Fellow GOP judge is a top donor in Jefferson Griffin's legal fight

Republican candidate Jefferson Griffin is getting financial help from fellow Court of Appeals judge Tom Murry in his legal battle to win a seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court.

That contribution raises ethical questions the state's judicial code of conduct does not clearly answer.

In November, barely a week after Election Day, Griffin set up a fund to raise money for litigation he hopes will turn around the results that have him trailing by 734 votes in his race against incumbent Democrat Allison Riggs for an associate justice seat.

Griffin wants more than 65,000 ballots invalidated over alleged irregularities, including claims of incomplete voter registrations and a photo ID exemption for military and overseas voters. Griffin set up his fund — the Jefferson Griffin Legal Expense Fund — in mid-November; it has collected a little more than $17,000.

Murry, a former Republican state representative and newly elected judge on the state appeals court, contributed $5,000.

Riggs also set up a legal fund — Justice Allison Riggs Legal Fund — which has raised just over $22,000.

Riggs' donors, with no judges among them, include Jim Goodmon, the CEO of Capital Broadcasting Co. — the parent company of WRAL.

The U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals is considering arguments over whether the federal judiciary should assert jurisdiction over Griffin's election protests. Meanwhile, on a parallel track, Griffin's legal challenges have been sent to Wake County Superior Court by the North Carolina Supreme Court.

Depending on the outcome of the trial-level state court's factual review of Griffin's protests, the matter could end up before the North Carolina Court of Appeals, which could trigger the recusal of one of its jurists.

Contributor is a fellow judge on state appeals court

Murry's campaign committee — Join Tom Murry for NC Attorney General — transferred the money to Griffin's fund on Dec. 5, according to publicly available date from the North Carolina State Board of Elections. In 2023, Murry had planned on running for state Attorney General before switching to a race for a seat on the appeals court.

In December, Griffin's protests were being reviewed by the state and county elections boards. After those reviews, the state elections board dismissed Griffin's protests due to a lack of evidence of actual voter ineligibility and the GOP candidate appealed to the state Supreme Court to block certification of the election, and to invalidate the challenged ballots. Like Murry, Griffin is a judge on the state Court of Appeals and a lawyer in the North Carolina Army National Guard.

Murry declined comment in response to WUNC's inquiry.

Another attorney, Conrad Sturges III, also contributed money — $4,000 — to Griffin's legal expense fund. That is notable because Sturges' wife, Cynthia Sturges, is a state Superior Court judge who, earlier this month, handled a motion filed by Griffin's attorneys.

Judge Sturges was presiding in Wake County when Griffin's attorneys went before her with an emergency motion asking the court to issue a Temporary Restraining Order blocking the state elections board from certifying the election. It was an ex parte motion, made outside the presence of representatives for the other party, the state elections board.

Judge Sturges, after initially granting the TRO, ultimately rescinded her order and denied the ex parte motion because "the Court became concerned that neither the Respondent nor Respondent's attorneys received appropriate notice of the Motion, as required by Local Rules and Rule 65 of the Rules of Civil Procedure."

Spouses of high court justices gave to Griffin, Riggs

The North Carolina Code of Judicial Conduct states judges "should avoid impropriety in all the judge’s activities." That does not mean judges are prohibited from supporting other candidates.

Under provisions of the state judicial conduct code, if a judge is a candidate for office, that judge may "endorse any individual seeking election to any office or conduct a joint campaign with and endorse other individuals seeking election to judicial office." But an endorsement, under the conduct code's definition, is not the same as a financial contribution.

And the state's Judicial Standards Commission, which enforces the judges' code of conduct, issued a memorandum in 2022, that made it clear judges may not make financial contributions to other candidates or campaign committees.

Murry's contribution falls into a bit of a gray area, according to Ellen Murphy, a professor who teaches legal ethics and professional responsibility at Wake Forest University's School of Law. Murphy also informed WUNC that she has made campaign contributions to Allison Riggs, including one in the early post-election period last fall.

"So, is the [Griffin's legal expense fund] part of the campaign or is it another organization?" asked Murphy. "Or is it neither and, therefore, we need guidance on the issue?"

The judicial code does require some self-policing for jurists, saying that "a judge should disqualify himself/herself in a proceeding in which the judge’s impartiality may reasonably be questioned" on a motion made by any party.

Also, judges may not allow their "family, social or other relationships to influence the judge’s judicial conduct or judgment."

The Huffington Post first reported about political contributions that spouses of current state Supreme Court justices made to Jefferson Griffin's judicial campaign.

In 2023, Chief Justice Paul Newby's wife, Macon, contributed $6,400 to Jefferson Griffin's election campaign (not his legal expense fund). Justice Tamara Barringer's husband, Brent, contributed the same amount to Griffin's campaign for the state Supreme Court seat.

Both justices recently joined a majority ruling of the state's high court that blocked certification of Riggs' electoral victory over Griffin and sent the matter to the trial-level Wake County Superior Court for a factual hearing.

Charles Walton, the husband of Justice Anita Earls, who, with Riggs, is one of the two Democrats on the solidly conservative state Supreme Court, contributed more than $1,800 to Allison Riggs's campaign last year and in 2023. Earls dissented — along with one of the court's conservative justices — in the order blocking certification of the judicial election.

In response to an inquiry from WUNC sent through the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts, Barringer said she didn't think it was appropriate to comment at this time.

Neither Newby nor Earls responded to the inquiry sent by WUNC through the Administrative Office of the Courts.

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