Resigned Alaska federal judge had conflict of interest in 23 criminal cases, federal prosecutors say
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Threatening to take action, Alaska’s federal public defender’s office is expressing concern with the U.S. Attorney General’s Office after U.S. District Court Judge Joshua Kindred resigned following an investigation that revealed he had engaged in inappropriate conduct with attorneys who appeared before him.
An email obtained by Alaska’s News Source shows an exchange between the Federal Public Defender’s Office and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in which federal prosecutors identified nearly two dozen criminal cases they claim Kindred had a conflict of interest due to relationships with attorney general’s office prosecutors.
Firearm, drug trafficking, assault, and money laundering are among the multiple types of cases cited in the email.
In one of the emails, public defender Jamie McGrady expresses concern the U.S. Attorney’s Office failed to disclose conflicts of interest despite discovering them as early as November 2022, around the time of the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit’s misconduct allegations.
According to their investigation, Kindred had inappropriate relations with at least three assistant U.S. Attorneys, including allegations Kindred received nude photographs from one prosecutor who practiced before him and engaged in a sexual relationship with a former law clerk who was working as a prosecutor.
Responding for the U.S. Attorney office, spokesperson Reagan Zimmerman told Alaska’s News Source in a statement:
“This office has obligations to disclose and avoid potential conflicts of interest. We have and will continue to fully comply with all obligations, and will supplement our disclosures as required. When the office learned of misconduct allegations, the United States Attorney reported the information to the appropriate disciplinary authorities responsible for investigating the veracity of the allegations.”
In the emails, McGrady wrote that her office expects to make further requests for disclosure, writing, “We are prepared to litigate fully any case in which our client was potentially prejudiced by the conflicts of interest .”
McGrady also said in appropriate cases, her office intends to ask for sentences and conditions to be vacated and charges to be dismissed.
Kindred, who was appointed by former president Donald Trump, resigned on July 3.
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