Bethany Flint Censured Retired

Deschutes County Circuit Judge Bethany Flint received a call in October 2022 about a murder investigation involving a personal friend: the wife of homicide victim Leonard Peverieri. Flint went to the widow's home and found police detectives already there conducting an interview — and, according to the Oregon Supreme Court's own findings, "intervened in the conversation with law enforcement more than once." Flint went on to help the widow find an attorney and advised her and her children not to speak with police without a lawyer present. In a separate, earlier incident in 2020, Flint walked another personal friend through the process of obtaining a restraining order — effectively practicing law while sitting as a judge. Flint admitted to six separate violations of Oregon's Code of Judicial Conduct, including using her judicial position to gain advantages for personal friends and impacting the fairness of court proceedings. The Oregon Supreme Court imposed a public censure. Peverieri's murder case was ultimately reassigned to a judge in a different county and remains unsolved, with no charges ever filed.