Former U.S. District Court Judge Joshua Kindred speaks at his Dec. 4, 2019, Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C. (U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee video screenshot)
Federal prosecutors have asked a judge to vacate a man’s assault conviction, citing an inappropriate relationship between a judge and a prosecutor.
The request, filed Tuesday, is the latest fallout from a sexual misconduct scandal that led to the resignation of Judge Joshua Kindred , one of Alaska’s U.S. District Court judges, earlier this year.
Officials at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Anchorage have identified at least 44 cases in which Kindred may have had personal conflicts.
Defense lawyers in some of those cases have asked that their clients’ sentence be overturned, and at least one of those requests has already been granted , but Tuesday’s request marked the first time that prosecutors themselves asked for a conviction to be overturned.
The case involves Johnny-Lee Preston Burk, a man nicknamed “Felon” in part because of his long history of drug dealing and interactions with police.