A Des Moines man has approached the court to file an appeal challenging the divorce disposition from his wife. John Len Mordini also asked the court judge to recuse himself from the trial because of an extramarital affair, which helped break down the marriage.
The Supreme Court judge, Justice Christopher McDonald, was accused of an affair with Mordini’s wife, Nichole Miras Mordin, despite being married. This Fort Worth divorce case caused a stir in the region.
According to the court documents, justice McDonald has recused himself and granted the petitioner’s request. While there’s isn’t much details about how the affair occurred, it was made clear that the affair took place over a decade ago.
Mordini had been married to his wife for more than two decades. He chose to represent himself in the divorce proceedings. When approached for a comment on the matter, his estranged wife, Nicole’s lawyer, refused to comment.
Mordini also did not respond to any comments about the matter for fear that he could divulge useful information about his case and jeopardize it.
According to Jeremy Fogel, the rules require a judge to remove themselves from any proceedings where they may be impartial. He also stated that the judge was right to remove himself but that the decision didn’t mean an admission of impartiality. This is an important point to note since the Supreme Court will not hear the pending appeal.
In Ohio, another judge has been accused of appointing lucrative divorce cases to her friend. Leslie Ann Celebrezze, a Cuyahoga County domestic relations judge, is in hot water following accusations that she accepted divorce cases and appointed her friend Mark Dottore as receiver.
The role of a receiver in such cases is to collect the possessions of the divorcing parties while the case is being heard. A disciplinary counsel has accused the judge of bragging about her relationship with Dottore and talking about how she wanted to divorce her husband to be with him.
In 2023, Celebrezze appointed him as a receiver, whereas other judges did not, stating that they wanted to handle the cases internally. Their findings also revealed that the judge approved up to $500,000 in fees for Dottore from 2017 to 2023. It also revealed that out of eight cases Celebrezze handled, six were assigned to Dottore or his daughter.
The receiver’s company charges around $100 to $400 per hour for holding assets. Then, the divorcing couple is forced to pay the fees. Besides these accusations, Celebrezze is also accused of using her position to intimidate other judges and take over their divorce cases. She often targeted wealthy divorcees and appointed her friend as a receiver.
The disciplinary counsel learned about this incident through a businessman who was in the process of a divorce. The man suspected that the judge had an improper relationship with the receiver and brought this to the authorities’ attention.
There are also pictures of Celebrezze kissing Dottore after a steakhouse date. When questioned, Celebrezze defended herself by claiming her Italian culture allowed her to kiss others on the lips to greet them.