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2 judges' jobs on line after car wreck       Send a link to a friend

[October 03, 2007]  BELLEVILLE  (AP) -- Two county judges each downed at least six beers and two Bloody Marys in the hours before one of them drove into a pickup truck's path, an investigative board alleged Tuesday.

The judicial charges could result in the suspension or removal from the bench of St. Clair County judges Jan Fiss and Patrick Young, depending on the outcome of a hearing by the Illinois Courts Commission.

The judges' conduct "brought the judicial office into disrepute," the Illinois Judicial Inquiry Board said in its complaint.

The board looks into claims of judicial misconduct.

Young and Fiss did not immediately return messages Tuesday, nor did Young's attorney, Clyde Kuehn.

The men had attended a St. Louis Rams football game and were on their way back to Belleville when Young's sport utility vehicle collided with a pickup truck, injuring the man driving it.

Police said an officer saw Fiss, 65, dump out a beer after the crash and repeatedly try to hide a beer can in his jacket. He was charged under a state law barring open containers of alcohol in vehicles.

Young, 58, was cited at the scene for drunken driving after refusing to submit to a Breathalyzer test. A judge found Young guilty in March and sentenced him to two years of court supervision and $1,500 in fines.

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Fiss, who stepped down as chief judge after the crash, was sentenced in March to two months under court supervision and a $500 fine after pleading guilty to illegally transporting alcohol.

Fiss and Young, both Democrats, continue to serve on the bench.

In Tuesday's complaint, the board wrote that Young was under the influence during the crash, having consumed roughly eight beers and two Bloody Marys immediately before and through the Rams game, and partied with Fiss at a tavern.

The accident happened about five minutes after the two judges left the tavern, the board alleges. During that afternoon, the complaint says, Fiss had about six beers and two Bloody Marys.

[Associated Press; by Jim Suhr]

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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