Judge Melissa Boyd: What led to her possible removal
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Complaints of drug use, multiple reprimands, criminal charges and more. WREG Investigators are uncovering more about Shelby County Criminal Judge Melissa Boyd, who hasn’t been on the bench in almost a year.
Eight months after she was elected, she was reprimanded, suspended, indicted on criminal charges and recommended for removal by the state Board of Judicial Conduct.
That hasn’t happened in 30 years.
Since Boyd’s suspension, Criminal Court Judge Christopher Craft has been calling her docket while also working his. In January, Judge Mark Ward was appointed to help.
All the while, Boyd has continued to collect her salary of about $17,000 a month plus benefits.
A legislative committee voted March 14 to remove her from the bench. A final vote should happen in the General Assembly soon.
“By its vote, the board had determined this pattern of unethical conduct could not go on indefinitely,” Marshall Davidson, the chief disciplinary counsel for the board, said. “We’ve done everything we can possibly do.”
State board votes to remove Memphis judge Melissa Boyd
The state board got involved in May 2023 when they reprimanded Boyd for wearing a judicial robe when she tried to get donations for a school.
Soon after, another reprimand and then a suspension came after Boyd’s former campaign manager, who she also had a personal relationship with, alleged the judge was drinking and doing drugs.
She sent the board this photo she took in December 2022, claiming she found this plate in Boyd’s apartment with “a spoon and a white powder, formed into a single line.” She stated Boyd “admitted it was cocaine” and “has used cocaine off and on for the last year.” That was a year in which she ran, was elected and presided as judge.
The state board said they have made multiple attempts to get Boyd treatment, judicial training and a psychiatric evaluation, but she didn’t comply.
State asks to revoke bond for judge after drug test
Meanwhile, a criminal investigation was underway.
Frederick Agee, district attorney for Tennessee’s 28th Judicial District, is now handling the case.
In December 2023, Boyd was indicted for coercion of a witness and harassing her campaign manager.
Court records show she got out on $5,000 bond with conditions like weekly-call ins, staying away from the alleged victim, and random drug screenings like the one she took March 12 at Averhealth.
The website states they test for common drugs in “urine, oral fluid, hair and sweat.”
According to a motion filed in court this week, Boyd, who has been out on bond, failed a March 12 drug screening, which detected cocaine and alcohol.
Court records state the results were several times higher than federal workplace cutoff values for both cocaine and alcohol.
In a statement, Boyd’s attorney Art Horne said Boyd is “committed to resolving her case and staying in recovery so that she can be in a healthy space.”
The Judicial Conduct Board said Boyd did check into a treatment facility earlier this year for what they called severe alcohol, cannabis and cocaine abuse.
Shelby County judge indicted, taken into custody
“There is more than enough to suggest that this particular jurist is unfit to sit as a criminal court judge in the state of Tennessee. The cocaine problem alone is hugely problematic,” said Davidson.
According to Boyd’s resume, she used to be an attorney. In 2015, we uncovered a complaint.
The Supreme Court of Tennessee suspended her from practicing law, because a father had paid her to help with a custody battle, but she never filed the petition.
Boyd-2015-2436-9-WM-Petition-for-Discipline-002Download
Boyd said she assumed it was filed and assumed he had received the refund from her business manager.
During that time, she was also running for Shelby County General Sessions Court.
In 2022, Boyd was elected as Criminal Court Division IX Judge. In her short tenure, she handled around 500 dispositions, from guilty pleas, dismissals, diversion and more.
“We have no indication that we are aware of that any of these cases handled by Judge Boyd have any red flags or problems that would require us to open these cases,” Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy said.
Boyd will be back in court Wednesday.
The state will ask for her bond to be revoked since she didn’t do her required drug and alcohol test last week. We may hear if there will be any possibility of a plea.
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