Judge’s Arrest Not Expected to Affect Post

Presiding Superior Court Judge Robert C. Bradley should be able to continue in his job, but any aspirations he might have had to higher office are probably dead if he is convicted of drunken driving, colleagues and legal experts said Tuesday.

Bradley’s misdemeanor arrest, which prompted him to step down as judge in the upcoming trial of murder suspect Michael Dally, doesn’t have any effect on his post, although he will probably face a review and perhaps a reprimand from the state Commission on Judicial Performance.

If he pleads not guilty, a judge will probably be called in from Santa Barbara to hear the case, officials said. The state attorney general’s office is handling the prosecution. A guilty plea or a conviction would mean a fine of about $2,000, plus either 48 hours in jail or five days of work release as well as enrollment in a school for drinking drivers.

Bradley was arrested Saturday in Ojai, taken to County Jail and recorded a blood-alcohol level of 0.21--more than twice the legal limit for driving. Since then, the case has been the subject of rampant speculation at the courthouse, which one judge described as “rumor central.”

Although he has not yet entered a plea or made any statement, some said he should seek help now.

“When a person drinks enough alcohol to elevate their blood-alcohol to a 0.21, which clearly impairs their judgment and ability to drive, but they get behind the wheel of a car anyway, there is a problem,” said attorney George Eskin. “It’s a condition that needs to be treated, and unfortunately, it’s a condition that affects a large number of people in our society.”

Some who have worked in Bradley’s courtroom or know him personally said he is a highly regarded jurist who some thought aspired to the appellate court. However, if he is convicted, it is highly unlikely that the governor’s office would buck public sentiment by appointing him.

“And rightly so,” said Los Angeles attorney Charles G. Bakaly Jr., who has served on a committee making recommendations for appellate posts to Gov. Pete Wilson. He noted that a conviction would loom large in such a tight field. “There are so many outstanding candidates,” he said. “You are always choosing between at least three or four outstanding candidates, so something like this would be very difficult.”

Other attorneys were more blunt.

“I think this is the type of thing that’s an elevation-buster. His aspirations probably just self-destructed,” said Loyola Law School dean Laurie Levenson. But he can certainly continue at the Superior Court level. “I don’t think it in itself would be enough to destroy his career, but I think there would probably be some kind of sanctions,” she said, adding that it would likely be an election issue when Bradley’s term comes up in January 1999.

“The public is a little bit unforgiving,” she said. “And certainly the opposing candidate would bring it up.”

Still, Eskin and other area attorneys praised Bradley’s work.

“I’ve not seen him unable to function in court,” said Louis Samonsky. “He’s always very lucid. He’s one of those judges that will listen to you and give you the benefit of his thinking. Sometimes you leave the court thinking the judge didn’t listen to you, and that’s very disheartening. It’s never been that way with [Judge Bradley].”

Samonsky also said he doesn’t think it was wrong for officers to drive Bradley home after his arrest, rather than leave him in jail for the few hours most drunk driving suspects face.

California Highway Patrol officials acknowledged that it was their agency’s decision to drive him home. Officer Dave Cockrill said the CHP area commander made the decision, based on a concern for Bradley’s safety within the jail.

However, officials at the Sheriff’s Department, which runs the jail, said they have a system for identifying high-risk inmates, and those people are placed in special isolation cells.

“Our priority is to ensure their safety,” said Capt. Keith Parks, adding that the cells have accommodated attorneys and police officers at times.

Due to the isolation system, the Sheriff’s Department does not give any suspect a ride home, regardless of their situation, he said.

Cockrill said it’s possible the CHP officers on duty that night did not know about the jail’s system.

That explanation didn’t wash with some people. Levenson described it as “highly unusual,” saying she’d never heard of it before. “Chauffeur service isn’t usually part of the deal,” she said.

The state Commission on Judicial Performance will probably take a look at the case after it’s resolved, said director Victoria Henley. She said judges lose their posts if convicted of any felony or “crime of moral turpitude.”

In drunk driving cases, judges face action ranging from public censure to a private reprimand.

Henley said such cases are fairly rare, estimating that the commission has handled fewer than 10 in the past seven years.

Superior Court Judge Charles W. Campbell said he plans to announce at a court hearing this morning which judge will take over the Dally trial.

Campbell said that pretrial motions must now be postponed, but that jury selection will proceed as scheduled next week.

“Clearly, any new judge is going to have an enormous amount of catching up to do,” said Campbell, the assistant presiding judge of the Superior Court. “I talked to the attorneys Monday and I told them . . . the court is going to try to stay on schedule.”

Campbell said Bradley is “on leave” and it is unclear when he will be returning to work. “How long will he be out? We don’t know. As long as he needs,” Campbell said. “It is the court’s position that we want Judge Bradley to come back and overcome his difficulties.”

Campbell declined to say whether Bradley is seeking medical treatment. “I don’t know if it is appropriate to comment about that,” he said. “But he is taking steps to resolve the problem.”

Bradley’s temporary absence from the bench means the loss of yet another judge, which will make handling the county’s already swelling caseload more difficult, Campbell said.

Judge David Long was recently elevated to the Superior Court, leaving an absence on the Municipal Court that has not been filled. Judge Frederick A. Jones is leaving for at least six months to undergo a bone marrow transplant.

Also, Judge Charles McGrath recently retired, but has not stepped down from the bench because of a backlog of juvenile cases.

Times staff writers Daryl Kelley and Tracy Wilson contributed to this report.