Originally posted Wed, 2009-12-09 03:21
To view recording click here: http://wfsu.org/gavel2gavel/archives/flash/09-1416.php
Courtesy photo. County Judge Mary Jane Henderson will stand before the Florida Supreme Court to be "reprimanded" for helping a career criminal manage his money and living situation. The proceedings start at 9 a.m. today and can be seen be clicking the link here.
NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Volusia County Judge Mary Jane Henderson of New Smyrna Beach will appear before the Florida Supreme Court in Tallahassee this morning to be "reprimanded" for trying to help a career criminal by managing money and getting a rental for him. The proceedings begin at 9 a.m. and will be broadcast live on the Florida Supreme Court's Web site, which can be accessed through a link on NSBNEWS.net.
Henderson, 55, who has a civil docket in Daytona Beach, will be verbally reprimanded for her friendship with New Smyrna Beach resident Henry Ford Wheeler, a criminal with more than 60 arrests.
Henderson agreed to the public reprimand earlier this year after an investigation by the the state Judicial Qualifications Commission which determined the judge's friendship with Wheeler "created an appearance of impropriety" and called into question the credibility of her standing on the bench.
Henderson has said she tried to help Wheeler sober up and get his life in order by setting up a rental for him to live and holding onto his money, but during at least one drunken episode the police had to be called out to her home because he was allegedly intoxicated.
Wheeler was also in a vehicle that was shot up, resulting in the killing of a man earlier this year. Police have yet to apprehend a shooter.