Thomas Called ‘Disabled,’ May Not Return to Bench

Los Angeles Municipal Judge Maxine Thomas has been diagnosed by her doctors as “disabled and unable to perform her duties,” and there is a possibility that she may never return to the bench, her attorney said Tuesday.

But the lawyer, Johnnie L. Cochran Jr., told reporters that the judge’s medical problems are “in no way related to any drug or substance abuse.”

Thomas, 40, went on medical leave last week amid allegations that she was displaying symptoms of drug abuse.

Cochran, however, said that Thomas has been receiving medical treatment for at least a year because of the “extreme anguish, trauma and pressure” she has been under since 1985, due to problems in her professional and personal life.

Last year, Thomas, a judge since 1980, was ousted by her fellow jurists as presiding judge of the Municipal Court and she is currently facing a hearing before the state Commission on Judicial Performance that could eventually result in her removal from the bench.

“I don’t think she is in any danger of being taken off the bench by the commission,” Cochran said. “I have a lot more concern about her physical and emotional well-being as to whether she can do her job.”

Asked whether medical problems could possibly lead Thomas to quit her post, the attorney replied, “Depending on what the doctors say . . . absolutely.”

He said Thomas is in seclusion at an undisclosed location.

As for his client’s personal problems, Cochran cited the recent breakup of her marriage.

But although more than 1,000 guests filled the Second Baptist Church near downtown last May for Thomas’ wedding to Dr. Donald R. Ware, 38, Ware said Tuesday that no legal marriage took place.

“I am not, nor have I ever been, Maxine Thomas’ husband,” Ware said.

The cardiologist said the couple failed to take out a marriage license because of a dispute over a prenuptial agreement. The couple separated shortly after returing from a month-long trip around the world, he said.

Ware said he is attempting to recover a 4.12-carat diamond ring he gave Thomas, and has tried unsuccessfully to persuade her to return the 800 wedding gifts they received.

Geraldine D. Green, a close friend of Thomas, said she did not know whether the marriage was valid. “He (Ware) gave her a ring,” Green said. “ . . . and yes, she still has the ring . . . It has long been established that if man gives a woman a ring, she has no obligation to give it back.”

Municipal Court Presiding Judge George Trammell removed Thomas from the bench last Thursday after meeting with a contingent of deputy prosecutors and public defenders, who reportedly attributed the judge’s erratic hours and bizarre courtroom behavior to possible drug use.

Among other things, attorneys said Thomas was often inattentive on the bench, kept witnesses waiting for hours, even days, and interrupted lawyers’ examinations of witnesses to ask questions they considered either trivial or irrelevant.

Since her ouster as presiding judge and her resounding defeat last November for the Superior Court bench, Thomas mainly has been overseeing felony preliminary hearings.