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Facing charges of fraud, judge vows to fight to keep post

HARRISBURG - Superior Court Judge Michael T. Joyce, the first state appellate judge to be charged with a crime in more than a decade, vowed to continue his campaign for another term despite a federal indictment that accuses him of cheating two insurance companies out of $440,000.

HARRISBURG - Superior Court Judge Michael T. Joyce, the first state appellate judge to be charged with a crime in more than a decade, vowed to continue his campaign for another term despite a federal indictment that accuses him of cheating two insurance companies out of $440,000.

Joyce, who lives in Erie, said he's innocent and intends to seek statewide voter approval for a second 10-year term when he stands for an up-or-down "retention" vote in the November election.

"When the facts are laid out, it will be clear that these charges have no merit," the Republican said in a statement Wednesday.

"I have spent almost 23 years on the bench and have instructed hundreds of juries that in the United States, one is presumed innocent until proven guilty," he said. "Just because there is a charge does not mean an actual crime has occurred."

Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania Bar Association panel that makes recommendations on appellate judges and judicial candidates was planning to meet to consider changing Joyce's rating from "recommended" to "not recommended."

Such a reversal would be unprecedented, but "I think we have a duty" to take another look at Joyce now that he is under indictment, said Chris Gillotti, a Pittsburgh lawyer who chairs the association's Judicial Evaluation Commission.

Joyce's term expires in January. He makes $165,342 a year.

The indictment announced Wednesday contends that Joyce, 58, falsely claimed that an August 2001 traffic accident left him in such pain that he was unable to exercise or play golf for more than a year, when actually he was playing 18-hole rounds on courses as far away as Jamaica, going scuba diving and in-line skating, and working out at a local gym.

Joyce also applied for a private pilot's license, indicating on his Federal Aviation Administration application that he had no injuries or physical problems, and flew an airplane about 50 times during the period in question, prosecutors say.

He used the insurance money to buy a motorcycle and make down payments on a house and plane, according to the indictment. *