Panel Suspends Ventura Superior Court Judge

Rejecting new promises of sobriety from Robert Bradley, a state judicial panel on Tuesday suspended the Superior Court judge at least until he faces six counts of misconduct at a disciplinary hearing in late May or June.

Bradley, 56, who pleaded guilty in February to two counts of drunk driving, had asked to be allowed to resume his judicial duties after he completes an alcohol treatment program this month.

But the state Commission on Judicial Performance suspended him even before his disciplinary hearing, where he will answer charges of drunk driving, working while intoxicated, failure to do his job and habitual use of alcohol while a judge.

On a 9-0 vote, the commission ruled that Bradley cannot be trusted to stay sober. His suspension was the first under a 1995 law allowing the temporary disqualification of jurists if their continued service could harm the public.

“While the commission is hopeful that Judge Bradley will recover, the evidence is clear that he has not recovered yet,” wrote Chairman Robert C. Bonner, a former U.S. attorney and federal judge. “In the circumstances, there can be no assurance that Judge Bradley will not relapse. The danger of further harm to the public remains too great.”

Bradley, a judge since 1983, was unavailable for comment. His lawyer, Thomas C. Brayton, did not return telephone calls.

But in a response last week to the proposed suspension, Brayton argued that Bradley’s dissolving marriage had aggravated his drinking as he was trying to get it under control. The couple separated in February 1997; Bradley’s wife, Dorothea, filed for divorce six weeks ago.

Bradley completed a four-week rehabilitation program after his Dec. 6 arrest but resumed drinking after his wife told him she had been seeing another man for several months, Brayton wrote in a letter to the commission.

Bradley was arrested again for drunk driving on Jan. 3 and removed from the bench by superiors when he showed up for work intoxicated on Jan. 13. After he abandoned a second rehabilitation program, Bradley learned of his wife’s plans for divorce and resumed drinking, his lawyer said.

At that point, Bradley phoned Deputy Dist. Atty. Miles Weiss, his wife’s male friend, and made comments taken as threatening but that were not meant to be, the lawyer argued.

Bonner cited the perceived threats in the commission’s suspension Tuesday.

“Judge Bradley’s conduct has caused immediate, irreparable and continuing public harm, first because of the adverse effects of his alcoholic behavior to those endangered on the highways, and those who have been intimidated or apprehensive of potential violence.”

Bradley is charged with six counts of willful misconduct in office, including persistent failure to perform his duties; habitual intemperance in the use of intoxicants or drugs; conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice that brings the judicial office into disrepute; improper action; and dereliction of duty.

The judge has until Thursday to answer the charges and request a full hearing. A hearing before a three-judge panel appointed by the chief justice of the state Supreme Court would probably occur by late May or June, officials said.

Bradley faces a spectrum of penalties--admonishment, censure for unprofessional conduct, or removal from office.

If he is removed and unable to complete his term this year, he probably would not be able to serve in retirement as a temporary judge--an option chosen by many judges who leave the bench. Even if only censured, state officials could bar Bradley from the bench for life.