Sheriff Wins Battle With Judges Who Tried to Jail Him : Courts: State Supreme Court backs Gates, targeted for releasing prisoners because of crowded jails.

Orange County Sheriff Brad Gates won the final battle in his long-running dispute with local judges Thursday when the state’s highest court refused to put the sheriff behind bars because of his jail policies.

“I’m just glad it’s all over and that level heads have prevailed,” Gates said of the state Supreme Court ruling. “I was confident from the beginning.”

The beginning came 18 months ago when a municipal judge held Gates in contempt of court, fined him $17,000 and ordered him to spend 30 days in jail because he had been releasing prisoners early from the Orange County Jail. Gates said he had no choice because the jails were full.

The sheriff never served any of the sentence because a Superior Court judge threw out the ruling.

The municipal judges in Santa Ana, upset over Gates’ policy of citing and releasing some prisoners, appealed that decision, but the 4th District Court of Appeal found against them three months ago.

In a strongly worded ruling, the appellate court expressed chagrin over the municipal judges’ actions and accused them of “shooting the messenger who bears ill tidings.” The court said Gates should not be blamed for the county’s difficulties in finding enough new jail beds.

The municipal judges pressed on with their case, angering county officials by taking their appeal to the state Supreme Court.

Without comment Thursday, the court let stand the previous ruling, declining to hear the judges’ appeal. Despite a request by the judges, the state Supreme Court also allowed the 4th District’s ruling to stand as statewide precedent for other courts to use as guidance in similar cases.

James M. Brooks, presiding judge in the Municipal Court in Santa Ana, said the Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the case “was not a major surprise. They’re busy up there. We had hoped for a reversal, but we have to be realistic.”

He said the judges would not appeal the case further to the U.S. Supreme Court. “We’ll abide by this. This is it,” he said.

The county has had to pay the legal costs for both the judges and Gates during the appeal process. County Counsel Terry C. Andrus said that has amounted to more than $65,000 for private lawyers for the judges, plus a “roughly equivalent” amount in county staff time for Gates.