Jurist Draws Rebuke for Victoria Wright Leniency

The state Commission on Judicial Performance on Thursday publicly rebuked a Ventura County judge for his “unusually lenient” handling of traffic tickets issued to the daughter of Assemblywoman Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley).

The commission’s action marked the end of a four-month investigation of Ventura County Municipal Judge Bruce A. Clark, who dismissed two traffic tickets issued to 24-year-old Victoria Wright after meeting at his home with Cathie Wright in June, 1988.

In a letter to Clark, Jack E. Frankel, the commission’s director and chief counsel, noted that Clark did not require Victoria Wright to appear in court on the tickets and dismissed both tickets after she attended traffic school.

Under state guidelines, violators can attend traffic school in lieu of another penalty--which usually prevents the offense from appearing on Department of Motor Vehicle records--as often as a judge will allow. But most judges permit an offender to do so only once every 12 months, according to DMV spokeswoman Gina McGuiness.

At that time, Victoria Wright had been ticketed for 12 moving violations in the previous three years. All told, she received 27 traffic tickets--including 24 for speeding--and was involved in at least six accidents in the eight years before the DMV revoked her license in March.

In a written statement, Clark acknowledged that his actions “created the appearance of impropriety.”

“Under the circumstances, I should have disqualified myself from any action in the case,” he wrote, “even though my decision appeared appropriate based on the facts available to me at that time.”

Clark became the first judge to be “reproved” by the commission under a constitutional amendment passed by voters in 1988. “Reproval” is one disciplinary notch below a public censure, which requires a hearing before the state Supreme Court. No other action will be taken against Clark, stated Frankel.

Frankel criticized Clark for speaking privately with Cathie Wright about her daughter’s case outside his judicial chambers, preventing prosecutors from participating in the discussion or the public from observing it.

Clark’s actions, Frankel noted, violated the state Code of Judicial Conduct, which states that a judge should not “convey or permit others to convey the impression that they are in a special position to influence them.”

The judge also violated a provision requiring judges to “conduct themselves at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary,” Frankel wrote.

“The judicial decisions you made, though lawful, were unusually lenient,” he concluded, adding that “the incident appeared to be isolated.”

The commission began its probe of Clark after Ventura County Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury issued a 97-page report in May declaring that Assemblywoman Wright “demonstrated a clear pattern of attempting to obtain special treatment for herself and her daughter with the police, the courts and the Department of Motor Vehicles.”

Bradbury cited several instances in which Wright was said to have tried to get police to void tickets issued to herself or her daughter. However, Bradbury said Cathie Wright committed “no clear-cut criminal violations” that would warrant prosecution.

Assemblywoman Wright responded by charging that the inquiry by fellow Republican Bradbury was politically motivated and “shameful,” but she did not address most of the specific allegations.

In a telephone interview Thursday, Wright said her conversation with the judge was “no big deal, except as they’re making it into something in regards to me.”

“To me, nothing was done,” she said. “I just talked to him. I talk to him at fund-raisers and social events. He’s a person. . . . It was a casual conversation in which I was looking for advice.”

Wright is expected to face a stiff challenge in the June, 1990, primary election from Hunt Braly, chief of staff to state Sen. Ed Davis (R-Valencia). Braly has promised to make Wright’s ethics one of the main issues in the campaign.