In re Inquiry Concerning McBrien

*CJP Supp. 319 Opinion

I

INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY

This disciplinary matter concerns Judge Peter J. McBrien, a judge of the Sacramento County Superior Court. Judge McBrien was appointed to the municipal court in 1987 and became a superior court judge in 1989. While presiding over a family law matter over a period of months, Judge McBrien engaged in a course of serious misconduct which rendered the trial fundamentally unfair, denied a litigant his due process right to complete his presentation of evidence, and culminated in the judge’s lengthy investigation of a litigant’s possible violation of the law without disclosing his actions to the parties. We conclude that a severe public censure is warranted based on the gravity of this misconduct, coupled with Judge McBrien’s pervasive lack of accountability and insight into the impropriety of his conduct.

The Commission on Judicial Performance commenced this inquiry with the filing of its notice of formal proceedings (Notice) on September 25, 2008. The Supreme Court appointed three special masters who held an evidentiary hearing and reported to the commission. The masters are Hon. Dennis A. Cornell, Justice of the Court of Appeal,…