San Francisco judge recuses himself from case after PD’s office complaint

SAN FRANCISCO -- A superior court judge recused himself from a case in which he ordered a defendant into custody for more than three months and found the deputy public defender representing him in contempt for questioning the decision.

On Friday, the new judge released the defendant, Michael Banayos, after 93 days in custody.

Judge Ross Moody did not give a reason for recusing himself. Banayos' case proceeded before Judge Garrett L. Wong, according to San Francisco County Public Defender Jeff Adachi.

"This is an example of an unjustified jailing of a man for three months without any reason," Adachi said. "This exhibits poor judicial temperament. Moody should be removed from his position."

Moody, who oversees a misdemeanor calendar, announced his recusal shortly after Adachi said San Francisco County Presiding Judge Teri Jackson told him she was investigating his complaint that Moody had a pattern of belittling minority and women attorneys and defendants.

Adachi said Jackson declined to reveal the results of the inquiry.

"When the court receives a complaint about the conduct of a judge, the presiding judge conducts a thorough investigation of the allegations," Jackson said in a statement. "After an investigation is completed, the presiding judge takes appropriate action pursuant to the Code of Judicial Ethics, Canon 3D(1). The complainant, or anyone who is aware of misconduct, always has the right to go directly to the Commission on Judicial Performance before, during or after the presiding judge does his or her investigation."

Moody did not respond to a request for a comment.

The public defender's office filed a complaint with the court about Moody earlier this year. According to court transcripts, Moody asked Deputy Public Defender Anisa Sirur -- an African-American woman -- for her bar number after she questioned his ruling.

The incident occurred on Sept. 29, the day after Sirur submitted a declaration in support of the attorney found in contempt in the Banayos case, and was cited in Adachi's complaint about Moody.

"What's your bar number, ma'am?" Moody said.

"I don't understand why I'm being interrogated by the court right now," Sirur said. "Maybe you can let me know why I'm being interrogated. Then I will proceed to answer your question..."

"I'm going to give you notice that the way you are acting right now is contemptuous," Moody said. "I'm asking you simple questions. You must be a licensed attorney to appear in this court."

In another incident on Aug. 24 that Adachi detailed to Jackson, Sirur was representing a client on behalf of Deputy Public Defender Kathleen Natividad when Moody asked why her client did not appear for his hearing.

Sirur explained to Moody that she made a mistake by informing her client that he did not need to be there.

Moody then said Natividad has a bad reputation and that she previously made false statements to the court, according to Deputy Public Defender Jaime Longoria, who manages misdemeanor cases and was present at the hearing.

"I believe Judge Moody's comments were a personal attack on Ms. Natividad, intended to interfere with her career and to create conflict within my team of lawyers," Longoria wrote in her statement, which was included in Adachi's complaint to Jackson.

Gov. Jerry Brown appointed Moody to the bench in 2015.

The public defender's office appealed the contempt charge for John Paul Passaglia, a deputy public defender who was representing Banayos. The defendant, a 55-year-old Filipino man with a history of mental illness, pleaded no contest to one count of petty theft.

Moody provided the defendant with a Tagalog interpreter but he became confused and requested Spanish translation. The judge instead instructed bailiffs to take him into custody for acting "in a threatening manner towards the interpreter."

Passaglia objected and put his arm around Banayos to explain what was happening, according to Adachi. He was served with an order of contempt, which resulted in a fine of $250, after the public defender's office demanded an explanation for the defendant's detention. Adachi said his office will appeal the contempt conviction.

This article has been has been updated to include San Francisco County Presiding Judge Teri Jackson's complete statement.