Maria Lopez - Charles "Ebony" Horton Case

Charles "Ebony" Horton Case

Charles "Ebony" Horton was tried for and pleaded guilty to kidnapping, assault with intent to rape a child under 16, indecent assault and battery on a child under 14, assault and battery, and assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon. Horton, while dressed as a woman, used a ruse to lead an 11-year old boy to an abandoned warehouse where he forced to the boy to simulate sex acts after holding a screwdriver to the child's neck. During the sentencing phase of the trial, Suffolk County District Attorney David Deakin who had asked Lopez to give Horton an eight to ten year jail sentence, tried to protest her decision to sentence Horton to house arrest and five years' of probation. Judge Lopez, who was angered by the presence of members of the media, proceeded to upbraid the prosecutor as she suspected he had alerted the press. During her outburst, she angered members of the victims family by referring to the case as a "low-level" offense. Judge Lopez's decision also angered residents of the Mary Ellen McCormack housing development in South Boston where Horton would serve his house arrest. Horton was later evicted from the housing development based on the conviction.

The sentencing caused politicians in the state including then Governor Paul Cellucci to suggest that mandatory minimum sentencing should be enacted by statue to remove judicial discretion in cases such as Horton's.

Three years later the Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct found that Lopez had abused her office and lied under oath and that she ought to apologize and serve a six-month suspension.

Retired Judge E. George Daher who headed the commission's investigation, suggested Judge Lopez should not be punished for her in-court behavior, but for her "feeble attempt at coverup". This was the same Judge Daher who had presided over the eviction hearings for Horton when he served as Boston Housing Court Chief in 2000. Rather than apologizing and accepting a suspension, Judge Lopez resigned on May 19, 2003.

I sincerely apologize for my loss of temper in court. Accepting the recommendation of the hearing officer that I be suspended for six months and publicly endorse his findings would no doubt be the easiest and most expeditious way to maintain my judicial position. However, I cannot dishonor my 14 years on the bench, my principles, or the Massachusetts Judiciary by admitting to that which I did not do, Lopez wrote.

Fighting would require that we continue on a road that would subject her family and herself to this constant kind of morass that has been going on. She has simply decided that it is not worth it. Her effectiveness on the bench would be compromised after these proceedings. She has become a lightning rod for both the media and public opinion. It was her decision to step down, Lopez's own attorney, Richard Egbert, stated.