Legal News

Riverside County judge: I'd rather be jogging

By Jonathan Hayter

California?s Commission on Judicial Performance has charged Riverside County Judge Christopher J. Sheldon with shirking his duties, often taking the afternoons off. The charges, which include willful misconduct in office, persistent failure or inability to perform his duties and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice, claim that for the past three years, Sheldon frequently left the courthouse for the rest of the day once his calendar cleared.

Sheldon referred calls to his attorney, Reginald Vitek, who did not return a call to The Daily Journal.
Riverside County Superior Court has suffered from a backlog of cases in recent years, prompting the Judicial Council of California to send retired and sitting judges to the court in 2007.

Sheldon, who serves in dependency court in Indio, Calif., is no stranger to judicial discipline issues. In 1998, the Commission publicly admonished him for, among other things, leaving the bench during the afternoon misdemeanor pretrial calendar to go jogging.

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on January 16, 2009 (boomark / email).