REDWOOD CITY — An unbiased listening to officer says there may be trigger to take away embattled San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus from workplace underneath the county constitution.
In a 42-page advisory opinion issued Monday, retired choose James Emerson concluded Corpus violated legal guidelines associated to her official duties by participating in conflicts of curiosity and acts of retaliation, the county of San Mateo stated in an announcement.
Corpus, in the meantime, famous Emerson discovered 15 of the 18 allegations introduced towards her weren’t sustained.
“That alone should end this,” Corpus stated in an announcement. “Instead, the (San Mateo County Board of Supervisors) is rushing to fire me without regard for fairness, precedent, or the will of the voters. I stand by my actions, and the difficult decisions I make as the elected sheriff. I should have been cleared of all the allegations.”
Emerson’s ruling follows a two-week elimination listening to he presided over in August.
In line with the county, Emerson decided Corpus used her place to create and fund positions for Victor Aenlle, writing “although vehemently denied by appellant and Victor Aenlle, the evidentiary record is highly suggestive that appellant Sheriff Corpus and Mr. Aenlle were in a romantic extra-marital relationship preceding Sheriff Corpus’s election to office and continuing thereafter.”
“The undersigned hearing officer need not determine whether appellant Sheriff Corpus and Mr. Aenlle were in a romantic extra-marital relationship,” Emerson wrote. “However, the undersigned hearing officer finds, supported by the greater weight of the evidence, that appellant Sheriff Corpus and Mr. Aenlle were in a close personal relationship outside the boundaries of a professional working relationship.”
“The evidentiary record,” the retired choose continued, “supports a finding that appellant Sheriff Corpus elevated her own interest in the close personal relationship she held with Mr. Aenlle above her obligation to appoint, recruit, select, and/or retain based upon merit and in conformity with the principles of equal opportunity.”
Emerson additionally discovered trigger for elimination based mostly on Corpus’ illegal order to arrest Deputy Carlos Tapia, president of the Deputy Sheriff’s Affiliation, “for his exercise of lawful action as an elected representative of the DSA,” based on the county.
A 3rd discovering of trigger concerned retaliation towards Capt. Brian Philip, who refused to ship an inner affairs discover he believed was improper and will violate state legal guidelines, the county stated in its assertion, including that Emerson discovered Philip’s refusal was protected underneath state legal guidelines and his switch by Corpus was retaliatory.
Corpus referred to as the hassle to oust her “unconstitutional, corrupt and fundamentally unfair.”
“The board wrote the rules, conducted the investigation, and will now act as judge and jury,” the sheriff stated in her assertion Monday. “Two board members publicly declared I was guilty before any evidence was heard. The ‘jury’ is tainted. The deck was stacked from the start. This would never have happened if I were a man.”
A greater possibility, Corpus stated, can be to carry a full jury trial on the allegations earlier than the board takes closing motion.
“The community should have a voice in this, but the county has refused to allow that process to go forward,” she stated. “If the removal process is allowed to proceed, no elected sheriff in California will be safe from political retaliation. The danger isn’t just to me. It’s to the rule of law.”
Measure A, a voter-approved initiative handed in March, gave the board authority to take away a sheriff by means of 2028. Corpus can also be going through a second effort to take away her: a civil grand jury accusation filed in June alleging misconduct and abuse of energy.
The board has 30 days to assessment the opinion. A four-fifths majority vote is required to take away Corpus, who was elected in 2022 and is the county’s first Latina sheriff. If ousted, she can be the primary sheriff in California to be eliminated by a board of supervisors.Examine again for updates.
