Defense rests after justice forcefully defends actions

LOS ANGELES -- The defense for 2nd District Court of Appeal Justice Jeffrey W. Johnson rested Friday after the longtime judicial officer and his wife addressed allegations he verbally, sexually and physical harassed and bullied 17 women, including colleagues and subordinates.

Commission on Judicial Performance examiner Emma Bradford concluded her cross-examination of Johnson during the morning session, grilling him continuously about whether his conduct over the years violated the canons outlined in the American Bar Association's Moral Code of Judicial Conduct.

Bradford brought up the allegations of Melanie Palmer, a class action attorney at Kiesel Law LLP who testified Johnson complimented her body and made sexually suggestive comments during an after-hours meeting in his chambers.

"You make it sound so sinister," Johnson testified. "It was an innocent exchange. There was no impropriety."

"Taking a woman back to your chambers isn't a violation of the canons?" pressed Bradford.

"I look at the facts," responded Johnson, adding he only complimented Palmer. "Even if I had said those things, I don't believe they're a violation of the canons."

But Johnson became evasive when Bradford brought up the canons again, this time referring to allegations he commented on Justice Elizabeth A. Grimes' posterior.

"It's your position that telling a judge she has the best ass in the district doesn't violate the canons?" Bradford asked.

"That's a question for a fact-finder," Johnson testified.

Bradford also brought up claims Johnson frequents several downtown bars near the Court of Appeal building and has returned to the courthouse intoxicated. While acknowledging he goes to meet up with friends and has "a beer or two," Johnson denied he ever entered the courthouse drunk.

"I live like a normal person, but for some people, that seems wrong," Johnson testified.

Later in the afternoon, Johnson's wife, Meghan, testified the allegations have taken a toll on her husband and their family.

"Since the time I've known him, he's had a joyful, outgoing soul," she said. "That's just not him anymore. It's taken a lot of joy out of his life."

Christopher Stevens, Johnson's former pastor at Shepherd of the Hills Church in Porter Ranch, testified that Johnson told him Justice Victoria Chaney had made advances during a 2010 business trip to Reno, Nevada, and Stevens said he "warned him to be careful."

Rebuttal witnesses called by the examiners are expected to testify Monday.