Indiana judge involved in White Castle fracas agrees to resign after new ethics charges filed
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A twice-suspended judge in Crawford County, Indiana, has agreed to resign and never seek judicial office again.
The agreement by Judge Sabrina Bell ends an ethics case alleging that she struck her ex-husband in the face. Bell has also voluntarily agreed to a 150-day suspension of her law license, according to a July 25 press release by the Indiana Judicial Branch and a notice of closure filed July 25 by the Indiana Commission on Judicial Qualifications.
Bell had been placed on an interim, paid suspension in May, after she was charged with one count of domestic battery in the presence of a child.
She was also suspended for 30 days without pay in November 2019 following an altercation in which she and two male judges got in a fight with two strangers in a White Castle parking lot in Indianapolis. The two other judges suffered gunshot wounds after one of the strangers opened fire.
The White Castle fight happened in May 2019 following a night of heavy drinking after a judicial conference, according to the ethics complaint in the case. The fight allegedly began after the two strangers yelled something from a car window, and Bell raised her middle finger at the men. The men pulled into the White Castle, where a verbal fight turned physical between the male judges and the two strangers.
Bell was elected in November 2016 to a term that was set to end at the end of December 2022. Her resignation was effective July 15.
Bell’s law license is now on inactive status. She will have to take and pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination before she can resume law practice.
