The state Judicial Conduct Board said an Indiana County district judge accused in a September hit-and-run violated one of its rules, but has since dismissed complaints against her.
Police said Jennifer J. Rega, 41, of Blairsville drove her SUV erratically Sept. 13 on Route 286 in Cherry Hill, sideswiped an oncoming vehicle containing three people, and fled.
The board said in a statement it investigated “a number of complaints” against Judge Rega and voted to resolve those by issuing a Letter of Counsel, dated Feb. 10, rather than filing formal charges in the Court of Judicial Discipline. A letter is issued in “an isolated incident or first-time infraction” of judicial misconduct.
Judge Rega ran afoul of the board’s rule, “impropriety and appearance of impropriety to be avoided,” which states district judges must follow the law. The board said her case would be resolved if she agreed to make the letter public. She signed a consent to dismiss the complaints on Tuesday.
Judge Rega entered an Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition Program for non-violent, first-time offenders, and if she completes it by Dec. 1, she can file to have charges -- including obstruction of justice and accident involving damage to an attended vehicle -- withdrawn and her record expunged.
She has been on paid suspension since September and would resume some duties Jan. 5, the county president judge said in December.
Lexi Belculfine: lbelculfine@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1878. Twitter: @LexiBelc.
First Published: March 12, 2015, 12:11 a.m.
