The state’s Commission on Judicial Performance has publicly admonished a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge for engaging in a pattern of making “discourteous, disparaging and gratuitous” remarks to litigants, creating the appearance of bias.
The San Francisco-based commission released its misconduct judgment against Judge Thomas Griego, who has served on the Superior Court bench since 2015, on July 11.
“The commission determined that it should publicly admonish Judge Griego for engaging in a pattern of pervasive poor demeanor during small claims trials and civil harassment restraining order hearings,” the commission said in a news release. “Judge Griego’s misconduct included making discourteous, disparaging and gratuitous remarks to litigants; making comments conveying the appearance of bias and prejudgment; and raising his voice at litigants.”
The commission’s report on the facts about Griego’s “intemperate behavior” toward litigants who were representing themselves concludes the actions were discourteous and impolite. Judges must control their courtrooms, but they should not repeatedly interrupt litigants and raise their voices to them, the panel said.
Gregory Dresser, the panel’s director-chief counsel, told the Southern California Record in an email that the judicial chastisement would not go beyond the public admonishment.
“The commission’s discipline of Judge Griego is set forth in the public admonishment,” Dresser said. “There is nothing more to it than that.”
Griego’s attorney, Kathleen Ewins, did not respond to a request for comment.
The admonishment was the second disciplinary action handed down against the judge in seven years.
“In determining to issue this public admonishment, the commission considered Judge Griego’s prior discipline to be an aggravating factor,” the commission said in its report. “In 2017, Judge Griego received an advisory letter for independently investigating a traffic accident scene, failing to timely disclose his receipt of ex parte (one-sided) information and failing to disqualify himself.”
In one case the panel pointed to Griego’s likening of a small claims trial alleging defamation to the “Jerry Springer” tabloid talk show, and in another case Griego was admonished for saying remarks such as “I can’t stand that” and “Jeez!”
“The commission also expressed criticism of the judge’s practice of insisting that litigants insert ‘Your Honor’ into statements where no personal address was necessary,” the commission’s news release states.
The panel criticized Griego for comparing an adverse small claims judgment to a felony, and in one small claims case he referred to the litigants as “two pigs in the trough, fighting with each other.”
“What are you doing, checking your emails?” the judge said to a person in his courtroom’s front row who was using a cell phone. “Is it really important? Then go outside! Jeez, man, that is so rude. You think you’re at home or a park? You’re in a court of law, for God’s sake.”
The commission indicated that, in response to the panel’s concerns, Griego acknowledged that he should not have made certain statements or yelled at litigants.
“He suggested that many of his comments, however, were not gratuitous, and reflected either his evaluation of the evidence before him or his efforts to exercise control over his courtroom,” the commission said in its report.