NEW ORLEANS — A Baton Rouge judge was removed from the bench this week after members of the state Supreme Court reviewed stories by WBRZ and other media outlining numerous violations of various judicial guidelines, documents obtained by WBRZ on Friday show.

Justices on Tuesday ordered the temporary suspension of 19th Judicial District Judge Eboni Johnson Rose, acting upon a request by the state Judiciary Commission. Former appellate court judge Mike McDonald was named Friday to sit in for Rose.

Documents obtained by WBRZ show the justices addressed the same issues Baton Rouge media have raised since the spring. Other complaints were filed by the East Baton Rouge Parish district attorney and a woman who saw her criminal case bungled by the relatively new judge.

Rose, in letters from her lawyers, told the court that the temporary suspension would be unprecedented. She pledged to work on her shortcomings.

“She has faced, albeit meekly, the assertions made against her with impassioned commitment to improving herself as a member of the esteemed judiciary of Louisiana, in a concerted effort to restore the faith and trust of the judiciary and the public which may have been eroded by her actions,” her lawyers wrote to the court.

Rose, whose father is 19th Judicial District Deputy Chief Judge Ron Johnson and whose uncle is former Chief Judge Don Johnson, said she had selected a mentor and was taking more continuing legal education than the required amount.

The commission faulted Rose’s handling of numerous cases, specifically:

--The judge initially acquitted a former Broadmoor Elementary teacher of aggravated assault, but after meeting with jurors realized they had intended to convict. The judge summoned Bridgette Digerolamo back to the courtroom and changed the finding from “not guilty” to “guilty.” The Supreme Court later ordered an acquittal, and the teacher filed a complaint with the Judiciary Commission.

In a letter to the court as it considered her removal, Rose's lawyers said she was trying to fix a mistake and place on the record what she thought the jury wanted to do.

--Rose convicted a Baton Rouge police officer of a crime that doesn’t exist. Donald Steele was accused of malfeasance, a felony, but Rose found him guilty of a misdemeanor-level crime not on the books.

The case is still pending, but Rose said that in the future she would “seek clarity” before issuing a verdict or tend to matters in pre- or post-trial briefs. She said she was “committed to make sure they don’t happen again.”

--Rose took too much time off an arsonist's sentence to the point that it was less than the amount required by law. She told the Judiciary Commission that that was “a regrettable oversight.”

--And Rose used offensive, charged language in a case where she believed lawyers weren’t prepared for court. “This case is God damn four years old and that’s the best you can come up with? You’re just going to what, stick every n***** in jail?” she asked. She added later, “This is a piss-poor ass resolution to this case.”

The judge said she could have handled the situation better, but let her emotions “bubble over.”

Despite her responses, the state Judiciary Commission asked the justices to remove Rose, at least temporarily, while an investigation proceeds.

“The recommendation was necessitated by the receipt of substantial, credible evidence indicating that Judge Rose has made a series of serious legal errors in multiple criminal cases, which raises concerns about her professional competence in the law," the panel said. It also noted that while many judicial errors can be fixed by an appeals court, some of Rose's were irreversible.

The Supreme Court granted the removal request on a 5-2 vote and asked that the probe wrap up within six months.

Rose’s lawyers say none of her errors were intended to benefit her.

“It is clear that none of Judge Rose’s ‘substandard’ actions was an attempt to exploit her position or satisfy her personal desires,” they wrote. They called them “unintentional mistakes or oversights, or a failure to be properly prepared.”

McDonald begins his tenure as temporary judge Monday.