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A retired San Bernardino County Superior Court judge was publicly admonished Monday by the state Commission on Judicial Performance for making inappropriate comments to attorneys.

Paul M. Bryant Jr. was accused by the commission of making the comments on five instances since 2005, including calling two attorneys "obnoxious" and saying a prosecutor had "rocks for brains."

Bryant retired in January after 20 years as a Superior Court judge.

In an interview Monday, he said that for 18 years preceding his retirement he was a judge at West Valley Superior Court in Rancho Cucamonga.

According to the commission, in late 2006 or early 2007, Bryant told Deputy District Attorney Mary Izadi words to the effect that she had "rocks for brains" while refusing to accept a proposed plea bargain.

In February 2007, Bryant said Deputy District Attorney Kent Williams said, "One of the dumbest things I've ever heard a lawyer say," about the possibility that the judge could review an entire box of new documents that day.

Bryant later made a sarcastic comment about Williams' command of the English language, according to the commission's admonishment.

Also that month, Bryant said the District Attorney's Office "wimp(s) out" for not filing criminal charges against people who fail to appear in court when ordered to appear, according to the commission.

A public admonishment is the third-most severe of five levels of discipline that can be taken against judges, a commission spokeswoman said.

In 2007, there were 37 instances of discipline in the state, five being public admonishments, said Victoria Henley, spokeswoman for the commission.

Since his retirement, Bryant has often served as a retired judge on assignment, usually in civil courts in San Bernardino, said Brad Campbell, spokesman for the Assigned Judges Program of the Administrative Office of the Courts.

The public admonishment against Bryant will not preclude him from filling in on assignment in the future, Henley said.

In an interview Monday afternoon, Bryant said: "It was a great honor to serve the community as a Superior Court judge for the past 20-odd years."

He referred specific questions about the disciplinary procedures to his attorney, Heather Rosing.

She did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment on Monday afternoon.

The public admonishment against Bryant was the fifth instance of disciplinary action taken against a county judge in the past 10 years and the 11th instance since 1960, according to the state commission's Web site.

will.bigham@inlandnewspapers.com
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