Opinion ID: 1167064
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: petitioner's background and working environment

Text: Many of the charges sustained involve petitioner's failure to follow proper procedure; e.g., abusing the contempt power and failing to disqualify. His background and working environment are relevant to those charges, and he testified as follows: After graduating from McGeorge Law School in 1969 he was admitted to practice in 1970. Before then he had been a Sacramento County probation officer. After admission and until his election to the justice court in March 1975 he was a deputy district attorney of El Dorado County. In July 1975 he attended the two-week judge's college sponsored by California Judicial Education and Research (CJER). Subsequently he attended most of CJER's twice-yearly seminar sessions. His court was on a rural road six miles from the courthouse in Placerville. His in-chambers library contained little more than the third series of California Reports and Appellate Reports (beginning in Oct. 1969), annotated California codes, texts on criminal law and evidence, and several procedure manuals. The Placerville courthouse housed the county law library, two departments of the superior court (Judges Byrne and Fogerty), and the Placerville Justice Court (Judge Hamilton). The Georgetown-Divide Justice Court (Judge Smith) was an estimated 18 to 21 miles away over a difficult road; the other justice court was at South Lake Tahoe. As of January 1, 1977, the jurisdiction of municipal and justice courts is the same and concurrent. (Code Civ. Proc., § 83.) We turn to the wilful misconduct and prejudicial conduct charges sustained by the commission. They are discussed in connection with the 11 incidents whence they arose, now set forth in chronological order.