Opinion ID: 1444402
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Count One E: Ex Parte Contacts with Steven Pearson

Text: In July 1990, petitioner placed Steven Pearson on probation after he pleaded guilty to brandishing a firearm. Sometime after sentencing, Pearson began attending petitioner's Saturday morning fellowship meetings. According to petitioner, Pearson had serious spousal abuse problems, was a very sick man, and had a very violent temper. Pearson discussed, and petitioner counseled him about, these problems during the fellowship meetings. Pearson became a real problem for petitioner and his wife, and they had to discourage him from seeking [them] out. While Pearson was on probation, he and his wife were charged with violating zoning laws by keeping piles of junk in their yard. Petitioner was personally aware of the circumstances underlying the charge; he had stopped by Pearson's property, seen the junk in the yard, and advised Pearson to dispose of it. Petitioner believed that Pearson, and not his wife, was responsible for the violation, and petitioner told the district attorney of his belief. According to petitioner, he also told the district attorney he was disqualifying himself from hearing the case. The district attorney, however, did not recall petitioner's saying anything about the Pearsons or whether he had a problem with them. Consistent with his practice in similar cases, the district attorney asked that the matter be continued until, and dismissed when, the Pearsons cleaned up their property. At the district attorney's request, petitioner continued the matter two or three times. Petitioner did not believe that the conflict created by his ex parte contacts and his knowledge of the zoning violation prevented him from ordering a continuance. However, petitioner also believed that the district attorney gave Pearson too much time to clean up the property and should have forced Pearson to act more quickly. Petitioner remembered that Pearson's earlier brandishing offense involved a neighbor who was angry about junk in Pearson's yard. On this record, we agree with the Commission's unanimous finding that petitioner committed prejudicial misconduct in continuing to preside over the zoning case despite his personal knowledge of the relevant circumstances and his ongoing personal relationship with Pearson through the fellowship meetings. Because of the conflict that these contacts created, petitioner exercised no substantive judgment in considering the district attorney's continuance requests. By his own admission, petitioner thought the district attorney was giving Pearson too much time to clean up his property, creating a potential for another confrontation with his neighbor. But for his decision not to make substantive rulings in this case, petitioner might not have acceded to all of the continuance requests. Rather than participating in the case under these circumstances, he should have recused himself. (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).) In failing to do so, he committed prejudicial misconduct.