FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Fayette County Commonwealth’s Attorney has formally urged a Kentucky House impeachment committee to remove Circuit Judge Julie Muth Goodman from the bench, delivering a pointed 11-page letter to lawmakers that accuses the judge of harboring a deep and documented bias agains t prosecutors — and of conducting what one appellate court called a “judicial ambush.” Fayette Comm Attorney Kimberly Baird Letter of 3-11-2026Download Kimberly Henderson Baird, who has served as Fayette Commonwealth’s Attorney since her appointment by Gov. Andy Beshear in 2022, submitted the letter March 11 to Chairman Jason Nemes and the House 2026 Impeachment Committee. The committee was scheduled to hear directly from Baird on March 12 as part of its review of a citizen petition seeking Goodman’s removal. “There can be absolutely no confidence in her ability to be fair to the Commonwealth in her rulings in our cases,” Baird wrote. The letter adds significant institutional weight to an already closely watched impeachment proceeding, introducing for the first time a sworn legal officer — rather than a private citizen — formally calling for Goodman’s ouster on grounds of systemic bias. The Petition Former Republican state Rep. Killian Timoney filed the petition Jan. 28 against Goodman, alleging she has shown bias and engaged in what he calls “judicial activism.” The petition cites six cases in which Goodman is alleged to have committed “misdemeanors in office,” including allegations of violating statutory law, refusing to obey binding legal precedents, demonstrating bias and disregarding the separation of powers. The House Impeachment Committee, chaired by Rep. Jason Nemes, a member of GOP leadership from Middletown, was formed in January to consider petitions against Goodman and several other officials. The Cornell Thomas Case The centerpiece of both the petition and Baird’s letter is Commonwealth v. Cornell Thomas, a murder case that drew statewide attention after Goodman dismissed the indictment in 2023. Thomas was indicted by a grand jury on wanton murder and leaving the scene of a fatal accident after prosecutors said he drove nearly 100 mph through a red light on Leestown Road in 2020, striking a vehicle driven by 50-year-old Tammy Botkin. Botkin died at the scene. Goodman dismissed the case in 2023, arguing Thomas was overcharged because of his race and accusing Fayette County prosecutors of systemic racial bias. In her letter, Baird alleges Goodman went far beyond what the defense requested, independently researching prosecutorial charging history and grand jury proceedings — and then inserting her conclusions into the ruling without prompting from either party. The Kentucky Court of Appeals reversed the decision in a more than 100-page opinion, reinstating the indictment and concluding, in Baird’s words, that the ruling was “fraught with legal errors and abuses.” The appellate court wrote that the trial court had conducted a “judicial ambush” and that, absent any reasonable explanation, it appeared the court “embraces an animus of unknown origin toward the Fayette Commonwealth’s Attorney.” A Pattern of Reversals Baird’s letter goes beyond the Thomas case, presenting a statistical comparison of suppression hearing outcomes across Fayette Circuit Court judges. According to data Baird compiled from her office’s case management system, Goodman ruled in favor of defendants in 80 percent of suppression hearings since taking the Circuit Court bench in December 2019. By comparison, other judges in the same court sustained suppression motions at rates ranging from 12 to 32 percent. Source: Fayette Commonwealth’s Attorney office case management records, as presented in Baird’s March 11, 2026 letter to the House Impeachment Committee. In another case, Commonwealth v. James Harvey Hendron, a jury convicted Hendron of murder after a four-day trial, but Goodman overturned the conviction citing prosecutorial misconduct. The Court of Appeals reversed her ruling and ordered Hendron’s sentence reinstated. In Commonwealth v. Domonick Jones, Baird writes that Goodman sentenced a fentanyl trafficker to probation despite a state statute making him ineligible for that sentence — and then, after the error was flagged, entered the sentencing order retroactively rather than correcting it. The Court of Appeals has since vacated that sentence and remanded for a proper sentencing hearing. Goodman’s Defense Goodman filed a formal 38-page response with the committee through her attorney, Robert McBride, on Feb. 23, arguing the petition should be dismissed for at least five independent reasons. In her response, Goodman contends that “in Kentucky’s 234-year history, the House has never impeached a sitting judge based on a petition disagreeing with her judicial decisions,” adding that doing so “would violate separation of powers principles and judicial independence.” Goodman’s attorneys also raised procedural objections, noting that Timoney signed the petition but did not include a notarized or sworn affidavit, which they argue makes the petition void under Kentucky law. They also note that Timoney does not appear to be a resident or voter in Fayette County and has no documented connection to any of the nearly 72,000 cases Goodman has handled during her 18 years on the bench. Political Context Timoney, who represented House District 45 before being defeated in a GOP primary in 2024, is seeking to regain that seat. He did not respond to questions about whether the filing was politically motivated. The Goodman proceedings are unfolding alongside parallel impeachment inquiries against Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Pamela Goodwine, Marshall County Family Court Judge Stephanie J. Perlow and Ballard County Jailer Eric Coppess. Critics have characterized the wave of petitions as part of a broader effort by the Republican-controlled legislature to exert pressure on the state judiciary. Goodman has also filed a separate lawsuit seeking to have the impeachment petition dismissed. What Comes Next Under Kentucky law, if the committee recommends impeachment, the full House can approve articles of impeachment with a majority vote. The articles would then move to the Senate, where a two-thirds vote to convict would remove the official from office. The Goodman impeachment proceedings, if they advance, would follow only the second such Senate trial in modern Kentucky history. In 2023, the Senate voted to remove former Commonwealth’s Attorney Ronnie Goldy, who had solicited sexual favors from a defendant. Goldy was later convicted on more than a dozen federal charges and sentenced to more than three years in prison. The post No Confidence’: Top Lexington Prosecutor Urges Lawmakers to Remove Fayette Circuit Judge appeared first on The Lexington Times. ...read more read less