Discipline
Jun. 21, 2002
CJP Charges Alameda Jurist With New Set Of Violations
SAN FRANCISCO - New misconduct charges were filed Wednesday against Alameda Superior Court Judge D. Ronald Hyde for allegedly ordering court personnel to get DMV records for a driver who cut him off, relating stories about a former employee's sexual escapades and intervening in cases involving family and friends.
The charges filed by the state Commission on Judicial Performance mark the second time the judge has faced misconduct charges and raise the odds that he will be removed from the bench.
In one of the six charges, the commission alleges that Hyde, 59, asked a traffic clerk to get access to confidential DMV records to identify a driver who cut him off in traffic.
In another incident, during a visit by Arthur Sims, the newly-appointed executive officer of the Alameda court, Hyde told Sims - in the presence of female court employees - about a former employee who provided oral sex in the courthouse parking lot, the commission said.
When Hyde's daughter sued a driver following a 1999 car accident, the jurist chose a fellow Rotary Club member, John Harding, to handle the case as a judge pro tem, which Harding subsequently decided in her favor, the charges said.
In 1996, Hyde was disciplined for once asking a female court employee, "Are we having a PMS day?"
He received a severe public censure, rather than removal, for the comment, after he assured commissioners the offensive conduct would not be repeated.
Defense attorneys complain privately that Hyde has a propensity for condescending lectures and harangues in court and sets unreasonably high bail for minor violations.
However, Hyde is also remembered for a singular act of kindness: taking in the son of Assistant Public Defender Harriet Verbin when she died of cancer several years ago. The boy lived with Hyde for two years, until he graduated from high school in 1997.
Hyde's attorney, James A. Murphy of San Francisco, asserted the charges are based on a personal vendetta by a group of court employees who are "out to get Judge Hyde, pure and simple." The incidents were taken out of context, he said.
"These charges don't have legs," Murphy contended.
The current charges stem from accusations by Hyde's opponents which proved to be unfounded, Murphy said.
In the DMV instance, Hyde was only trying to determine if the driver had a history of reckless driving so he could report him to the police, Murphy explained. The sex tale occurred as employees were recounting true and unusual incidents to newcomer Sims, Murphy said.
Hyde did not return calls for comment Wednesday.
Hyde faces a range of disciplines if he is found culpable, but because he has been disciplined for similar conduct in the past, the commission may press for removal from the bench.
Other charges announced Wednesday include accusations that Hyde improperly granted early termination of probation for the daughter of an attorney whom the jurist knew personally and for a defendant accused of injuring a child.
In another incident, the commission said, Hyde obtained a fee waiver for a woman seeking to divorce a defendant in a domestic violence case in which Hyde was the judge. The commission said Hyde was angry with the defendant for being disruptive in his court.
Hyde was appointed to the bench by Gov. Jerry Brown in 1982.
Donna Domino
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