Embattled Contra Costa County judge retires in face of misconduct case, but asks commission to clear his name

SAN FRANCISCO — A Contra Costa County judge facing discipline for the sixth time told a commission of judges he had retired in June and asked them to clear his name.

Judge Bruce C. Mills still took issue with a March ruling by the panel of special masters — three judicial officials who oversee complaints against judges — that found he committed misconduct three times and accused him of raising a dishonest defense.

During July 11 opening arguments in the disciplinary phase of his misconduct case, Mills asked the state Commission on Judicial Performance to reverse the decision against him. He insisted his retirement was not motivated by pending disciplinary proceedings.

“I’m not going to practice law. I’m not going to sit as a judge,” Mills said. He later added: “I didn’t retire because of this. I retired because after 23 years, I wanted to do something else.”

In March, Mills was found to have committed three counts of misconduct related to a contempt of court hearing where he jailed a man for discussing his divorce online. Mills was found to have effectively tried to improperly double the man’s jail sentence. In another drunken driving case, Mills was found to have had an inappropriate conversation with a prosecutor.

Possible disciplines include public and private admonishments. During his opening statement, the commission’s attorney, Mark Lizarraga, implied that Mills was unfit to be a judge.

“Judge Mills’ extensive prior disciplinary record demonstrates that he’s incapable of conforming to the conduct of ethical norms, conforming his conduct to the CJP,” Lizarraga said.

But instead of discipline, Mills said he deserved vindication.

“The special masters got this wrong,” Mills said. “You have a clear record and a clear transcript that backs up everything I’m telling you, and I’m asking you to reverse the decision of the special masters and square this away.”

Later, he added that Lizarraga had “got what he wanted, which was me off the bench.”

In 2016, Mills jailed a San Ramon resident, Joseph Sweeney, for discussing his pending divorce case in a blog post, ruling Sweeney had violated a previous judge’s order not to disclose details about the case. Sweeney argued that the details had been made public in court records.

In 2016, an appeals court upheld Mills’ ruling. But it was Sweeney’s 25-day jail sentence that ended up landing the judge in hot water. During Sweeney’s hearing, Mills said Sweeney would “also get good time credits,” and therefore end up serving “12 or 13” days. In California, nonviolent offenders can have their sentences reduced by up to 50 percent for good behavior.

Mills also said Sweeney would “only serve half of it to begin with.” But at the July 11 hearing, Mills insisted there was nothing to suggest he believed Sweeney would get good time credits. He said he later determined that Sweeney should not get them, and had his clerk modify the order accordingly.

Then, after Sweeney’s lawyer complained, Mills conferred with another judge and reinstated Sweeney’s good time credits, he said.

Lizarraga wasn’t buying the story, and cited the special masters’ decision that said Mills offered multiple, contradictory explanations for his actions.

“(Mills) clearly has had changing stories here, no matter how he wants to spin it,” Lizarraga said.

During his remarks, Mills also took aim at Sweeney, referencing a 2016 article by this newspaper about the case.

“Of course, Mr. Sweeney didn’t go back to the newspaper and tell them that the Court of Appeal ruled against him,” Mills said. “So while all of my neighbors and friends got to read in the newspaper how I violated Mr. Sweeney’s rights, nobody got to read the confirmation that I did not, in the one-paragraph decision issued by the Court of Appeal, that I handled this case exactly correctly.”

Mills was appointed by Gov. Pete Wilson in 1995, and served in a number of different capacities throughout his career. A former Contra Costa County judge and current defense lawyer, Dan O’Malley, called him “a workhorse.”

“He was great to everybody, his staff was spectacular,” O’Malley said. “It’s a shame his past came back to haunt him.”

Mills’ five prior disciplines since 2001 include a 2013 case, when the CJP found he had “created an appearance of impropriety that undermined public confidence in the impartiality and integrity of the judiciary” by interfering with a case in which his son was a defendant. In 2001, he was found to have coerced a guilty plea out of a DUI defendant.

The CJP may make a decision at its meeting in late August.

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Embattled Contra Costa County judge retires in face of misconduct case, but asks commission to clear his name