Judge’s Appeal to Return to Bench

* Re “Bradley Pleads for 2nd Chance,” May 13.

After reading your article describing Judge Robert Bradley appealing his banishment from the bench, I cannot urge the commission reviewing his case strongly enough to deny this man’s appeal. This comes not from a layman but from someone who has had occasion to try hundreds of cases in front of this man, in both juvenile court and family court.

I am a retired deputy district attorney of 18 years, nine of them in Los Angeles County and nine in Ventura County. I firmly believe that this has always been an unstable individual, and what we have seen of his behavior in the last few years is just the tip of the iceberg. This man would argue and argue over the littlest points in court, just for the sake of argument.

We oftentimes had to ask his courtroom bailiff what type of mood Judge Bradley was in before he came out on the bench, because we never knew what to expect, behavior-wise. Many of his judicial decisions never made any sense to anyone but him.

Putting all of that aside, we are still dealing with a man who came to the courthouse inebriated and was ready to go out on the bench in that condition. Combine that with his several drunk driving arrests (including riding drunk on a bicycle), his breaking into his ex-wife’s bedroom window in the middle of the night even though she had a restraining order against him (which he well knew), his threatening to kill a male deputy district attorney because he was dating Bradley’s wife, and you need to come to the conclusion that this is an unstable man who never again belongs on the judicial bench.

For the sake of those who might come before him, be it defendants in a criminal matter, juveniles or family members worried about issues such as custody or child support, never let this man on the bench again!

DEBORAH S. ELLIOT

Thousand Oaks