Opinion ID: 1444402
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Count One C: Ex Parte Contacts With Dennis Jonathan

Text: In January 1991, Dennis Jonathan was charged with driving with an illegal blood-alcohol concentration and having a prior drunk driving conviction. On March 25, he appeared with counsel before petitioner, pleaded guilty to the charge, and admitted the prior conviction. Petitioner accepted the plea and then offered to postpone sentencing for a couple months and see how [Jonathan was] doing on [his] programs, i.e., so Jonathan could prove to the court that [he] ha[d] control over [his] drinking. After Jonathan accepted petitioner's offer, petitioner stated: I do have personal knowledge of Mr. Jonathan and his programs, by the way. Jonathan's counsel replied that she was aware of this fact. No one was at the hearing for the prosecution. Petitioner's acquaintance with Jonathan began when he offered to help petitioner get elected. Petitioner next saw Jonathan in late 1988, when he appeared before petitioner on a hit-and-run charge. According to petitioner, he disclosed to counsel during that proceeding that he knew Jonathan from the campaign, that he felt uncomfortable in sentencing Mr. Jonathan, [and] that the only way [he] would hear the case ... was that the sentence would be agreed between [counsel].... Petitioner was concerned that Mr. Jonathan might think he got a special favor.... Petitioner next saw Jonathan at the church that petitioner and Jonathan's parents attended. Later, in 1989, Jonathan appeared before petitioner on his first drunk driving charge. After taking Jonathan's guilty plea, petitioner sentenced him to the usual sentence for first-time offenders. After his first drunk driving conviction, Jonathan began attending petitioner's Saturday morning men's fellowship group. Before his 1991 arrest, Jonathan attended group meetings approximately once a month for six to eight months. At group meetings, Jonathan disclosed that he was an alcoholic and that he needed help. After his 1991 arrest, but before sentencing, Jonathan attended two or three more group meetings. At a meeting before his first court appearance, he informed petitioner that he had 'made a terrible mistake, ... slipped on [his] sobriety and ... received a ticket for driving under the influence.' [13] According to Jonathan, petitioner was sympathetic. Petitioner testified that he decided to leave Jonathan's sentence to the agreement of counsel because of these contacts. Petitioner was concerned that, if he sentenced Jonathan, the appearance might be that [petitioner]... was lenient, no matter what [he] did. Petitioner didn't want anyone to say that [he] was lenient ... because [Jonathan] got people to vote for [petitioner] and his parents went to the [church petitioner] attended. According to petitioner, he advised the district attorney that he knew Jonathan, that he would preside in the case if counsel did not object, but that he would leave it to counsel to agree on the sentence because of his concern about claims of leniency. The district attorney, however, did not recall that petitioner made any of these disclosures. Because Jonathan needed to get to work, he appeared for sentencing on July 30 before court was in session. Sentencing occurred in petitioner's chambers. The district attorney was present, but defense counsel was not. Petitioner had contacted defense counsel about the matter, and she had replied that her attendance was unnecessary because she knew what the sentence would be. She and the district attorney had agreed to recommend a sentence of a fine and jail time. According to petitioner, Jonathan waived his right to have counsel appear for sentencing; there is no record of the proceedings to verify petitioner's claim. Notwithstanding his purported decision to leave Jonathan's sentence to counsel, petitioner proposed that, in lieu of the fine and jail sentence, Jonathan be required to perform community service in the form of construction work on a proposed addition to the courthouse. Petitioner eventually imposed this sentence. The district attorney characterized this sentence as unusual, noting that in 99 percent of the cases of second-time offenders, service of a minimum 10-day jail sentence is required. Over a year later, petitioner saw Jonathan in the court clerk's office. With no attorneys present, he informed Jonathan that the addition to the courthouse had not been approved and that he would have to perform his community service in another way. Petitioner asked Jonathan how he wanted to fulfill his sentence. According to Jonathan, petitioner gave him a list of options from which to choose. Petitioner then modified Jonathan's sentence in accordance with Jonathan's preference. On this record, we agree with the Commission's unanimous conclusion that petitioner committed prejudicial misconduct in handling the Jonathan matter. As in the Henderson matter, petitioner recognized that his ex parte contacts with Jonathan created a conflict, and his initial solution was simply to cede the sentencing decision to counsel. He did not disclose his ex parte contacts to the district attorney, and there is no evidence that he disclosed even to defense counsel that he had discussed the offense with Jonathan at a fellowship meeting. Moreover, despite his ex parte contacts and his decision not to participate in sentencing, petitioner took control of sentencing and imposed an unusually lenient sentence that included no actual jail time. Petitioner himself admitted that suspension of the jail sentence and fine was not part of the normal sentence for a second drunk driving offense. Over a year later, petitioner modified the sentence through additional ex parte contacts with Jonathan, without involvement of either defense counsel or the district attorney. The record thus contains clear and convincing evidence that petitioner committed prejudicial misconduct in his handling of the Jonathan matter. (See former Cal.Code Jud. Conduct, canon 3A(4), as adopted eff. Jan. 1, 1975, see now Cal. Code Jud. Ethics, canon 3B(7); Code Civ. Proc., § 170.1, subd. (a)(6).) We reject petitioner's claim that Jonathan's sentence was within customary local guidelines for the rare, or exceptional case. The record shows that service of jail time was not required only where a single parent could not care for her small children during incarceration or the defendant had a physical problem or was elderly. Petitioner has identified no circumstance that justified treating the Jonathan matter as an exceptional case.