Accused Oklahoma judge has frontotemporal dementia, his attorneys have revealed

A judge accused of two drive-by shootings and sexual misconduct has been diagnosed with a rare brain disorder that causes personality changes and bizarre behavior, his attorneys have revealed.

Brian Lovell, an associate district judge in Garfield County, will seek a medical retirement, the attorneys told the Oklahoma Court on the Judiciary on Wednesday. They reported that a psychiatrist had diagnosed the judge as having frontotemporal dementia.

"This disease is progressive until death. ... The ... loss of memory, irrationality, episodic bizarre out-of-character behavior, sudden inappropriate impulses, and other symptoms support the diagnosis," attorneys Stephen Jones and William Jewell wrote in a legal filing.

"The Judge's family, friends, and supporters who know him as a cheerful, conscientious, and professional member of the community perhaps now have a better understanding of what happened to him in his middle years, and what could happen to any of us," they wrote. "Unfortunately, like all public attention to mental illness, some will be skeptical, but others will understand what has happened, not just in his brain but in the hundreds of thousands of other similarly stricken individuals."

Among those diagnosed with the disease are former actor Bruce Willis and former TV show host Wendy Williams .

Lovell also has had surgery for thyroid cancer, his attorneys said.

What is alleged in the shooting cases?

Lovell is charged in Texas with eight felony counts of deadly conduct and a misdemeanor count of reckless driving.

He was arrested in Austin, Texas, on Sept. 11 after a traffic collision, about two miles from the scene of a drive-by shooting. Police found the gun used in the shooting in his SUV.

The judge is accused in the deadly conduct case of recklessly shooting at eight parked vehicles from his SUV while driving in Austin. He is accused in the reckless driving case of nearly pushing the other driver's vehicle into cross traffic at a stop light.

"Lovell advised he did not know why he would have shot his gun and he could not recall any part of the shooting incident," an Austin police detective reported in court affidavits. Lovell did admit he rear-ended another vehicle twice after being cut off in traffic "but did not admit the collisions were intentional," the detective reported.

Lovell is charged in Oklahoma with use of a vehicle to facilitate the discharge of a firearm. He is accused in that felony case of shooting up his brother-in-law's ranch house near Bison on Feb. 12, 2023. He became a suspect in that drive-by shooting only after his arrest in Texas.

No one was injured in either the Texas or Oklahoma incidents. Lovell's preliminary hearing in the Oklahoma case is set for Friday in Garfield County District Court.

Lovell, 59, of Waukomis, became a special judge in Garfield County in 2011. He became an associate district judge in January 2023 after no one else filed for election to the position. He has not heard any cases since his arrest in Texas, but is still getting paid.

He may not be eligible for disability compensation under state law if he retires now on medical grounds because he has not been a judge long enough.

The Oklahoma Court on the Judiciary is being asked to remove him from the bench for misconduct at the courthouse. An ouster trial is set for December.

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In that misconduct case, Lovell is accused of having affairs with two female bailiffs that included sexual liaisons at the courthouse. He also is accused of showing favoritism to an attorney, sealing a criminal case without justification, lying to investigators and other misconduct.

The married judge admitted in a legal filing to having a sexual relationship with one bailiff in 2011. He did not admit or deny having a sexual relationship with the second bailiff last year. Instead, he told the court that, if true, it was private and "between consenting adults."

Both bailiffs worked for years for Garfield County District Judge Paul Woodward. Both bailiffs resigned because of the affairs.

The second bailiff told investigators she and Lovell last saw each other Sept. 9, a Saturday, when they had sex in her office. Lovell has not been back on the bench since his arrest in Texas Sept. 11.

"He would message me occasionally saying he missed me," the bailiff said in March.

What to know about frontotemporal dementia?

The National Institute on Aging describes frontotemporal disorder, or FTD, as rare.

"FTD ... tends to occur at a younger age than other forms of dementia. Roughly 60% of people with FTD are 45 to 64 years old," the institute said. "FTD is progressive, meaning symptoms get worse over time. ... Some people live more than 10 years after diagnosis, while others live less than two."

In a 2019 segment, "60 Minutes" called FTD "the cruelest disease you have never heard of" and "always fatal." An expert told the CBS newsmagazine, "It robs us of our very essence, of our humanity, of who we are."

The Mayo Clinic reports FTD is an umbrella term for a group of brain diseases that mainly affect the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain.

"Symptoms depend on which part of the brain is affected. Some people with frontotemporal dementia have changes in their personalities. They become socially inappropriate and may be impulsive or emotionally indifferent. Others lose the ability to properly use language," the Mayo Clinic said.

More: Bruce Willis was diagnosed frontotemporal dementia. What is it? Causes, symptoms, treatments

Lovell's attorneys told the Court on the Judiciary they hope their disclosure of his diagnosis "might promote greater awareness of this condition, for which there is no vaccine to protect us against and no cure to arrest it."

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Accused Oklahoma judge has frontotemporal dementia, his attorneys have revealed