Breaking bad in local politics?

The California Commission on Judicial Performance recently instituted formal proceedings to inquire into matters concerning Judge Gregory Kreis of the Superior Court of California, County of Humboldt. Per the notice, “Preliminary investigation … having been made, the Commission on Judicial Performance has concluded that formal proceedings should be instituted to inquire into the charges specified against you herein.”

The Notice of Formal Proceedings contains 19 counts, charging Judge Kreis with “willful misconduct in office, conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice that brings the judicial office into disrepute.” Kreis was given 20 days to respond, requested an extension and responded in 27 days. Please note that of all the complaints registered against California judges, only 1% go to a formal proceeding. All defendants are considered innocent until proven guilty.

I'm having issues with Judge Kreis' public statements. First off, Kreis was served on Feb. 2 at the Humboldt County Courthouse. That's when a process server comes to your home or work to hand you formal notice that “you've been served” and you sign that you've been served. It's a date that Kreis should never forget. Except that he did. On Instagram, Kreis posted, “I received notice on February 7th of allegations leveled against me.” How could a judge get that date wrong?

While vacationing at Shasta Lake in May 2019, Judge Kreis allegedly vaped cannabis oil, drank excessively and shoved Deputy Public Defender Rory Kalin into the lake fully clothed. It's one thing if Kalin was in a swimsuit, however, fully clothed implies his wallet and cell phone went into the water. Kreis then allegedly called Kalin “Jewboy” in front of Kalin's wife. He also allegedly said “Jewboy” in front of a different attorney in 2016.

Judge Kreis' written responses were pure Trump: Deny — Deflect — Attack! Kreis claimed these complaints were all from a disgruntled exwife and disgruntled former employees. Kreis denied vaping cannabis, denied being intoxicated and denied making any antisemitic statements toward Kalin. He then accused Kalin of heavy cannabis use and abusing prescribed meds.

In Judge Kreis' defense, some of the charges are flimsy. Luke Brownfield, now our Humboldt County Public Defender, is alleged to be a close friend of Kreis, who used to work in the Public Defender's Office. Is Kreis supposed to recuse himself from any trials with a public defender? Most criminal defendants have public defenders.

Judge Kreis is alleged to have an affair with the court's family law facilitator. He wouldn't be the first spouse in history to have an affair, nor the last. He allegedly got the courtroom clerk fired, as she was telling people her suspicions that Kreis was having an affair, which he denied. Phone records and text messages will clear up when their alleged affair started. If Kreis lied about his affair, that would be bad.

“Conflict of interest” is where Judge Kreis will have problems. It appears that Kreis had professional and personal relationships with two local attorneys, both who were with the law firm Janson Malloy. Same goes with two former Public Defenders. Relationships are not the problem. The problem is a judge not recusing himself when an attorney with whom you have a close relationship appears before you. A simple, “Because of a prior relationship, I must recuse myself from this case.” would have sufficed.

What got me were the details in some of the charges.

“In approximately October 2015, you drove two attorneys to a house in Humboldt Hill for the purpose of purchasing cocaine.” Not “You drove with some friends to purchase drugs”, but rather “two attorneys,” “Humboldt Hill” and “cocaine”. That's pretty specific and implies someone gave details to investigators.

In 2017, while Kreis was still an attorney, he called a female Deputy District Attorney a sexist slur in court.

Finally, his latest campaign radio ads aren't helping him. In the ad, Kreis states that he is the only candidate qualified for this position. I'm sure his opponents April Van Dyke and write-in candidate Jessica Watson would disagree. Next, he calls these charges a “lastminute partisan hit piece” The judge's office is a non-partisan position. So which side of the political fence is doing the hit piece and who's paying for it?

Where there's smoke, there's usually fire.