conduct fell short of standards.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

“I did not treat (the defendant) with respect and I addressed him in a manner I should not have. These statements negatively impact the public’s perception of the court and for that I am sorry,” the judge is quoted as having told investigators.

The incident unfolded as Wilson sentenced Jeremy Androit, 39, to more than 3½ years in prison for a 2016 break-in at the Everett home of a woman he has children with and had been stalking.

Androit pleaded guilty to attempted residential burglary involving domestic violence. He originally had been charged with the more serious crime of domestic violence burglary.

In charging papers, prosecutors noted that Androit had nine convictions for domestic violence crimes, including stalking, violations of protection orders and telephone harassment.

Wilson told the commission he was “profoundly unhappy” with how the case had been resolved. The sentence he imposed was within state guidelines, but he also had pointed words for prosecutors.

“Oh, you had this guy dead to rights,” he said at one point, noting his own history as somebody who has worked to combat domestic violence.

When Androit was given a chance to speak, the man said Wilson was looking at him like he was an animal.

“You are an animal,” the judge said.

The man said that wasn’t so, and he denied being abusive to anyone. He also claimed he hadn’t engaged in the conduct to which he’d pleaded guilty.

Wilson wasn’t persuaded.

“I don’t want to hear from you anymore,” he said at one point. “Nothing you say — nothing that you say has any truth associated with it. You don’t have the integrity to talk to me.”

The commission said the judge’s comments were “unduly confrontational and harsh.”

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Vehicles travel along Mukilteo Speedway on Sunday, April 21, 2024, in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Mukilteo cameras go live to curb speeding on Speedway

Starting Friday, an automated traffic camera system will cover four blocks of Mukilteo Speedway. A 30-day warning period is in place.

Carli Brockman lets her daughter Carli, 2, help push her ballot into the ballot drop box on the Snohomish County Campus on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Here’s who filed for the primary election in Snohomish County

Positions with three or more candidates will go to voters Aug. 5 to determine final contenders for the Nov. 4 general election.

Students from Explorer Middle School gather Wednesday around a makeshift memorial for Emiliano “Emi” Munoz, who died Monday, May 5, after an electric bicycle accident in south Everett. (Aspen Anderson / The Herald)
Community and classmates mourn death of 13-year-old in bicycle accident

Emiliano “Emi” Munoz died from his injuries three days after colliding with a braided cable.

Danny Burgess, left, and Sandy Weakland, right, carefully pull out benthic organisms from sediment samples on Thursday, May 1, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
‘Got Mud?’ Researchers monitor the health of the Puget Sound

For the next few weeks, the state’s marine monitoring team will collect sediment and organism samples across Puget Sound

Everett postal workers gather for a portrait to advertise the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive on Wednesday, May 7, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Snohomish County letter carriers prepare for food drive this Saturday

The largest single-day food drive in the country comes at an uncertain time for federal food bank funding.

Everett
Everett considers ordinance to require more apprentice labor

It would require apprentices to work 15% of the total labor hours for construction or renovation on most city projects over $1 million.

Clothing Optional performs at the Fisherman's Village Music Festival on Thursday, May 15 in Everett, Washington. (Will Geschke / The Herald)
Everett gets its fill of music at Fisherman’s Village

The annual downtown music festival began Thursday and will continue until the early hours of Sunday.

Women hold a banner with pictures of victims of one of the Boeing Max 8 crashes at a hearing where Captain Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger III testified at the Rayburn House Building on June 19, 2019, in Washington, D.C. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)
DOJ plans to drop Boeing prosecution in 737 crashes

Families of the crash victims were stunned by the news, lawyers say.

First responders extinguish a fire on a Community Transit bus on Friday, May 16, 2025 in Snohomish, Washington (Snohomish County Fire District 4)
Community Transit bus catches fire in Snohomish

Firefighters extinguished the flames that engulfed the front of the diesel bus. Nobody was injured.

Signs hang on the outside of the Early Learning Center on the Everett Community College campus on Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2021 in Everett, Wa. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett Community College to close Early Learning Center

The center provides early education to more than 70 children. The college had previously planned to close the school in 2021.

Northshore school board selects next superintendent

Justin Irish currently serves as superintendent of Anacortes School District. He’ll begin at Northshore on July 1.

Auston James / Village Theatre
“Jersey Boys” plays at Village Theatre in Everett through May 25.
A&E Calendar for May 15

Send calendar submissions for print and online to features@heraldnet.com. To ensure your… Continue reading

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.