A West Virginia judge has been accused of waving a handgun at defense lawyers, ridiculing their security team for having smaller guns than him, during a heated exchange in March over a case on fossil fuel royalties.
In a sworn affidavit submitted to the Judicial Investigation Commission of West Virginia and obtained by NBC News, attorney Lauren Varnado said Circuit Court Judge David Hummel Jr. had initially ridiculed her legal team for trying to bring a security detail into Wetzel County Courthouse in New Martinsville on March 12.
“Aren’t me and my guns and security enough?” Hummel was alleged to have asked as he took out a Colt handgun and waved it in Varnado’s team’s direction. “My guns are bigger than your security’s gun!” he allegedly said."As a trial lawyer, the courtroom, during a trial, it is my office. It is my workplace," she said."When you experience violence in your workplace, it's a special kind of trauma.
Varnado said Hummel put the gun down, but appeared to deliberately rotate the gun until its barrel was pointing directly at her.Varnado said she believed Hummel was upset with her team after they asked that he be disqualified from the case based on alleged undisclosed conflicts in a request that was denied.He has previously denied any such incident occurring in his courtroom.."I absolutely, categorically deny I had a gun that day in the courtroom.
The judge reportedly later clarified to The Daily Beast that he does have a gun inside the courtroom, but he denied pulling it. "It was secreted in a drawer on the bench. I never showed my 1911 at the trial whatsoever — at any point during that trial," he said, according to The Daily Beast.The Judicial Investigation Commission of West Virginia did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.
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