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Disciplinary Counsel v. O'Neill9/7/2004
d shall act at all times in a manner which promotes public confidence in the judiciary;
c) Canon 3 -- A judge shall perform the duties of judicial office impartially and diligently;
d) Canon 3(B)(4) -- A judge shall be patient, dignified and courteous to litigants, jurors, witnesses, lawyers and other with whom the judge deals in an official capacity;
e) Canon 3(C)(1) -- A judge shall diligently discharge the judge's administrative responsibilities without bias or prejudice and maintain professional competence in judicial administration, and should cooperate with other judges and court officials in the administration of court business;
f) Canon 4 -- A judge shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in all of the judge's activities;
g) DR 1-102(A)(5) -- Engage in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice.
288. In these series of incidents the panel majority concludes that Judge O'Neill's behavior towards all with whom she dealt in an official capacity was neither patient, dignified nor courteous. In considering the violations in this Count the panel majority was mindful of the interpersonal nature of these complaints and that personality conflicts are not in and of themselves grounds for discipline. These multiple events are not isolated incidents of a person having a bad day or being disturbed by an episode of neglect or incompetence.
289. The panel majority is also mindful of Judge O'Neill's additional intemperate behaviors described in the testimony given about incidents involved in Counts 1 through 4 of this Complaint. By mid-2000 these repeated intemperate behaviors had resulted in Judge O'Neill losing float bailiff coverage as well as an assigned court reporter. After meeting with the Court's Personnel Committee in 2000, acknowledging a problem and promising improvement, Judge O'Neill's intemperate behavior with court employees continued resulting in the extraordinary personnel committee meeting in July 2001 in which Judges Connor and Pfeiffer moved that the secretary, Elsa Cunbow, be removed from Judge O'Neill's chambers and that the Chief Justice be consulted for assistance regarding the situation with Judge O'Neill.
290. The testimony of court administrative staff, Casey, Goodman, Richards and Roberts and court employees Grego, Nyce, Boughner and Karn confirm the personnel committee's concerns that they were risking a hostile work environment claim from an employee relating to Judge O'Neill's intemperate behavior. The testimony from Judges Cain and Watson as well as Court Director Casey describe how much of the Court's administrative resources were used managing and trying to resolve personnel issues created by Judge O'Neill's behavior.
291. The panel majority concludes that these multiple episodes of intemperate behavior with litigants, lawyers and court employees were clearly not the diligent discharge of Respondent's administrative responsibilities and they rose to the level of interfering with the administration of justice. The panel majority concludes by clear and convincing evidence that Judge O'Neill's behavior in all of the incidents described in Count 5 violated Canons 1, 2, 3, 3(B)(4), 3(C)(1) and 4 and DR 1-102(A)(5). See, Inquiry Concerning Van Voorhis, (Cal. Comm. On Jud. Performance, 2003)
292. COUNT VI alleged Respondent repeatedly violated the Code of Judicial Conduct during her political campaign by utilizing county resources and personnel to promote her campaign, by instructing those under her direction and control to solicit campaign contributions and by personally handling campaign contributions.
293. Campa
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