Common Pleas Judge Willis Berry Jr. has recused himself from presiding over criminal cases following a request by the District Attorney's Office.

"After we reviewed the opinion from the Court of Judicial Discipline, in which they found Judge Berry broke the law and brought the judicial system into disrepute, we were concerned about our ability to prevent decisions" from being later attacked by defendants, John Delaney, deputy district attorney of the trial division, said yesterday.

The disciplinary court last week found that Berry, 66, had committed a crime of diversion of services and brought "disrepute" to the judicial office by conducting his personal real-estate business out of his chambers from January 1996 to April 2007.

Common Pleas President Judge Pamela Pryor Dembe and Administrative Judge D. Webster Keogh both confirmed yesterday that Berry would be reassigned next week to the civil division.

Of Berry's recusal, Dembe said: "He did not want to be in a position where he would create an unnecessary appeal in a case he was handling."

Berry, who had been handling non-homicide felony cases in the Criminal Justice Center, will "most likely" be reassigned to the civil side's Complex Litigation Center, Keogh said.

Delaney said that Assistant District Attorney Ed Jaramillo asked the judge in a motion on Tuesday to recuse himself, and the judge did.

As to whether prosecutors plan to file any charges against Berry, Hilary Connor, deputy district attorney for the investigations division, said yesterday: "We'll review the record and the evidence at the [disciplinary court's sanctions] hearing and take whatever action is appropriate." *