Part-Time Judge Abused Power, State Panel Rules

SANTA ANA — A state disciplinary panel ruled Friday that a retired judge abused his power by humiliating and intimidating attorneys, telling an off-color joke during a sexual abuse trial and encouraging visitors to his courtroom to buy a book he wrote about his relative the outlaw Jesse James.

Retired Orange County Superior Court Judge James Randal Ross, 71, now must wait to find out whether the state Commission on Judicial Performance will bar him from hearing cases in the wake of Friday’s ruling by three judges appointed by the state Supreme Court to have a hearing on the allegations.

Ross served as a Superior Court judge from 1983 to 1995 and continued to hear cases part time after his retirement. Those assignments have been suspended during the inquiry, costing him about $250,000 in potential income, he said.

Ross, who denied the allegations against him, could not be reached for comment Friday.

“Judge Ross had a good reputation for being a fair-minded judge, but toward the end of his career his patience wore thin,” said attorney Lawrence Eisenberg.

The panel ruled that Ross threatened Eisenberg with a contempt charge during a 1995 trial if Eisenberg did not sign a waiver agreeing not to file a complaint against the judge.

“His quirks and idiosyncrasies were well-known throughout the legal community,” Eisenberg said.

The only accusation out of five lodged against Ross that the panel did not uphold was a charge that he fell asleep on several occasions during two trials.

Ross said he often closed his eyes to concentrate on testimony, and jurors said he seemed alert, active and responsive to attorneys’ objections.

In July, the state Commission on Judicial Performance had offered to drop all other charges against Ross if he would plead guilty to being biased and angry with attorneys in a personal injury case.

Ross refused, writing: “I will not back down. As a direct descendant of Jesse James, no one in our family backs down.”

Ross is a great-grandson of the outlaw, and he wrote a book about his life. The panel found he used his office for personal gain by selling the book from his chambers after trials and improperly using his bailiffs to help, the report said.

The panel also found that the judge went out of his way to humiliate another attorney and in an unrelated incident told an off-color joke outside the presence of the jury but in front of a crowded courtroom audience that included the victim in a sexual abuse case.

“I don’t dislike Judge Ross, but what transpired was unfortunate,” Eisenberg said. “Maybe he should explore a writing career.”