Panel Clears Way for Removal of Judge for Perjury

A three-judge panel has concluded that a state judicial commission could have grounds to remove Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patrick Couwenberg from the bench for misconduct that includes embellishing his academic credentials and falsely claiming to be a CIA agent.

The three justices, who presided over a February hearing on accusations against Couwenberg, found that he persistently provided false information to the commission about his education and work for the CIA. His actions, the panel wrote, constitute willful misconduct.

The judges could not recommend Couwenberg’s dismissal, but were required to establish whether grounds existed for the State Commission on Judicial Performance to consider removal from the bench or other punishment. Couwenberg has been a judge since 1997 and is assigned to the bench at the Norwalk courthouse.

He was appointed to that office by Gov. Pete Wilson, the panel said, based on the governor’s belief that he was a military veteran with experience in covert operations.

However, during the hearing, a CIA officer testified that the judge had never served with the agency and that the agency never operated in Laos in 1968 and 1969 when Couwenberg claimed to be there.

“We find the judge was never affiliated with the CIA or any other agency involved in covert operations at any time during the Vietnam War,” the panel concluded.

The justices said that was just one of many falsehoods, including at least one apparent act of perjury in a pretrial statement to the commission last year. “We conclude as matter of fact and law that when Judge Couwenberg testified under oath in January 21, 2000, that he had a master’s degree in psychology from Cal State L.A., Judge Couwenberg knowingly gave materially false testimony under oath,” the panel concluded.

Couwenberg later admitted to the commission that he has no such degree.

The judge’s lawyers and a medical expert for his defense during the hearing said the judge suffered from a compulsive disorder that led him to enhance his credentials, stemming from his childhood in war-torn Java. They said he never intends to mislead but mixes fact with fiction to protect his self-esteem and that the condition is treatable.

However, the panel found that the condition known as pseudologica fantastica, was not well recognized in the medical community and was not an excuse for his misconduct.

The justices also said in the 48-page report that on various applications the judge falsely said he attended Loyola Law School and Caltech, worked at the law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and was a Vietnam veteran.

Couwenberg testified at the hearing that, in reality, he was in the Naval Reserves and attended Chaffey Community College, Cal Poly Pomona and La Verne Law School.