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Judge again to be investigated over courtroom behavior(Hammering good judge)
S F Chron ^ | April 29, 2006 | Bob Egelko

Posted on 04/29/2006 11:58:32 AM PDT by radar101

A Monterey County judge is in trouble with the state's disciplinary agency again, this time for allegedly violating the rights of drunken-driving defendants and increasing their jail sentences if they questioned his rulings.

Superior Court Judge Jose Velasquez, elected in 1995, was censured by the Commission on Judicial Performance in 1997 for a variety of misconduct offenses, including accusing lawyers and fellow judges of racism for getting him removed from drunken-driving cases. The 47-year-old judge could be removed from the bench if the commission sustains the new allegations against him.

In a 58-page document Thursday, the commission listed seven cases, in 2003 and 2004, in which defendants convicted of drunken driving appeared before Velasquez without lawyers to seek more time to comply with conditions of probation, such as attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. In all the cases, the judge found that defendants had deliberately violated probation and ordered them jailed, without giving notice that he might do so, the commission said.

In six cases, all in 2004, Velasquez increased jail sentences, or threatened to do so, because of the defendants' comments or questions at hearings, the commission said.

(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Philosophy
KEYWORDS: contempt; drunkendriving; judge; judges; law

1 posted on 04/29/2006 11:58:38 AM PDT by radar101
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To: radar101

Why do you say he is good? Because he is mean to some defendants? He sounds quite capricious and arbitrary to me, which is not what one desires in a judge.


2 posted on 04/29/2006 12:02:17 PM PDT by jocon307 (The Silent Majority - silent no longer)
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To: jocon307

He sounds like a jerk.


3 posted on 04/29/2006 12:07:07 PM PDT by opinionator
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To: radar101
Better article from the local drive-by media outlet

The SF Comical didn't mention some of this other stunts. Such as:
Wearing a Mexican "charro" suit to his swearing-in ceremony in 1995.

Some knee-jerks like him because he displayed a crucifix in his courtroom, allowed his name to be used in a pro-choice newspaper advertisement, and announced from the bench that he would issue tough, automatic sentences for drunken driving.

But he is a bozo, in legal terms "arbitrary and capricious" and should probably go.

4 posted on 04/29/2006 12:09:18 PM PDT by atomic_dog
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To: radar101
Superior Court Judge Jose Velasquez, elected in 1995, was censured by the Commission on Judicial Performance in 1997 for a variety of misconduct offenses, including accusing lawyers and fellow judges of racism for getting him removed from drunken-driving cases.

To be removed for misconduct by a group run by lawyers requires some nasty behavior.
This judge needs another line of work.

5 posted on 04/29/2006 12:10:06 PM PDT by The Brush
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To: radar101

He may be a good judge in general but I have concerns about some of this...

>>increasing their jail sentences if they questioned his rulings<<

Questioning is an American right.

>>In other cases, Velasquez improperly penalized defendants whose lawyers failed to show up and failed to advise certain defendants of their right to plead not guilty, the commission said.<<

Judges, like everybody else need to follow the law.

>>asked them whether they felt good when they spun their tires. If a defendant said yes, the judge imposed the minimum $200 fine; if not, Velasquez said he was lying and fined him $800 or more.<<\

This sounds like he enjoys toying with defendents.


6 posted on 04/29/2006 12:12:18 PM PDT by gondramB (He who angers you, in part, controls you. But he may not enjoy what the rest of you does about it.)
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To: atomic_dog

People like this get in office because of PC and very shallow thinking. This man has the ability to ruin or save lives. But that is not his responsibility. He is nothing more than an arbitrer of the law. Nothing more, nothing less. A judge with an "agenda" is a very dangerous thing. This clown should be removed from the bench post haste.


7 posted on 04/29/2006 12:40:43 PM PDT by ChinaThreat (s)
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To: gondramB
Hmmmm...

A judge that ENFORCES conditions of parole for DRUNK DRIVERS...

A CONVICTED DRUNK DRIVER escapes jail by agreeing to conditions of probation -- then fails to comply, is then jailed --- and folks find this excessive Judicial behavior?

Personally, there are already too damned many drunks on the road --- killing too many citizens for me to have ANY compassion for the thoughtless bastards..

I guess our forum is populated with a lot of driving drunks, or those that haven't yet been hit by a drunk driver..

Semper Fi
8 posted on 04/29/2006 12:51:59 PM PDT by river rat (You may turn the other cheek, but I prefer to look into my enemy's vacant dead eyes.)
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To: jocon307; radar101
Why do you say he is good?

Because he is a minority and knows how to play the race card.

This is DU, isn't it? What are you, Jocon307? Some sort of conservative?

9 posted on 04/29/2006 1:07:51 PM PDT by PAR35
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To: river rat
>>I guess our forum is populated with a lot of driving drunks, or those that haven't yet been hit by a drunk driver..<<

I can't tell if you were addressing me personally or if mine was just the most recent post.

But I can separate between a good general attitude (tough on crime, tough on personal responsibility) that this judge seems to exhibit in general versus some serious issues in his alleged behavior.

It doesn't do us any good to turn a blind eye to judicial misconduct just because someone is tough on crime - the standards for judicial behavior need to apply to all.
10 posted on 04/29/2006 1:12:26 PM PDT by gondramB (He who angers you, in part, controls you. But he may not enjoy what the rest of you does about it.)
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To: river rat

Believe it or not, in many places there is a waiting list for alcohol treatment safe driving courses plus fees that often must be paid in advance.

Judges aren't often scrutinized by fellow members of the cloth, when they are it is generally worth noting.


11 posted on 04/29/2006 1:27:19 PM PDT by Old Professer (The critic writes with rapier pen, dips it twice, and writes again.)
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To: gondramB

Sorry.....My comments were addressed to no one in particular -- but responding to all who seemed horrified by a Judge who imposes consequences for deadly behavior and non-compliance with court ordered conditions of parole.

Semper Fi


12 posted on 04/29/2006 1:37:13 PM PDT by river rat (You may turn the other cheek, but I prefer to look into my enemy's vacant dead eyes.)
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To: river rat
>>Sorry.....My comments were addressed to no one in particular -- but responding to all who seemed horrified by a Judge who imposes consequences for deadly behavior and non-compliance with court ordered conditions of parole.<<

Thank you - I didn't want to ignore in case you meant me in particular.

You've got a good basic point and it goes beyond this one case and thread. Its funny that Freep has this reputation of being monolithic where you either toe the party line or get banned when in fact the variety of conservatives here is tremendous - I used to call myself a Goldwater conservative but since coming to Free Republic and seeing the variety I have stopped labeling conservatives into sub-groups.

But one problem conservatives at large have is how quickly we can tear into one of our own and I can understand your concerns in this case. That's why I was careful to desrcibe the judge's behavior as alleged and make it clear my issues were with procedures not his toughness on crime.

Thanks for your posts.
13 posted on 04/29/2006 4:32:28 PM PDT by gondramB (He who angers you, in part, controls you. But he may not enjoy what the rest of you does about it.)
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