Just like former Humboldt Superior Court judge Gregory Kreis, The Commission on Judicial Performance imposed a severe public censure on Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge Michael Carrozzo. Just like Kreis, he agreed to a deal, which includes going on leave, an irrevocable resignation from office and an agreement not to serve as a judicial officer in the State of California

 

(Carrozzo)

Just like former Humboldt Superior Court judge Gregory Kreis, The Commission on Judicial Performance imposed a severe public censure  on Santa Barbara Superior Court Judge Michael J. Carrozzo. Just like Kreis, he agreed to a deal. After Carrozo goes on leave, just like Kreis, the agreement includes an irrevocable resignation from office and an agreement not to serve as a judicial officer in the State of California.

Both Carrozzo and Kreis were appointed by former California Jerry Brown. The useless California Judicial Council and the joke that passes as the State Bar of California do exactly what ? If the JCC and State Bar of CA did their jobs properly and held people accountable;  things would not get to a point where the CJP needs to be involved. It takes a lot for the CJP to open an investigation.

Like Kreis, will Carrozo also be hanging his shingle as an attorney and in Santa Barbara? 

The CJP issued a press release about Carrozo on 4/17.

"The Commission on Judicial Performance has issued a decision and order imposing a severe public censure and bar upon Judge Michael J. Carrozzo of the California Superior Court, County of Santa Barbara, pursuant to stipulation. The decision and order resolved the pending formal proceedings involving Judge Carrozzo. Judge Carrozzo stipulated to an imposition of a severe public censure; an irrevocable resignation from office, effective September 9, 2025; and an agreement not to serve as a judicial officer in the State of California at any time after September 9, 2025. Judge Carrozzo will take approved leave from the bench beginning June 2, 2025. "

"The commission issued a severe public censure and bar to Judge Carrozzo for 10 acts of willful misconduct and nine acts of prejudicial misconduct. The misconduct in which Judge Carrozzo engaged was serious and included a significant number of acts, spanning more than two years. Judge Carrozzo’s misconduct included drafting correspondence with a letterhead representing that Judge Carrozzo was an attorney at law, and that falsely stated he represented an individual. Judge Carrozzo thus misrepresented material facts and intentionally conveyed the false representation that he was entitled to practice law. Also, during the commission’s investigation, Judge Carrozzo made representations to the commission about the correspondence that he knew or should have known were false.  "

Previous posts:

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2025/04/another-california-judge-agrees-to-deal.html?m=1#more

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2025/03/santa-barbara-judge-cjp-hearing-set-for.html?m=1

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2025/01/commission-on-judicial-performance.html?m=1