A retired district court judge from Milton faces formal disciplinary charges over allegations that he improperly held a public defender in contempt and ordered him jailed during a hearing in Fall River.
The Massachusetts Commission on Judicial Conduct announced Oct. 22 that it filed charges against Franco J. GoBourne with the Supreme Judicial Court. The commission is seeking a public hearing before a court-appointed hearing officer.
The allegations concern a March 25, 2025, pretrial hearing in Fall River District Court. According to the Boston Globe’s account of the complaint, public defender Nicholas Athanassiou moved away from the podium to collect a case file.
GoBourne reprimanded Athanassiou for pacing and not facing the bench, the complaint alleges. When the lawyer attempted to argue for his client’s opportunity to be heard, GoBourne interrupted him and directed court officers to take him into custody.
Athanassiou was restrained with handcuffs and leg restraints and spent approximately five hours in a cell, according to the complaint. GoBourne later rescinded the contempt finding and ordered his release.
The Committee for Public Counsel Services, which employs Athanassiou, complained to the commission in June. It argued that the lawyer’s conduct provided no factual justification for contempt and that detention was unnecessary to preserve courtroom order, the Globe reported.
The commission alleges that GoBourne abused his judicial authority and violated obligations governing judges’ treatment of lawyers and litigants. The disciplinary case has not yet been decided.
Arnie Lucinda Stewart, deputy chief counsel of CPCS’s public defender division, said in a statement that the incident’s consequences reached beyond Athanassiou.
“The constitutional right to counsel means little if attorneys can be silenced for doing their jobs,” Stewart said, according to the Globe.
GoBourne retired in September 2025 after serving as a circuit justice in the District Court Department. He joined the bench in 2010. The Globe reported that he could not be reached for comment on Oct. 22.
He has 10 days after service of the formal charges to respond, according to the newspaper. The commission says a public hearing will take place within 30 to 60 days after the Supreme Judicial Court appoints a hearing officer.
