Judge Denies Charges Made by State Panel

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge being investigated for, among other things, keeping an artificial marijuana plant in her courtroom has denied all charges brought against her even as she acknowledged some basic facts.

In a written response Monday to the state Commission on Judicial Performance, Judge Nancy Brown said she kept a plastic marijuana plant in her courtroom as a “teaching tool used to show people what a marijuana plant looks like.”

She denied that she “improperly used her judicial power” in 1996 when she agreed to marry Lyle Menendez and Anna Eriksson, his pen pal and supporter. Lyle and his brother Erik were convicted of the 1989 shotgun murder of their parents.

Brown arranged to perform the marriage in her chambers the day before the brothers were to be sentenced to life in prison, but Supervising Superior Court Judge John H. Reid overruled her.

An irked Brown accused Reid of meddling and said the couple were legally entitled to get married. Menendez and Eriksson eventually got married in prison, but it is not clear whether Brown performed the rites.

Brown’s brush with Reid landed her in hot water with the Commission on Judicial Performance.

Earlier this month, the commission began formal proceedings against Brown for improperly authorizing the use of public resources and disparaging a fellow judge in the Menendez incident.

She also was accused of three other counts: displaying an artificial marijuana plant in her courtroom, an act “inconsistent with [her] judicial obligation to maintain appropriate decorum”; smoking in her chambers in violation of court rules; and banning a court coordinator from her courtroom.

In her statement, the judge, who has served 22 years, including 14 on the Superior Court, said she no longer smokes, although she considered her chambers a private place at the time and did not believe that she was violating no-smoking laws.

She also acknowledged that she banned court coordinator John Iverson from her courtroom, but said she did not violate proper judicial conduct or ethics.

Brown would not comment personally Monday, but her attorney, Ephraim Margolin, defended his client.

“You do not ban someone from your courtroom unless you have a darn good reason to do so,” he said.

As to other charges, he said that the plastic marijuana plant was a gift from a departing judge and that it was in Brown’s courtroom long before she assumed her post.

“It had been on display for 10 years before her arrival,” Margolin said.

He added that the plant had been removed after someone complained about it.

Margolin suggested that Brown is being singled out, but declined to go into detail.

As for the Menendez wedding incident, “the fact is all she offered to do was to have a wedding performed,” Margolin said. “When it got canceled, she felt the press deserved an explanation.”

Margolin said it was never Brown’s intention to disparage Reid, although she disagreed with his ruling.

“When pressed to talk about it, the only thing she said was that it was ‘an American tragedy,’ ” Margolin said. “I happen to believe that.”

No date has been set for a final hearing on the matter. In the hearing, both sides will be able to present their case to a panel of mediators appointed by the state Supreme Court. If the charges are found to be true, Brown could receive punishment ranging from a reprimand to removal from the bench.