Court Commissioner Asked to Resign After Drug Arrest

A Municipal Court commissioner arrested last week on drug charges was asked Monday to resign his office.

Presiding Judge Linda Lancett Miller said she and the other 11 judges on the North Municipal Court bench agreed that Commissioner Robert K. Tuller Jr. should submit his resignation effective July 1. Miller said it is the first time a commissioner in North Municipal Court has been asked to resign.

If he does not resign, state law empowers the judges to fire him from the position, which is appointed. The court will select a commissioner to take his place, Miller said.

Tuller, 46, sought treatment Saturday for drug dependency at the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage and was not available for comment Monday, according to his father, Robert K. Tuller Sr. The younger Tuller posted a $5,000 bond after his arrest last Friday in a cocaine sting operation staged at an Anaheim hotel.

Undercover agents invited Tuller to a “party” at the Anaheim Sheraton, police said. Tuller was arrested on suspicion of cocaine possession; his arraignment is set for next Monday in Central Municipal Court in Santa Ana.

Anaheim police, the district attorney’s office and the state Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement launched an investigation of Tuller six months ago after police received a tip alleging that Tuller was using cocaine on a “regular basis.”

Miller said Monday that she and the other judges regretted asking Tuller to leave. “The unfortunate incident of last Friday made this action necessary but unpleasant, given the good service he has provided to this court,” she said.

Miller said Tuller had been presiding over all the court’s misdemeanor arraignments this year, after having spent 1989 handling the traffic calendar. The judges appointed him to the bench in 1986.

Miller declined to elaborate on what transpired at the Monday morning meeting, other than to say she and the other judges were not happy about having to take action against a man described as well-liked in the courthouse.

“I feel sad and disappointed,” Miller said.

Tuller’s father decried the decision and said the judges should wait until his son completes his treatment at the Betty Ford Center before deciding his fate.

“I think they’re acting in haste,” said the elder Tuller, who is a Fullerton lawyer. “He is still a valued employee. In this modern day, most employers see how their man performs in the rehabilitation and if he comes out a better man than before.”

Lawyer friends of Tuller also rose to his defense Monday.

“They ought to have given him an opportunity to present his side,” Marshall M. Schulman, a prominent criminal defense lawyer in Santa Ana, said of the judges.

Schulman suggested that Anaheim police were conducting a “vendetta” against Tuller.

“I can’t help but wonder why they had to work this man for so long,” Schulman said.

Schulman described Tuller as a well-respected member of the Orange County legal community.

“He was always a gentleman, fair to all sides,” Schulman said. “I know he will get this behind him and will continue to be a fine contributor to the system.”

Tuller’s father said the drug-use allegations came as a shock to the family. The younger Tuller is married and has two children. He served as a bailiff and attorney before being named to the Fullerton bench.

The father said that, after Friday’s arrest, his son acknowledged to him that he had a drug problem and that he needed help. The judge decided to check into the Betty Ford Center, which charges $8,500 for a 28-day drug and alcohol treatment program and which is popular among celebrities.

“I’m not so sure he needed the help, but he thought it was the best thing to do to guarantee he would get over the problem,” the elder Tuller said.