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Where applicable, the following public cases may include Commission decisions, statements of charges, answers to statements of charges, exhibits, and/or supreme court decisions. These documents are available for download as Portable Document Format (PDF) files.*
In In re the Honorable Ron A. Mamiya
From an agreed statement of facts, the Commission found that Seattle Municipal Court Judge Ron A. Mamiya violated Canons 1 and 2(A) of the Code of Judicial Conduct when he had a brief extramarital affair with a subordinate court employee (whom he did not directly supervise). She resigned her position and later disclosed she did so in part because of her relationship with the judge. Through counsel, she stated her intention to file a claim for sexual harassment, which was settled through mediation with both the City and Judge Mamiya separately paying $67,500 in settlement, without admitting wrongdoing. The Commission censured Judge Mamiya for the disruption of court administration, expenditure of public funds, and attendant disrepute brought upon the court's and the judge's reputations. The Commission and Judge Mamiya agreed that a recommendation for suspension or removal from office was not warranted. The judge agreed not to repeat the behavior, to promptly read and familiarize himself again with the Code of Judicial Conduct in its entirety and to complete a course on judicial ethics at his expense approved in advance by the Commission's Chair or his designee and provide proof of completion of the course within one year.
In re the Honorable Eileen Kato
From an agreed statement of facts, the Commission found that King County District Court Judge Eileen Kato violated Canons 1, 2(A), and 3(A)(1) when she performed marriages without the requisite witnesses and then later obtained obtained witness signatures from people who were not, in fact, present as witnesses. Some of these non-attending “witnesses” were court staff in various capacities, all subordinate to the position of the judge. The Commission reprimanded Judge Kato and ordered her to promptly read and familiarize herself with the Code of Judicial Conduct. Judge Kato further agreed, and the Commission ordered, that she would attend and satisfactorily complete a judicial ethics program approved in advance.
In re the Honorable Debbie Mendoza
From an agreed statement of facts, the Commission determined that Zillah Municipal Court Judge Debbie Mendoza violated Canons 1, 2(A), and 3(A)(1) by routinely failing to determine whether unrepresented criminal defendants understood their procedural and constitutional rights, including the right to counsel, at arraignment and probation violation hearings. Judge Mendoza also failed to record court hearings, despite the plain statutory obligation that they must be recorded. She also employed uncertified, non-qualified interpreters contrary to statute, often using bilingual jail staff to interpret at in-custody telephonic arraignments for non-English speaking defendants. This presented a conflict of interest between law enforcement and the defendants’ right to neutral interpreters to understand the court process. The Commission reprimanded Judge Mendoza and required her to promptly read and familiarize herself with the Code of Judicial Conduct, the Criminal Rules for Courts of Limited Jurisdiction and the Criminal Procedure Benchbook for Courts of Limited Jurisdiction in their entirety. She further agreed that, for one year following entry of this stipulation, she would provide the Commission with audio or video recordings of each court calendar, and would complete a course on criminal procedure, approved in advance.
In re the Honorable Judith R. Eiler
The Commission conducted a public hearing on allegations that Judge Judith Eiler of the King County District Court violated Canons 1, 2(A), 3(A)(3), and 3(A)(4) by engaging in a clear, ongoing pattern and practice of impatient, undignified and discourteous conduct of the Respondent towards litigants, especially self-represented litigants, witnesses, attorneys, court personnel and others with whom Judge Eiler dealt in her official capacity within the courtroom. The Commission found that the misconduct occurred and was compounded by the fact that Respondent was previously reprimanded by the Commission for similar behavior (in CJC 4148-F-116). The Commission censured Judge Eiler and recommended to the Washington State Supreme Court that she be suspended from office for ninety days without pay.
Innt and Order of Admonishment (312 KB) filed DD/MM/YYYY
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* These files were saved in ".pdf" format. Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view them. If you don't have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed, it is available for free from the Adobe web site.
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