Final hearing set for Contra Costa County judge

The Commission on Judicial Performance has scheduled final arguments for Oct. 2 in a discipline hearing for Contra Costa County Judge John T. Laettner, who is accused of sexual harassment and remanding defendants off the record.

Trial counsel for the commission and Laettner's attorneys will each have 30 minutes to put forward their final arguments before "final determinations of fact" are made, said Gregory Dresser, the commission's director and chief counsel.

The public hearing is at 1:30 p.m. in the Ceremonial Courtroom on the 19th Floor of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

The commission panel composed of six public members, three judges, and two lawyers, chaired by Nanci E. Nishimura, a principal at Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy LLP, will then make a determination on whether punishment will be meted out, up to removing Laettner from the bench. The state Supreme Court has the final say if the commission's decision is appealed.

Laettner is represented by James A. Murphy, Janet L. Everson and Joseph S. Leveroni of Murphy Pearson Bradley & Feeney in San Francisco.

Commission trial counsel Mark A. Lizarraga and assistant trial counsel Bradford Battson are serving as examiners for the commission.

In a 144-page June report, a panel of special masters appointed by the commission said it found clear and convincing evidence against Laettner of four counts related to sexual harassment and two counts related to remanding defendants off the record. Three counts not proven were related to racial bias, encouraging defendants to plead guilty and failure to recuse, the report stated.

The document came after a 10-day evidentiary hearing during which the panel heard testimony from 60 witnesses and reviewed more than 300 exhibits.

"Although it is undisputed that Judge Laettner had (and has) an exemplary work ethic, is a responsible and conscientious judge, and an asset to the Contra Costa County Superior Court, ... Judge Laettner failed to remain continually conscious, as all judges must be, of his position and crossed the boundary between permissible and impermissible conduct," the special masters wrote in their report.

In one alleged 2016 incident, Laettner compared working with a female deputy public defender to having a teenage daughter. Laettner said he did make the comment but contended it was a joke and was meant to be endearing. He allegedly told the same attorney, "Your parents hadn't spanked you enough," a comment for which he apologized during his hearing, the report stated.

-- Carter Stoddard