Pennsylvania Superior Court Judge Michael T. Joyce is the first state appellate judge to be charged with a crime since Supreme Court Justice Rolf Larsen was impeached and removed from office in 1994. No one would go looking for that distinction, and Judge Joyce is entitled to the presumption of innocence.

But there's no way he could have expected voters to hand him another 10-year term on a state intermediate appellate court with a federal indictment hanging over his head. That would have been asking too much, and yesterday he withdrew from November's retention ballot.

Judge Joyce was suspended with pay last week when he was charged with mail fraud and money laundering, nine separate counts stemming from two insurance claims he filed as the result of a low-speed accident in 2001. According to the federal indictment, Judge Joyce claimed the wreck of his new Mercedes-Benz left him with "constant neck and back pain, excruciating headaches, serious discomfort and difficulty sleeping."

Anyone who's ever been in an accident knows it doesn't take a high-impact, car-flipping, bone-crushing crash to produce those kinds of injuries. The judge claimed that the accident left him unable to golf, scuba dive or exercise, and he was paid $440,000.

But prosecutors doubt the extent of Judge Joyce's injuries. They allege that, during the same time period, he played multiple rounds of golf, went scuba diving and renewed his diving instructor certificate. He also went roller-blading, earned a private pilot's license and bought an airplane and a motorcycle. Debilitating injuries make it painful to watch that kind of activity on television, let alone engage in it. If Judge Joyce managed that, he would make a good research subject for the doctors at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's pain clinic.

We can't wait to hear what happens on his day in court. In the meantime, he has brought suspicion and doubt into his own courtroom.

Choosing to retire in January and end his campaign for a second term is the least he could do. Surely Pennsylvania voters would have run him out of office if he hadn't. After all, they proved their willingness to extract revenge from judges when Supreme Court Justice Russell Nigro lost his retention election in 2005, backlash from an electorate that was angry because legislators gave themselves, and judges, a scandalous pay hike. Voters defeated Justice Nigro even though he had nothing to do with the raise.

Surely Judge Joyce didn't stand a chance with these voters.

He says he plans "a vigorous defense." He might as well resign now and devote all of his attention to it. Then, if he prevails, he can enjoy his retirement. After all, the judge has a lot of hobbies to keep him busy.