Suspended Judge Faces More Charges

Glassy-eyed, reeking of alcohol and stumbling after falling off his bicycle, embattled Ventura County Superior Court Judge Robert Bradley was arrested again Friday night on an east Ventura street corner, police confirmed Monday.

Bradley, 57, suspended from the bench after two drunk-driving arrests last winter, was arrested on suspicion of violating his probation at 9:55 p.m. about two miles from the sober-living house where he has been staying, authorities said.

In an interview at the house Monday, Bradley--who has now been arrested five times since Dec. 6--said he began drinking on Friday after news reports revealed details of a late April dispute he had with his wife.

Bradley said he saw the movie “Titanic” on Friday night, then stopped at a nearby sports bar before attempting to ride his bicycle home.

“I’m really kind of tired of this, but as much as I am tired of reading about myself in the newspaper, I realize I am the one who continues to make mistakes,” Bradley said.

He said he has an inability to deal with what is going on in his life, particularly the demise of his marriage and the continuing news reports on his arrests.

“For every five good days, I have one bad day and everyone finds out about it,” Bradley said.

He quipped that he was keeping the local newspapers in business.

Bradley was arrested Friday after Ventura Police Officer Nancy Moore saw a man on the ground next to his bicycle at Johnson Drive and Crescent Street, Lt. Carl Handy said.

When she stopped to make sure the man was all right, Handy said, Moore recognized Bradley and knew from his four highly publicized alcohol-related arrests that the jurist was banned from drinking alcohol under the terms of his probation.

In an arrest report, which was not made public, Moore described Bradley as stumbling, smelling of alcohol and having bloodshot, watery eyes, Handy said.

“He was intoxicated to the point where she wanted to get him off the street,” Handy said.

The officer did not feel she had enough evidence to cite the judge for riding a bicycle while intoxicated, which is illegal under the California Vehicle Code, Handy said, leaving it up to prosecutors with the state attorney general’s office to decide whether to charge Bradley with drunk driving or with public intoxication.

Sheriff’s spokesman Capt. Keith Parks said Bradley was booked into the main jail at 12:15 a.m. Saturday and was released after posting $5,000 bail at 8 a.m.

A hearing on Bradley’s latest arrest is set for June 15.

During Monday’s interview, Bradley said that he recognizes he needs professional help to deal with his alcoholism as well as his inability to cope emotionally with the breakup of his marriage.

“I don’t seem to be able to deal with these problems,” he said. “It’s been overwhelming, but it’s my problem. Nobody created these problems for Bob Bradley. Bob Bradley created these problems by himself.”

Bradley’s attorney, Samuel Eaton of Santa Barbara, said he was aware of the arrest but refused to discuss it.

Bradley’s fall after 13 years on the Superior Court bench began on Dec. 6, when the judge was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving near his Ojai home.

Nearly a month later, on Jan. 3, Bradley was arrested again on suspicion of drunk driving in Santa Paula.

Sentenced to 30 days in jail plus probation after pleading guilty to both drunk-driving counts, Bradley served his sentence in a Los Angeles County jail and was released March 17.

Citing Bradley’s two convictions and a report that he appeared on the job while apparently under the influence of alcohol, the state Commission on Judicial Performance suspended Bradley from the bench March 20.

Although vowing at one point to seek reelection to his Superior Court seat, Bradley never filed candidacy papers.

Three attorneys are now bidding for his seat.

Bradley’s most recent arrest came a day after he admitted during a hearing in a Santa Barbara courtroom that he violated his probation when he got drunk April 25 and contacted his estranged wife.

Police reports give the following account of the incident:

Bradley called his estranged wife, Dorothea, four times before taking a $55 cab ride to her Ojai home.

He set off the burglar alarm at 2:15 a.m. He apparently had pried open the screen of the bathroom window with a 10-inch butcher knife. He climbed in, and began yelling at his wife. When police arrived, he cursed them and told them to leave.

After police found the knife in the grass outside, they showed it to Dorothea, who became “visibly shaken,” an officer said. As police were leaving, Dorothea said her husband had threatened to kill her, but that she thought he had been joking.

At the Ojai Police Department, Bradley “became extremely angry and kept yelling . . . how I destroyed his chance to become an active judge,” an officer wrote. He beat his body against the holding cell and threatened to take his own life in the coming month. “He asked me to shoot him with my gun,” the report continued.

Following that incident, an emergency protective order was issued against Bradley forbidding him from contacting his estranged wife.

When his credit card was turned down that morning, he called Dorothea asking for $5,000 bail. She refused. He then allegedly violated the protective order by calling and leaving three messages on her answering machine.

The first message begins, “Um. It’s me. I guess I’m kinda violating the restraining order by even calling here, but at least I’m not talking to you.”

He was arrested for a second time that day and charged with violating the emergency protective order.

In a final police interview, Bradley said he never intended to hurt his wife. He got the knife from the back shed and used it to pry open the screen. He said he called his wife just to tell her he loved her and that he was sorry that it had come to this.

In Santa Barbara Municipal Court, Bradley’s attorney entered a guilty plea on the probation violation, but pleaded not guilty to five new counts of violating the protective order.

Bradley is to be sentenced June 26 for the probation violation.

The jurist said he has been staying at the sober-living house in east Ventura for several weeks, but given his recent relapses, his ability to stay there is being reviewed by the proprietors of the home on a day-to-day basis.

“These people are very loving and they have my best interest at heart,” Bradley said.

Although many of his friends have lost hope that he’ll turn his life around, Bradley said, others continue to lend their support.

He said his No. 1 concern continues to be his three daughters. The restraining order keeps him from contacting his wife, but she has not prevented him from visiting his children away from their Ojai home.

Bradley, unshaven and speaking in a soft, tired voice, said Monday he feels like his life has been running out of control, like a snowball gathering speed as it runs downhill.

“Once they start rolling and picking up speed, they get bigger and bigger and they don’t stop,” Bradley said of his problems. “And I’m at the bottom of the hill.”

Warchol is a correspondent and Wilson is a Times staff writer. Staff writer Hilary E. MacGregor also contributed to this story.