OC Judge admonished for offensive comments including towards Latina youth

A state watchdog agency admonished an Orange County Superior Court judge Thursday for what it called a pattern of "impatient" behavior toward attorneys and offensive comments.

The Commission on Judicial Performance admonished Orange County Superior Court Julian W. Bailey for comments in 2014, 2022 and 2023. The commission also admonished him for attempting to influence a prosecutor's recollection of some incidents.

"In 2014, and again in 2022 and 2023, Judge Bailey engaged in a pattern of discourteous, undignified and impatient behavior with female and/or inexperienced attorneys in 10 separate matters," the commission wrote in its report. "In some instances, the judge also conveyed the appearance of embroilment and bias on the basis of gender, race, national origin, or ethnicity."

In one incident, Judge Bailey said a Latina youth defendant could play a “native American Indian” in movies according to the commission.  

"In early 2014, Judge Bailey presided over a juvenile delinquency case in which the juvenile was female and Latina," the commission reported. "Judge Bailey told the juvenile words to the effect of, `Oh, wow, what are you doing in custody? You're so beautiful.' "

Two other incidents involved Deputy Public Defender Jane Win-Thu in which he accused her of rolling her eyes and angrily responded to it. On Sept. 21, 2022, he accused her of making a face at him.

"Counsel, the way you're looking at me right now it's like you're saying, (Expletive) you, judge," Bailey said.

He later warned her to be careful of her "facial expressions and nonverbal communications," according to the commission.

"If this is how you're communicating with me, ultimately, it's not going to be beneficial to your client," Bailey said.

The judge later apologized to her in court, the commission reported.

Even if the defense attorney rolled her eyes it would not justify Bailey's profanity or "discourteous conduct," the commission reported.

On March 1, 2023, Bailey got into another conflict with Win-Thu when he reproached her for rolling her eyes at a prosecutor, the commission reported.

"Counsel, I saw you roll your eyes," Bailey said. "It's unprofessional, unacceptable. You know it's not just verbal communication. It's what you do with your face and nonverbal communication. You're way out of line."

Bailey shouted at the defense attorney, "Don't you dare do this in my courtroom. Ma'am, do you understand? Do you understand?"

The judge also ordered her to "go sit down" and when she didn't right away he told her to "either go sit down or get out of my courtroom."

The exchange showed the judge was not only "discourteous and humiliating" it also showed bias, the commission found.

The commission also found fault with how he handled a case involving Deputy Public Defender Tammy Nguyen on July 20, 2022.

The judge accused Nguyen of rolling her eyes at him.

"Your body language is really telling," Bailey told her. "If you sigh and you roll your eyes at the court ... you're not playing well with me, Ms. Nguyen. And, you know, we can communicate in ways other than with words and nonverbal communication can be very telling. And I'm just sharing with you my response to your sigh and rolling of the eyes."

Nguyen denied rolling her eyes, prompting Bailey to say, "I'm just telling you what I saw and that's on the record."

Bailey was also admonished for another exchange with Nguyen in September 2022. He also improperly refused to let Win-Thu appear for Nguyen in a related hearing later that month, the commission reported. Instead, the judge issued a bench warrant for the defendant's arrest, which the commission found to be an "abuse of authority."

Bailey was also admonished for referring to an attorney's "thick accent" during a hearing on Jan. 25, 2023. As the defense attorney, Adnan Alattiyat, tried to explain to Bailey that he felt he was applying the wrong legal procedure during the hearing, the judge repeatedly cut him off, forcing the attorney to conflict off the case at the next hearing, according to the commission.

After Presiding Judge Maria Hernandez and Supervising Judge Cynthia Herrera met with Bailey on March 3, 2023, Bailey saw Deputy District Attorney Nikki Chambers and asked her of her recollection of two of the incidents with Win-Thu.

"Judge Bailey knew it was inappropriate to contact DDA Chambers concerning allegations in the complaint," the commission reported.

Bailey was also criticized for berating another attorney for entering his chambers during a conference with other attorneys and later remarked in the courtroom that she was "rude." As a prosecutor tried to explain she made eye contact with the defense attorney, which led her to believe she could join the conference, Bailey said, "The difference between the two of you is night and day. There are two kinds of people in this world -- blondes and brunettes."

The commission found the comment "conveyed the appearance of bias on the basis of race or ethnicity, as well as gender..."

Bailey was also criticized for hand gestures he made in court when asking if a prosecutor needed a break for breast feeding her infant in March 2014, according to the commission.

"In early 2014, more than once, Judge Bailey stated, in the courtroom, words to the effect of, how `lucky' he was `to get to work with beautiful women'," the commission reported.

Bailey blamed some incidents on an underlying medical condition, according to the commission.

He told the commission that "beginning in 2022, he was aware that he was engaging in discourteous, angry, and impatient conduct," the commission reported. "He also admitted that medical conditions notwithstanding he should not have behaved as he did and he accepted full responsibility for his misconduct."

Bailey's attorney, Paul Meyer, declined comment, saying it would be "inappropriate."

Additional reporting by City News Service.