Retired Del Norte Judge admonished for serious misconduct towards a domestic violence victim, CJP 1, JCC and Governor's office 0

 

(Linkedin profile, I cropped the photo because the original had his grandkids)

Retired Del Norte Superior Court Judge Robert Cochran was publicly admonished by the California Commission on Judicial Performance last month for serious misconduct towards a domestic violence victim.

Judge Cochran waived his right to formal proceedings under rule 118 and to review by the Supreme Court.  

Maybe if the California Governor's Judicial Appointments staff did their job and the California Judicial Council actually paid attention to local courts; people would not suffer abuse of power and have their lives ruined. 

In 2021, I did a post. This is just the first paragraph of that post. "California named worst "Judicial Hellhole".  The state has been in in the top 3 for the dishonor for a decade and was named "Everlasting Judicial Hellhole" this summer. This was by the the American Tort Reform Association." 

Decision and Order:

"This disciplinary matter concerns Judge Robert F. Cochran, a former judge of the Del Norte County Superior Court from January 2019 until January 2025.  Pursuant to rule 114 of the Rules of the Commission on Judicial Performance, Judge Cochran and his attorney, Randall A. Miller, appeared before the commission on January 30, 2025, to contest the imposition of a tentative public admonishment issued on October 31, 2024.  Judge Cochran waived his right to formal proceedings under rule 118 and to review by the Supreme Court. Having considered the written and oral objections and argument submitted by Judge Cochran and his counsel, and good cause appearing, the Commission on Judicial Performance issues this public admonishment pursuant to article VI, section 18(d) of the California Constitution, based upon the statement of facts and reasons set forth below. " Page 1

In imposing this public admonishment, the commission concluded that Judge Cochran’s treatment of Ms. Cairns constituted serious misconduct (Policy Declarations of Com. on Jud. Performance, policy 7.1(1)(b)) that negatively affected a victim of domestic violence (Policy Declarations of Com. on Jud. Performance, policy 7.1(1)(f).)  In further aggravation, Judge Cohran did not appear to fully appreciate the impropriety of his comments towards Ms. Cairns.  (Policy Declarations of Com. on Jud. Performance, policy 7.1(2)(a).)  P. 3.

Press Release:

The Commission on Judicial Performance has publicly admonished former Judge Robert F. Cochran of Del Norte County Superior Court. 

The commission determined that it should publicly admonish former Judge Cochran for conveying the appearance of embroilment and bias, and exhibiting discourtesy, toward a victim of domestic violence by his conduct at a Domestic Violence Restraining Order (DVRO) hearing and a change of plea hearing in a criminal matter. At the DVRO hearing, Judge Cochran faulted the victim for staying in an abusive relationship, called her “manipulative” on a number of occasions, and told the respondent that he had fallen into her “trap.” Many of former Judge Cochran’s comments at the DVRO hearing were gratuitous, not relevant to a determination of whether to grant the DVRO, and also reflected offensive and outdated stereotypes and beliefs regarding victims of domestic violence. At the change of plea hearing in the criminal matter, the judge denied the victim an opportunity to be heard and made demeaning comments to her, in violation of Marsy’s Law. Former Judge Cochran engaged in serious misconduct that negatively affected a victim of domestic violence. His misconduct was aggravated by his failure to fully appreciate the impropriety of his comments towards the domestic violence victim.  

The public admonishment is available on the commission’s website at https://cjp.ca.gov (under “Pending Cases – Press Releases & Documents” and “Public Discipline & Decisions”). Judge Cochran is represented by Randall A. Miller, Esq. of Miller Law Associates, APC of Los Angeles.