Panel Drops Case Against Judge Retiring in a Month

The state Commission on Judicial Performance announced Tuesday that it will drop formal proceedings against Orange County Municipal Judge Brian R. Carter when his resignation becomes effective next month, on the condition that he not seek judicial office again or accept any appointment or assignment to the bench.

Carter’s decision to retire in mid-February from Harbor Municipal Court in Newport Beach was disclosed Monday. It follows four years of investigations of Carter and Harbor Municipal Judge Calvin P. Schmidt, first by Newport Beach police and the district attorney’s office, and then by the state judicial commission.

The investigations reportedly have centered on allegations that Carter and Schmidt misused their positions to help friends and to curry favor with prostitutes.

Carter, who has denied any wrongdoing, said in a written statement that he has no plans to return to public office.

Out of ‘the Fishbowl’

“I am not willing to live in the fishbowl which (the) public now seems to require. . . . Remaining on the job doesn’t seem to be worth it,” the statement said. “So I leave with no regrets. It has been rewarding.”

Carter, 63, could not be contacted for further comment Tuesday. But he told friends and associates that he was retiring in part because he suffers back problems that make sitting in court for long periods painful, and because he is tired of the adverse publicity that has surrounded him in recent months.

Carter’s decision to resign came three weeks after the judicial commission sent him a list of the formal charges against him, commission investigator Peter Gubbins said Tuesday.

Gubbins would not reveal the details of those charges but said evidence would have been presented at the hearing by two officers from the attorney general’s office had the proceedings not been dropped.

Among the evidence in the commission’s possession are transcripts of two tape-recorded conversations--one between Carter and a prostitute who has accused him of a sex-for-favors exchange and one between Carter and a former client and golfing partner who sought his help in getting out of jail.

Although judicial commission hearings have always been held behind closed doors, a statewide initiative approved in November forced the commission to consider whether the Carter and Schmidt hearings should be public, Gubbins said. Proposition 92 permits the judicial commission to open hearings to the public if the charges against a judge involve moral turpitude, dishonesty or corruption.

Gubbins said no decision had been made about when Schmidt’s hearing will be held or whether it will be public. Gubbins said that the hearing will be conducted “expeditiously,” though, and added that his office is in the process of drafting disciplinary charges against Schmidt.

Schmidt, who in the past has said he welcomes the opportunity to clear his name at the hearing, did not return numerous calls Tuesday.

Carter told former Harbor Municipal Court Presiding Judge Russell A. Bostrom Monday that his resignation would be effective Feb. 19 and that he was applying for retirement benefits.

No Point to Hold Hearing

In light of Carter’s decision to step down, Gubbins said, commission members believed it was pointless to go ahead with the hearing on the charges against him.

“Because commission hearings are lengthy and expensive to the state of California, the commission has determined that this disposition is in the public interest,” Gubbins said.

Had it found any of the allegations against Carter to be true after a formal hearing, the commission could have recommended to the state Supreme Court that he be censured, severely censured, suspended or removed from office. Carter was appointed to the Harbor Court bench in 1982 by Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. Before that, he was involved in a private law practice.

Carter said in his statement that he might return to private practice, as a volunteer attorney handling cases for the indigent. He said that, with his engineering degree, he may also do some consulting in the product liability field.