Bay Area Judge Found Guilty of Misconduct

An Alameda County judge told a court worker a sexually charged story and improperly had a clerk pull the driving record of a motorist who cut the judge off on his way to the courthouse, a state disciplinary panel has ruled.

Judge D. Ronald Hyde committed seven violations of judicial standards, according to the three-judge panel of the state Commission on Judicial Performance. Two cases were found to be “willful misconduct,” the most serious level of violation.

The decision means that Hyde, 60, could be removed from the bench after a public hearing next month.

Hyde had announced earlier that he would retire this year, but he remains on the bench because an administrative problem altered his retirement date.

Hyde, who has been on the bench for 20 years, faced similar charges in 1996. At that time he was censured after acknowledging that he used court workers and equipment for his personal benefit and relayed sexually explicit jokes or stories.

In the latest decision, the three-judge panel ruled that Hyde willfully sidestepped judicial procedures and acted improperly or beyond his authority repeatedly.