Posted on 12/04/2005 9:16:28 AM PST by ncountylee
An investigation by state court officials into allegations of wrongdoing by a local judge was triggered by two people who have separately pursued personal vendettas against the Monterey County judicial system.
The state Commission on Judicial Performance has removed Judge Michael Fields from a panel presiding over a disciplinary hearing for a Santa Barbara judge based on the declaration of a Monterey woman who said Fields expressed prejudgment of the case to her during a rendezvous at a Ventura hotel.
The woman, former Monterey County Superior Court clerk Crystal Powser, was at the root of charges that forced her former fiance, Traffic Commissioner Richard Rutledge, to resign in late September. She has now apparently joined forces with Eugene Forte, a former Salinas resident who has alleged corruption and misconduct in a series of lawsuits against members of the Monterey County judicial system. Court records indicate they, in turn, have questioned his mental stability and labeled him a "vexatious litigant," limiting his ability to file future lawsuits.
The convergence of Powser and Forte's mutual scorn for the local court system has thrown into disarray a state hearing to determine whether Santa Barbara Judge Diana Hall violated judicial ethics. It has also raised serious questions about the judgment and ethics of at least two Monterey County Superior Court judges, Fields and Russell Scott, for whom Powser worked as a clerk for more than 10 years.
Fields was presiding over a three-judge panel hearing allegations that Hall, 55, failed to report a $20,000 campaign contribution from her live-in girlfriend; improperly questioned a prosecutor who attempted to dismiss her from a case; and was convicted of drunken driving.
(Excerpt) Read more at montereyherald.com ...
Judges can be some of the most digusting people on the planet.
Must be democrats.
Maybe, but there are some republican judges that are just as corrupt. Corruption doesn't distinguish between party lines, IMO.
Here's another story about more corruption in the judiciary.
Amen to that.
Monterey County is just bragging. I don't believe for a minute that they have only three judges engaged in misconduct. Most counties would be hard pressed to find three who weren't engaged in misconduct.
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