Ailing judge may finally call it quits

Tim Willert

GLENDALE -- Los Angels Superior Court Judge James R. Simpson, in

failing health and under investigation by a state agency, has applied for

disability retirement, his attorney said.

Simpson, who once presided over Glendale Municipal Court with his

basset hound Waldo by his side, is seeking to retire on the basis of

permanent illness or injury, said John Gantus, a Glendale attorney who is

representing Simpson in connection with the application.

Gantus said the application was filed in February, around the time it

was reported that Simpson was under investigation by the Commission on

Judicial Performance.

The investigation centers on allegations that the judge intervened

with other members of the Glendale bench in order to help friends who had

cases before the court and that he engaged in bizarre personal behavior

in the courthouse.

Victoria Henley, director and chief counsel of the Commission on

Judicial Performance, confirmed Thursday that Simpson’s application has

been filed and is pending.

Henley would not, however, confirm or deny whether Simpson, a Glendale

resident, remains under investigation.

“Commission investigations are confidential until formal charges have

been filed,” she said.

Simpson has had a series of health problems, including strokes in 1995

and 1997, Gantus said. The judge fell twice in the past year, and took a

leave of the court after the second fall, which required shoulder

surgery.

“He is in declining health,” said Gantus, who added that the

retirement filing was not a result of the preliminary investigation.

Simpson was elected to an open seat on the Glendale Municipal Court in

1994 and became a Superior Court judge under unification last year.

He made news in December 1998 when he dismissed veteran court

commissioner Dona Bracke, who was investigated after complaints that that

she jailed dozens of minor traffic offenders on suspicion of perjury

because she doubted the validity of their auto insurance claims.

Bracke, a former L.A. county deputy district attorney now working for

the district attorney in Bremerton, Wash., sued Simpson and the Superior

Court for wrongful termination, alleging that Simpson ordered her to fix

traffic tickets for two friends.

Simpson faces a trial date next month in the U.S. District court for

the Central District of California on the suit.