Yesterday the California Judicial Performance formally admonished a former Trinity County Superior Court Judge who had submitted a resignation letter in December.

The commission issued a decision and order ordering a decision and order imposing public admonishment on Judge Elizabeth W. Johnson pursuant to a stipulation agreement.

As part of the stipulation, Judge Johnson agreed to resign from the bench effective January 18, 2018, and not to seek or hold judicial office in the future. Judge Johnson was issued a public admonishment by the commission for the following misconduct.

The commission found Judge Johnson made a material misrepresentation during a prior investigation. Specifically, in March 2014, Judge Johnson represented that she and her husband continued to make payments on a Community Development Block Grant loan from Trinity County.

In fact, they stopped making payments on the loan after August 2013, and did not make another payment for more than two years. On fourteen separate occasions, Judge Johnson improperly used her court credit card in violation of Judicial Council policies, including for personal purposes unrelated to court business. The fourteen charges totaled $740.22.

Also, Judge Johnson frequently arrived to court after the calendar over which she presided was scheduled to start, including arriving 30 minutes later for her calendar on three occasions. Judge Johnson’s tardiness inconvenienced parties, attorneys, and court personnel.

On two separate occasions, contrary to the provisions of the California Rules of Court, Judge Johnson revised the Trinity County Superior Court local rules without providing the public and local legal community with notice of, and an opportunity to comment on, the rule changes. In addition, in an August 2015 minute order, Judge Johnson appointed her former law partner to represent a conservatee in a matter pending before her.

In imposing the public admonishment, the commission stated that Judge Johnson’s multiple acts of misconduct undermine public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary, and that Judge Johnson’s misrepresentation to the commission is particularly serious misconduct. The commission further commented that the judge’s misconduct “reflects a pattern or inability to abide by basic rules and ethical standards required of all judges.”

FULL STORY

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Trinity County Judge Will Resign Amid Disciplinary Investigation

The CJP issued a public admonition of Judge Elizabeth Johnson. [/caption] A Trinity County judge has agreed to resign this week as part of a settlement to resolve disciplinary allegations that she lied to state investigators and regularly showed up late to work.Superior Court Judge Elizabeth W. Johnson was publicly admonished by the Commission on Judicial Performance. She will leave office on Jan. 18 and has agreed to never run for judge again, according to a commission order released Tuesday.In a letter made public to Trinity County residents last month, Johnson said that while “a number of allegations” made against her to the commission are false, “the repeated process of responding to these complaints has affected both the court staff and my family, causing stress and uncertainty.””I have decided not to contest certain allegations and agree to resign,” she wrote. “This is so voters can make a reasoned and informed choice about who should be their next judge without distractions about me.”Elected to the two-judge Trinity court in 2012, Johnson was accused of lying about payments on a 2007 loan she and her husband received to operate a golf course. During a 2014 commission investigation, Johnson told disciplinary staff she had made regular payments on the loan despite losing the business. In reality, the couple did not make any payments on the loan between August 2013 and November 2015, according to the commission.Johnson also improperly used a court credit card on 14 occasions over an 18-month period for unauthorized expenses such as travel to a judicial conference and staff lunches, the commission alleged. The judge reimbursed the charges when she learned they did not comply with court guidelines.The commission said Johnson arrived late for her courthouse calendar at least 42 times between January 2013 and August 2015. The judge also faced scrutiny for revising the court’s local rules without going through mandated public notice requirements and for failing to disclose that an attorney she appointed in a conservatorship proceeding was her former law firm partner.”The totality of the judge’s misconduct … reflects a pattern of failure or inability to abide by basic rules and ethical standards required of all judges,” the commission wrote.The commission disclosed in its order that it had sent Johnson a private advisory letter in 2014 for failing to disclose in cases involving Trinity County as a party that her family business had an outstanding loan from the county.