Former Judge Back in Jail for Violating His Probation

A former Ventura County judge who was removed from the bench after a series of alcohol-related arrests is back in jail after violating his probation by drinking.

Robert C. Bradley’s most recent violation occurred Feb. 1 while he was enrolled in a rehabilitation program in Orange County. Bradley, 59, told authorities he had been out looking for work but then went to a store, bought a bottle of liquor and took it back to his room to drink.

It was not clear whether Bradley turned himself in or was flagged by someone in the rehabilitation program.

He had been scheduled to appear in a Santa Barbara courtroom the next morning, when he was to be sentenced for two prior probation violations, said Bob Snider, a deputy state attorney general who prosecuted the cases.

In a Feb. 5 court hearing, Snider said, Bradley acted as his own lawyer and asked for leniency from Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge Denise de Bellefeuille.

The judge sentenced Bradley to four months in jail in Ventura County rather than an eight-month maximum. With good behavior, he is likely to be released in less than three months, Snider said. After half a dozen probation violations and at least eight attempts at rehabilitation, however, Snider said Bradley seems not to accept that he is not allowed to drink alcohol at all.

“It’s really sad,” Snider said. “This guy had so much to offer.”

Bradley was a respected member of the Ventura County bench until his inability to control his drinking derailed his career three years ago.

He was charged twice with driving under the influence within a two-month period starting in December 1997. Friends in the legal community said he had been struggling with a failing marriage and the death of his mother.

He was disqualified from the bench after those arrests and was caught up in a subsequent string of probation violations. He did not seek reelection in 1998. A state judicial commission banned him from serving as a judge again unless he got his problem under control.

In 1999, he was hired as an attorney for a Thousand Oaks firm and apparently had a period of sobriety. But last spring, he was arrested on suspicion of prowling near his Ventura home while intoxicated. He was again sentenced to jail time.

Then, early last November, he turned himself in to his probation officer for drinking, Snider said. Shortly after Thanksgiving, he was washing his car outside his home when neighbors called police to complain that he was disturbing them.

In December, he admitted in court to twice violating his probation. At that time, de Bellefeuille felt sentencing should be postponed until Bradley could begin the Anaheim program.

Last month, the state Supreme Court suspended Bradley’s law license for two months, officials said. An official with the State Bar of California said it has yet to be determined whether Bradley’s most recent probation violation will affect his status as an attorney.