McDowell judge admonished: Murensky stands by decision to 'protect' inmate

May 12—WELCH — A McDowell County judge admonished by the state Supreme Court for jailing two correctional officers stands by his decision to cite them with contempt, saying he was trying to protect an inmate who had been beaten by other inmates while incarcerated.

Judge Rudolph "Rick" Murensky II, who serves the 8th district in McDowell County, received the reprimand from the court on April 25.

The action stems from a Jan. 5 hearing prior to which the defendant, Amillia Rose Owens, was transferred from the Southern Regional Jail in Beaver to McDowell County Circuit Court.

"Prior to her court appearance, the inmate had been involved in a physical altercation at SRJ the facts of which are in dispute," the admonishment states. "Suffice it to say, she had two black eyes and some cuts and bruising on her forehead. Respondent noticed the marks and inquired about them. Following his inquiry, respondent decided to send her to Southwestern Regional Jail in Holden rather than back to SRJ."

The reprimand states that Murensky asked the guards if they had "any problems taking her to Southwestern," but when one started to answer saying they needed to contact their supervisor, "Respondent cut the officer off mid-sentence and prevented him from finishing his explanation."

The officers never refused to transport the prisoner, according to the court reprimand, however it states Murensky ordered them jailed for violating a court order.

"The officers were escorted from the courtroom, taken into custody and detained," the admonishment states. "They were required to surrender their weapons to deputies, permitted to call their supervisors and relay a situation report. They were then taken to the county holding facility. While there, the officers were subject to strip searches. Their badges, shoestrings, wallets and watches were confiscated. Following the strip searches, the officers were directed to put their uniforms back on and were told that they were going to be placed in uniform in a cell with six inmates. At some point during all of this, they were also handcuffed."

The officers were released that evening to transport the inmate to Southwestern Regional Jail, and Murensky, around Jan. 20, entered an order "purging" the officers of contempt.

On Feb. 22, Betsy Jividen, Commissioner of the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation, filed a judicial ethics complaint against Murensky alleging that he had violated multiple rules of the Code of Judicial Conduct.

"The Judicial Investigation Commission has no complaint with respondent's decision to protect an inmate from further harm," the admonishment states. "However, the manner and means with which he went about it were wrong. The commission also has some concerns about the manner in which respondent went about holding the complainant in contempt."

Murensky has served as a judge in McDowell County since January 2001.

While the admonishment is a public reprimand, the court documents state that no formal discipline was essential as Murensky "had no prior disciplinary actions and given his general reputation as a good judge."

----Murensky maintains his actions in court were warranted to protect the safety of inmate Owens. In a formal response to the high court and during an interview with the Daily Telegraph, he notes that she had been "severely beaten and was the victim of battery."

Owens stated on the record that she had been beaten while jailed at Southern Regional Jail, and that authorities did not take any action to rectify the situation, he said.

"She testified that the beating occurred 'Monday evening (Jan. 3), late' and that she was 'the fourth one that's come out looking exactly like this since Saturday and nothing has been done about it," Murensky stated in his response.

The judge also said he was "highly concerned by this revelation," and that he felt Owens would be in "imminent danger and immediate peril" if she was returned to Southern Regional Jail.

At the time of the Jan. 5 hearing, Owens was facing drug charges in McDowell County and a probation violation in Mercer County.

Murensky said he held "no ill will" toward the correctional officers, and noted that he immediately set a hearing for the two for the next morning. However, the guards were released that night when they agreed to transport Owens to Southwestern Regional Jail.

"I didn't know the correctional officers," he said. "My purpose was not to punish them but to compel compliance. If I have to have a Supreme Court admonishment to protect her (Owens), then so be it."

Murensky added, "My motive was pure."

Both the assistant prosecuting attorney and the defense attorney in court the day of the Jan. 5 hearing defended Murensky's actions. They said the hearing was lengthy, and the correctional officers had ample time to contact their supervisor.

"We were there two to two-and-a-half hours dealing with this," Defense Attorney Zachary Whitten said. "There was certainly enough time for a five-minute phone call."

Whitten said the judge had a court order for her transfer "and they just kept saying they had to contact their supervisor. They had plenty of time to take care of that."

Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Dennie Morgan said there was obvious concern among the judge, prosecution and defense about Owens' injuries.

"She outlined she had been jumped by inmates," Morgan said, describing the trauma to her bruised and swollen face as "fresh."

Morgan said Murensky is a thoughtful, professional and ethical judge."It's unfortunate he has to deal with all of this," Morgan said. "I generally agree with the characterization of him as a good judge. He was acting in furtherance of inmate safety, and a lot of factors were in play that day."

Owens' injuries in court "opened the can of worms" about allegations of improper behavior at Southern Regional Jail, Whitten said.

He described Owens' injuries as "pretty shocking," adding that "she's one of a dozen that looked like that."

----Murensky said in his response that he believes the complaint against him is "retaliation" for the court asking the assistant prosecuting attorney to report Owens' injuries to the U.S. Attorney's Office and the prosecuting attorneys in Raleigh and Mercer counties.

"Moreover, I believe the complaint is reasonably calculated and designed to have a chilling effect on the reporting of prison conditions to appropriate oversight authorities by circuit judges," he said. "Additionally, the complaint begs the question of why Ms. Owens was transported to McDowell County by two male correctional officers and not at least one female correctional officer. At the very least, these circumstances would make strip searching Ms. Owens impossible."

Murensky described his behavior in court that day as "calm, non-argumentative and matter of fact."

While serving 21 years as a circuit judge, Murensky said he has never had a correctional officer fail to comply with an order until Jan. 5, and he termed the officers' behavior that day as "discourteous and disrespectful."

Murensky ended his response by asking that the complaint against him be dismissed.

— Contact Samantha Perry at sperry@bdtonline.com.

— Contact Samantha Perry at sperry@bdtonline.com.