Judge Drops Sentencing Over Letter : Courts: The jurist disqualifies himself to avoid the appearance of unfairness.

After receiving a hostile letter from the sister of a man he was scheduled to sentence, a Ventura County Superior Court judge disqualified himself from the case Tuesday lest it appear the letter influenced him.

“The law that you ignore and your sister treats with such contempt will treat you fairly,” Judge Steven Z. Perren told defendant Alex L. Vaughn.

Perren presided at the trial last month when a jury convicted Vaughn, 24, of auto theft, attempted robbery, receiving stolen property, brandishing a weapon and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Facing up to 12 years in prison, Vaughn was to be sentenced Tuesday until Perren announced that he was taking himself off the case.

On Thursday, the judge said, his wife went to the post office after receiving notice that a package was waiting. Perren opened it that night and found papers referring to the defendant’s case and a five-page letter signed by the defendant’s sister, Kathryn Vaughn of Huntington Beach.

“My wife was frightened by that,” Perren said. “My address is not listed anywhere.”

He said he called a phone number listed in the letter--not to discuss the case, which would be unethical, but to find out how his address was obtained. The sister did not tell him, Perren said, but did say that she was upset with his handling of a custody matter four years ago in which she was involved.

Perren said he turned the letter over to sheriff’s deputies for possible prosecution as criminal contempt of court. “It was a blatant attempt . . . to influence the outcome of this case,” Perren said.

Sheriff’s Cmdr. Vince France said the woman’s letter mentioned the custody case and threatened to “expose the whole criminal justice system if Perren didn’t give leniency to her brother.”

“There was no threat of physical violence,” France added. He said investigators have not yet interviewed Kathryn Vaughn, and she did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Perren said there was no evidence that Alex Vaughn knew anything about his sister’s activities. “The sister took it upon herself to meddle in this affair,” he said.

In light of the letter, the judge said, any sentence he imposed could be questioned. If he gave a harsh sentence, some might think it was in retaliation for the threat, he said. If he was lenient, he said, it might appear that he “succumbed to pressure in this case.”

Perren sent the case to Judge Lawrence Storch, presiding judge of the criminal division, who will decide Friday whether to sentence Vaughn himself or assign another judge to the case.

Deputy Dist. Atty. John Vanarelli said he understands Perren’s decision but regrets that the judge who heard all the evidence in the case will not be deciding the sentence.

“I have no doubt that Judge Perren could be fair and impartial,” Vanarelli said. “But he wanted to avoid the appearance of impropriety, and the only way to do that was to take himself off the case.”