Women describe fear of retaliation by powerful justice

LOS ANGELES -- A research attorney on the 2nd District Court of Appeal told the Commission on Judicial Performance she was afraid to report inappropriate behavior by Justice Jeffrey Johnson because she didn't want to be seen as a "panicked white woman" targeting one of the few black jurists on the court.

Under questioning Tuesday by Paul S. Meyer, Johnson's attorney, Jessica Butterick maintained the concern was valid but said other reasons convinced her it was important for her to testify against the justice.

"Protecting other women and supporting other women is one of those reasons," she testified.

Seventeen women have accused Johnson of a misbehavior ranging from bullying to groping that spanned nearly 20 years on two courts. A misconduct hearing by Commission of Judicial Performance could lead to Johnson's removal from the bench -- "a career death penalty case," Meyer told a panel of three special masters in his opening statement Monday.

Meyer has portrayed Johnson, 58, as a victim of the #metoo movement run amok. At the discipline hearing and in court papers, he has questioned the memories of women describing long-ago events and said other events were innocuous and misinterpreted.

Johnson, a former federal prosecutor and U.S. magistrate judge, was once seen as a rising star in the legal community. And several women testified Monday and Tuesday they endured Johnson's misbehavior in silence for fear of being retaliated against by an influential justice.

"Reporting inappropriate behavior is never good for anybody's career," Butterick told the panel. "One always has to weigh the costs against the benefits."

The trial, which is projected to last 19 days, has already drawn in some of the leading figures in the Los Angeles legal community. Three Court of Appeal justices are expected to testify Johnson made sexually inappropriate comments to them, and one is expected to say he groped her breast and buttocks.

Tuesday morning, Los Angeles County Presiding Judge Kevin Brazile, the presiding judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, took the stand to recall a bar association function during which Johnson appeared so inebriated he asked the justice if he had a ride home.

On Monday, a firm lawyer testified Johnson crudely propositioned her for sex at the same event.

Butterick, a research attorney for Justice Luis A. Lavin, told the panel of two instances in one week in which Johnson caressed and massaged her arms and shoulders.

"It made it feel that this was not a one-time thing, and he would be seeking me out in the future," she said.

Shawna Davison, a California Highway Patrol officer assigned to protect Johnson, told the panel Johnson invited her into his home after she drove him from Burbank airport in 2015. She said she perceived the invitation to be a sexual proposition and declined. Instead of reporting the incident, she said she took steps to avoid him.

"His conduct was not criminal, and I felt that if I separated myself from the problem, there wouldn't be a problem," Davison testified.

Davison also spoke of a "code of silence" between CHP officers and the bench officers they are assigned to protect. This meant it would not have been following protocol to divulge any information about what Johnson said even if it made her uncomfortable, she said.

Nevertheless, Davison and another CHP officer who regularly worked as Johnson's protection detail gave him the nickname "dirty bird."

That second trooper is expected to testify later in the hearing that Johnson repeatedly and explicitly propositioned her for sex. Instead of reporting it, she quietly transferred to another division of the CHP and never reported it until she was contacted by investigators looking into other allegations against Johnson.

Carolyn Currie, Johnson's judicial assistant for roughly 19 years, testified Johnson repeatedly told her "you look hot" and "you smell good" throughout their working relationship.

She also described a mercurial boss who would lash out at her if she reminded him of deadlines.

"He would respond angrily and say that he was my boss, and I just need to do what he says," Currie testified.

Under questioning from Mark A. Lizarraga, one of the Commission on Judicial Performance examiners, Currie described feeling helpless because Johnson could easily fire her. It wasn't until other women began coming forward to tell their stories that she felt emboldened to talk, she said.

"I felt that because there was an investigation going on, I could feel safe to say something," Currie testified through tears and a choked voice.

Another witness, Trisha Belez, a judicial assistant to Justice Victoria Chaney since 2013, told the special masters Johnson spread rumors throughout the court about her "wild" youth -- details he learned through his friendship with one of her high school classmates. Belez said she was horrified that details of her past were circulating in her workplace. But she also testified she went to get coffee with Johnson and confided in him about her husband's philandering.

"Did Justice Johnson express a sympathetic and supportive remark to you?" Meyer asked.

"He said that if he was married to me, he would never leave my bed and that he liked me," Belez testified. She said she told him firmly to "stop it." Belez reiterated she did not believe the remark was meant to be supportive but was meant as a come-on.

Kristi Gudoski-Cook, a deputy attorney general, told the special masters she is friends with Belez, and Belez confided in her about Johnson's inappropriate behavior, which included repeatedly asking her to go to coffee, blowing her kisses and the statement about sharing her bed.

Meyer wondered how Gudoski-Cook could recall so precisely a conversation that happened years ago.

"Because I thought it was such a strange and outrageous statement that it stuck with me," Gudoski-Cook said. "It stuck with me all these years."