Judge-Officer Romance Sets Suspects Free

The case against a pair of suspected drug dealers was dismissed Monday because of a secret romance between the judge and a police officer testifying against the defendants in her courtroom.

Their romance has since flowered into marriage, but as a result, the careers of Bay Municipal Judge Irene Takahashi and El Cerrito Police Officer Michael Ramirez are on the rocks.

Disclosure that they were dating during a preliminary hearing last year for drug suspects Alberto Torrez and Luiz Lozano forced Takahashi to resign on Sunday. Ramirez has been placed on paid administrative leave pending a police investigation.

Berkeley-Albany Municipal Judge Julie Conger dismissed the case late Monday, saying the relationship violated the suspects’ rights to a fair hearing.

Takahashi and Ramirez have faced formal allegations since March that they were romantically involved while he was a witness during a drug case heard in her courtroom.

The couple, who announced their engagement on Dec. 28, 1989, and were married in September, had told prosecutors and others that they began dating in November, 1989, one month after the hearing.

But last month, Ramirez admitted to El Cerrito Police Chief Dan Given that he had been lying about the duration of the relationship. They were dating during the preliminary hearing last year for Torrez and Lozano, the officer said.