Judge Halverson receives deadline extension

By Mary Manning

Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008 | 10:05 a.m.

Embattled Judge Elizabeth Halverson received a month's extension for a dismissal hearing while she is hospitalized with severe head injuries after her husband allegedly beat her with a frying pan Sept. 4.

The Judicial Discipline Commission Wednesday granted a 30-day extension for attorneys in the case to file final written arguments.

Those documents are now due by Sept. 30. After that, the commission is expected to deliberate and make a final ruling.

The commission made the decision after consulting both Special Prosecutor Dorothy Nash Holmes and Halverson's co-counsel, Michael Schwartz.

The judge has been on paid leave since June 2007.

Halverson faces dismissal after allegations she fell asleep on the bench, had improper communications with jurors and abused her staff, among other complaints.

After the beating last week, Judge Halverson was so severely injured that she had to undergo surgery on Friday and is undergoing further testing for brain damage.

It remains unclear if Judge Halverson, who represented herself in the hearing with co-counsel, would be able to write her final defense arguments after the beating.

The judge recently lost her re-election bid in the June primary, receiving 10 percent of the vote. Her two-year term ends in December.

Her husband, Edward Lee Halverson, 49, appeared in Justice Court on Wednesday. Bail was set at $113,000 for a charge of attempted murder and battery with a deadly weapon. His preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 25.