CHP officer says justice propositioned her repeatedly

LOS ANGELES -- A California Highway Patrol officer tearfully testified Tuesday that Justice Jeffrey W. Johnson propositioned her for sex and repeatedly commented on her physical appearance during the three years she was assigned to drive and protect him.

The worst came on a drive from an event Johnson attended in Baldwin Hills. Johnson ran his hand up her thigh and asked her to pull over so they could have sex, Officer Tatiana Sauquillo testified.

"I took his hand off and said, 'No,'" Sauquillo testified.

Wiping her tears, she said Johnson also suggested they go out for drinks and return to his chambers for sex.

Seventeen women have accused Johnson, 58, of a range of inappropriate behavior from bullying to groping. Sauquillo told investigators she quietly transferred into another division of the Highway Patrol in May 2016 to get away from Johnson. She didn't tell her story until other women came forward to complain about Johnson's behavior.

"I didn't want the retaliation," the officer responded when asked why she didn't report the behavior earlier.

Johnson has denied most of the allegations and said others were taken out of context.

Sauquillo testified on the seventh day of what is estimated to be a 19-day Commission on Judicial Performance disciplinary hearing.

Sauquillo, currently on leave from her job, has been a CHP officer for 10 years. From October 2013 to May 2016 she was assigned to the Judicial Protection Section of the agency, which is how she encountered Johnson.

"Within the first year, maybe even the first six months," Sauquillo said, "he started off by commenting on my appearance. It made me uncomfortable because it's not professional."

These initial comments would usually be something like "that I looked good in my suit" or that Johnson "would like to see me out of my uniform," Sauquillo testified.

Johnson also made denigrating comments about his own wife, including that "she was fat, not attractive and he wished she looked more like me," Sauquillo testified.

Johnson made these comments in the car on the drive to events, when they passed in courthouse hallways and in his chambers, when she went in to check on him as part of her protection duties, the officer said.

She said she couldn't recall if others witnessed these conversations or the specific dates they happened.

"There were many times he made comments," she said.

Sauquillo testified Johnson referred to fellow Justices Victoria Chaney and Frances Rothschild as "bitches" and "nasty ass bitches." And Johnson told the officer Chaney "wanted him" and "something about putting her pink nipple in his mouth," Sauquillo testified, "He would make comments on her body, saying she was bigger than she used to be."

Chaney and Rothschild have both testified against Johnson. Chaney said she endured a nine-year campaign of physical and mental harassment by Johnson that included crude propositions and groping.

In his cross-examination, defense attorney Paul S. Meyer pointed out that Sauquillo accused a CHP supervisor of sexual harassment, too.

"You suffered sexual harassment by a CHP supervisor before you ever transferred into the JPS, is that correct?" Meyer asked.

Details in depositions from the prior accusation bear striking similarities to the language Sauquillo alleges Johnson used when propositioning her, Meyer suggested.

The sexually explicit language included phrases like "wanting to bend me over," "wanting to fuck me from behind," and "wanting to see me out of uniform."

"Statements you'd never forget right?" Meyer asked.

Sauquillo answered, "yes."