A Commission on Judicial Conduct hearing officer has found that a Massachusetts judge accused of helping an illegal immigrant defendant escape from court did not take part in the plan but should receive a public reprimand for impropriety.

Judge Shelley Joseph was charged by the CJC with five violations of the Rules of the Code of Judicial Conduct for allegedly helping the escape of Jose Medina-Perez, a twice-deported man who appeared in her Newton District courtroom to face state drug and fugitive from justice charges while being sought by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2018.

A CJC hearing took place from June 9 to June 16 of this year.

“I find that Judge Joseph did not know about — much less authorize — the escape plan, and did not mislead court authorities following the incident,” hearing officer Denis McInerney wrote in the report dated Oct. 31 and publicly released Thursday.

McInerney did find, however, that Joseph “inadvertently created the appearance of impropriety and bias in two respects.”

Those are through, one, “her communications with the defense counsel and assistant district attorney during the defendant’s arraignment, and (2) by unknowingly violating a court rule when she granted the defense counsel’s request to go off the record during a discussion regarding the immigration authorities’ interest in taking custody of the defendant.”

This is a developing story.

Read the report