Judge who admitted to 'substance abuse problem' allegedly bullied campaign manager to recant testimony about her drug use

A judge in Tennessee has been suspended from the bench and arrested on criminal charges after she allegedly bullied her campaign manager for testifying honestly about her drug use.

Judge Andrewnetta Melissa Boyd, 59, has been a controversial member of the Memphis-area legal community for nearly a decade. While working as an attorney in 2015, she was accused of mishandling one of her client's trust funds. Despite this heavy accusation, in August 2022, Boyd was elected to be the Division IX judge of the 30th Judicial District Criminal Court — and the controversy surrounding her continued.

By the end of November 2022, less than four months into her term, the Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct received a complaint that Boyd had been "threatening and intimidating an acquaintance and that she was abusing alcohol."

As part of the investigation into the allegations, members affiliated with the oversight board spoke with Boyd's campaign manager. The campaign manager supposedly told them that Boyd had been abusing drugs, including cocaine and marijuana, since taking office.

The campaign manager also levied other serious accusations against Boyd, claiming that the judge had been harassing her at home and in text messages. According to the investigators' report, at 2:30 in the morning sometime in March, Boyd "was discovered sitting outside the [campaign manager's] residence," texting "pictures of this individual’s property and [sending] text messages which accused this person of having someone in the home."

In messages reviewed by the board, Boyd allegedly told the campaign manager to "shut up" and "not mess with her because she is a judge." According to reports, Boyd had attempted to intimidate the campaign manager into recanting her testimony about Boyd's drug use.

Last May, the board decided to suspend Boyd after she conceded that she had "a substance abuse problem and that she is currently seeking treatment to address her illness," the order of suspension stated. As part of the suspension agreement, the board would keep the suspension private and Boyd could quietly take a paid leave of absence from the bench while she sought the treatment laid out in the agreement.

But Boyd reportedly did not keep up her end of the bargain. Not only did she allegedly fail to undergo an evaluation with someone from the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program within five months, but she also supposedly solicited donations to a school from a Facebook account in which she was pictured wearing a judicial robe.

In October, the board announced her suspension to the public. It also petitioned the Tennessee General Assembly to remove her from the bench completely, citing two public reprimands in the last few months.

It sems that Boyd's initial suspension ended late last month. However, prosecutors have now filed charges against Boyd in connection with the alleged intimidation of the campaign manager, prompting yet another suspension.

On Tuesday, Boyd was charged with one count of coercion of a witness and one count of harassment. The following day, she was booked into the Shelby County Jail in Memphis and then released on a $5,000 bond. Regular drug tests were given as a condition of her release.

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On Thursday, the board stepped in to suspend Boyd from the bench once again:

Judge Boyd is suspended effective immediately upon the filing of this order. During this term of suspension, Judge Boyd is prohibited from exercising any judicial power or authority, including, but not limited to, holding court, issuing subpoenas, setting or resetting cases, issuing warrants, setting or changing bonds, administering oaths, or issuing oral or written rulings in any matter.

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