A former Maryland judge is facing prison time and a federal criminal charge, according to court records obtained Friday by the News4 I-Team.
Federal prosecutors accuse former Charles County Circuit Court Judge Robert Nalley with an episode of misconduct while Nalley served on the bench in July 2014.
In their court filings, the prosecutors accuse Nalley of ordering a sheriff’s deputy to activate a Stun-Cuff, a remote-controlled device that deploys electro-shocks, against a criminal defendant. They said doing so deprived the victim of “due process of law.”
The charge, deprivation of rights under color of law, is a misdemeanor punishable by a year in prison and a $100,000 fine. Nalley is scheduled to appear in federal court in Greenbelt Feb. 1, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein told the I-Team.
The Maryland Court of Appeals removed Nalley as a judge in September 2014. He had previously been disciplined for a 2009 episode in which he was accused of tampering with a motor vehicle. A state investigation said Nalley used a cutting device to deliberately let the air out of the tire of a car parked in his reserved courthouse parking spot.
Nalley’s defense attorney declined to comment on the case.
